Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is finally here and has quickly been racking up praise from seemingly everyone who plays it. With such acclaim, it was only going to be a matter of time before speculation began about what the Ubisoft Montpellier team would turn their talents to next and it seems like the devs themselves have some pretty big dreams.
Last week, two of the game's developers, Christophe Pic (world director) and Rémi Boutin (senior game designer), hosted an 'Ask Us Anything' chat on the r/metroidvania Reddit forum during which they were asked a series of questions about the game, its inspirations and what it means to the Prince of Persia series as a whole.
One question that was highlighted by The Gamer asked, "If you could make a game for an IP that you don't/haven't had have access to, for example Mario or Final Fantasy, what IP would you pick and what kind of game would you make?" It's no surprise to say that Boutin's response has piqued our interest:
Personally, I would LOVE to work with the Zelda IP. Maybe a strange spin-off based on Adventure of Link? (and of course Castlevania)
A Zelda spin-off, eh? Based on the much-maligned side-scrolling entry in the series, eh? Okay, we're listening...
Of course, this is far from a confirmation of anything (who wouldn't want to make a Zelda game?), but it is an idea that has left us thinking about just how wonderful a concept it could be: The Lost Crown's combat and movement but set in the world of Hyrule — yes please!
Throughout the Switch generation, Nintendo has demonstrated its willingness to place its franchises in the hands of third-party studios (perhaps most notably, in this case, working with Ubisoft on the two Mario + Rabbids games), so this Zelda II dream isn't impossible — even if it does feel pretty unlikely.
For those wondering, Christophe Pic's answer to the question took a slightly different approach, with the world designer expressing his dream to make a crossover between Bubble Bobble and Dark Souls. Which reply seems the more far-fetched now?