Lies of P Review (Dude)
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).