Lies of P Review

ign.com:

You know we’ve entered a new era in the increasingly crowded soulslike arms race when we’re now turning classic children’s stories into dark, twisted Bloodborne pseudo-sequels, but hey: here we are. Yes, Lies of P is yet another game inspired by the dark and unforgiving FromSoftware masterpieces that have captured the hearts of so many (myself included), but it’s also an undeniably impressive standout amid a sea of games chasing the soulslike trend. It suffers from some uneven difficulty and overly linear level design, but its impressive story, extremely well-tuned combat, and memorable areas and boss fights mean that this isn’t one you should miss out on. It’s fair to say that sometimes Lies of P emulates its inspiration so closely it feels like someone else is pulling its strings a little too forcefully, but that puppet show is still a whole lot of fun to watch.

It’s both praise and criticism to say that Lies of P follows the blueprint pioneered by FromSoftware down to the finest detail, with precious few deviations. The UI and menus are strikingly similar to every soulslike you’ve ever played, the aesthetic is almost identical to Bloodborne, and combat is a methodical dance of attacks and parries designed with difficulty in mind. It sticks so close to the script that it got to the point where I’d meet a seemingly friendly character and think “Ah, this is the one who’s going to betray me later,” with full confidence that I was spot on in that assessment. There’s even a major boss with the same name and rough appearance as a Dark Souls boss, which is honestly just kinda hilarious.

In fact, this isn’t even the first Eurocentric soulslike featuring murderous marionettes! Almost exactly one year ago I reviewed Steelrising,