Lies of P

With their first-ever triple A title, Neowiz has raised the bar for non-Fromsoft soulslikes. Pinocchio's journey through the world of Krat is inspired and mesmerizing, coupled with a narrative that seems genuinely invested in its driving themes. The combat is fine-tuned and weighty, with many standout features that blend together into a riveting mesh of hack and slash glory. While at times the difficulty can seem insurmountable, there's always new strategies to experiment with.

Combat takes center stage in Lies of P, built around the blueprint established by the Souls series. The usual fare of invincibility frame dodges and stamina-focused blocking is well-translated and is nearly indistinguishable from the likes of Elden ring. Where it sets itself apart, however, is the delicious mishmash of other mechanics derived from the other souls greats. Guarding doesn't negate damage, but rather dilutes it and demands that you attack your aggressor to earn it back. Rather than sitting behind a greatsheild while your enemy tires themselves out, the player is forced to engage. The peak of this engagement is the game's perfect parry system, which demands that the player time a guard to the very point of connection with an enemy blade. Rewarded with total damage negation and some useful stagger buildup, it's a high-risk, high-reward mechanic that rewards attentive players. With such a wide variety of enemies and bosses to fight, these duels are varied and consistently fun.

The art direction is also commendable, featuring many noteworthy settings full of unique enemies and set pieces that help to immerse the player. The standouts include a level set in a lavish Victorian opera house, a world's fair exhibition, and a ruin-littered junkyard. Though some of the settings feel a bit awkward gameplaywise, such as the extremely wide streets of Krat's urban sprawl, the dressing of this fantasy world is inspired and suitably melancholic.

The story is also impressive. Without spoiling much, it's a very introspective take on the classic Pinocchio tale that takes plenty of risks. Dynamics between characters evolve in natural ways, and you'll leave the experience with things to ponder. The traditional narrative vagueness that is so emblematic of the souls genre is dialed back to an approachable degree, allowing more casual observers of the story to glean its messaging. The characters are well-voiced and dynamic. While some of the "dark twist" character moments are a bit sudden and feel a bit forced, I'd say that for the most part the narrative is well-crafted.

It's not without flaws, however. Here's some objective gripes:

• There's a message at the start of the game that tells you that the red "fury" attacks are undodgeable, while what that really means is that they cannot be I-framed. There are certain red moves in the game that are far easier to evade than they are to parry.

• The "true" ending is locked behind one decision that you make towards the end of the game. Without spoiling anything, I picked the "wrong" option, thinking that exploration might yield a more amenable solution given the fantastical circumstances of the problem. As a result, I got dumped into the "neutral ending", which was profoundly unsatisfying.

• The weapon crafting system has some odd caveats that, while they service realism, inhibit experimentation and player fun.

• The difficulty feels a bit unfair at times. I think that the perfect parry window could be extended by a frame or two to help counterbalance some of the more peculiar enemy attack timings without sacrificing the game's challenge.

All in all, though, I think it's a fantastic game that's worth checking out for any fan of the souls genre. More like this, please.

'Lies of P' is a hauntingly beautiful game, a macabre twist on the story of 'Pinocchio'. It's like 'Bloodborne' meets 'Steelrising' meets 'Detroit: Become Human'. It's gorgeous, with a stunning atmosphere, and incredibly fun (and challenging) to play. There are numerous weapon designs and builds to choose from, and the battle system is quick-paced but fairly easy to learn.

My only issue is with the story development. I see what they were trying to accomplish, but I feel that the story could've benefitted from tighter writing; it felt as if they were trying to do too much at once, which made the plot feel somewhat convoluted. Tightening up the story would've strengthened it, making it more cohesive and coherent, and it would've eliminated some of the plot holes (there are several). One of the endings, especially, would've benefitted greatly from this, and it would've given a stronger resolution to the main character's story.

Also, if they had given the main character dialogue and had him speak, it would've profoundly elevated the narrative and made the game unique amongst other souls-likes. Silent protagonists work well for those games, but it just feels strange for this one, considering the story centers on a character discovering his humanity.

Other than those issues, it's a truly fantastic game, and the developers should be proud of the work they've done.

There is a little bit of:

• Dark Souls,
• Sekiro,
• Elden Ring,
• Steelrising and a lot of Bloodborne, but most importantly, the game has it's own unique identity and style which you won't see in any other Souls-Like games.

This game is really hard and it will push your patience many times but if you are willing to put the time in, you will be fine. Make sure you use every tool the game has to offer.

I love the story, the character design, the art style and the combat. Audio is aslo top class.

Took me 24 hours to beat the game and new game+ will also have some new things for you. If you are a pc or xbox owner, then you must give it a go because it is in Game Pass so you can play for free if you have a subscription.

Amazing game and I highly recommend it. If you are a Souls fan, then it is a must play. Enjoy.

I almost quit gaming after being a nerd gamer for about 25 years. Why? Because the gaming industry is what it is today, utter and pure garb if you know what I mean.

I had not played any singelplayer game for about one and a half years. I only played MOBAs here and there to pass time.

I Was very disappointed in Elden Ring. . Yes give me hate you blind fan boys. I finished ER and it was forgettable and worst game Fromsoft has made to day IMHO.. and I have played all their games.

I decided to try Lies of P as I heard good things about it. Right from the beginning you know this is a good game.

I won't go into details because this is not a review. I just want to say its a mix of Bloodborne, Sekiro and Demon Souls. It takes everything good and makes it even better.... Believe that yes!

Every weapon is cool you can finish the game this most of them. All abilities are real good and cool. You can play as a perry player or a dodge player or mix both. The game has good balance and cool boss fights. The world was good and the story good two. Graphically beautiful and has good world design.

Responsive and amazingly satisfying combat and gameplay. Very addicting game indeed.

Not once I thought they made a flaw in the game. Perry is kinda very tight they could have made the perry window a bit bigger but then the game would have been very easy. You either master the perry or the dodge and play as that.

They did such a good job and brought many new thing to the game.. whilst Fromsoft brings same old combat and puts it into unbalance and empty openworld which is called ER..

Lies of P is a perfect example that just because you're a souls like doesn't mean you're restricted to a basic formula. Honestly, I think this game may be the best souls like I have played.

There are fantastic soul likes for example hollow knight is one of the best Game I've played in general but I've struggled with it being referred to as a souls like. It's hard like souls games but it's not really a souls game. This occurs often within the gaming ecosystem but lies of p IS a souls like. It is a blend of all the game in such a unique way. Takes pieces of that piece of this for instance it's overall aesthetic is very Bloodborne feeling while it's combat system very dark souls but also Sekiro with its deflecting. But it stands out cause it's beyond original. The game is based on Pinocchio lore which honestly utilizes itself to be a core component to the game. Not only its story but the way the character changes. At the start your a puppet stiff and unalive. As you progress depending on what you choose to do you can become more human. Making choices like a human lying or otherwise. Listening to records. There's more spoiler type things ahead so I'll move on but this shows in your gameplay. Your character starts to move more natural grunt or make human sounds and my favorite example is in the beginning of the game there's a cat that will hiss angrily if you interact with it. The more human you become the more the cat chooses to reciprocate. Small details like that are why lies of p is such a grand game. Along with that design goes far. We got a very wide variety of enemies ( all though there was a lot of recycling for them) and bosses as well were so sick. All amazing designs not one similar to the last no reycyles an I appreciate that a lot. The gameplay besides the picked up stuff is so damn good. The weapon system is so unique it's beyond belief. I've never seen this in any game that I can think of but you get two pieces to each weapon you find a blade and a hilt. Both of them have a different special moves and the move said determined by what hilt you're using. You can mix and mash these, however you choose to that leaves to your arsenal being as vast as your creativity allows you. If you want the giant head of a wrench on the end of a dagger hilt you can go crazy my friend. Yep, upgrade system that comes along this as well it's very different. Let's sayit can be a little bit stomping at first confusing the hell out of you until you finally get a hold of it simply broken down you getA item called quartz, which lets you put one point into a skill point you put into that skill you get a small benefit out of whether that's a boost effect or an extra heel something to the likeness of that and once you have enough of those points put into one bracket you get the skill it's it's actually good really good for replay because as you progress in a new game, plus you can keep building upon it. The inventory management system as well can be a little little bit of a throw. It's kind of hard to get everything centered. You have to upgrade a lot of stuff to get certain attachments like having more space being able to put on another ring you know those sort of things can be difficult to get around, but it kind of makes things balance better for yourself.

Clothing does not add any weight or take away stats. It's actually affected by puppet pieces, which is really nice for the fashionable ones of us. The Legion attachment. I personally didn't use seemed useless. The whole fire like shrine type area is amazing as well, so great all the characters are so enjoyable so creative as well as the NPCs in the game in general There's just a large sense of whimsy and creative writing that makes lies of p stand out. I'll also add that the music is top-notch some of the best gaming music I've ever heard and it adds a lot to the game both as a narrative device and as an aesthetic device. The game just uses the Pinocchio format as a seasoned spice on top of everything using the different aspects of the fairytale for different dynamics of the game. Both setting pacing and Capability for different game styles I'd recommend this as a souls like more than most are typically recommend. It is just a special thing that I'm happy I came across and as a veteran FromSoft Nerd hear me when I say this game deserves so much respect and love.