Lies of P hands-on impressions — A boy must hunt

Neowiz took the world by storm when they announced their Bloodborne inspired project Lies of P a few years back. At the very least, it took my world by storm because I am a diehard Fromsoftware fan, so I’m always on the lookout for anything that can potentially satiate my desire for a challenge. Lies of P is a third person action role playing game that aims to retell a darker version of Pinocchio’s story. The newest demo announced at the 2023 Summer Game Fest allowed us to get some hands-on impressions of the gameplay, so let’s get right into the thick of it.

The Lies of P demo features around two hours of gameplay, taking you through the first two chapters of the full game. I can’t speak much in terms of the narrative, but the concept of lying seems to be an important aspect, and you get your first taste of it as part of the demo.
You meet an array of key characters, including Geppetto himself alongside other familiar names, and visit major locations, whilst learning the various core mechanics of gameplay.

The basics of combat are akin to any Soulsborne game, with a stamina-based system from dodging, and light and heavy attacks. There is a perfect block mechanic but I didn’t see a parry one surprisingly. The game does add some flavor by causing an enemy to become Groggy, which essentially stuns them and allows you to capitalize on an attack. There’s also a weapon durability system that has you sharpening your weapon to restore it’s pristineness. The bonfire equivalent checkpoints are known as Stargazers and souls used to level up are called Ergo. You level up your character through the following stats: vigor, vitality, capacity, motivity, technique, and advance, which are similar to the ones you probably already know (i.e. strength, dexterity).

Neowiz’s newest project goes above and beyond to stand out from being just another uninspired Souls-like clone. Of course the game welcomes different builds and play styles just from the sheer number of weapon types there are, but it also introduces what is known as the Weapon Assemble system. This refreshing new mechanic allows you to essentially build a custom weapon based on the blade and handle so that it scales to the main stat you are leveling up. For example, I mainly allocated my skill points into the Technique attribute, which my rapier had B scaling with. If I didn’t enjoy the weapon moveset of the rapier, which was thrusting, and didn’t want to respec my character to a different attribute, I could detach the blade of another weapon and combine it with the handle of the rapier, retaining the B scaling to Technique! This mechanic allows for an unbound amount of experimentation and customization.

Moreso each weapon also inherits two Fable Arts, which are sort of like Ashes of Wars from Elden Ring. These unique special abilities can be executed after a blue energy bar, located beneath your stamina meter, is filled up. Some of these Arts allow for flurry attacks whereas others allow for guard parries. These aren’t all the tricks up Pinocchio’s sleeve because he’s got an entire mechanical left arm that can be replaced with different tools too! You start off with a generic metal arm that can be used to swing punches at enemies, but can be switched out for something that serves more of a utility function, such as a puppet string that hooks in enemies. I’d expect a wider arsenal of mechanical arms to discover and play around with in the full release.

It’s a bit disappointing that the demo only had five weapons to try out, with none of them being the Bloodborne-inspired ones I saw during gameplay trailers. I was really looking forward to trying out the Whirlgig Saw equivalent in Lies of P, but that will have to wait until the full game. But the ones that are in the demo are still quite varied, each scaling with a different main stat and showcasing drastically different movesets and Fable Arts. You got your basic swinging sword that’s more balanced and a more slow hitting greatsword. Consumables can also be applied onto weapons that grant temporary elemental buffs, but that’s nothing new for all you Soulsborne veterans.

We all know that the highlight of any Fromsoftware inspired game are the boss fights, and the demo contains three distinctive encounters. I won’t spoil any of them, as it’s better to go in blind and see for yourself, but I will say that the designs of these bosses are phenomenally inspired by the disturbing lore of Pinocchio. However, actually going toe to toe with these foes is a different story however, as the game shows its greatest potential flaw through these battles. Dodge windows feel off and the invincibility frames are inconsistent from the visual effects, meaning sometimes a move will hit you and other times it won’t. There’s still this overall feeling of clunkiness in the combat that I just can’t put my finger on.

For an indie developer’s first major game, Lies of P looks absolutely gorgeous on the PlayStation 5. I would even go as far as to say that it looks better than Bloodborne, given that game’s age. The gothic-inspired levels and Victorian-era environments are extremely detailed, with facial animations and features looking better than some triple A titles! The game offers 2 modes: graphical and performance, and even a high frame rate mode of up to 120 fps on compatible displays. I experienced no bugs, crashes, or any performance issues with the game, which is a very good sign in a demo. That being said, the load times are a little bit long, sometimes taking upwards of 10 seconds.

I’m just as excited for the release of Lies of P after playing the demo as I was when the game was first announced back in 2021. It definitely doesn’t have the same amount of polish or allure that Bloodborne has, but it comes pretty damn close. Hopefully the team takes the last few months of development to polish out the remaining rough edges. If you’re a Fromsoftware fan, then playing this game is a no brainer, especially when there’s a free demo out for you to get hands-on with.

Lies of P will be released on PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on September 19, 2023. Standard editions will be priced at $59.99 and deluxe editions will be priced at $69.99. Pre-orders of the standard edition get the “Mischievous Puppet’s Set” outfit whereas pre-orders of the deluxe edition get the “Great Venigni’s Set” outfit, a unique mask, and lets players access the game three days early.

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