Lies of P Review: A Surprising Competent Souslike

A South Korea studio makes a dark version of Pinocchio and turns it into a Soulslike game, can that work? Round8 Studio shows with Lies of P that this weird mix can turn into a great game, but in the end it still falls short of true greatness.

A Familiar Feeling

As I open the big doors of the train station a dark and gloomy city awaits me. The environments are destroyed and the streets are flustered with dead bodies. Every corner is filled with aggressive puppets just waiting for a moment to strike. As I started to take my first steps in this world I really got a familiar feeling, the feeling of Dark Souls.

If you have ever played a FromSoftware Souls game you know exactly what to expect. The levels are built rather straightforward but you will always find some hidden secrets and little optional paths. Also gameplay itself just feels like Souls. Even if Lies of P clearly got more inspired by Bloodborne. There is a bigger incentive on parrying rather than dodging, but both options are viable.

One key difference between the FromSoftware games and Lies of P is the story itself. Lies of P also likes to tell a lot about items you find and environmental storytelling but it also tries to tell you its main story in a more traditional way.

The story is about what it is to be a human and when the lines between machine and humanity get crossed. It's not a groundbreaking tale but it still has its moments and keeps some kind of mystery going till the very end.

Drawing by Numbers

Round8 Studio did a good job of emulating the FromSoftware Souls formula and creating their own game out of it. Over the years, I tried a lot of Soulslike 3D games and none of them managed to keep my attention for too long. They just weren't as good as the originals. Lies of P however gets very close to this in its best moments.

Particularly in the middle of my playthrough, Lies of P felt amazing to play. Most of the playtime, you are in the City of Krat but at around 40% of the game, it dares to leave the city behind in order to let you explore a dark forest and an old cathedral. It was at that moment that Lies of P felt the best to me.

Visually the area was creative and beautiful and the progression just felt amazing at this point in the game. Everytime I found a new stone I needed to upgrade my weapon further or a quartz to invest in my skill system. I got a rush of excitement. Speaking of skill system, this is one part where Lies of P dares to improve on the Souls games.

You have a rather robust skill tree with many options that can really improve your gameplay. For most of my playtime I was really excited about every single point I got to invest in here. The game also gives you access to many different arm attachments. Those are pretty much a little extra tool you can use in combat.

My favourite one was the first one you get. It allows you to pull enemies right to you. Later in the game, you get many more different options and can even upgrade those. When it comes to progression, Lies of P feels rewarding and offers you many cool choices.

The Magic of FromSoftware

So, does all this mean that Lies of P is on a similar level than the FromSoftware games? Well, sadly not for many different reasons. The first has to be the world itself. Lies of P does overall a good job in creating a cool environment in the City of Krat. Some of the smaller areas like a factory called Venigni Works, really feel like a FromSoftware game.

But sadly, Lies of P can't keep up with this over the whole length of the game. Especially in the second part of the game I honestly got tired of Krat. The game started to look too samey. In the very end, Lies of P opens the same very different areas that I don't want to spoil here, but those sadly felt really uninspired and lacking in detail in my eyes.

Another area that lacks in Lies of P is the boss design. It's hard to describe but boss encounters just never reach the level of polish that FromSoftware games offer. Also the balancing feels a bit off to me. For 70% of the game, I found Lies of P rather easy, which I was fine with. But in the last 30%, the game had a big difficulty spike which just didn't feel good to me.

That was the moment where I realized the most that Lies of P just doesn't have the magic of Souls games. When I die ten times in a row on a Soul's boss, I never lose the motivation to push on. This is for two reasons, first I always feel like losing the fight is my fault and second I desperately want to see what's around the next corner. I always want to see what area is hiding after this fight, what other secrets I will find.

Lies of P sadly doesn't have this magic. The harder boss fights to me just felt annoying and I lost my curiosity in the world as I felt like I already saw everything it had to offer. Only the story itself kept me going in the end.

So close to greatness

All in all, Lies of P is a great game. Round8 Studio managed to mostly nail the concept of a Souls game and even put their own stamp on it. The progression system feels great and the more straightforward story kept me interested till the very end.

However, you can see that this is the first Souls-like game this team created. Boss fights lack polish and design. Also the game runs out of ideas in the later half of the game. But this could also be a question of budget.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with Lies of P and I look forward to what Round8 Studio will create next. With a bit more budget and more experience I dare to say they could get very close to FromSoftware's work and I will be here for it.

Rating: Recommended