Lies of P Review: The Closest Thing To a FromSoftware Game

Platforms: PC, Xbox O/S/X, PS4/5 | Developer & Publisher: NEOWIZ

Finally, A Good Souls-like

Lies of P does the best job so far in trying to emulate the FromSoftware formula. It literally feels like a souls game in the way it plays, while introducing some great ideas of its own that helps it stand out from the crowd. However, it also runs into some pitfalls trying to emulate a FromSoft game, notably, the level layout and exploration can feel underwhelming.

If you’re like me and a fan of Dark Souls, but souls-like games such as The Surge and Lords of The Fallen don’t do it for you, I highly recommend giving Lies of P a chance. It has the best-feeling gameplay by far, with great designs and an interesting story, making for an overall great game and a tight experience. It took me around 20 hours to complete my first run and 38 hours over the course of three playthroughs.

First Impressions Were Mixed

Performance-wise, the game is well optimized, and ran flawlessly on my 3080, though I encountered issues with HDR being far too dark no matter what, so I recommend just leaving it off.

Upon loading into the game and choosing my starting weapon, the game felt surprisingly fluid. It has quick manoeuvrability and familiar gameplay that feels right at home if you’ve played a Souls game before. Sekiro-like deflecting is also here, which builds an invisible stagger meter and can even break your enemy’s weapon, drastically reducing the damage they can deal. A major new addition is the Legion arms, mechanical arms that have different abilities, such as the aegis shield for blocking or a gun for ranged attacks.

I grew frustrated after a short while due to the pitiful range of some of the starting weapons, with the greatsword and wrench causing me to whiff attacks regularly. It goes without saying that this feels unfair seeing your giant weapon unable to hit the big target right in front of you. Thankfully, the game didn’t take too long to introduce the saving grace known as weapon assembly. Weapons are split into blades and handles, and you can mix and match any blade with any handle, excluding special weapons. Blades handle damage and status effects, and handles dictate the weapon’s moveset and scaling. Both parts have access to their own special ability that requires a resource meter known as Fable to use.

Weapon assembly is an incredible feature that allowed me to fix my issue with range, but what I appreciate even more is that blades aren’t tied to your Motivity or Technique stats. Instead, they can be used freely, meaning it’s easier to experiment and target enemy weaknesses. In the end, I ran with a giant axe on a small baton handle, surprisingly better for range than the starting weapons. The main limiting factor for experimentation is the upgrade materials. They are plentiful if you play the game normally but maybe not enough to upgrade more than a couple of weapons. There are separate materials for normal and special weapons, equivalent to Titanite and Twinkling Titanite in Dark Souls.

The game is structured similarly to your typical Souls-like: levels are fairly linear with shortcuts that loop back to the bonfire. (Or “Stargazers” rather) They’re frequent and generous, I never had to run very far if I died. Although on my second and third playthroughs, these areas felt really short; I was able to reach the end in just a couple hours. For the first playthrough, though, I wouldn’t worry about this as long as you’re engaging with the game instead of running past everything like I did on subsequent runs.

Visually, I love Lies of P’s design, it’s very inspired by the La Belle Époque period in French history. I always looked forward to seeing what the next area had in store… unless it was a poison swam.

The biggest issue of this game is definitely the level layouts themselves. Generally, most of them aren’t necessarily bad, but they are simplistic, meaning there wasn’t any that knocked it out the park or felt truly special. Later game areas frankly become a pain in the arse, especially when you combine the uninteresting level design with the game throwing annoying enemies groups at you.

My next issue ties in with the level design, and that’s the fact that item pickups and exploration feel so unfulfilling. Item pickups aren’t exciting in Lies of P unless they’re from a chest (since chests can contain weapons), but any item found on the floor, is completely forgettable. What also feels like a kick in the dick is when you see an item on an edge, and you know you’re going to get jumped, and it’s not even worth it. This happens a fair few times throughout the game, and it was never worth it once.

That isn’t to say items are useless, the opposite, actually. On my first playthrough, I never used a weapon coating or throwable. But on my next run, they were super helpful when targeting a boss’s weakness. I encourage players who are struggling to engage with enemy weaknesses, because it will make a world of difference.

The Good

Lies of P is streamlined a bit compared to Dark Souls, in a good way. Progression comes naturally; I never felt the need to respec or farm for Ergo (souls), and upgrade materials are plentiful. You don’t need to put a lot of thought into crafting a build, you can just level Motivity or Technique and assemble a cool weapon that suits your style for the most part. The exception to this, for me, was a few of the later-game bosses in New Game Plus.

Bosses are fairly well made. Visually they’re very cool, but the difficulty is a bit on the easy side, especially if you use the Specter summon, who makes for a pretty solid distraction. On the flip side, some bosses towards the end of the game are incredibly aggressive, barely giving the player any time to attack. In those cases, the Specter felt mandatory.

This is the first and last time I will say these words, but Lies of P loves to aura farm. The main character, Pinnochio, has so much aura in the way he interacts with the world, like punching open doors, or the mechanical revving of your arm as you pull a door or lever. Even sharpening your weapon is done using a grinder on your elbow, sparks flying as it speeds up the longer you use it. It’s objectively cool, and these little touches are refreshing to see, they give the game real character.

The story in Lies of P takes a similar approach to Dark Souls in the way its told, but its a bit more direct with the cutscenes and dialogue. The story is based on Pinochio, you play as “P” who has a heart made of Geppetto’s son Carlo’s Ergo. You’re clearing out bosses at the behest of Geppetto. The city of Krat has been hit by multiple tragedies, including the spread of the petrification disease and the Puppet Frenzy, which has turned puppets against humans. The premise is interesting, but, similarly to Dark Souls, I still needed a lore video to explain everything to me.

An Overall Great Time, Leaving Me Wanting More

I had a great time with Lies of P, I can easily recommend it to anyone that enjoys Souls-like games, and I consider it the best entry outside of FromSoftware’s catalogue. For people who struggle with Souls-like games, I’m a bit on the fence about whether this one is for you. On one hand, I found a lot of the bosses easy, but difficulty definitely ramps up with the later bosses and some of the tougher enemies throughout the levels.

Regardless, Lies of P does most things well, and I look forward to jumping back in for the DLC this summer. For achievement hunters out there, I was able to get everything in 38 hours. I could have saved a few hours if I hadn’t messed up a quest twice… but overall, it’s a very doable, non-grindy game that I genuinely enjoyed getting every achievement for.

▲ Fluid and fun gameplay.

▲ Amazing setting and style, interesting take on Pinocchio.

▼ Item pickups and exploration disappointing.

▼ Level layout is fairly simple and uninteresting.

Lies of P Review

Playtime: 38 Hours

Version Played: PC

Price: £49.99