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Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown marks a bold reinvention for the series as a modern, AAA metroidvania. As the series’ first attempt at the genre, it packs some smart new ideas, including some that other exploration-based games should learn from. Chief among these is Memory Shards, an elegantly simple idea that could (and should) be a game-changer for the genre.
In the Lost Crown, Memory Shards are a limited but reusable resource that assigns a single button press to taking a screenshot and pinning it to your map. Those who have played metroidvania games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night or Metroid Dread know that a core part of the genre revolves around unlocking new abilities and then going back to previously explored areas to reach places you couldn’t before. Memory Shards are an easy, intuitive way to keep track of doors you can’t unlock and chasms you can’t cross yet. And since it’s stored as a screenshot, you can view the exact obstacle without any guesswork or unnecessary backtracking.
After you’ve gone back to re-explore an area marked with a Memory Shard, you can clear it from your map and get that back to mark another spot. You start with 10 Memory Shards but expand your inventory of them as you progress through the campaign. In my experience with the review, I always had at least a few spares, so the game seems to want you to have a healthy stock of shards at any time.
