Growing up Pinocchio was undoubtedly my favourite Disney movie. There was always a certain kind of darkness to the tale that intrigued me as a child, just as much as it still does as an adult. Though I’ve never really thought of it specifically as “dark fantasy” it certainly is a fairy tale with dark elements. I like dark fantasy a lot, particularly the type seen in recent FromSoftware Souls games. So when I saw the first teaser trailers for this game a few years ago I was immediately intrigued and curious to see how they would combine these things. Of course, the other obvious question about this game was could it be a none FromSoftware Soulslike game that is up to the lofty standards of it’s inspiration?

Lies of P is a very nice looking game. Although quite an old engine now, the devs managed to use UE4 very effectively to create a world brimming with detail, mystery, and a dark Gothic fairy tale type atmosphere. The game looks very clean and very kind of shiny and polished, but with this grimy and dark edge. Imagine Dark Souls or Bloodborne meets late eighties era Tim Burton and you’ll get the idea. I really loved the character models of the puppets in this game, and how they move and sound. They are kind of cute, but creepy in a way that really worked for me to create a sinister vibe for the game. There is a really great variety in the enemy types too. Right up to the end the game keeps throwing new mobs at you, which really impressed me. The environment design is spot on too. It has a kind of Gothic Parisian architecture meets Steampunk Victorian England look, with a touch of fairy tale magic to it which I felt worked really well. Got to give a shout out to the rain dev on this game. Like the ‘wetness’ of the environments when it rains and the reflections and puddles. One of the best rain effects I’ve seen in a game.

I felt that the music in the game was mostly really good. There is a range of music in the game, from orchestral to more sort of modern singer-songwriter kind of stuff. When it hits the right vibe at the right moment it really works, but some of it I felt was maybe a bit stereotypical or forgettable. The voice acting was mostly really good, particularly that of the puppets. Although some of the human NPCs were perhaps a bit dull at times. The game often does the thing of using ambient sounds to create the atmosphere, like the sound of the rain or music playing from inside a building you are passing. This works well on most occasions, although some times the atmosphere is a bit flat and could've just used having the soundtrack playing.

Lies of P is ridiculously well optimised. Average frame-rate I got was 120fps with all the settings maxed out. I didn’t have any crashes or glitches worth mentioning, and load times were very fast.

A dark and adult take on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel, Lies of P’s story is a melancholy fairy tale set in the dark world of Krat. A once opulent city brought to prominence by the discovery of a mysterious material known as Ergo, which fuelled the creation of puppets to perform menial labour in the city, until one day the puppet frenzy occurred, with the puppet population of the city turning on their creators and slaughtering the majority of Krat’s human population. You are Pinocchio aka ‘P’, creation of Krat’s foremost puppet creator, Geppetto, and you awaken one day in a train carriage to be confronted by the aftermath of this carnage.

You go on a journey, and meet various character’s and fight your way to a conclusion... There are various points in the story where you can lie or tell the truth. I liked this concept. What I would say is that it is all maybe a bit… Hmm… The story was good, I enjoyed it. It has a vibe to it that I enjoyed. But it is kind of a bit A to B to C. I mean, we all know the Pinocchio story, I think this is a good dark take on it, that is quite fun and mostly successful, but it does all feel perhaps a bit predictable.

A little bit of Bloodborne, a little bit of Sekiro, a little bit of Dark Souls/Elden Ring. Lies of P see’s nothing wrong with wearing it’s influences on it’s sleeve. The thing is neither do I see anything wrong with that, in most ways...

It mostly feels nice to play, familiar. The sword play is good, the weapons are interesting and feel nice to swing about. Much like the weapon arts in Elden Ring, the fable arts are fun to use. Like the Shinobi Prosthetic in Sekiro, The Legion Arm is fun too. However, the parry system in the game was for me, slightly problematic. It wants you to press the button within a few milliseconds of the point of impact. You have enemies that do random unpredictable series of attacks combining hold attacks and instant attacks with very limited hit windows. I’d say I managed to get the perfect parries in maybe 80% of the time, but just found it annoyingly unreliable. You also have weapon durability, stamina and various status effects to worry about. There is also an almost comical amount of two phase bosses to deal with too. Look, I mean, none of this stuff is new in a Soulslike game, and far be it from me to complain about a game being too hard, but I personally just think they just put a bit too much in this game to do and to have to deal with. Honestly, I just kind of feel like a little bit less would have been more in the case of Lies of P.

Don’t get me wrong when it’s good it is really good, some of the bosses are really spectacular high octane experiences that felt amazing to beat, but some of them just felt like a grindy chore.

I did appreciate the quality of life features in the game, like the way the inventory and build making works. Like for instance, I loved the markers on the fast travel system telling you if an NPC is available in a specific area with new dialogue. I also liked the rally system and the way you get health charges back for landing attacks or perfect blocking. I also liked how the stagger mechanic worked and the special grindstones.

It took me about 40 hours to play-through the game, with going around exploring and doing the NPC side quests as much as I could, and fighting all the enemies and finding all the items I could. There is New Game+ and 3 endings to do, which I might do at some future point if I feel inclined to. I think the game gives plenty of content, although how much I really want to explore all that content I’m not entirely sure.

The game set me back £34.19 on a reseller site, although it costs £49.99 here on Steam, or £10 extra for the deluxe edition. I think it’s a fair enough price. I’m not hugely keen on them last minute trying to get people to pay more to access the game a few days early. That is really not a trend I am a fan of.

Lies of P is an interesting one to sum up my feelings on. I loved the way the game looks. I liked the implementation of the Pinocchio as a Soulslike concept. You wouldn’t think it would work, but totally does and they nailed the look and the vibe of it. The optimisation and QoL features in the game are just lovely. The game generally feels nice to play, but I personally just feel the mechanics are just a bit overly harsh or just too much. I mean, it is not that the game is too hard, there are much more difficult games about, it is just that for me it was all just a little misjudged and incongruous. It’s a good effort though. I mean, as far as a none FromSoftware Soulslike game goes it is definitely one of the better ones and shows great potential. With a little bit more refinement and uniqueness it could’ve definitely been something very special. With that thought in mind, I would definitely be excited to see what these devs might do in the future.

• Visuals – 9.5/10
• Audio – 9.5/10
• Performance – 10/10
• Story – 8/10
• Gameplay – 7/10
• Lasting Appeal – 8/10
• Price/Value for Money – 8/10

• Overall – 8/10

Growing up Pinocchio was undoubtedly my favourite Disney movie. There was always a certain kind of darkness to the tale that intrigued me as a child, just as much as it still does as an adult. Though I’ve never really thought of it specifically as “dark fantasy” it certainly is a fairy tale with dark elements. I like dark fantasy a lot, particularly the type seen in recent FromSoftware Souls games. So when I saw the first teaser trailers for this game a few years ago I was immediately intrigued and curious to see how they would combine these things. Of course, the other obvious question about this game was could it be a none FromSoftware Soulslike game that is up to the lofty standards of it’s inspiration? [h3]Visuals, Audio & Performance[/h3] Lies of P is a very nice looking game. Although quite an old engine now, the devs managed to use UE4 very effectively to create a world brimming with detail, mystery, and a dark Gothic fairy tale type atmosphere. The game looks very clean and very kind of shiny and polished, but with this grimy and dark edge. Imagine Dark Souls or Bloodborne meets late eighties era Tim Burton and you’ll get the idea. I really loved the character models of the puppets in this game, and how they move and sound. They are kind of cute, but creepy in a way that really worked for me to create a sinister vibe for the game. There is a really great variety in the enemy types too. Right up to the end the game keeps throwing new mobs at you, which really impressed me. The environment design is spot on too. It has a kind of Gothic Parisian architecture meets Steampunk Victorian England look, with a touch of fairy tale magic to it which I felt worked really well. Got to give a shout out to the rain dev on this game. Like the ‘wetness’ of the environments when it rains and the reflections and puddles. One of the best rain effects I’ve seen in a game. I felt that the music in the game was mostly really good. There is a range of music in the game, from orchestral to more sort of modern singer-songwriter kind of stuff. When it hits the right vibe at the right moment it really works, but some of it I felt was maybe a bit stereotypical or forgettable. The voice acting was mostly really good, particularly that of the puppets. Although some of the human NPCs were perhaps a bit dull at times. The game often does the thing of using ambient sounds to create the atmosphere, like the sound of the rain or music playing from inside a building you are passing. This works well on most occasions, although some times the atmosphere is a bit flat and could've just used having the soundtrack playing. Lies of P is ridiculously well optimised. Average frame-rate I got was 120fps with all the settings maxed out. I didn’t have any crashes or glitches worth mentioning, and load times were very fast. [h3]Story[/h3] A dark and adult take on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel, Lies of P’s story is a melancholy fairy tale set in the dark world of Krat. A once opulent city brought to prominence by the discovery of a mysterious material known as Ergo, which fuelled the creation of puppets to perform menial labour in the city, until one day the puppet frenzy occurred, with the puppet population of the city turning on their creators and slaughtering the majority of Krat’s human population. You are Pinocchio aka ‘P’, creation of Krat’s foremost puppet creator, Geppetto, and you awaken one day in a train carriage to be confronted by the aftermath of this carnage. You go on a journey, and meet various character’s and fight your way to a conclusion... There are various points in the story where you can lie or tell the truth. I liked this concept. What I would say is that it is all maybe a bit… Hmm… The story was good, I enjoyed it. It has a vibe to it that I enjoyed. But it is kind of a bit A to B to C. I mean, we all know the Pinocchio story, I think this is a good dark take on it, that is quite fun and mostly successful, but it does all feel perhaps a bit predictable. [h3]Gameplay[/h3] A little bit of Bloodborne, a little bit of Sekiro, a little bit of Dark Souls/Elden Ring. Lies of P see’s nothing wrong with wearing it’s influences on it’s sleeve. The thing is neither do I see anything wrong with that, in most ways... It mostly feels nice to play, familiar. The sword play is good, the weapons are interesting and feel nice to swing about. Much like the weapon arts in Elden Ring, the fable arts are fun to use. Like the Shinobi Prosthetic in Sekiro, The Legion Arm is fun too. However, the parry system in the game was for me, slightly problematic. It wants you to press the button within a few milliseconds of the point of impact. You have enemies that do random unpredictable series of attacks combining hold attacks and instant attacks with very limited hit windows. I’d say I managed to get the perfect parries in maybe 80% of the time, but just found it annoyingly unreliable. You also have weapon durability, stamina and various status effects to worry about. There is also an almost comical amount of two phase bosses to deal with too. Look, I mean, none of this stuff is new in a Soulslike game, and far be it from me to complain about a game being too hard, but I personally just think they just put a bit too much in this game to do and to have to deal with. Honestly, I just kind of feel like a little bit less would have been more in the case of Lies of P. Don’t get me wrong when it’s good it is really good, some of the bosses are really spectacular high octane experiences that felt amazing to beat, but some of them just felt like a grindy chore. I did appreciate the quality of life features in the game, like the way the inventory and build making works. Like for instance, I loved the markers on the fast travel system telling you if an NPC is available in a specific area with new dialogue. I also liked the rally system and the way you get health charges back for landing attacks or perfect blocking. I also liked how the stagger mechanic worked and the special grindstones. [h3]Lasting Appeal & Value for Money[/h3] It took me about 40 hours to play-through the game, with going around exploring and doing the NPC side quests as much as I could, and fighting all the enemies and finding all the items I could. There is New Game+ and 3 endings to do, which I might do at some future point if I feel inclined to. I think the game gives plenty of content, although how much I really want to explore all that content I’m not entirely sure. The game set me back £34.19 on a reseller site, although it costs £49.99 here on Steam, or £10 extra for the deluxe edition. I think it’s a fair enough price. I’m not hugely keen on them last minute trying to get people to pay more to access the game a few days early. That is really not a trend I am a fan of. [h3]Conclusion[/h3] Lies of P is an interesting one to sum up my feelings on. I loved the way the game looks. I liked the implementation of the Pinocchio as a Soulslike concept. You wouldn’t think it would work, but totally does and they nailed the look and the vibe of it. The optimisation and QoL features in the game are just lovely. The game generally feels nice to play, but I personally just feel the mechanics are just a bit overly harsh or just too much. I mean, it is not that the game is too hard, there are much more difficult games about, it is just that for me it was all just a little misjudged and incongruous. It’s a good effort though. I mean, as far as a none FromSoftware Soulslike game goes it is definitely one of the better ones and shows great potential. With a little bit more refinement and uniqueness it could’ve definitely been something very special. With that thought in mind, I would definitely be excited to see what these devs might do in the future. [h3]Score[/h3] • Visuals – 9.5/10 • Audio – 9.5/10 • Performance – 10/10 • Story – 8/10 • Gameplay – 7/10 • Lasting Appeal – 8/10 • Price/Value for Money – 8/10 • Overall – 8/10