Whaddya get when you cross Pinocchio with a hefty measure of Bloodborne and a dash of Sekiro? A bloody great Souls-like apparently. Having swiftly become one of the most talked about and critically successful releases of last year in an already strong year for gaming, which has seen seen the likes of Breath of the wild, Baldur’s gate 3, Alan Wake and two of the most acclaimed horror titles of the last two decades a la Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space both seeing remakes. Developed by Neowitz games and Round8Studio, Lies of P has managed to securely cement itself into the imposing pantheon of the souls-like genre. Sharing its DNA with the likes of FromSoftware’s earlier works of Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1 which, akin to those titles, will see you being subjected to around 20 hours of intricately designed labyrinthian levels. Though these are ones which which remain fervently true to the world imagined by Carlo Collodi, with a sprinkle of the grim-dark aesthetic.

The game’s aesthetic contemporaries are the likes of the aforementioned RE4, Bioshock and Bloodborne. Much like those games its world serves as a compelling backdrop for a slew of diverse themes. In Lies of P these range from puppet rebellions, corrupt businessmen and rampant industrialism. All which lend themselves to a varied and tightly woven set of areas to explore. Its themes have remained with me as strings upon Pinocchio himself. The world of the game is initially fragmented by Gepetto, who is said to have initiated the puppet frenzy. The first murder by a puppet revolting against its own was enacted by the ‘King of Riddles’ a recurring character who appears to deliver cryptic exposition and, doing all he can to earn this title, bombard us with a slew of riddles to decipher and respond to. And so begins our journey. The streets awash with puppets, others with the petrified undying and in the darkest corners dwells its bosses.

Enemy design has always been a crucial tenement in the design philosophy of the souls-like genre. Too little variation and the games becomes swiftly repetitive, too much and the enemies of the game’s world can be lost in the enveloping minutia. Lies of P strikes a fine balance between the two. The initial areas of the game are home to the puppets, the ensuing middle is occupied by the corpses and the final third amalgamates both enemy types to create new dangers for us to face. Lies of P never feels relentless in its enemy placement too. As was one of my enduring issues with Dark Souls 2. Rather, we are subjected to very few instances where the odds felt overwhelming or unfair in their design and placement. Attacks are fair, timings are crucial and the enemy aggression demands that the player reacts swiftly and capitalises upon gaps in their animation. Each area adheres to this crucial rule of fairness. It was exceedingly rare that I felt myself cheated as I died over and over. The urge to continue on and the sense of conquering a mini boss, area or boss was far too addictive to simply give in.

Lies of P’s art style is also one of its core strengths. Whilst the game shares its mechanical DNA with the souls games, its aesthetic lineage lies elsewhere, in the realms of the aforementioned video game titles. Combining as many influences from Pinocchio’s world itself as it does gothic and even cosmic horror aesthetics. From Lovecraftian abominations later in the game’s runtime, to the streets of its opening hours. The city of Krat, prior to a late game event, feels akin to the tenebrous world conjured by Edgar Allen Poe, or the darkened London streets reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It’s no small task being compared to the behemoth that is Bloodborne, whose influences bear the same lineage. But Lies of P is more than just a permutation upon this. It becomes its own work of art. Each puppet design is unique to the area you find them lurking in. Antiquated ‘puppets of the future’, butlers, police officers, miners and even infants all form the vast tapestry you’ll encounter. Fortunately this variation serves both design variations and gameplay approaches with each new enemy presenting varying timings to learn and bearing a new Achille’s heel for the player to exploit.

Just how do we exploit and capitalise upon these combat opportunities? Well, Lies of P has you covered. Boasting a diverse roster of weapons to experiment and tinker with. Be it greatswords or daggers, hammers and axes or even boss weapons. Whilst initial impressions may trick you into believing the weapon pool is minute, its variation lies in the assembly system. Upon return to the game’s hub, the tranquil Hotel Krat, the player can locate the resident blacksmith NPC Eugenie, who can swap weapon’s handles and blades to create a number of cruel and obtuse tools for you. Each handle can be altered with ‘cranks’, which will bolster a weapon’s scaling in technique, advance and motivity. Motivity benefits heavier weaponry, technique is suited for fast and nimble weapons and advance benefits split damage weaponry. This system provided me with endless hours of tweaking and alteration to settle upon a weapon. Even so, when I believed I had happened upon the perfect tool, the game threw me another curveball in the form of a viable boss weapon or new blade to experiment with.

Furthermore, lies of P boasts a greater depth of combat than its souls-like contemporaries. Combining the prosthetic systems from Sekiro in the form of legion arm abilities and the game’s fable arts which are unique to each weapon. The legion arm shares only minor similarities to Sekiro’s prosthetic in the sense that it can bear varying armaments, yet they provide as much variation as the prosthetic does for its respective game. Each legion arm provides the player with unique gameplay opportunities and benefits. Be it a shield, ranged gun, grapple or poison buildups, each feels unique and beneficial given the right circumstances or build. Fable arts are a fine addition too, particularly on boss weapons which arrive with a slew of highly powerful fable attacks, each unique to its respective weapon. Amulets can also be equipped to provide stat or attribute bonuses along with customisable parts which can be swapped out to provide damage reduction and status-effect resistance. I found a lot to experiment with here, locating varying weapons which punished certain enemies or switching out my legion arms for others in order to capitalise upon certain bosses and combat scenarios. With such a vast arsenal to experiment with, Lies of P’s combat feels far more enriched and holds great replay value because of this very reason.

Let’s talk bosses, another aspect which Lies of P nigh on perfects. In a roster of so many fights there were very few which saw me feeling frustrated or cheated. Luckily there’s no ball -breaking bed of chaos clone or an agonising Capra Demon replica. This is a fluid roster which proves rather difficult to locate any faults within its eclectic mix of challenge and awe. Do not for a second believe that this odyssey shall be an easier affair. Particularly as the game reaches its middle hours, its difficulty greatly increases. Though admittedly, each boss presented a fair, challenging and surmountable experience. With perseverance each one’s move set can be memorised and countered. A rule which a lot of souls-like struggle to adhere to when it comes to the marathon of its games runtime. With so many bosses to design and so many to perfect, some developers result to recycling or in the most egregious cases, resort to crushingly impenetrable and cheap-feeling difficulty spikes. Lies of P’s roster can often feel insurmountable, but I struggle to choose a boss who’s design, arena and fight experience has not remained with me long after my time with the game has ended. I was challenged, forced to experiment with varied approaches and ultimately rewarded with the cathartic release of besting them.

NPC’s in Lies of P also present Pinocchio with a cast of deluded psychopaths, megalomaniacal aristocrats, callous thieves and righteous liars to interact with. Some of the most memorable NPCs embody all of these aspects. Whose occasionally acerbic and often touching dialogue along with their voice actor’s delivery, allows for this dysfunctional lot to evolve beyond just being shallow archetypes of the genre. Far-reaching effects are also felt through the way in which we interact with these. Choosing either to lie or tell the truth to them, we can be a manipulator, an ally or a puppet for their own ends. Often these optional quest lines can fall to the wayside or remain cryptically buried amidst the vast amount of content that souls-like games boast. Yet Lies of P implements streamlined quality of life changes to signal when an NPC wishes to talk to us or where a quest may lie in wait. To locate these changes we can interact with a stargazer (the game’s checkpoint and warp systems) and spy a miniature icon of the character who waits for us to return to them. Other’s can be found along the player’s route through the imposing levels, serving either as a welcome respite or another threat for us to negotiate. With such distinct and varied characters, along with their inseparable importance from the plot, these characters are granted the permanence of their promised resolutions along with the sting of betrayal and the joy of connection.

My time spent with Lies of P was one of great hardships, memorable encounters and remaining in a state of awe throughout as I often found myself remembering that this is indeed a game inspired by Pinocchio. Its runtime never sagged nor propelled me forward with pause, each time I returned I found myself proceeding through a grim-dark, oppressive world of intrigue and challenge. It’s initial premise found me remaining sceptical, though I was swiftly won over by its broad array of weaponry, momentous boss fights, cunning NPCs and the truths and lies I told between it all. Lies of P is a grand entry into the souls-like genre and displays great promise for the developer’s behind it. I’m just still holding out for that Alice in Wonderland grim-dark, though for now here’s to their compelling first foray into the genre.