I described this game to my friend as "It's like Dark Souls, but Pinocchio" and he burst out laughing. I can't say I blame him. The concept is absurd, but for some reason, it resonated with me and I think it works incredibly well.
Lies of P is a Soulslike every step of the way, and it's so high quality it may as well be made by FromSoftware. The team behind the game outdid themselves and truly captured the Souls essence while still doing its own thing.
Lies of P's strongest feature is something I can't really describe. I guess "game-feel" is appropriate? Basically, the game feels so COOL. The grim Belle Époque era world infested by puppets is a unique setting, and the designs for characters, enemies, and the world itself makes the game super immersive. Pinocchio's design is a standout, and I especially love the way he uses his mechanical left arm to break/open heavy doors.
The gameplay feels the same. Each attack is really satisfying to land, the weapon designs are sick and a lot of them are fun to use, and most of all, the dopamine rush you get from parrying an attack is unmatched. The sound effect of a parry combined with the reward and difficulty of doing so is incredibly addicting.
Somehow, Lies of P's defensive options might be its best gameplay feature. Parrying, dodging, running, and regular guarding are all viable without being overpowered, and each have different use cases. In other difficult action games, your defensive options tend to be centralized around one option, but I never felt that in Lies of P. Additionally, Lies of P is surprisingly generous. It understands that players will make mistakes, and offers the player a lifeline when players make too many of them. When you run out of Pulse Cells (your healing item), you can recharge 1 of them by landing hits on the enemy. Recharged Pulse Cells never exceed 1, and when you use it you have to recharge one again. This may not seem like much, but in practice it helped push me to play every fight attempt to the end. Making too many mistakes never felt completely demoralizing. Instead, that lifeline Lies of P dangles over your head that requires you to play perfectly stays a constant glimmer of hope.
Lies of P has a very high base level of difficulty if you're unfamiliar with Souls games, but for experienced players the game isn't actually THAT hard. Aside from a couple brutal exceptions, most bosses I was able to beat in a few tries, and that was without using Star Fragments (summons). Unfortunately, Star Fragments kind of trivialize a lot of bosses, so I recommend not using them if you want a good level of challenge throughout.
Lies of P has more than just gameplay too. Like other Souls games, Lies of P has a lore-based approach to storytelling and it's very "show, don't tell." You can find abandoned documents and newspapers and other collectibles that reveal details about the city of Krat, the Puppet Frenzy, characters' back stories, and more, but all without explicitly telling you anything. It's usually up to you to fill in the gaps/connect the dots. I always stopped to read every document I found, and I found the story to be very engaging and interesting, as they also often tend to give events you've seen before additional context that can completely change their interpretations.
And finally, since Lies of P is based on the story of Pinocchio, truths and lies are a major thematic element of the story. I kind of wish they did more with the concept, but what's already in the game contributes to the whole experience feeling very COOL to play. Decisions matter, and your actions do have consequences. Every important decision puts you on a timer to make a choice, which I imagine is meant to prevent players from looking up the "correct" answer. Lies of P also autosaves constantly, so you can't easily save scum your way out of a bad decision. The game has multiple endings based on your decisions, and one of them is definitely the definitive one. You can look up how to get this ending to be extra safe, but my spoiler-free piece of advice to do so is just this: act how a human would until the end.
All in all, I adored Lies of P. Not only is it one of the best games of 2023, but it might just be one of my favorite games I've ever played.
10/10
Lies of P is a Soulslike every step of the way, and it's so high quality it may as well be made by FromSoftware. The team behind the game outdid themselves and truly captured the Souls essence while still doing its own thing.
Lies of P's strongest feature is something I can't really describe. I guess "game-feel" is appropriate? Basically, the game feels so COOL. The grim Belle Époque era world infested by puppets is a unique setting, and the designs for characters, enemies, and the world itself makes the game super immersive. Pinocchio's design is a standout, and I especially love the way he uses his mechanical left arm to break/open heavy doors.
The gameplay feels the same. Each attack is really satisfying to land, the weapon designs are sick and a lot of them are fun to use, and most of all, the dopamine rush you get from parrying an attack is unmatched. The sound effect of a parry combined with the reward and difficulty of doing so is incredibly addicting.
Somehow, Lies of P's defensive options might be its best gameplay feature. Parrying, dodging, running, and regular guarding are all viable without being overpowered, and each have different use cases. In other difficult action games, your defensive options tend to be centralized around one option, but I never felt that in Lies of P. Additionally, Lies of P is surprisingly generous. It understands that players will make mistakes, and offers the player a lifeline when players make too many of them. When you run out of Pulse Cells (your healing item), you can recharge 1 of them by landing hits on the enemy. Recharged Pulse Cells never exceed 1, and when you use it you have to recharge one again. This may not seem like much, but in practice it helped push me to play every fight attempt to the end. Making too many mistakes never felt completely demoralizing. Instead, that lifeline Lies of P dangles over your head that requires you to play perfectly stays a constant glimmer of hope.
Lies of P has a very high base level of difficulty if you're unfamiliar with Souls games, but for experienced players the game isn't actually THAT hard. Aside from a couple brutal exceptions, most bosses I was able to beat in a few tries, and that was without using Star Fragments (summons). Unfortunately, Star Fragments kind of trivialize a lot of bosses, so I recommend not using them if you want a good level of challenge throughout.
Lies of P has more than just gameplay too. Like other Souls games, Lies of P has a lore-based approach to storytelling and it's very "show, don't tell." You can find abandoned documents and newspapers and other collectibles that reveal details about the city of Krat, the Puppet Frenzy, characters' back stories, and more, but all without explicitly telling you anything. It's usually up to you to fill in the gaps/connect the dots. I always stopped to read every document I found, and I found the story to be very engaging and interesting, as they also often tend to give events you've seen before additional context that can completely change their interpretations.
And finally, since Lies of P is based on the story of Pinocchio, truths and lies are a major thematic element of the story. I kind of wish they did more with the concept, but what's already in the game contributes to the whole experience feeling very COOL to play. Decisions matter, and your actions do have consequences. Every important decision puts you on a timer to make a choice, which I imagine is meant to prevent players from looking up the "correct" answer. Lies of P also autosaves constantly, so you can't easily save scum your way out of a bad decision. The game has multiple endings based on your decisions, and one of them is definitely the definitive one. You can look up how to get this ending to be extra safe, but my spoiler-free piece of advice to do so is just this: act how a human would until the end.
All in all, I adored Lies of P. Not only is it one of the best games of 2023, but it might just be one of my favorite games I've ever played.
10/10
RedBackLoggd
4 months ago