He’s A Real Boy
HIGH Superb aesthetics, tons of quality-of-life features, flexible systems.
LOW The true final boss is an OP nightmare.
WTF Trapping players by disabling fast-travel before a boss fight.
Konstantin did a great job of singing this game’s praises in his main review and I agree with almost everything he said, so this second opinion will focus on how Lies of P is a great response to the groundbreaking formula that FromSoft pioneered.
It’s no secret that the popularity of soulslikes has exploded in recent years. However, while many developers want to hitch a ride on those coattails, the majority simply recreate (to a lesser degree) what has been done before without fully understanding what the original decisions mean, why they were made, or how they can be improved and polished. Even FromSoft — the creator of the genre — is itself guilty of this at times, persisting with certain choices while resisting innovation.
In this regard, I see Lies of P as a true next-generation soulslike — not in a more polygons, faster hardware sense, but as something that takes the traditional formula and creates a noteworthy experience by taking a hard look at what’s been established and then making several significant changes, though they might not be immediately apparent.
For example, FromSoft is notorious for fragmented storytelling. Players who want to fully grasp what’s going on have to read every item description, infer relationships and events from suggestions, find secrets — and sometimes even with all that achieved, they still have to go to YouTube and hope that loremasters have created an explainer that strings it all together. While I can understand the rationale behind it, too many others follow in the same esoteric footsteps with even less success. In contrast, Lies of P proves that soulslikes don’t need obfuscated stories in order to work.
In this Pinocchio-inspired tale, the developers are clear about who’s doing what and why, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Though there is a bit of intrigue and there are certainly lore notes to be read, P‘s world is populated with characters who have much to say in plain, straightforward language. The constant company of Gemini (cricket) supports this — while he’s not a chatterbox, he does pipe up with important information when appropriate, filling gaps in knowledge from the perspective of someone who knows more than the player. Lonely, decaying worlds have been done to death. Crafting something different by offering conversational NPCs and clearly communicated plot beats doesn’t take away from the experience — it just creates a different, equally viable one.
That brings me to my next bit of praise for Lies of P — most of the sidequests are easily discoverable from reasonable play and don’t require an FAQ or wiki to figure out. In fact, P goes out of its way to help with this by offering voiceovers, text and cues in the menu that tell the player when they’ve triggered something that requires further investigation. These assists don’t reveal every secret, of course, but they go a long way towards getting the player involved and feeling empowered, rather than stymying them with increasingly-arcane secrets.
In terms of gameplay itself, it hews closely to traditional Souls lines, but with improvements that retain the core qualities. For example, there’s a generous respec option which lets players experiment with different builds at-will, once they’ve unlocked it through campaign progress. Even better, the majority of weapons in P can be disassembled to mix and match both blades and handles. This means that players are almost guaranteed to be able to find or build a weapon that suits them, and then they can spec to effectively support that playstyle, even if they don’t discover what style they prefer until late in the game. Upgrade materials are plentiful, and there are items that can further modify weapons to suit a player’s taste. Lies of P wants players to become comfortable with the combat, not punish them for committing to the wrong weapon too early.
Something that has been a point of contention in the genre is that a segment of the soulslike audience feels the only good world is one that is dense and interconnected, looping back upon itself and linked with shortcuts. Basically, they only want something that mimics the original Dark Souls.
Interestingly, that multi-layered Dark Souls design wasn’t the original concept put forth by FromSoft, and they have diverged from it themselves — see Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls II and Elden Ring to name a few. Lies of P decides to eschew the fan favorite and instead goes with largely linear environments, and it’s a fine choice. Rather than leaning into the kind of exploration where a player might get lost by frequently circling back and trying to figure out which way is the right one, it’s always easy to ascertain the main path and advance, although there are small divergences and pockets for those who like to poke around. Personally, I enjoyed the greater focus on forward momentum and didn’t feel as though the experience was lesser for it.
Overall, Lies of P is the first soulslike in quite some time that intentionally stays within the classic parameters set by FromSoft, while offering enough noteworthy changes and flexible quality-of-life options to make it feel like it’s built on the material that came before it, rather than being just a copy of it.
I’m a fan of what P‘s developers have done, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that every inch is absolutely dripping with style. The combat has flair, the graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing, and the aesthetics are unerringly on point. This cool-as-hell Belle Époque automaton with dreams of becoming a real boy is a protagonist that I enjoyed adventuring with from start to finish. If I had to critique something, I’d say that I wouldn’t mind less emphasis on parrying, but it’s hard to be too upset about it, as there are accommodations available there, as well.
As someone who witnessed the birth of soulslikes and has spent time with every significant entry since then, Lies of P is earns my praise for being a smartly-designed, sharply observant piece that is both a commentary on and an advancement of a genre that is here to stay.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio, and published by Neowiz Games. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, and XBO/S/X. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 35 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: This game has received an M rating from the ESRB and contains Blood and Violence. The official summary reads: “This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of the puppet Pinocchio in his search to become human. From a third-person perspective, players explore environments, collect items, and battle various enemies (e.g., puppets, mechanoid creatures) in melee-style combat. Players use swords and mechanical arms with ranged attacks (e.g., Puppet String, Flamberge) to kill enemies. Boss battles depict more prolonged combat against larger enemies. Battles are highlighted by slashing sounds, cries of pain, and large blood-splatter effects. Some environments depict bloody corpses and large blood stains on the ground.”
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Every line of dialogue is accompanied by written text, and I personally found the font size to be easily readable. Sound is completely unimportant for playing and enjoying this game since there are no audio-only cues for incoming attacks. I played it for some time with the volume turned fully off and had no problems. This game is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram and the controls are remappable. The default scheme is similar to other soulslikes, meaning we use the circle button to run/roll/dodge, the shoulder buttons are for light and strong attacks, the square button is for using items, the left stick is for movement and the right stick handles the camera.
Transformers fan. MOTU stan. Black Lives Matter, pro-LGBTQIA. Anti-fascist.
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