Lies of P: A wonderful puppet that must break free from its strings to shine

During the presentation at Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest event, Neowiz and Round 8 released a demo for everyone to try the grim ARPG based on the Pinocchio tale written by Carlo Collodi, Lies of P. For the vast majority this will be the first contact with the game, but we have already had the opportunity to try this demo and we have found some intriguing ideas, marvelled at some aspects, and have also regretted some of the game's drawbacks.

If you've been following this development more or less regularly, you'll remember that last year we were able to try a very early version of the game at Gamescom 2022, where we explored its mechanics and above all marvelled at its aesthetics. Now we can say Lies of P is not only one of the best soulsborne ARPGs born outside FromSoftware, but it also surpasses its spiritual parent in its beauty.

The fictional city of Krat may not be as oppressive and stuffy as Yharnam was, but with its narrow alleyways, gas streetlights illuminating the rainy night, reflections in the puddles as the water mingles with the blood of the countless bodies that fill its cobbled streets, the shadows in the few windows where there are still people alive... we may not have a 60 FPS HD version of Bloodborne, but with Lies of P we don't miss it that much anymore.

But back to Lies of P, let's talk about our character, Pinocchio. Here the little wooden toy has become an Edward Scissorhands-like swordsman (another Pinocchio-based story, of course) who goes in search of Geppetto, his "father" and the great benefactor of the town by creating the puppets and automatons that turned it into a beacon of progress, at least until that very night when they turned on the humans and slaughtered almost everyone. Except for some figures in the windows (another nod to Bloodborne's side quests, which are similar here), and the few merchants and the NPCs in Hotel Krat, there are only puppets in the streets and some donkey-faced madmen. The hotel acts as our base of operations, the equivalent of the Hunter's Dream, though here it's admittedly more like the Firelink Sanctuary in Dark Souls 3: a safe place to interact with other NPCs and get quests and information, buy materials, upgrade weapons, level up and take a break from the action.

At the start of the game we are asked to choose between three combat stances, one focused on agility, one on brute force and a more balanced middle stance. We decide to try out the middle path to start, although this initial decision can later be changed in a particular location. We wake up in a derailed train carriage and hear a strange voice nearby, which is none other than Gemini, a sort of cricket-cage, lamp-like consciousness that will occasionally give us certain clues or remind us of the current purpose of our walk. He doesn't talk very often (which is appreciated so you can feel the pressure of facing the unknown), but it's good to listen to him when he asks you to pay attention to the environment or an item in your inventory, otherwise things will be a lot more difficult.

And while we're on the subject of difficulty, we have to admit that Lies of P is going to be a challenge that lives up to the expectations of soulsborne fans. Even the smallest of enemies can put you in a bind if you don't master Pinocchio's skills, and in the early stages of the game we recommend that you take the time to familiarise yourself with both the access menus and our protagonist's special moves and strikes. We have a couple of attacks (basic and strong) and then we have the fable power (a charged attack with which to unleash the power of our weapon or a special attack combo) and the legion arm. While the latter looks promising, in this test we found little practical use for it, as at the start of the game it only has a powerful but very low range attack that requires you to stay close to the enemy. It can later be modified to give you a hook to lure distant enemies in order to hit them, which was slightly more useful.

Again we have to go back to Miyazaki's gothic work, because in many respects you will find gameplay systems inherited directly from there. Pulse cells to heal Pinocchio are charged either at Stargazers (bonfires) or by hitting enemies, although they take quite a while to generate a use. Blocking is ill-advised here, as it doesn't fully absorb damage and generates a fraction of immobilised time that is often very costly. As in Bloodborne, the strategy in Lies of P is usually aggressiveness and a well-timed dodge, though it won't always be easy, or fair.

This is the biggest problem I've encountered so far in Lies of P. While I find the combat well balanced, with enemies with elaborate move sets (though at the moment there's not much variety in the opponents), Pinocchio often doesn't respond with the same agility that his foes have. For starters, he can't run (or at least not in the demo), and even with a configuration of pieces of equipment to carry little weight (and therefore be more agile) it didn't feel enough to balance the scales. It feels like a real puppet, a bit clumsy and with somewhat clumsy movements.

The summoning AI (only accessible at specific points and against specific bosses) doesn't seem worth spending resources on either, except to briefly entertain the boss while we deliver a few knockout blows from behind. And while we're at it, perhaps the item spawn rate should be balanced out, as some of the throwables only appeared a couple of times, while the star shards for summoning wraiths on bosses were everywhere.

While some aspects of Pinocchio's movement didn't quite convince us, we're sure ARPG fans are going to be blown away when they try this demo just released by Round 8. Lies of P is one of the best examples of the genre, and has such a rich backstory (we won't be going into spoiler territory here) and enough complexity that we'll gladly play it again when we review the full game.