Lies of P [Review]

It is easy to play Lies of P and being hit with so many inspirations that the game took. The battle system and exploration are very similar to Dark Souls 1 with some visuals from Bloodborne. Sometimes, the game feels like an homage, but in others, a bit derivative and trying to catch on the trend.

When I started the game, I was expecting a game more similar to Bloodborne in gameplay, with its guns and distant counters, but Lies of P is actually very similar to Dark Souls 1: maze like corridors that are somewhat interconnected with different checkpoints on the beginning and end of an area.

The thing is: Dark Soul's 1 map is superb. It is a landmark in videogame design, and how everything connects seamlessly is elegant and genius. Filled with loading screens, Lies of P couldn't really make the same impression for me, the places felt a bit disconnected, and everything is too samey until the third act of the game. Fortunately, the battle system is good throughout, all the weapons are fun and different from one another, although some of them play a bit too similar to other games in the genre.

Undeniably pretty, Lies of P can sometimes be a good representation of an “old school” action game that is more sectiony and less reliant on open sections and areas. All the areas in the game have a “mini boss” or something like in the middle of them to spice things up, and they're often mandatory to progress. Unfortunately, aside from these said mini bosses and the full-fledged bosses, most of the regular enemies are repetitive and have little distinction one from another.

Being an Action RPG, the progression is hit or miss here. While the weapons are nice and different from one another, the respec mechanic is too late introduced on the game, and there aren't many weapons that share the same level scaling. What I also didn't like were the equipment proper, that don't show on the character and are just numbers going up. All the RPG structure of the game feels compromised. Due to that, maybe, Lies of P is one of the shortest clones of “From Software” games that I've played, clocking around 25 hours to finish one of the game endings.

On the story, the game felt a bit coward on committing to the themes of its aesthetics and worldbuilding. There's little to no real reason for these characters to be related from Pinocchio (and other public domain stories) apart from the “dark fantasy twist” vibes. Lying is not a mechanic proper, nor the themes of the other characters and properties. It felt like a missed opportunity, and a story that relies more on how it looks than how it sounds.

Lies of P for me was similar to something like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. A game that had some good ideas but so-so execution. I hope for the sequel of the former to be similar to the sequel of the latter, because “Jedi Survivor” is one of my favorite action games ever. I'll return to a second entry, but not to the DLC of this one.

7.5/10

And yes: I played the whole game with the German Shepherd mask.