Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the first game in the long-running franchise we’ve played in many years, and it’s also the first game to be a true-to-form platforming Metroidvania.
This means that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown comes with all the tricky combat, backtracking, dying and upgrade systems synonymous with the genre – for better or worse.
But just because a crown is lost in Prince of Persia doesn’t mean you need to be, and that is where this guide of five crucial things you should know before playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown comes in.
Tip One: Always Accept Guidance
If you only take one tip from this whole guide, let it be this – always accept guidance.
When you start Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, you can choose between two game modes: Exploration and Guided.
Exploration Mode is precisely what the name suggests: a mode that encourages exploration. However, this isn’t quite as fun as you might think, and it’s just a mode with almost no direction on where you need to go for story missions and side quests.
On the other hand, Guided Mode still gives players the freedom to explore but with some added structure and highlighted objectives on the map. It’s a game changer, take it from someone who spent a lot, and I do mean a lot, of time even more lost than that damn crown in the title of the game.
Tip Two: The Walls Are A Lie
Like any good platformer, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has lots of secret and hidden areas to find and uncover, and while some of the walls are just that, walls, others are lies.
While playing, you’ll uncover many walls that seem just like the other walls; your map will show them as regular walls, and so will your eyes. But if you accidentally attack one of these walls, they’ll glow like the hidden doors they are.
After the wall is glowing, it will only take a few more hits to review the treasure hidden behind. You’re welcome.
Tip Three: Much Like Debt Collectors, Some Enemies Should Just Be Dodged
I don’t blame you if you enter the game and skip the tutorials. We’re gamers, after all, and we sat down to game, not learn.
However, learning how to parry in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is critical to your success and enjoyment, but parrying is also not completely straightforward, so let’s break it down:
All white attacks can be parried.
All yellow attacks can be parried, and if you do so successfully, all smaller enemies in the surroundings will instantly be killed, and you’ll deal a lot of bonus damage to the boss.
Red attacks can never be parried, and you really shouldn’t try to, either. Red attacks that are parried will damage you more- who said it never hurts to try?
Tip Four: Fariba Is The Best. Trust.
If you’re anything like us, you’ll find yourself stuck, trying to figure out what to do or where to go quite a few times during your playthrough of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Thankfully, you’ll meet an NPC called Fariba, one of the most valuable characters in the game. Fariba can always be found within Haven, the central hub, and for the low, low price of 30-time crystals, Fariba will give players vague but helpful hints about where they should be heading next.
Fariba also roams around the world, and while you’re exploring, chances are you’ll run into her and be able to spend 50-time crystals to buy a more detailed map which will outline the entire region for you, making it a lot easier to find all the tressure that the game tries to keep from you.
Tip Five: Always Remember To Remember
Unlike the previous entries in the franchise, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is both a platformer and a Metroidvania, which means you’re going to run into your fair share of seemingly dead ends during your playthrough.
That’s because much of the game is built around the concept of being unable to do something, running off and returning when you can.
While that is a concept often used in games, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has an enormous map, and it can be very easy to completely forget about that cracked wall you saw a couple of hours or play sessions ago.
Thankfully, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown doesn’t expect you to come in with a Rain Man-style memory and has a way for you to mark the places you want to return to later down the line.
All you need to do is press down on the D-pad to use a few memory shards to mark whatever location you’re currently at with a screenshot on your map.
These screenshots can be viewed from your map at any time and help you remember where you want to go and what you need to unlock before returning.
However, there is a small catch: memory shards are a limited resource, and you don’t get them back after clearing screenshots from your map, so use them wisely and sparingly across your journey.
If you enjoyed this guide, you can check out some of the other ones we’ve written, like Four Things I Wish Somebody Told Me Before Playing Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Want To Kick All The Ass In Helldivers 2? Here Are The Three Best Load-Outs.
Our full review of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will also be up soon so stay tuned!