The Prince of Persia franchise has been one of Ubisoft’s stable IPs for decades, and its evolution is one of the most beautiful things to see in gaming. Every title has had something good in it and the franchise been consistent with its theme for years. However, Now that The Lost Crown is releasing, it is time to talk about the best Persia games made by Ubisoft.
5 of the Best Prince of Persia Games That You Need to Play Before the Lost Crown
The Prince of Persia is one of the crown jewels of Ubisoft aside from the Far Cry and the Assassin’s Creed franchises. The IP is known for brilliant storytelling, combat, and platforming sections. In fact, Prince of Persia’s perfect platforming system provided inspiration for tons of new AAA titles that have incorporated it as a part of their traversal mechanics. Hence, we can easily say that the Prince of Persia series was a pioneer and way ahead of its time considering most of its iconic games were made almost two decades ago.
5. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
- Developer: Ubisoft
- Publisher: Ubisoft
Ironically, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is also the most forgotten 3D PoP title aside from the Prince of Persia reboot released in 2008. However, The Forgotten Sands is not a reboot, it takes place in the period between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within and shows how the Prince’s outlook on life has changed. The standard traversal and mechanics are still there along with a revamped combat system.
The graphics are undoubtedly the best in the franchise with cleaner character models and upgraded environments. Aside from Time Manipulation, the Prince gets access to a variety of different powers relating to Fire, Water, and Earth which makes it fun. Although it loses the charm of the traditional Prince of Persia games with Time Manipulation and simple platforming, it is genuinely a fun game to play.
For those looking to squeeze the most fun out of a Prince of Persia game without taking the plot too seriously, this is their best option. Plus, the story is different for the console version and the Wii version. The Forgotten Sands might not be the best Prince of Persia title, but one cannot deny that it holds up the reputation of the franchise quite well.
4. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- Developer: Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Casablanca
- Publisher: Ubisoft
The brilliance of the 3D Prince of Persia titles, mainly is that it is one collective story from start to finish. The player will realize that when they reach the ending of this game. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones does a lot of things well. Firstly, the voice acting is on par with the best performances even in recent times. In addition to that, the combat is even better and sharper as the Prince is more acrobatic and agile.
The sequences with the Dark Prince are what keep fans on their toes. As the Dark Prince, your health is constantly draining. However, your attacks are more powerful as you wield a Daggertail, a weapon that kills enemies quite quickly. The only way you can keep your health from running out is by collecting more sand after defeating enemies. However, the best part about this game is the story told. It is the last game of the fabled 3D trilogy and it concludes the story in a way that is satisfactory and almost bittersweet.
The best quality about The Two Thrones isn’t the gameplay or even the fabled traversal, it is how it ties the trilogy together in one single story.
3. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
- Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher: Ubisoft
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the perfect segue into The Two Thrones but it is a brilliant game on its own as well. Warrior Within is set seven years after the Sands of Time. The Prince is being chased by a being called the Dahaka who knows that the Prince was supposed to die by releasing the sands but didn’t. To stop it, the Prince must travel to the Island of Time meet with its Empress, and stop the creation of the sands in the first place.
The combat of this game is the best out of all the Prince of Persia games. It is brutal and the overall dark tonality of the game complements the franchise quite well. The voice acting is superb and there are tons of hidden passageways you can take to unlock concept art and more health. The game is way ahead of its time and do traversal and puzzles quite well. It is the ideal Prince of Persia game if you have played the previous ones and enjoy a challenge.
2. Prince of Persia (1989)
- Developer: Broderbund
- Publisher: Broderbund
You cannot have a Prince of Persia list without the original game. The very first Prince of Persia was considered the first cinematic platformer with breathtaking animations that were ahead of its time. It was primarily a platformer and the story was quite simple which made it fun. Looking back at it, it is one of the pioneers of modern video games because of the efforts of Broderbund has made traversal shine in many AAA games today.
If this game did not succeed, we would not have seen all the other beautiful 3D platformers that Ubisoft gave us. This might not be the best Prince of Persia game ever, but it certainly is the first and the most important. It set in motion the success of the rest of the titles and laid the foundation.
1. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher: Ubisoft
This is the game that made Prince of Persia a household name. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a cut above the rest which is why it was the first game getting a remastered version. It perfected the Prince of Persia formula down to a tee. From combat to story, from traversal to voice acting and graphics, it had everything a 2000s gamer wanted and it delivered it in a grandiose fashion.
It shows the Prince in a new light in the beginning, excited and ready to appease his father. By the end of the game, the Prince is wise and aware of the world and how it works. The Sands of Time had a few moves you needed to learn but the timing mattered quite a lot. However, even for that, you had a do-over if you had enough sands in the Dagger of Time. You could run circles around the enemies using the Dagger.
The big set pieces, the huge open spaces, the camera angles, the side-scroller aspects, and everything in between made this a perfect entry in the Prince of Persia franchise. We hope The Lost Crown can replicate this level of brilliance.
