Lies of P Review
Summary: Lies of P is the best alternative Soulsborne game if you want to taste something other than FromSoftware works.
4.3
Best Non-FromSoftware Soulsborne
Throughout history, we had multiple games with great ideas that weren’t as fruitful as they should have been because of gameplay issues. They either had the wrong genre or the gameplay mechanics weren’t made that could. Lies of P is the exception that beautifully embodies a unique idea with amazing gameplay.
Inspired by the story of Pinocchio written by Carlo Collodi, Lies of P is set in the steampunk city of Krat where all the puppets that were designed to help humans, go rogue and start attacking everybody. Now the duty lies on the shoulders of Pinocchio, the latest creation of Geppeto to put an end to all of this frenzy.
Inspired by the Soulsborne games, Lies of P borrows a bit of mechanics from all games made by FromSoftware and adds a little bit of their uniqueness to it. The best of them by far is the option to dismantle and combine different weapons with each other. Every weapon (except for the legendary ones) can be separated into the blade and the handle and mixed with each other. For instance, you can combine the handle of a large axe with the blade of a dagger or vice versa to create the weapon that suits you best.
Apart from that the game borrows most of its things from games made by FromSoftware, maybe too much. That is one of the issues I had with Lies of P. The game lacks in characteristics to become a unique Soulsborne game. Apart from combining weapons, the level design, combat mechanics, and overall gameplay are all something we saw in previous Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro games.
But if we put the inspiration to the side for a moment, the gameplay of Lies of P is one of the most polished and addictive I’ve seen in the latest Soulsborne games. In some cases like camera movement, it does even a better job than FromSoftware. The variation of enemies as you progress is amazing and it never feels repetitive.
The same goes for boss fights designs as well. Each will propose a different threat that requires a different strategy and in some cases even a change of weapon to make the fight easier. While the majority of bosses can be tackled down after a few attempts, there are a few like The King of Puppets that will truly test players’ patience. If we put it on a scale it is a good balance between having some challenging bosses and a few that will truly test you.
The same could be said about the world design of the game. Each area truly feels unique to its own and the pieces of lore you can find are put in the right way. Although I would have really loved it if the story had more depth to it as I expect from a Soulsborne game. On the other hand, following the main story apart from the lore was much more straightforward. This approach also helped with side-quests being less confusing as well.
While many games released this year had performance issues on PC, Lies of P is a solid and stable game. I didn’t notice any frame drops throughout the game, even in large areas or when multiple enemies were around. The only issue I noticed a couple of times was the textures not loading properly when you fast-travel if the DLSS was on, but apart from that there is not a single issue with the performance of this game.
Lastly, the secret ingredient of conveying feelings in a Soulsborne game is music and Lies of P truly delivers. Not only the music in the background but the songs you find throughout the game by exploring are also neatly picked and help with the mood of the game.
Final Thought
Lies of P is the best Soulsborne game that wasn’t made by FromSoftware. The gameplay and design of the game are great and have a little signature of their own but the density of inspiration is a bit too much. The steampunk design of the game truly fits with its story and the music helps to convey the mood but I wish the story had more depth.
About the Author
S. Masoud Kazemi An admirer of art that doesn't stop talking about films and games.
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