After The Lost Crown, play this underrated Prince of Persia game

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a fantastic Metroidvania reimagining of the historic series, but it is far from the first reinvention the franchise has seen under Ubisoft. The most iconic one was 2003’s The Sands of Time, which Ubisoft is currently remaking. That’s not the one I decided to play after beating and adoring The Lost Crown, though. That honor goes to 2008’s Prince of Persia.

I spotted Prince of Persia on sale for about $8 a couple of months ago at my local independent game store. I knew nothing about it at the time, outside of the fact that it was a bit controversial for its lack of difficulty and epilogue DLC at the time of release, but I decided to pick it up in case I had the urge to try to play more Prince of Persia after The Lost Crown. I gave it a shot over a long holiday weekend, expecting a dated puzzle platformer that history would have understandably forgotten.

Instead, I discovered a third-person action game that would lay a blueprint that series like The Last of Us, God of War, and Star Wars Jedi would follow. In 2008, Ubisoft Montreal predicted where third-person, narrative-focused action games would go over the next decade. It’s time the studio gets some credit for that.

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Spoilers for 2008’s Prince of Persia follow.

Ahead of its time

Prince of Persia begins with the titular character stumbling into a conflict between a daughter and her father. Princess Elika’s father has succumbed to the influence of Ahriman, the god of darkness, and in pursuit of Elika, he destroys the Tree of Life. To prevent Ahriman from being completely set free, the Prince decides to help Elika heal Fertile Grounds around her kingdom so Ahriman can be locked away in the Tree of Life again. It’s a swashbuckling fantasy premise about bad