On the fringes of its Ubisoft Forward event, the French publisher responded somewhat from right to left at the invitation of certain evenings such as the PlayStation Showcase or the Summer Game Fest. For the celebration organized by Geoff Keighley, Ubisoft promised from the start the unveiling of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a 2.5D action and platform game that was demolished on YouTube without anyone really knowing why. However, it’s the best proposition we can hope for on the return of this iconic video game license.
A history of perspective
This article is an opinion article, it is inherently subjective. The opinion of the author is personal and not representative of the opinion of the rest of the JV editorial team.
Frustration is not an argument for betting on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
On June 8th, Geoff Keighley took the stage at the Youtube Theater in Los Angeles to open his big Summer Game Fest evening. For video game fans, this period of pre-summer conferences has a special vibe as it happens often the place of big announcements. Any guest may be well prepared, but being the first to take the plunge is never easy. Despite the pressure, it is so Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown who took on this responsibility. It took him guts to open the Summer Game Fest ball… and even more so to garner the vicious comments he was the target of.
Yes, the Prince of Persia license has a special aura, But that’s no reason to get involved with her, because she makes every effort to offer you something new. Even if the proposal seems far from your favorite genre. The announcement effect is there on YouTube: more than 500,000 views. But out of good will we will come back. Of course there are some positive comments, but too many users spit their venom in the appropriate section, much more interested in the blue thumb race than in the potential of this return to 2.5D. Of course, everyone has the right to express their opinion. In the comments, no one is asked to say they’d rather see an HD port of the Sands of Time trilogy, or that this clearly isn’t the kind of fanfare they were expecting.
In short, snappy news, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has amassed tons of it (« One has to respect the consistency of Ubisoft, which nullifies all the franchises available… », « Every time Ubisoft announces a Prince of Persia, I think more and more about finding a new hobby. », « Well done Ubisoft, it doesn’t get any worse », « I never thought one of my favorite franchises would die twice. Thank you Ubisoft for showing me it’s possible ‘), and examples of this sort, there’s a litany of them and the insults aren’t the most relevant… Granted, there are critics who agree, but still!
In fact, upon closer inspection, it appears that some are taking it a malicious pleasure to vent their frustrationwhich certainly has something to do with the endless postponement of the release from the Sands of Time remake. Yes, development is messy, but is that a reason to express our disappointment in this way at a new title that the developers have put their hearts into, and more broadly, to so easily attack it? at Ubisoft? In any case, there is the art and the opportunity to share one’s dissatisfaction, and players obviously didn’t put the forms there. Not much background knowledge either.
Prince of Persia may well reclaim his crown with this return to 2.5D. Give him a chance!
Is making a 2.5D Prince of Persia game really that bad? No, because, as some hear, it doesn’t contribute to the evolution of the license. For example, it seems so to me, as well as personally a much more daring strategy than what consists in laying a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Please note that I don’t mind the idea of making remakes, as it allows a new generation to discover titles in more modern guises, and current figures prove their success. But although, Fighting the sands of time makes me cringe Because in some rare cases, the remakes have also proved to us that it is better to preserve our memories of the past than to face the nostalgia of our memories, and do it under threat of disappointment. So yeah, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown seems a lot more exciting to me.especially because it mentions the desire of Ubisoft to counteract this standardization of production who may have wronged him in the past.
No more open world excess and hello more compact projects going back to the roots, and Maybe that’s what the Prince of Persia license needed to get some momentum back. However, in the comments on the Summer Game Fest reveal video – it’s still more than 6000 – few users congratulate Ubisoft on this choice. In reality, This decision to make it a 2.5D game makes perfect sense for in this way Jordan Mechner had imagined the first adventures of the prince Prince of Persia (1989) et Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (1993), who was also entitled to it a remake in 2013 on iOS and Android. After ten years without news, it was time for Ubisoft to take a look in the rearview mirror reinvent the license (as they mention in a recent gameplay video) by drawing on its roots and, above all, on the know-how of its teams !
Make no mistake, Ubisoft didn’t pull this idea of a 2.5D action platformer out of a hat to exploit the Prince of Persia license at any cost. On the other hand, It shows that video games aren’t just about AAA and that a more modest looking title can contain beautiful tributes and great ideas. I prefer this type of proposal, which has a real intention, a desire to challenge the player and offer interesting mechanics, over an open world that clumsily serves all the clichés of the genre and I get bored very quickly. Anyway, The project has not been entrusted to anyone, because it is the Ubisoft Montpellier teams who have the honor of creating the adventures of Sargon, the youngest member of the Immortal Clan, composed of skilled warriors who came to the prince’s aid. So balanced, it might not mean anything to you, but it’s not the first time they’ve brought a license back on stage. In 2011 and 2013 they offered Rayman two of his most spectacular and successful adventures. : Rayman origins etc Rayman Legends. Admittedly, we lost the 3D adventure side Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc but in return we clearly won thanks to rhythmic, spectacular and masterful family adventures from start to finish, as the ratings of these two episodes attest. No really, you need to leave this Lost Crown alone because contrary to what some people think, there are serious arguments out there!
The early attempts at Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are already discrediting the haters
Since the revelation of it Prince of Persia: The Lost CrownUbisoft has taken care to offer new insights into its subject, particularly through an animated trailer and above all through a gameplay excerpt of almost six minutes (found directly above), which explains how the Ubisoft Montpellier teams are trying to do this Reinvent the license with this 2.5D adventure. It is worth noting that the trolls that have already moved on are almost gone The communication is already having an effect on players who may have seemed skeptical at first glance !
« I was skeptical about this game at first, but the gameplay looks really smooth and fast (…) I will definitely play this game ” we can read, among other things, in the comments of the video below. ” I was pretty disappointed knowing the game was going to be like this, but I have to say I love what I’m seeing. The gameplay looks great », « It’s not for me, but I wish you the best because I love the franchise and appreciate the work behind it ” or ” I like this direction of Metroidvania, the combat system looks really great (…) I wouldn’t be mad if they want to continue the franchise in this way ». The trend is clearly towards appeasement, and it’s good to read something like that!
Especially since, as has already been indicated, The first feedback on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown bodes well, which should continue to reassure players who care deeply about it. Recently we had the opportunity to go to the premises of Ubisoft Montpellier, controller in hand, to take part in two tests and we can in fact confirm what is gradually spreading on the web. Although The Lost Crown Compared to what the license has been able to produce so far, The Ubisoft Montpellier team’s title rests on a solid foundation (related to storytelling, exploration, platforming and combat) and even manages to evoke again the intoxicating sensations that we could experience in their previous games. Agile, the character of Sargon is still a thug and Ubisoft Montpellier seems to have found it the right compromise for those who want exert the “parkour” phases and the sequences that make the blades ring.
Gameplay surprises such as buildsMechanics that encourage risk taking or teleportation, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown there is an abundance. If you want to know more, you can always check out our recently published preview highlighting the qualities of this title in 2.5D. So, yes, we’ll have to wait for a full release to fully appreciate everything it has to offer and how it performs, but the conclusion is there: Prince of Persia is back – in one formula (visuals, aesthetics, game mechanics) . , …), which I hear can lead to debates – and to be honest, it’s gratifying. Yeah, that’s not the atmosphere we knew anymore — As a player of the original Sands of Time trilogy, I am one of the first nostalgic players — But the direction the franchise is taking excites me more than past memories. Aside from jumping from wall to wall, Prince of Persia has decided to keep going and I’m not going to throw stones at him for that. But on the contrary!
