When I picked up the latest and still very recent _Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown_ as a pleasant distraction for _Wargroove_ 's longer and longer slogfests, I did not expect the game--in my head portrayed as yet another boring [metroidvania clone](https://jefklakscodex.com/tags/metroidvania)--to be that big and that good. In stark contrast, the drama evolved around the game with [reported layoffs](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j8p8l26pgo) after "softer than expected" sales reports makes me question what kind of expectations (and practices) a publisher like Ubisoft has. But let's not dwell on the Ubisoft crap sauce poured on top of this otherwise excellent title and focus on the good stuff instead. As an irritating pun to the game's homage, I'll be calling _The Lost Crown_Persiania_ from now on. This review is not devoid of spoilers. If you like to go in blind, stop reading here and don't look at any screenshots. Otherwise, you're welcome to rock/scroll on! In case you missed it, _Persiania_ (this will get annoying pretty quickly!) is the first new _PoP_ game in ten years--and a 2D platformer instead of a 3D action/adventure one! That's a pretty radical shift, and that move alone demands respect. But Ubisoft Montpellier didn't stop there: they pulled from all kinds of metroidvania classics, threw it all in and coated it with a fresh lick of old Persia paint. The result is a beautiful homage that looks and feels great but does not manage to break into any new territory in itself. The question then is: does it have to?