Lies of P Review

can you hear me you know that we've entered a new era in the increasingly crowded souls-like arms race when we're now turning classic children's stories into Dark Twisted bloodborne pseudo sequels but hey here we are yes lies of p is yet another game inspired by the unforgiving from software masterpieces that have captured the hearts of so many myself included but it's also an undeniably impressive standout amid a sea of games chasing the souls-like trend it does suffer from some uneven difficulty and overly linear level design but its impressive story extremely well tuned combat and memorable areas and boss fights means that this isn't one you should miss out on if there's a bloodborne shaped hole in your life it's fair to say that sometimes lies of P emulates its inspiration so closely it feels like someone else is pulling its strings a little too forcefully but that puppet show is still a whole lot of fun to join in ISM to say that lies of P follows the blueprint pioneered by from software down to the finest detail with precious few deviations just look at the UI and menus foreign and doesn't this look like bloodborne combat is of course a methodical dance of attacks and parries designed with difficulty in mind and it sticks so close to the script that it got to the point where I'd meet a seemingly friendly character and think ah this is the one who's going to betray me later with full confidence that I was spot on in that assessment there's even a major boss with the same name and rough appearance as a Dark Souls boss which is honestly just kinda hilarious one of the ways it does set itself apart though is with its story which is a dark reimagining of Carlo collodi's Pinocchio you know the story about a mischievous puppet known for telling falsehoods and longing to become a real boy a real real boy lies of peas version takes a lot of gory and depressing Liberty in its version of the classic tale but it's got some nice nods to its inspiration there are these untrustworthy mammals plus a neat mechanic where you have to choose to tell lies or the truth that'll have an impact on the outcome of your story oh and the soundtrack is outstanding get a load of this [Music] that said this style of game isn't known for having the most comprehensible stories and lies of P isn't wholly an exception to that rule but it does try harder than most there's a whole bunch of dialogue and cut scenes that kept my interest throughout my first 30-hour run in fact of all the distressing and enigmatic stories I've seen in this genre this is definitely among my favorites it's got some interesting twists and turns and a few memorable characters too genius never rests except for Beautyrest as you'd expect you'll split your time hacking your way through levels where practically everything in sight wants to kill you and taking on much more formidable bosses and lies of P largely Nails both of those genre pillars the city of krat is memorable in dystopian while also continuously reminding you that you're playing out an iconic fairy tale about puppets it comes complete with your Cricket sidekick Gemini and your puppet-making father Geppetto who always reminds you to be a good boy right before he sends you on missions to butcher everyone in your path get rid of the frenzy puppets that have seized East City Hall you'll visit the poison swamp level that every Soul's like is legally required to include and this exhibition Hall with hopeful depictions of a future that clearly didn't work out quite as planned each is Thoroughly enjoyable to stab your way through another item on the checklist is some memorable and usually disgusting boss fights and lies of peas got those in Spades I won't show you anything spoilery I promise but they're always enjoyable even though they're all pretty straightforward encounters where you Whittle down a health bar it would have been nice to have one or two encounters where they mix things up with a puzzle or trick you've got to figure out to best your opponent those are always my favorite For Better or Worse much of lies of peas combat draws clear inspiration from bloodborne specifically with a couple minor tweaks you can't restore health Lost from direct attacks by striking back at your enemies like in bloodborne but you are given the ability to partially block some of that incoming damage then counter to restore the chip damage you absorbed the result is a similar meta where aggressive gameplay is encouraged that keeps fights moving along at a quick Pace but it also discourages more defensive play Styles which tend to be my go-to in seoul's likes even so this feisty combat is extremely fun balanced and well tuned but you're definitely boxed into playing in a specific way playing as a ranged magic user from Dark Souls is a no-go here another idea borrowed from bloodborne is that your melee weapon is assigned to your right hand while your left is reserved for a utility weapon this one turns your robotic left arm into a winter soldier-esque tool of Destruction and that ends up being a pretty darn clever take on that mechanic you might decide to close gaps quickly with the quick and effective puppet string or blow up deranged puppets from afar like this or my personal favorite block incoming attacks and dish out damage and kind with a fiery explosion that triggers when they hit your Shield it's especially cool that each of these tools can be upgraded with additional effects check this out but it's the new stuff namely the completely awesome weapon crafting system that really lets lies of P distinguish itself within a very crowded genre have you ever wanted to attach a giant saw blade to a rapier's handle so you could jab with it like you're fencing well it's probably not advisable at all but knock yourself out how about attaching mjolnir's Hammer to the end of a rusty pipe go for it man you do you with dozens of possible combinations you're given quite a bit of freedom to make some silly or surprisingly effective stuff as certain stats and abilities from your chosen Hill and blade combine for a unique combat experience it's a bit of a shame though that the best weapons available are legendary tools that can't be disassembled and reforged into new weapons and many of these are so much more powerful than anything you can build that you're sort of disincentivized from actually engaging with the crafting system the longer you play of course the main thing that defines any good Souls like is how soul-crushingly difficult it is and lies of P has mixed success in this regard on one hand nearly all of the world exploration where I was fighting your run-of-the-mill evil puppets and gross monsters was disappointingly easy to the point where death was a rare occurrence throughout my playthroughs the same can be said of most boss fights which Souls veterans can expect to beat without breaking too much of a sweat they're usually big slow and stupid creatures who are easily confused when you move behind or underneath them and they Telegraph all their attacks like they're in the WWE but then I'd encounter the occasional Showdown where the difficulty spiked up dramatically without warning and I died 20 or 30 agonizing deaths on a single boss leaving me to wonder if I just wasn't properly leveled or something which was never the case I just needed to get good those specific bosses stand in such stark contrast to the much milder exploration sections that it can be quite jarring and I often felt like the levels preceding a tough boss didn't properly prepare me for that Gauntlet most likely my skills probably atrophied during the stretch of mostly undemanding skirmishes in between the dramatically more difficult boss fights lies of P has also inherited some of the clunky roots of the genre along with its strengths among other things there were a few times where I phased through the environment in a weird way and enemies have a weird habit of just despawning right in front of me like they were fading away during the season finale of a long-running high school TV drama thankfully none of these issues were particularly widespread so they're unlikely to drag down and otherwise perfectly enjoyable Adventure especially since performance is otherwise Rock Solid I maintained a perfectly stable frame rate at every point which definitely isn't a given in this genre lies of P might not Branch out particularly far from its souls-like inspiration but like a marionette controlled by a skilled Puppet Master it plays the part extremely well in a wonderfully Dark Fantasy World it must be said that it's uneven difficulty didn't always make me feel like an underdog especially when playing as a Brawny overpowered version of Pinocchio with a massive weapon and combat pigeonholed me into a specific playstyle while the levels are less open and twisting than most but with an awesome weapon crafting system some really memorable boss fights and one of the better stories we've seen in the genre I can enthusiastically recommend you spend your time hanging out with Geppetto and friends if you've been waiting for a bloodborne remaster or sequel that may never come lies of p is the next best thing for more check out our reviews of Starfield and Trine 5 A Clockwork conspiracy and for everything else stick with IGN

Channel: IGN

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Keywords: Action, Lies of P, Neowiz, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Soulslike, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Pinocchio, dark souls, bloodborne, soulslike, fromsoft, gameplay, impressions, review

Id: yT7ra55z9p8

Length: 10min 33sec (633 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 13 2023