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Prince of Persia Lost Crown has been a surprise hit, turning naysayers into dedicated fans after a successful launch. Its developers at Ubisoft Montpellier recently hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the r/metroidvania subreddit on Reddit. This allowed players to get in touch with the lead staff and ask them questions about the latest POP game.
Many intriguing details about Prince of Persia Lost Crown and its development have come to light through the AMA. With that in mind, here are five interesting facts that fans should know about.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective.
5 fresh facts about Prince of Persia Lost Crown from the latest Ubisoft AMA
1) The Metroidvania vision emerged after testing Time Powers
As per the developers, Prince of Persia Lost Crown wasn't originally intended to be a Metroidvania game. The team was initially focused on the basics: platforming, combat, and puzzles — which have been the backbone of this franchise since its inception in 1989. However, when protagonist Sargon's Time Powers came into question, the direction headed down a non-linear path.
This individual has access to a variety of powers. This includes the Shadow of the Simurgh, which allows players to create a clone in time and space that can be relocated whenever they want. The title's Metroidvania structure opened up new problem-solving opportunities using Sargon's Time Power.
2) It takes inspiration from both modern and retro Metroidvanias
Senior game designer Rémi Boutin mentioned a few titles that inspired this POP offering. The list includes Team Cherry's Hollow Knight, FromSoftware's Dark Souls, Konami's Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Maddy Makes Games' Celeste, and Nintendo's Metroid Prime.
These influences can be felt in the world's design, levels, mechanics, and more. As for combat, Prince of Persia Lost Crown takes a few pages from fighting games such as Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros, Additionally, character action games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta also played a role in defining the fluid, flashy aesthetics of its core battle system.
2) The team hired a Persian historian to respect the cultural influences
As this is a Prince of Persia game, the team at Ubisoft Montpellier took great measures to ensure authenticity wherever possible. This is most notable in the inclusion of a fully-voiced Farsi dub for all characters, which has made many Iranian fans happy. This is because it is rare to see Farsi as an included language option in modern video games.
The team also divulged the fact that they'd consulted a Persian historian to get their facts right. Real-world Iranian locations like the Hyrcanian Forest and Ancient Persepolis city also made it in. To quote this title's world director Christophe Pic:
"We really tried to respect this culture. It is an incredible source of inspiration".
Needless to say, the positive feedback from fans is undoubtedly a thumbs-up for the team.
4) The Memory Shards idea was from the team's gaming experiences
As mentioned in this Prince of Persia Lost Crown review, the 2.5D sidescroller features a plethora of interesting ideas. This includes Memory Shards. This mechanic allows players to quickly snap a screenshot of a location in the game's overworld and mark it on the map. The plan for this came from the developing team's own gaming sessions.
Rémi Boutin elaborated on this mechanic, saying:
"You can use custom markers, but after some time or if you take a break it can be difficult to remember what you wanted to do. We were using screenshot or photo mode from some game and so we had the idea to integrate it as a core feature of our game!"
5) Future DLC could be in the works
With the game's official launch recently, players are eager to see what's on the horizon. The team is not ready to give a straight answer. Boutin mentioned he cannot talk about what lies in the future.
Mentioning "Use your Time Powers to see what will happen" to one user, however, suggests the developers may have something cooking in the background. Whether this is in the form of quality-of-life updates, more story content, or something else entirely is unclear at this point.
Prince of Persia Lost Crown is available right now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch platforms.
