An incredible souls-like experience
There is no doubt Lies of P is inspired by FromSoftware's work. At a first glance it does look like "Bloodborne at home" as much people tend to call this game. But is it though? No, not by a mile.
Let's start with the obvious. Most of the gameplay mechanics found in this game are directly (or tweaked to an extent) by FromSoftware's games. Sekiro's Parry system works exactly like you expect it to and Bloodborne fast dodge and healing system, one that favours being agressive. But both Sekiro and Bloodborne play differently. Sekiro focus it's combat on parries, hit the block button at the right time to destabilize the enemy while Bloodborne goes for a more agressive approach towards combat focus it's strategy on dodging the enemies attacks. Lies of P somehow makes these mechanics work together wonerfully.
On my experience I can say the parry window is really low, so you have to anticipate for every attack they throw at you or dodge if you feel the attack isn't worth a parry. Yes, it's risk-reward at it's finest. If you feel confident enough, parry the enemy to make them stagger as fast as possible or if you are not, dodge the attacks and learn the pattern.
Sekiro already had this system in mind, though the main strategy was to read the enemy and block at the perfect time to parry them. Dodge was present but it wasn't as optimal as parry the attacks since invisibility frames while dodging were low.
What about the bosses then? Does the combat system and bosses come together harnomincally? Yes it is. Their animations are really well done, almost FromSoftware level. And their attack pattern can be deducted just from the design and animations of set boss. Though, they are not perfect.
Attack patterns can be easy read, but in practice some bosses lack the ability to telegraph their attacks well since most of them are really not that different from each other. And it gets harder knowing the rythm of the combat is Bloodborne-like, which is pretty fast. Some bosses can abuse the "Second-phase" mechanic as well, and the first phase will feel nothing but an annoyance since they are really easy and the real meal is after it. The camera can also take a role on making things harder for you. Giant bosses specially are prone to attack you out of sight, so be careful with that.
Outside of those nitpicks, I'd say the bosses in this game were entertaing, well done and gave the familiar FromSoftware feeling of perfecting them after a few tries since they are not unfair. So as always, memorization is key.
But this ain't a Boss Rush game, let's talk about the levels or areas. The areas in this game, are linear. Should that be consider as something bad? No, of course not. The way of progressing through the levels is obvious with little paths to deviate here and there, mostly for special objects. But you it will be hard for you to get lost in an area. Though, it's simplicity can get so far compared to FromSoftware titles, even Dark Souls 3.
No secret paths or no extra areas to explore, or anything like that. But as I said, it's not necessarily something bad since I would be comparing it to something that it doesn't try to be. Simple and straight to the point with some secret objects in between. Some parts of the layout of the are clearly inspired by Dark Souls, so if you're as much as a freak as me you might catch the subtle references. Though it walks in that thin line between inspiration and plain copy.
The areas themselves are great, and have a lot of variety. All being cohesive with the world Lies of P tries to inmerse you. Can be a factory, a victorian-esque street, a train station, a castle or a abandoned village. It all blends pefectly with the game aesthetic, and themes.
The story and the way the it's told is easy to diggest. Though it's not as deep or thought provoking as Fromsoftware titles, it's a good enough excuse for us to kill some big monsters and learn about the city of Krat along our way. Can be some notes, objects, or even side missions you can get into to learn more about the characters around the different areas.
It even goes further. You can directly take role in the story beyond being a puppet slayer. This is were the "Lie or Truth" as I like to call it mechanic comes. Be truthful or lie when someone asks you a question, they have some consequences in the story and the characters you can encounter. Personally decided to lie since I didn't trust anyone at the start of the game but as I progress I started to tell the hard truth, even if it wasn't the most suitable option. This opens up for some nice replayability value too.
So in short. Lies of P even if it doesn't add much to the table when it comes to originality, It blends those ingredients provided by Fromsoftware in a dish that is familiar, but with a unique aroma and flavour.
There is no doubt Lies of P is inspired by FromSoftware's work. At a first glance it does look like "Bloodborne at home" as much people tend to call this game. But is it though? No, not by a mile.
Let's start with the obvious. Most of the gameplay mechanics found in this game are directly (or tweaked to an extent) by FromSoftware's games. Sekiro's Parry system works exactly like you expect it to and Bloodborne fast dodge and healing system, one that favours being agressive. But both Sekiro and Bloodborne play differently. Sekiro focus it's combat on parries, hit the block button at the right time to destabilize the enemy while Bloodborne goes for a more agressive approach towards combat focus it's strategy on dodging the enemies attacks. Lies of P somehow makes these mechanics work together wonerfully.
On my experience I can say the parry window is really low, so you have to anticipate for every attack they throw at you or dodge if you feel the attack isn't worth a parry. Yes, it's risk-reward at it's finest. If you feel confident enough, parry the enemy to make them stagger as fast as possible or if you are not, dodge the attacks and learn the pattern.
Sekiro already had this system in mind, though the main strategy was to read the enemy and block at the perfect time to parry them. Dodge was present but it wasn't as optimal as parry the attacks since invisibility frames while dodging were low.
What about the bosses then? Does the combat system and bosses come together harnomincally? Yes it is. Their animations are really well done, almost FromSoftware level. And their attack pattern can be deducted just from the design and animations of set boss. Though, they are not perfect.
Attack patterns can be easy read, but in practice some bosses lack the ability to telegraph their attacks well since most of them are really not that different from each other. And it gets harder knowing the rythm of the combat is Bloodborne-like, which is pretty fast. Some bosses can abuse the "Second-phase" mechanic as well, and the first phase will feel nothing but an annoyance since they are really easy and the real meal is after it. The camera can also take a role on making things harder for you. Giant bosses specially are prone to attack you out of sight, so be careful with that.
Outside of those nitpicks, I'd say the bosses in this game were entertaing, well done and gave the familiar FromSoftware feeling of perfecting them after a few tries since they are not unfair. So as always, memorization is key.
But this ain't a Boss Rush game, let's talk about the levels or areas. The areas in this game, are linear. Should that be consider as something bad? No, of course not. The way of progressing through the levels is obvious with little paths to deviate here and there, mostly for special objects. But you it will be hard for you to get lost in an area. Though, it's simplicity can get so far compared to FromSoftware titles, even Dark Souls 3.
No secret paths or no extra areas to explore, or anything like that. But as I said, it's not necessarily something bad since I would be comparing it to something that it doesn't try to be. Simple and straight to the point with some secret objects in between. Some parts of the layout of the are clearly inspired by Dark Souls, so if you're as much as a freak as me you might catch the subtle references. Though it walks in that thin line between inspiration and plain copy.
The areas themselves are great, and have a lot of variety. All being cohesive with the world Lies of P tries to inmerse you. Can be a factory, a victorian-esque street, a train station, a castle or a abandoned village. It all blends pefectly with the game aesthetic, and themes.
The story and the way the it's told is easy to diggest. Though it's not as deep or thought provoking as Fromsoftware titles, it's a good enough excuse for us to kill some big monsters and learn about the city of Krat along our way. Can be some notes, objects, or even side missions you can get into to learn more about the characters around the different areas.
It even goes further. You can directly take role in the story beyond being a puppet slayer. This is were the "Lie or Truth" as I like to call it mechanic comes. Be truthful or lie when someone asks you a question, they have some consequences in the story and the characters you can encounter. Personally decided to lie since I didn't trust anyone at the start of the game but as I progress I started to tell the hard truth, even if it wasn't the most suitable option. This opens up for some nice replayability value too.
So in short. Lies of P even if it doesn't add much to the table when it comes to originality, It blends those ingredients provided by Fromsoftware in a dish that is familiar, but with a unique aroma and flavour.