Lies of P Reviews

This is one heck of a soulslike that stands on its own from FromSoftware games. The combat is a unique combination of aspects of Bloodborne, with the clean, fast melee systems of the Souls trilogy/ Elden Ring. Bosses are pretty basic from the beginning, but become increasingly harder as time goes on. Level design is impeccable - enough to give Dark Souls 1 a run for its money. Combat: There are a number of aspects of Bloodborne that make their way into Lies of P. The famous rally system is implemented in a unique manner, allowing for two outcomes when blocking. First, you execute a perfect block, where you interrupt your enemies attack with a perfectly-timed block and create stagger damage. Second, you block and take damage, but the rally system allows the player to regain their health. The combination of these two can seem a bit too forgiving for a soulslike, especially towards the beginning of the game. But you'll be thanking your lucky stars this system exists for end-game bosses. The combat itself is a typical combination of strength (motivity) and dexterity (technique) builds from souls games, with heavy weapons that hit like trucks and lighter weapons that slash enemies in flashing flurries of attacks. What makes Lies of P unique is the implementation of the Legion arm, a customizable arm that your character wields that can have unique abilities to aid in combat, ranging from harpooning an enemy to send your character flying into them, to setting off a fire blast that'll smoke any enemies in your proximity. All-in-all, the combat is amazing, and, most importantly, challenging. Parrying is an incredibly important feature of this game, and you'll be hard pressed to survive for long without learning this skill. Attacks are never too complex where the player will have excessive trouble learning attacks, but I have to warn players that the parry timings will take time to learn and are generally unforgiving with small timing windows. Level and Game Design: My aforementioned statement about Lies of P having incredible level design is not exaggerated. The way that levels interconnect with stargazer (bonfires) locations repeatedly throughout a level is downright impressive. I often said aloud, "wow, how the heck did they think of putting that there?" And the placement of stargazers never seemed too far away from one another. This doesn't mean that this game didn't require high level play to survive, and very rarely did I become frustrated from traversal sections. Bosses: I won't say too much here because, as is the case with any souls game, the bosses are the best part of these games. Just know that the bosses tend to be pretty simple with their movesets at the beginning, and progress to such a high difficulty and complexity that Lies of P bosses will give nearly any Elden Ring endgame boss a run for their money. Your reaction time, ability to parry, and decision making (as is in any souls game) will be tested to their limits. But not once did I ever think bosses were unfair or unbalanced. The devs should be proud of how intuitive and challenging their bosses are, and they are one heck of a treat to fight. Conclusion: Lies of P has taken many aspects of souls and soulslike games before it, and has refined it to near perfection. The result is a clean, challenging experience that will give any gamer a rewarding experience and the unique catharsis that is unique to souls games and the challenges they pose. Score: 9.8/10.

This game has great combat, graphics, storyline, characters, bosses, weapons, skills, & music.

We are faced with a title that is certainly successful even if fans of the souls style may not be totally satisfied. The beauty of this game is impeccable and the difficulty is definitely medium/high (for me it is very high because I am terrible and I don't have enough fingers) The combat system is really enjoyable and fluid. I feel like recommending it even if unfortunately I haven't finished it yet. Rating 8/10

Probably the BEST souls-like out there outside of FromSoftware games. Well, to be honest, it may be on par with Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 for me personally. May even be better than both of them, quite difficult to say. But let me just quickly rate different aspects of Lies of P: Story: 10/10. Yes, literal beautiful story with a great plot and main characters. Not just some sort of basic lore (Yeah, Elden Ring?). Characters: 10/10. Not gonna spoil anything, you gotta see it yourself. Level design: 10/10. You don't feel bored at any moment of the game. Devs really did their best to make each zone interesting and challenging. Enemy design: 9.5/10. At a certain point of the game, a few monsters seemed to be a little repetitive to me, but maybe that's just me. Graphics: 10/10. On par with Elden Ring I'd say. Weapons and combat mechanics: 10/10. Beats both Elden Ring and DS3 without a question. So much stuff to experiment with! Bosses: 8.5/10 or 9/10. Some bosses in the second part of the game seemed a bit plain/boring to me, but that's more of an exception rather than the rule. Other than that, INCREDIBLE boss fights! Soundtrack: 10/10. PERFECT combination with a lot of heartwarming and heartbreaking moments in the game's story. Made me cry at some points, not gonna lie. QoL features: 10/10. You have to see it yourself. Overall, a masterpiece, as close to perfection as it could be. I wish I could erase my memory and play it once again. My final rating: 9.5/10

Oh man this game is tough, especially in NG+ when boss can 1-2 hit you, but it's extremely fun. Compared to Khazan, which was my first introduction to Souls games, Lies of P feels more serious and punishing. If you're up for a challenge, it's definitely got it. The parry system is very strict. There's almost no room for mistakes and it takes practice to get right. The achievements are tricky too. If you miss something, you could mess up your entire playthrough. So, if you want to get everything, you really have to pay attention. MUSIC The game has some really nice music. After defeating a tough boss fight, I'd often play the records just to relax and calm my nerves. COMBAT The combat can feel clunky at first, but when you finally nail the timing and land that perfect follow up, it's incredibly satisfying. The sense of achievement when everything clicks makes it all worth it. WEAPONS The game has an interesting weapon system. You can try different combinations to find the one that best suits your playstyle. STYLE I really like the steampunk style of the game. The art design of the bosses, weapons, cinematics just looks amazing. Overall, the game is tough but fair. It feels amazing when you finally beat a tough part. It might not be perfect, but from my experience, I'd give it a solid 10/10.

Everyone says you CAN'T beat this game without learning to parry. I would like to say that they are wrong. Keep dodging those attacks king.

I have 450 hours in BG3. Fully choices matter, even customisation. So the fact that my hours in Lies of P nearly meet that, says something about how AMAZING Lies of P really is. The bosses are stunning, the storyline is great, visuals are absolutely STUNNING. Voice acting is great, Shai was a stand out to me. There are a lot of small details that you don't really notice until you've played the game a couple of times. Super replayable, on NG+13 right now.

Lies of P is an audacious and surprisingly refined entry into the Soulslike genre, blending the haunting elegance of Belle Époque Europe with the grim, mechanical horror of a world overrun by rogue puppets. Neowiz and Round8 Studio have taken the bare bones of the Pinocchio myth and reassembled them into something far more brutal, morally complex, and stylishly sinister. From the moment you awaken in the decaying city of Krat, the game wraps you in a suffocating atmosphere — cobblestone streets bathed in gaslight, grotesque automatons lurking in alleys, and a soundtrack that oscillates between melancholy and menace. The visual storytelling is top-tier, easily rivaling FromSoftware’s best in terms of world-building and environmental storytelling. Combat is the heart of the experience, and Lies of P delivers with tight, responsive mechanics. Each encounter demands precision — dodges, parries, and perfectly timed strikes. The game's standout mechanic is the customizable "Legion Arm," allowing you to tailor your playstyle with gadgets ranging from flamethrowers to grappling hooks. Weapon crafting is deep, encouraging experimentation and rewarding mastery. Narratively, the game leans into themes of identity, deception, and humanity. The titular "lies" aren’t just a gimmick — they influence the story, unlock new paths, and even affect the ending. The moral choices feel weighty, often forcing you to question whether becoming “real” is worth the cost. That said, Lies of P doesn’t escape the genre’s trappings. Difficulty spikes can feel uneven, and some bosses cross the line from challenging to frustrating. The lore, while rich, sometimes becomes obscured by overly cryptic delivery. Still, these are minor flaws in a game that feels like much more than a derivative. Lies of P doesn’t just imitate its inspirations — it innovates within them. It's one of the best Soulslike experiences outside of FromSoftware, and a hauntingly beautiful testament to the power of twisted storytelling. Rating: 8/10

Review after a first playthrough, which took about 35 hours. Long story short, this game has a really snappy combat system and a super cool aesthetic and storyline. It is a really good example of the modern soulslike genre, and I would recommend it to anyone who is into those kinds of games. So first off and most obvious, the art and story teams are on point. Lies of P is a reimaginging of the story of Pinocchio. They managed to take that source material and keep it whimsical as well as make it dark and tense. They did little things that really link it up. For example, a lot of the humans in the game are wearing animal masks, you will be given the opportunity to lie frequently, and a cricket does talk to you. They are not just following the story of Pinocchio, but no spoilers from me. The combat system in this game is more guard and parry heavy than dodge heavy. That means in combat you won't be dodge rolling around as much in this game as you would in a lot of other soulslikes. Which gives it a more "stand your ground" feel, which I personally prefer. I feel like I am dancing with the enemies more this way. There are a couple of things that this game does differently that I really appreciated. Firstly, when you run out of flasks in this game you will be able to build another charge of it back up by attacking successfully. You can do this as many times as you like as long as you don't die; even in boss fights. It gets you to push a little bit further in the levels and use your last flask early during bossfights; which I liked. Secondly, the normal weapon system is neat. Every non-special weapon can be broken into a handle and a head. Each of those has a unique Fable attack associated with it, which is sort of a magic attack. Also, damage is linked to the head of the weapon (which can be upgraded) while the handle is linked to weapon scaling and moveset. That lets you have a lot of customization on the moveset you want to have moreso than many other games I've played. People seem to like to compare this game to Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Lords of the Fallen. Bloodborne I have not played, so no comment there. The Sekiro comparison is likely due to the focus on guarding and parrying correctly. I played Sekiro last year and while I think the variety of combat is higher in Lies of P, the depth of combat is higher in Sekiro. P is not as difficult as Sekiro either. The Lords of the Fallen comparison is a bit more of an Apples:Oranges comparison, they are just different things. I think they came out about the same time which is the main reason people compare them. I played LotF a few months ago (in 2025) using a parry heavy build, so my perspective is that LotF is not really meant to be played that way. It is more of a traditional dodging-style soulslike slow combat experience. I do think that when both P and LotF launched P was probably hands down better; but they have continuously updated LotF since launch and not P. In 2025, I think that LotF has more to offer in the base game than Lies of P; though Lies of P is still great. As for criticisms, there is a weapon sharpening/durability system in the game that I didn't like. You need to keep your weapon sharp in order to use it, so sometimes you will need to stop and sharpen it as you play. 99% of the time this doesn't come up, but every time it does it is annoying (and it is in a boss fight). Secondly the when you parry an attack, get hit, or sometimes hit someone else you will get knocked back. The camera behaves really poorly when you are up against a wall or in a corner, such that you can't really see what's happening anymore. That's a big problem when the game is built around guarding and parrying, and happened often enough that I am now here complaining about it. There are also bottomless pits that this will knock you into, which is annoying every time it happens. Thirdly, toward the end of the game every boss seems to have two completely separate health bars with a separate, faster second phase. It happened often enough that I was rolling my eyes at it by the end. None of the things here are rage inducing enough to not recommend the game. So in conclusion, this is a really well put together game that is worth playing. Combat is snappy and it is fun to play. The story is actually PRESENT and pretty good. I enjoyed it. There's an expansion coming out later this year (2025).

[h1]Lies of P: One of the Best Non-FromSoftware Games Out There[/h1] [h2]Overview[/h2] Lies of P is honestly a fantastic game and a great way to get into Souls-like games not made by FromSoftware. Everything from the design, enemy variety, and music to the storyline feels polished and enjoyable. Major credit goes to the developers for making a beautiful game that runs smoothly, especially when many new games struggle with optimization. [h2]Pros[/h2] [list] [*][b]Polished world design[/b] with great atmosphere and attention to detail [*][b]Impressive enemy variety[/b] with good distribution throughout levels [*][b]Weapon customization system[/b] that actually impacts gameplay [*][b]Beautiful visuals[/b] and consistently smooth performance [*][b]Top-tier music[/b] and sound design [*][b]Endgame bosses[/b] are exciting and skill-based [*][b]Exploration and side quests[/b] are rewarding and meaningful [/list] [h2]Cons[/h2] [list] [*]Platforming sections feel frustrating and out of place [*]Early boss patterns can feel off due to delayed and unpredictable attacks [*]A few enemy reskins, though they come with new move sets [*]Parry window is tight and can be difficult for new players [/list] [h2]Gameplay[/h2] The gameplay feels great whether you prefer parrying or dodging, but the game does encourage you to learn both. Weapon customization is a highlight. You can take weapons apart and mix handles and blades from different weapons. This isn’t just for looks. It actually changes how the weapon performs, making fights interesting and varied. [h2]World & Level Design / Enemy Variety[/h2] The world in Lies of P looks amazing and is packed with details, making exploring really enjoyable. Enemy variety is also impressive, even if a few are reused with new moves. This keeps things feeling fresh. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3454510657 Exploration is rewarding, especially because side quests often impact the ending you get. My only complaint is the platforming sections, which feel out of place in this type of game. It’s frustrating when ranged enemies push you off edges, forcing you to repeat sections again and again. [h2]Boss Battles[/h2] Bosses in Lies of P range from decent to really challenging, especially towards the end. Late-game bosses remind me a lot of Sekiro because they heavily rely on precise parrying. However, early bosses tend to use delayed and unpredictable attacks, making fights feel less rhythmic. Fortunately, bosses get much better later on. They're faster, fairer, and more satisfying to beat. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3453831674 [h2]Visuals & Atmosphere[/h2] The game looks great and runs smoothly. Little details like the rain and the atmosphere in Hotel Krat really stand out. The whole aesthetic feels carefully crafted, and I don’t have any real complaints here. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3450429950 [h2]Music[/h2] The music in Lies of P deserves special mention because it's genuinely amazing. Boss music, background themes, and especially the tracks you unlock for Hotel Krat are all fantastic. The soundtrack perfectly matches the game’s tone and makes the whole experience better. [h2]Story[/h2] Without spoiling anything, the story is engaging and offers multiple endings based on your choices. I recommend going in blind to fully enjoy uncovering the story yourself. It’s definitely worth it. [h2]Should You Play If You Liked Sekiro?[/h2] If you loved Sekiro, you might enjoy Lies of P, but don’t expect exactly the same experience. Parrying is important here too, but the timing is tighter and you'll often switch between parrying and dodging. It’s different enough to be its own unique game and definitely worth checking out. [h2]Final Thoughts[/h2] Overall, Lies of P is an excellent game that does almost everything right. From its visuals and gameplay to the music and storytelling, it's a solid experience. Despite minor frustrations, it’s a rewarding game that’s definitely worth your time. [b]Rating: 8.8/10[/b]