Let’s be real. On the list of expected things, Pinocchio Dark Souls isn’t one of them. Lies of P is a soulslike from Neowiz and Round 8 Studios that takes inspiration from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. While contemporary audiences are more familiar with Disney’s Pinocchio offerings, the novel originated the story.
Disney’s animated film (and the far less impressive live-action remake) tells a much lighter version of the story though the horrific and terrifying elements of the original appear. Children being turned into donkeys, a living puppet with a growing nose and kidnapping have all the hallmarks of great horror and that’s where Neowiz explores.
Set in Krat, a once prosperous city, now overrun by rampaging puppets, the protagonist P must find Gepetto and work to put a stop to the fatal puppet uprising.
Lies of P Review
Like most soulslikes, Lies of P wears its inspiration loud and proud. It could not be more obvious that the game is intended to borrow very liberally from the formula. However, where other games inspired by From Software have attempted to put a unique spin or theme on the formula, Lies of P prefers to stick to the established playbook and offers a very clear imitation of Bloodborne with puppets instead of Lovecraftian horrors.
Also like other soulslikes that don’t fully grasp the how and why of From Software’s incredible creations, Lies of P frequently falls short. Most egregiously in combat. Combat is the bread and butter of any soulslike and Lies of P’s is simply not good enough. It includes the standard light and heavy attacks, dodge rolls, blocking and parrying but fails to innovate or even replicate what’s come before. It’s too easy to accidentally create long queues of attacks which, for some reason, you’re unable to get out of. Finding yourself at the mercy of a boss because you pressed the attack button one too many times is infuriating.
I never could find a good rhythm with Lies of P’s combat. No matter which base weapon I chose or which fighting style I was using, something just felt off. There wasn’t ever a moment where it all clicked and I could see the matrix. Instead, I felt, from start to finish, that I was wrestling with the controls and they were trying to wrench free of my grasp.
In an attempt to add something new to the formula, in Lies of P, when you block, unless you perform a perfect parry, you take damage. Should you attack your enemies during a brief window after this, you can recover your health. It’s a system borrowed from Bloodborne, but it doesn’t quite work here. First of all, performing perfect parries seems to be down to luck more often than skill. It’s difficult to figure out when to parry and even when you do manage it, you’re usually pushed away from the enemy or so far back as to make it impossible to recover your health.
I should not that enemies can hit you from much further away than you can hit them, so you’re often at a distance disadvantage which renders the whole blocking and health recovery system moot. Something else that makes it superfluous is the very generous dodge mechanic. You can dodge enemies all day and lose no health which makes it a far better option, especially considering perfect parries don’t give you any kind of advantage.
Sadly, bosses don’t play by the same rules as mobs and the difficulty spikes during boss fights are pretty egregious. You’ll find yourself mowing down mobs left and right without nary a care in the world, health bar untouched and P unscathed. Yet, set foot in a boss arena and suddenly you’ll be facing off against an enemy with length combos that close large distances in an instant and perform AOE attacks you can’t possibly escape. That’s not to mention that dodging suddenly loses its viability thanks to those combos I mentioned happening in such quick succession that you’re forced to block and lose health. The same issues of recovering health by attacking are present but even more pronounced as you’re further from the boss and have much more trouble landing hits.
Inspired by Bloodborne and Yharnam, Lies of P misses the boat in its world-building and design. Yharnman was a sprawling, labyrinthine mess of locations all twisting and curled up upon one another. It felt like a cohesive, interesting space. Lies of P on the other hand feels very linear. There are some shortcuts to open but they’re almost performative; “look, remember shortcuts in Bloodborne.” As you progress through the story, you leave areas behind and move on to the next. Not that you don’t do that in Bloodborne or Dark Souls, there’s just something about the linear design of Lies of P that feels like you’re being funnelled down a corridor.
More often than not, Lies of P truly feels like the “Can I copy your homework?” meme. The basics are there but without understanding the assignment it rings hollow. That’s not to say Lies of P is entirely without merit. It’s easy to go in on a non-From Software soulslike because Miyazaki and co consistently do it flawlessly. The theme and ideas presented in Lies of P have potential and some of the systems could be worked on in future to make them more compelling.
I like the idea of being able to split your weapons and connect different handles with different blades. In the game though, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. The same can be said of most mechanics and features, They’re in Lies of P because they exist in Dark Souls or Bloodborne not because they have a good reason for existing in Lies of P. If they did, Lies of P would be a much. more original and enjoyable game.
Being inspired by and ripping off is a fine line and Lies of P does not tread it well. At times it threatens to break free from From Software’s hulking behemoth and present something fresh, new and interesting but it adheres too closely to the formula. It seems to include features more on a checklist basis instead of an organic one which makes it seem overstuffed with ideas that don’t really go anywhere.
For a first go, it’s a decent one. Ok, not great. Played in short bursts it gets the most mileage as you’re unlikely to butt up against frustration due to inconsistent difficulty, cheap boss moves and/or half-baked mechanics. Being on Game Pass is a perfect place for Lies of P. It gives players a chance to try it without risk and move on if they find it lacking.
Lies of P might be a decent entry point into soulslikes for someone who’s never played one before but coming into it after Elden Ring, Bloodborne or even Sekiro is a tall order. Lies of P simply doesn’t stand up.
The moral of the story is that inspiration is fine, as long as it leads to something new. Straight copying masquerading as inspiration is a creative dead end. No lie.
Lies of P was reviewed on Xbox Series X using digital code provided by Xbox ANZ.
