Highlights

  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a critically acclaimed game and a successful revival of the franchise.
  • The Prince of Persia and Mana franchises share similarities in their development history and influence on their genres.
  • Both The Lost Crown and Visions of Mana are highly anticipated revivals that aim to bring fresh gameplay experiences to their respective franchises.

First announced back in June 2023, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown made a pretty big impact right out of the gate. The first mainline Prince of Persia game in well over a decade, The Lost Crown was set to be a return to form for the long-dormant franchise, taking fans all the way back to its 1989 origins with another 2D side-scroller. But rather than be a small-scale platforming adventure like the games it was trying to ape, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown decided to really push the boat out, delivering a fully-fledged 20–30-hour Metroidvania action-adventure.

Now a few days after its initial release, it seems as though Ubisoft's experimental decision has paid off massively, with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown being the first major critical hit of 2024. It seems as though The Lost Crown was exactly the type of reinvention that the Prince of Persia franchise needed, and there's another game set to release this year that finds itself in a similar boat.

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Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Review

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an excellent Metroidvania and one of the best Prince of Persia games to date.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Visions of Mana Are in the Same Boat

Prince of Persia and The Mana Franchise Share Some Similar History

On paper, the Prince of Persia and Mana franchises are completely different, with the former being a Western action-platformer series, and the latter being a JRPG franchise. But beneath the surface, Prince of Persia and Mana actually share a lot of similarities, especially when it comes to their development history and the great influence they had on their respective genres.

Released in 1989, the first Prince of Persia game may look a bit basic and rough around the edges today, but at the time it delivered a platforming experience like no other. While Super Mario Bros. had pioneered the side-scroller, Prince of Persia had given it a never-before-seen layer of realism, with its smooth rotoscoped animations breaking new ground for the genre. Just two years later, the first Mana game released. Originally titled Final Fantasy Adventure, the first Mana title, and its sequel Secret of Mana, were instrumental parts of the initial JRPG sensation that swept the SNES era.

After their initial influential entries, both Prince of Persia and the Mana series would continue to grow. While Prince of Persia continued through the 90s, got a new lease of life with Sands of Time in 2003, and carried on being fairly successful until the early 2010s, the Mana franchise followed a similar pattern, managing to stay relevant through sequels, spinoffs, and remakes, many of which continue to this day. But while the gaming public is generally aware of these franchises, they're not exactly at the forefront of the industry anymore.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Visions of Mana Are Long-Awaited Franchise Revivals

It's been 14 years since the last mainline Prince of Persia game released, and it's been even longer for the Mana series, with its last mainline entry releasing all the way back in 2006. In the lengthy gap between releases, games heavily influenced by both Prince of Persia and Mana have launched, many of which would render an official follow-up a bit redundant. If these franchises were going to come back, then it was clear they were going to need to make some big changes.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has done exactly that, delivering a wonderfully nostalgic 2D Metroidvania experience that genuinely innovates and pushes the franchise forward at the same time, and by all accounts fans are loving it. Set to release in the Summer of 2024, Visions of Mana looks to be trying to achieve the same thing as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, putting a fresh action-RPG spin on the beloved franchise, and hopefully it'll be able to achieve similar results.