Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

A phenomenal return to form for Prince of Persia with modern platforming mastery. Excellent accessibility options, tight combat, and beautiful level design make this a must-play 2024 release.

A standout return for the series and some of Ubisoft's best work in years, this sprawling Metroidvania pairs fluid movement and combat with genuinely clever, satisfying puzzle design across 13 distinct biomes. Boss fights smartly leverage your evolving powers and amulets, and the 60fps presentation is silky smooth even on Switch. The handful of demanding precision-platforming sections may frustrate some, and the clean art style and voice work are slightly uneven, but it caters to nearly every type of player with deep accessibility options.

A brilliant reinvention of the dormant franchise that successfully ushers it into the Metroidvania genre. It excels with precision platforming, challenging combat, and standout traversal powers like time manipulation and a shadow clone, all set in a captivating world full of secrets. Punishing but fair bosses and exceptionally flexible difficulty options round out an excellent adventure.

Skillfully designed Metroidvania with excellent combat and platforming but weak storytelling.

A welcome surprise and a strong new direction for the series, delivering a challenging 20-to-30-hour Metroidvania built on buttery-smooth, responsive combat and platforming. The fast, fluid movement, satisfying parries with cinematic finishers, and anime-inspired presentation ooze style, while time-manipulation puzzles push you in satisfying ways. The map screenshot feature is a clever touch. The forgettable story is the main weak point, but the top-notch gameplay more than makes up for it.

GameSpot: confident, impeccably crafted genre debut; should define the series's identity going forward.

A fantastic return to the franchise's side-scrolling roots and one of the strongest Metroid Vania examples, offering excellent gameplay mechanics, exploration, and boss design with a satisfying story and pacing throughout.