Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown tips to know before you start

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a classic metroidvania, so there are things you should know before you dive in

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a sprawling metroidvania that hides its fair share of secrets, hidden paths, and challenging enemies. If you want to find everything it has to offer – or even make it through the main story in one piece, you’re going to need to get very familiar with its systems.

If you’re a veteran of the genre then you’ll have some footing of what to expect, but this game has its own nuances that you’ll need to learn. That’s why we’ve put together this list of tips to help you out on your first playthrough.

Parry late, dodge early

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When you’re being attacked you have to make a decision very quickly: do you parry it or dodge it? Parrying takes more precise timing, but will open a window to strike, while dodging is easier to pull off, but doesn’t make it as easy to counterattack.

Depending on what your reactions are like – or simply what you’re used to from other games – you may decide to stand your ground or stay on the move. Our advice is if you want to parry, wait until the last possible second to hit the button. The parry window is a little more generous than other games, but some enemies delay their strikes in attack animations to trick you into parrying too early.

On the other hand, if you’re dodging, then do it early. Most enemies don’t change their attack trajectory after the animation has begun, so getting out of the way as soon as possible will give you the best possible chance of repositioning and being able to attack.

Leave your mark

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One of the features you’ll quickly be introduced to is pressing down on the d-pad to leave a marker of a location. This is a great way to leave yourself reminders of locations or items that you can’t currently reach with our ability set. These are extremely useful, and you should use them whenever you spot a path you can’t access yet.

While you only have a limited number, at the rate you gain new abilities, you should be able to clear them up faster than you’re putting them down, so don’t worry about saving them.

Follow the yellow leaf road

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Wak-Wak trees are your saviors in this game. Here is where you can heal, change your amulets and abilities, and you’ll respawn at your most recently visited one when you die.

Finding them is essential, and there is an easy way to track them down. The golden leaves of the tree will be scattered all over the floors of the world like a trail. Whenever you spot them blowing through the air on the ground, follow the trail and you’ll be led directly to a Wak-Wak tree, giving you a much-needed rest.

Fariba reveals all

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Fariba is a bright child that you can find all over the world in the Lost Crown, and they can provide you with essential knowledge. Talking to them in the encampment towards the start of the game will give you a hint on where you go and what to do next, but encountering them out the world is a real treat.

Talking to them there, you can exchange 50 crystals for a map of the surrounding area. It won’t reveal all the secrets, but it will make navigation a lot easier, and help you spot paths you’ve missed along your way.

Deluxe advantages

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If you bought the deluxe edition of the game, then there is one huge advantage that you definitely need to equip. The Prosperity Bird is an amulet you’ll get pretty early on in the game that doesn’t cost an amulet slot to equip. Once it’s active a little bird will follow you around and will tweet whenever you’re near to secrets, be they alternate paths, chests, or treasure items on the ground. It’s a great indicator that will remind you to look closer at things from time to time.

Sparkling treasures

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Not every useful item in The Lost Crown is hidden in a chest or behind a boss, some are just lying on the ground for anyone to pick up. It can be easy to miss some of these too, as the only indication they’re there is a white sparkle on the ground as you wander by. Mostly these are lost items or strange collectibles, but there are also some amulets or coins that can only be found this way, so keep your eyes peeled.

Play your way

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One of the great features in The Lost Crown is the customizable difficulty settings. They let you heavily alter your experience based on what you prefer – to the point where combat is barely even necessary to progress the game. Whether you want a much easier or more challenging experience, you can use these settings to make exactly the experience you want.