Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is Ubisoft’s stylish Metroidvania set in the world of the long-running franchise. You play as Sargon, a powerful warrior who sets out to find and save the abducted Prince of Persia. On your journey, you’ll navigate a vast world teeming with treacherous traps and formidable foes that will put your combat and platforming skills to the test.
It can feel overwhelming and intimidating at times, but fret not. This handy guide includes essential tips and tricks for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown that will help you on your adventure through Mount Qaf. Find out everything you need to know to get started on the right foot and have an overall better experience.
Bonus: Scroll down to find two bonus hints that will prove invaluable in two late-game missions (no spoilers).
Essential Tips and Tricks for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at a Glance
1. Browse the Difficulty and Accessibility Settings – and Adjust Them at Any Time
Before jumping into the adventure, take a look at the gameplay, difficulty, and accessibility settings. The game boasts an extensive list of features that allow you to customize the game to your personal preferences and needs.
You’ll find various difficulty parameters to fine-tune aspects such as enemy health and damage or the time window for parrying and dodging. You can also enable the Guided Mode, which will mark the destination of your current quest on the map.
If you’re struggling to make it across particularly tricky platforming sequences, use Platforming Assist to skip them, without any consequences on the progression of the story. You can access these settings at any point during the game and adjust, enable, or disable them on the fly.
2. Use Your Memory Shards to Remember Inaccessible Areas
Ubisoft introduced a new gameplay feature in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown that is a real game changer in the Metroidvania genre. With so-called Memory Shards, you can take a photo of your current surroundings and automatically pin it to the map. Use this feature to mark blocked pathways, unreachable collectibles, or puzzles that you want to return to once you’ve acquired the necessary skills.
It’s an extremely useful feature that allows you to easily remember why you haven’t made it into a certain area yet without having to backtrack. Just keep in mind that the number of Memory Shards you can place is limited, so use them wisely and delete any unneeded snapshots to reuse them in a new location. You’ll pick up more Memory Shards as you progress.
3. Learn to Parry Straight Away
Combat in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown places a strong focus on parrying. Almost all enemy attacks, including melee attacks and projectiles, can be blocked by pressing L2 at just the right time before you get hit. Only heavy attacks marked by a red eye cannot be parried and need to be dodged by jumping or sliding (R2) away.
Whenever you see yellow eyes or a yellow circle around your foe’s head, get ready to parry. These reckless attacks trigger a powerful counterattack if you parry them at just the right moment, and will reward you with an anime-style animation as your warrior takes out your opponent.
While you might be able to get around by just dodging and attacking early on, you will need the parry at later stages to defeat some of the more powerful enemies. Learn the visual cues and practice timing from the start to be prepared for the big boss fights.
4. Train Combat Moves and Combos at The Haven
This is probably one of the most important tips and tricks for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which is very easy to miss. Once you unlock The Haven on the map, make sure to jump up the platforms next to the Mage’s shop and head to the right to find Artaban’s combat training arena above the Wak-Wak tree.
This is where you will learn various combat moves and combos. There is no moves list in the menu, so you’ll only find out about them by training with Artaban.
You’ll also learn neat tricks on how to defeat shielded enemies and creative ways to deploy your various special skills. New challenges will unlock as you progress, so make sure to return to Artaban whenever you have acquired a new ability. Completing these challenges will also reward you with heaps of crystals that can be used to buy and upgrade gear.
5. Equip Amulets That Match Your Playstyle and Environment
Amulets are part of your gear that grant you certain passive abilities. You’ll start with a small selection, but will quickly earn more amulets and amulet holders. From increasing your health and attack power to setting your arrows ablaze or slowing down time after a parry, you’ll collect numerous amulets that will benefit you in different ways.
These can be mixed and matched whenever you’re at one of the many Wak-Wak trees scattered across the map. Equip amulets that match your playstyle. For instance, if you’re more of a defensive player, equip amulets that will increase your health and reduce damage.
As these can be swapped as many times as you like, swap your amulets depending on the environment you’re in and the enemies you’re facing. Certain amulets offer boosts that are particularly beneficial in certain terrains, so keep an eye out for those and equip them when suitable.
6. Upgrade Your Gear and Amulets Frequently
Head to the Forge in The Haven to the left of the Mage’s shop to find available upgrades for your weapons and amulets. You can buy these in exchange for Time Crystals and other resources, which you’ll find on the map and earn by defeating enemies and completing side quests.
Return to the Forge frequently, especially after collecting new amulets. Keep an eye out for an orange exclamation mark at The Haven on the map, which signals that new upgrades for your gear are in stock. Whenever you unlock a new fast-travel location, quickly zoom back to The Haven to check for available upgrades and make sure your gear is always at its best.
7. Buy Maps and Hints from Fariba
Fariba is a young girl you’ll find in various locations on the map and in The Haven. She knows Mount Qaf like the back of her hand and can be very helpful in navigating the vast map and getting clues for your current quest.
As you’re exploring the world, colorful decorations, garlands, lanterns, and carpets signal that she is in the vicinity. Once you’re close, you’ll also hear her singing. Make sure to always follow the trail and buy a map from her that will help you get a lay of the land and find your way around more easily.
Whenever you embark on a new quest, make sure to go find her at The Haven to ask her for a hint. She’ll give you a clue about where to find the next mission objectives.
8. Explore Off the Beaten Path
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown boasts a vast world filled with branching pathways and hidden areas to get lost in. Don’t be afraid to wander off the beaten path and explore the world to unlock side quests, uncover hidden secrets, find valuable treasures, and embark on unexpected challenges.
There are endless things to experience and find, so always keep an eye out and venture into areas you haven’t been to yet. If you have your bird by your side, listen to its chirps signaling that a collectible, a hidden room, or anything else worth finding is nearby. Once it’s in view, the bird will fly to it, showing you where to take a closer look.
Bonus: 2 Late-Game Hints You’ll Want to Remember
While all these tips and tricks for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will help you on your journey from start to finish, the following two hints will prove invaluable once you’ve made it to a later stage of the game. I wish someone had told me this, so I’m here to tell you and make your journey easier.
Spoiler warning: I’m not including any story spoilers, but you’ll see the names of the corresponding missions.
Head to the Upper City Day Side First
After making your way through the Pit of Eternal Sands and beating the boss, you’ll embark on The Celestial Guardians main mission. You’ll need to travel to four different locations on the map. The game, however, doesn’t tell you in which order to tackle these.
Complete the one in the South first, as that is the closest and easiest one. Afterward, head to the one on the day side of the Upper City. There, you will acquire a new skill that will prove invaluable on your next quests.
There’s a Portal Inside the Forge
Two main story missions later, you will have to make your way to the Tower of Silence for the Father and Son mission. When you ask Fariba for a hint, she will tell you to go through the Hyrcanian Forest. However, there is a much faster way that the game won’t tell you about.
Head into the Forge and walk past Kaheva. On the other side, you will see purple see-through platforms. By the time you head to the Tower of Silence, you will have the ability needed to jump onto those platforms. Make your way across, and you’ll find a portal that will lead you straight to the Tower of Silence.
With these tips and tricks for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, you are perfectly equipped to embark on your adventure and have the best experience possible. If you’re looking for more helpful tips, make sure to check out our other guides as well.
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