Yesterday's Summer Game Fest 2023 showcase was kicked off with a new reveal from Ubisoft in the form of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, but as highlighted by VGC, it's been getting a pretty awful reception on YouTube so far.
This is the case across multiple YouTube channels, but if we just take Ubisoft's official channel into account, the gameplay reveal on there sits at 4.5k likes and 16k dislikes at the time of writing.
Here's just a sample of what some of the "Top Comments" are saying:
"Every time Ubisoft announces a Prince of Persia I consider finding a new hobby more and more."
"So we're finally getting a new Prince of Persia game. That has nothing to do with Prince of Persia."
"Ah, yes. The Jay Z phase of Persian mythology."
As you can see, there's a lot of disappointment surrounding Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown's trailer in the comments section, and plenty of criticism is even being directed towards the choice of music (hence the "Jay Z" reference).
To be honest though, we think it looks alright! Sure, the choice of soundtrack is a bit weird, and it's obviously not the Sands of Time remake that everyone's waiting for, but this could turn out to surprise a few people when it arrives for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in January 2024.
Anyway, we should get to see a lot more of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at Ubisoft Forward this coming Monday, so here's hoping it gets a better reaction at that event than it did at Summer Game Fest 2023.
How are you feeling about this one so far? Let us know down in the poll and comments below.
Would You Give The Trailer A 'Like' Or A 'Dislike'? (585 votes)
- Like!
- Dislike!
[source youtube.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 88
I actually thought it looked pretty good. Honestly the only thing in the entire showcase that got me excited.
I thought it looked pretty great and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Looked good to me. Not a replacement for the 3D games but why the hell not? We’ve got both 2D and 3D Metroid series running alongside each other. Same with Mario, same with Zelda. All Nintendo examples because nothing else is coming to mind but still 🤷♂️
What a bunch of whiners... The game looks awesome!
That game was my personal highlight from the show. It looked phenomenal to me. I don’t know what others expected, more classic style ala Sands of Time? Or AAA game?
I’m just happy we’re getting new PoP game!
Nope. I have to agree. Thought it looked terrible. And the music choice was horrendous.
Sure the music wasn't my cup of tea, but the game looked very fun!
I am not sure what people are complaining about. Because it wasn't what they "wanted" or "asked for"? Grow up.
The gameplay itself looks stylish and engaging. Prince of Persia started as a side-scrolling adventure, so it's a nice blend of old and new.
I've not played PoP, so I have no dog in that fight. But I dig side scrolling 2D Metroidvanias, and in that regard looked pretty good to me. Definitely a "like" here.
Sometimes I feel Ubisoft gets way too much hate no matter what they do. The game looked OK and I'd say it's a bit modern take on the classic prince of persia games. I think I'll give it a try
All these children don't know the origins of the prince of Persia games. I thought it looked really good, questionable music choice aside.
Youtube (internet in general) runs on negativity.
Strange. This game looks like ubisofts answer to metroid dread. So im all in
@GamingFan4Lyf don't tell people to grow up. People are allowed to have opinions. This isn't IGN. This game genuinely does not look good to me. It looks bland, boring, and very repetitive. Yes, people wanted more substance than just another side scroller. I have no problem with Ubisoft. I like most of their stuff, just not this.
It looks decent actually. But, I totally get the anger considering we haven't gotten a legit 3d PoP in forever. Coincidentally, the same situation with Metroid. Though I loved Dread.
It looks great - and potentially the best thing Ubisoft have done in some time.
The music choice for the trailer on the other hand? Nul points.
I’m glad most here agree with me on liking it. This is an example of why I don’t like the internet. Granted maybe more people are not happy than are. That could be a reality. But this reeks of a campaign, and in my opinion, this isn’t quite the Metroid Prime Federation Force situation some might see it as.
I’ll give the nay sayers credit on the music though.
That music is torture to my ears! Why does everything have to be "hip, hop and happening" these days?!!
@frabbit Wouldn't say alongside. It's been FOREVER on a new Metroid Prime.
@pip_muzz I’m super pumped for the game itself. But I’ll give you credit on the annoying level of the music. Not a fan of how everything from movies to games focuses on hipster persona and taste as if the world centers around that culture.
I thought it looked great. 2D PoP potentially with some Metroidvania like elements and some great fluid looking traversal and combat.
Sign me up Day 1.
Some people hate anything Ubisoft, even just the sight of it. So none of this is surprising at all. I know people who might spit, at just hearing mention of their name.
I liked it and honestly it looks fun. I would prefer a remake or remaster of the 3D versions but blasting the trailer with dislikes is just dumb.
Just the internet because nothing has brought people closer together than social media
The game looks fine but that is a very bizarre choice of music which doesn't fit the theme at all
Haters gonna hate, I guess.
Wait, we can see the dislikes again? I just use YouTube on my phone, and I can't.
I thought it looked great, yes I expected a 3D game but 2D will do just fine for me
Some folks just are never going to be happy. I thought it looked pretty great myself. The music choice is just for the trailer. I highly doubt Jay Z will be blasting throughout the entire game.
People beg for a new Prince of Persia for ages and when they finally get one they want to snuff it out before it even has a chance? I just don't get it.
@Utena-mobile It's a disgrace to the original which was a seminal 2d platformer ahead of it's time. This one looks generic as hell.
As long as that music isn't in the game I'll be happy. I don't think any modern music would suit the game to be honest. It looks like it will be fun so just got to hope the price is right. If not it will be 50% off within a month.
@TheCrafter1578 If your opinion is "I didn't ask for this" it simply sounds entitled - the world doesn't revolve around you.
If your opinion is "eh, I'm not a fan of this style of game" then it's an acceptable argument.
I’m not a fan of the art style or the music, but I’ll be honest, I want to try it. Prince of Persia getting anything is a bit of a special thing, honestly. I’m cautiously interested, as I am about practically anything Ubi releases.
The game looks ok, the trailer is terrible, the character design is like a game about the history of Australia centered around the Tower of London.
Though most of the hate is coming because this is PoP: Federation Force. People expected 3d PoP but got a rastafari platformer instead.
Looks good. Proper throwback to the original game mixed with a metroidvania. A persroidvania.
Win-win for me.
The game itself looks pretty decent, but the music was absolutely atrocious, to be fair. I'm still interested in in.
How are the number of YouTube dislikes known publicly? YT hides the dislike ratio now. 🤔
It’s a trailer the rap music won’t be in the game (can’t be worse that Warrior within’s OST or WW’s trailer with Godsmack in it… ) and as for the rest. It’s a fantasy game. Folks are acting like they are historians. None of the PoP games are historically accurate. Get over it.
It looks like a good game, BUT it isn’t for me.
I would be all over this if it was a proper 3D adventure/platformer. But I have zero interest in side scrollers.
This isn’t to say it is bad. Just that my excitement dropped when it revealed itself as a side scroller. No matter how good it looks.
@EVIL-C there are browser plugins that accurately reveal the like to dislike ratio.
Even though YouTube hides it, that ratio is still there for content creators to see how people gauge their content, it just isn’t shown publicly. 90% of people will have no idea it is downvoted so much, but those of us with the tools can see it clearly.
I don't get the reaction at all, looks great to me. Sure, the music is terrible but that's just par for the course for game trailers nowadays, and I assume it won't be in the game itself.
What worries me (along with the negative reaction to the new 2D sonic's price point) is that a certain section of the audience just considers 2D games as lesser nowadays, which is just depressing. Honestly these 2 games were 2 of my highlights
I think the game looked awesome!!! There is nothing wrong with side scrollers. When I was a kid, I would have committed crimes to play a game like that. I really don't know what the fizuck is wrong with all of these negative people, but they need a good @$$ beating for about 20 minutes. Get them to the edge of consciousness and then let them sit there and think for a little bit in that mindset. I bet they shut the fizuck up about all of that shiznit and start to try to enjoy life. Fizuck those people, I'm just tired of that shiznit already.
@Enigk Now watch as Ubisoft grants you a monkey's paw wish, and brings back Godsmack instead. That's not modern, is it?
Sadly, this is a common occurrence. Gamers are against everything that isn't remasters or remakes. What happened?
@smoreon I'd forgotten about them. Turns out they are still chugging along and released an album earlier this year so they can't bring them back as it appears they never left. They are just dying a slow death as their fan base peels off.
I like the visuals, they're a bit Disney. I don't like the trailer music. If it's more platforming than hack and slash, I'll get it.
That's how a poll is made @FraserG and not the 15-choice polls with 66% of redundancy on NL.
The ancient Persia setting is undercut by the visual style and music. Looks more like a Fortnite spin-off.
@Enigk Haha, what I meant by "brings back" was using Godsmack's music in another Prince of Persia game- I had no idea whether they were still around.
Good for them, I guess?
@Benjamin It makes 16-bit Aladdin a historical document in comparison 🤣.
@Kienda Ohhhh, that's really cool to know. I wasn't aware such browser plugins existed. I know dislikes are visible to creators as I've posted many YT videos, but never investigated the hidden dislikes as a viewer. Thank you. 👏🙂
The music ruined it for me. Do we know if there will actually be Persian influenced music or the same generic hip hop? Won’t buy if music is totally misaligned with game.
@BRT15 Weird statement. Played through every single one. This looks worse in almost much everyway compared to PoP89.
@stefan771 Because remakes don't generally result in a game out of touch with it's roots like this one is.
@Ryu_Niiyama The way I see it is a game at least needs to be consistent in it's theming. Dee Jay's rebellious adolescent son doesn't really belong in a Prince of Persia theme unless it's a Capcom crossover.
Nobody rides the Pirates of the Caribbean ride thinking they'd be ok if cowboys appear in the ride 😂
No, it's not specifically bad, but it's amazingly out of theme in a design by committee sort of way even if the game itself looks decent.
@smoreon I didn't even know their music was in a previous game. I guess I blocked that out.
as a prince of persia fan and POP was my first PC game im hugely dissapointed, Ubisoft is out of touch, the game look fun but why naming it Prince of persia???? this doesn't look or feel like its the same world? its like GOW
I thought it was awful
Blimey, that music is ####ing shocking.
It looks great.
Was my favourite trailer of the entire show. The Prince - although not him - looks Persian now, there’s an updated Sands of Time colour scheme and the gameplay just looks really, really fluent. Love it!
@Ryu_Niiyama I forgot about that! The game after Sands of Time has this terrible, terrible gothic metal vibe - everyone seemed to put off by it. And enjoyed the game after…
I call them agents of negativity, their sole purpose and only objective is to contaminate other people's state of mind. The only way you can becom an Agent is to think negative thoughts all the time and constantly berate other people's creations. You have to be envious of what other people can create, and lack an imganiation. Then, you have to sit at a computer, or phone, and tell everyone why they should not like something. One night you go to bed, only to be woken up by seven foot tall shadow people, kind of like dementors, but they're in business suits and they have poor posture and they sigh a lot. You'll be offered a contract, in return they'll promise you a place at the table of misery. However, it is paramount you understand, that you can never like a thing ever again. You may participate, but you must never enjoy it.
Personally, this looks awesome
POV:
The 1% of things they like: "it's a masterpeice bro"
The 99% of things that doesn't fit into the very narrow window of taste: " It's trash bro"
The phrase " go touch some grass" comes to mind.
Watched the trailer just now. It makes me question if games are made for me anymore, it looks like utter dogshit. Annoying rap music, tons of combat and generic Fornite/Overwatch characters, not really what I consider PoP to be. Pass.
@Bartig "the prince looks persian now?" Persia is Iran. The old one very much looked Persian. Not sure what this one is supposed to look like, a rhasta Pakastani maybe.
The biggest problem UbiSoft faced with this reveal is they have been promising a Sands of Fate remake for years, and recently said we will be waiting even longer, to then announce this game showing they have not been focusing on updating a classic but rather chasing current trends.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@ZuneTattooGuy Yes I'm on a gaming forum and so are you.
I'm talking about people who are overtly negative as opposed to those who just aren't interested in the game.
And don't call me sir I find that disrespectful.
I haven’t played a Prince of Persia game before, but I will say the game itself looks fun. It looks like Metroid Dread and I love Metroid Dread. Some people have a problem with the art style and character designs, but I don’t. It’s not impressive but not horrible. My biggest problem with the trailer is of course the music. It didn’t do a good job of selling the setting and atmosphere. I also thought it was strange how the trailer had no lead in and just cut straight to gameplay. There was no time to get excited for what is about to be seen. I mentioned Metroid Dread and I think of the reveal trailer for that game which had the awesome cutscene of Samus meeting the EMMI before showing gameplay of her running away. This trailer needed something like that to set the tone and atmosphere before dropping gameplay. I will probably enjoy playing the game, but the trailer itself has problems.
I thought it looked kinda cool. Wasn't a fan of the Emo Prince character design, but the game looked good.
Those who want Sands of Time, go play Forgotten Sands. It's back compatible and literally the same ***ing game.
I'm not being sarcastic. Seriously. Go play it.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@XxEvilAshxX
I have and it's not the same game
@ZuneTattooGuy There is a difference between being upset and being rude because you are upset.
@Darylb88
Sure but people don't need you to police them on their feelings on an announcement. If you want to give UbiSoft a pass with this announcement that's good for you but others are not happy and that's also valid
The gameplay looks ok but the lazy Fortnite esque cartoon aesthetic that seems to be the industry go to nowadays is unfortunate. Most gamers aren't teenagers anymore.
@ZuneTattooGuy
I just don't find overt negativity pleasant in my own opinion, and I'm sure you aren't looking to police my feelings on that and I'm not looking to police others on theirs.
@NEStalgia how is he Dee Jay’s son? His hair? No different than the 00’s hair cut and soul patch that sands of time prince sported. Face wise he looks Iranian or Afghani to me. How wide is your venn diagram for what you think is Black? The one drop rule seems to be alive and well even in things that have nothing to do with Black people. And it’s a fantasy game. None of the PoP games have tried for historical accuracy unlike at least the assassins creed games. (And they are full of mismatch stuff). Pop culture history doesn’t “fit” anywhere because it’s made up. Any anybody craping on the Jay-Z music better have had the same reaction to Godsmack in Warrior Within’s trailer (and all the edgy guitar riffs in game) or I can’t take you seriously.
@Bartig thank you. Folks are acting like PoP has been anything other than pop culture fantasy. It’s like looking at Lara Croft or Indiana Jones and thinking that is what an archeologist looks like. And being offended at any game that doesn’t depict archeologists exactly like them. Also please someone tell me where there are griffins and monsters in Persian history. We can have magic, monsters and unnatural acrobatics but a dude with shaved hair (and given how fashion is a cycle I am sure somebody’s ancestors shaved the sides of their head) is illegal. Well if that is the line , can we go for maximum offense and make it a Princess of Persia game?
Is it maybe just music for the trailer and not the game? One can hope because the music doesn't really fit the game and it's jarring.
Am I the only one that feels like a lot of big devs are phoning it in on graphics? This game looks like an XOne release title TBH. If it comes to GP I'd try it, but the music does put me off.
@Moby
I think stylized graphics can be cool when a team puts in hard work and makes something truly incredible like Hi-Fi Rush but I also feel many lazy developers make half rendered garbage or don't push themselves nearly enough and call it "stylized"
Street Fighter 6 compared to Mortal Kombat 1 is a great example, what Capcom thinks is "Stylized" looks horribly outdated already. Overwatch 2 looking identical to Overwatch 1 is uncalled for and Blizzard is the kings of phoning it in.
@Ryu_Niiyama It's the hair! It's absolutely the hair! Granted I'm in the Dee Jay frame of mind because SF6 and he's always been my main, so he just comes to mind instantly, but despite the biased association there you compare the character designs and new prince does bear some similarity to the design of Deej in 6. Like the scrawny, whiny zoomer kid he disowned.
It's kind of depressing though when the reaction on the Internet to "my Persian fantasy avatar should look like a Persian fitting the setting" is met with "you're a racist!" 😬 (Not really you specifically but what this ballooned into overall which sadly should have been predictable)
The music. Heck I don't even know Jay z music. I remember the name from like 1999 though so I wonder what age group they're targeting lol. I'm not a fan of licensed music in video game trailers at all unless that's the actual sound track (hifi rush)
Awful cringe rap music and the character design looks black. A modern side fade and dreadlocks?
You can't even just have a Arab middle eastern man he has to be "blackwashed" for some ungodly reason.
The game looks okay but the trailer was awful - music was so unnecessary and inappropriate for the game.
I'm keeping an open mind about the game though I was way into Sands of Time when it was current.
@NEStalgia So again I don't understand how you are associating this character with a Jamaican inspired character. Middle eastern cultures braid/loc their hair too. It's odd that immediately you and others are looking at this character and lumping it into a bucket that you think is Black (Is this the new version of yelling Woke at everything you don't like?). When, he doesn't look Black (again this is from the view point of a Black person, perhaps to others we all look alike) and even barring the fact that loc'ed hair is in more cultures than Black ones (including some middle eastern cultures), this looks like standard Ubisoft Popular culture Fantasy. So again if you had no issues with the previous iterations that were not historically accurate and also had designs that were all over the place I don't see why flashy prince number 5 is a big deal. That being said the character shown isn’t even the Prince of Persia who incidentally has been kidnapped. Now if he was an Assassins Creed character, I would get it because they try to do some research, but a colorful metroidvania? Why are y'all even bringing Black people into this? At best if you were going to say he looks Black (again, he doesn't) then it would be the same as saying Disney's Pocahontas looks Native American (when the artists used SEVERAL women from SEVERAL different cultures/ethnic groups as her inspiration/model). So again how big is your venn diagram that you look at this and go "Black", and that is before even asking why it is such a problem if it is. And do not say it is because of the trailer music because again folks should have been screaming about Godsmack in WW for the same reasons. First and foremost that is a moot point because the dude doesn't even look Black (and isn’t even the Prince y’all are white knighting for). Not every non white skin tone is automatically Black. But if that is what you see, I guess that is what you see. I'm also curious about the ages of those that scream hipster as well...some of ya'll are aging out of the demographic and y'all don't like it. If y'all are this bitter now...gaming is going to be hilarious in 10 years.
@Ryu_Niiyama I mean, even white people do dreadlocks. It's cringe but it's a thing. But it's completely out of place for the character, setting, and time period. While it's obviously not exclusivity a Jamaican thing, it's also very much not an Iranian/Persian thing. In neither the past nor present. It's just a very out of place choice. Again I'm sure theres recency bias toward seeing the similarities just due to dj exposure recently. But the characters style and features just... Aren't Persian.
I did compare him to dj and I know some people are specifically trying to make it a black/white thing out there, but whatever culture the characters features are aren't Persian. But his style very much look like he's trying to be 20/21st century Jamaican specifically. Not even the right hemisphere or century.
Maybe you're right that because it's pop and not a it shouldn't matter but on it's own it just bugs me. It breaks the illusion of the fantasy. And as another Ubisoft "hello fellow kids" edgy trendy thing, it's an extra face-to-facepalm. You're kind of right about the age thing though in reality everyone is right. Young consumers have been trained by corporate branding to actually be hipsters by and large. And this is a 2d game form an old franchise that by nature is targeting a retro demo but also wants to go the hipster route.
Fwiw on the character design thing I'm at least just annoyed and put off by it. There was someone on the push thread about it that's Iranian that created their account just to comment on how much they're offended by the character that's clearly not Persian, so from the perspective of actual Persians this is offensively out of place. Now maybe that comes from a whole different line of racism then the typical b&w Western wars but it's still what it is, and built up by millennia of Arabs pilfering Persian culture and marketing it as their own...
@NEStalgia I am not a historian nor do I care to be but I do know that some Arab people wore dreads so seeing as this character is likely a Disney Pocahontas I still say anybody up in arms about his hair while again ok with the at the time modern haircuts the sands of time trilogy Prince had is looking for something to a be mad about and b) trying to make this about Black people (hence folks talking about “black washing” (wtf is that?!) and no you don’t get a pass for your Dee Jay comment. That’s where your mind originally went, to what you feel is a Black guy as part of your argument of why this dude doesn’t fit. ) and while I don’t care what the dude is personally since it bothers people so much, if they had paid attention to the trailer they would know he isn’t even the Prince. The Prince is a dude in distress in this game (so far). So perhaps your beautiful, acceptable Prince is in another castle. At this point I hope so so some of y’all will shut up.
Again if the guy wielding swords, magic and fighting monsters breaks the fantasy because of his hair or that a few of y’all think he “looks Black” (and that’s before getting into why would that be a problem when Black peoples traveled and lived in the Middle East in the past anyway, but again dude doesn’t even look Black), you weren’t that immersed anyway. So again I say put your armchair anthropologist card away. Now if he breaks out a smartphone and has on sneakers I will come back and eat crow and say “wow you were right, I don’t know wtf Ubisoft is doing” but till then I think you and those in your camp are yelling at clouds and it is concerning that what some of y’all see as Black is so triggering.
As far as the “hello fellow kids” that all the style savvy people like to throw out… duh, they catered to you when you were the target demographic and they have moved on. Such is the price of aging. And sticking with a pop culture hobby for decades. It’s like adult pokemon “fans”… “how dare this children’s game not be aimed at my 50 year old self?! They are trying to be hipsters!” No, you are getting older and while they want your money, you aren’t the target audience. Might be time to see what other non gamers your age are doing.
As far as offending the actual Iranian. While that sucks I am gonna borrow your Dee Jay reference in that it is a caricature just like most video game characters where the game isn’t trying to be historical. (Dee Jay isn’t the average Jamaican guy either and I remember a mixture of consternation and pride about the Jamaicans I knew growing up over him.) And to that I would say get in line. I have been complaining about how Black people and women have been portrayed in games since I was a child. But I’m sure Italian Americans would be the most up in arms about Mario /s. Now if Ubisoft comes out and says this magic dude, monster slayer was supposed to be historically accurate then I will lend any ticked off Middle Eastern person my support. But otherwise, yeah nobody would play games, except maybe white men and Japanese people (and if I were in any of those groups I would at least be annoyed by now because those are usually caricatures in gaming too). Makes me wonder how that person feels about the Assassins’s Creed games that are set in the Middle East.
I’m betting that you can swap between all the bodyguard guys in game anyway. And this is just the first character.
“Gaming nerds respond angrily to rap music in game advert”
Fixed headline.
Once again “gamers” seem to react badly to something based on something other than gameplay. By that I mean race. Also very funny how suddenly everyone is a historian
@Darylb88 I don’t bother engaging with him. He is a classic troll and over the top “Xbox only”
@Trmn8r fair point well made
Definitely a case where is it wasn't specifically called 'Prince of Persia' it'd be seen in a more positive light.
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