I'm unsure whether to give this a very strong 4 or a weak 4.5. I may change the rating at some point.

Lies of P is a souls-like that's REALLY good at mimicking the formula. If you told me that FromSoft developed this I would believe you! The vibes and feel are all there.

I had a really fun time playing the game so none of my issues are massive, just nitpicks. A lot of the areas blended together and fell into a "Streets of London" theme. None of them stand out too much, apart from the last area which I really liked. The same goes for the bosses. When I compare them to the bosses in FromSoft games that I've played, the bosses in Lies of P just aren't as memorable.

The game does add new stuff to the Souls-Like formula that's interesting enough. The Legion Arm and the ability to build weapons are both fun additions to gameplay. But the whole story being about Pinocchio is kinda irrelevant. If you renamed a couple of the characters, then there would be no correlation to Pinocchio and like idk the lying part of the game really didn't have any effect.

I think that if you try to mimic something perfectly, you can't surpass it you'll only be able to make something that's just slightly worse. The combat here just doesn't have the same game feel to it y'know. The dodge just feels a bit strange and I can't really explain it any more than that.

Overall, all of my issues are small but there is a lot of fun to be had with Lies of P. If you are looking for a great souls-like then you owe it to yourself to try this game.

Link may be the hero of this story, but he's not the main character. The residents of Termina, with their own individual scheduled lives, their fear of impending doom, regrets, hopelessness, sad naivety, and denial are what drives this games narrative.

If Ocarina of Time was the hopeful hero story of Star Wars: A New Hope, Majora's Mask is certainly the more mature, darker Empire Strikes Back.

Gameplay wise, it's everything Ocarina was plus the addition of 3 new "playable characters". The mask system is extremely unique and provides interesting rewards for side quests beyond simple heart pieces or glass bottles of the other games of the series. The way some of them build off of each other in a series of longer sidequest meant the rewards you were getting not only increased your life bar, but opened new doors for you figuratively and literally to progress other side quest that may have dead ended on you.

The 72 hour in game time loop is frequently pointed to as a gimmick or made the game feel stressful, but I don't think the game would have worked without it. The feeling of not being able to complete every side quest or dungeon in one loop gives meaning to what you choose to do with this chance. Just like the people of Termina, you are forced to pick and choose who you save and what you do with what little time you have left.

This game may not have aged well, but it's impact on my life when I was an 11 year old kid was profound and it still impacts me today at 34 years old.