Lies of P Review: The Perfect Blend of Combat and Storytelling

I have a very complicated relationship with the “Soulslike” genre of action RPGs. I couldn’t get into any of them until I played Nioh 2, Elden Ring, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, with the first two becoming two of my favorite games of all time, and the latter being a game that had some of the most enjoyable combat I ever experienced. I’ve tried Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, all games that are highly regarded by fans of the genre, but I just couldn’t get into any of them. I assumed I just didn’t like this genre, and that I only liked three games, but I was wrong and the real answer lies in why I ended up loving Lies of P so much: the story. 

I had been sitting on Lies of P for a while, for no particular reason other than I just hadn’t been able to get to it yet, but in that time, Lies of P garnered a ton of attention and praise, often being called one of the best Soulslike games ever, and after playing it, I absolutely agree. I believe Lies of P is the first souls-like game since Nioh 2 that fans should hold in the same regard as Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. I mention that because often “soulslike” games not developed by From Software just don’t garner the same attention. Honestly, to only call Lies of P one of the best souls-like games undermines how great this game is and how much it sets itself apart from just being a riff on souls games. It is one of the best action RPGs period. It takes the souls formula that From Software has polished and properly evolves it by simply telling an engaging story along with it, because unlike most souls and soul-like games, the effects of the story are right in your face and very clear.

In Lies of P, you wake up as Pinnocchio, the puppet of Geppetto, in the city of Krat and you’re on this journey to figure out why the Puppet Frenzy has happened, if there’s a cure for the petrification disease and why humans have been turned into zombie-like monsters. This story is inspired by the original adventures of Pinocchio, of course, but it’s set against this gothic atmosphere and does such an interesting job at handling the consequences of Pinocchio’s lying along with a very interesting story twist, which I’ll talk more about towards the end as I want to keep story spoilers to a minimum until I talk about it at length, even though the game has been out for half a year.

Let’s talk about COMBAT. To me, an action game without good combat isn’t really an action game. It’s often why some games don’t really click with me. If the dodge feels sluggish, or the attacks just don’t have that weight to them, it will turn me all the way off a game. I need the combat to feel good moment to moment, and I feel like Lies of P nails it very well. The weapons have a nice weight to them, the Legion Arm helps in a myriad of ways, and the Perfect Guard is surprisingly very easy to get down and combat doesn’t revolve around it which I’m happy about, but if you are really good at Perfect Guarding, it does make fights much easier. When it comes to actual combat, there are two real components at play here: you have your weapons and your Legion Arm. 

The weapons in this game fascinate me. They’re completely customizable, you can swap the blade and handles of any weapon and it really makes for some cool combinations to fit however you want to play. I usually go for a more strength-oriented build in these games so I went with the booster-glaive handle and the big-wrench “blade” and it worked wonders for me. It’s also just damn cool having the option to mix and match and try different things. Weapons also have a durability bar which you must upkeep, otherwise when it falls to zero the weapon can’t be repaired and it does decreased damage. Usually, I’m not a fan of these kinds of systems in games, but I think it works here very well for a couple reasons: 1) the durability bar does take quite a bit of time to actually fall that low, even for weapons with low durability, 2) the longer you sharpen the weapon, the quicker the bar fills, 3) your grinder is capable of having a specialization added to it in order to add elements to the blade. It is a one-time use until you rest or die, but it is nice to always have that option available and it makes for an admittedly cool interaction between your legion arm and your weapon.

Next, your Legion Arm, which is similar to the prosthetic arm you get in Sekrio: Shadow’s Die Twice. You have a few options: an arm that shoots a wire, a flame thrower, an electric charge, a shield that explodes on impact, an arm that deploys mines, an arm that dispels acid, and a gun arm. They all have their uses and can honestly help turn the tide in a fight depending on the upgrade and how you distributed your stats.

Now, I’ll talk about the story, and I’m adding a spoiler warning because I truly believe the story and how it’s told really separates this game from others of this genre.

As I said before, the story is about Pinnocchio, or P, who was awakened by a character named Sophia who informs him of the Puppet Frenzy that has brought the city to the brink and that we must find Geppetto. This story ties together almost every mechanic in the game to unlock the mysteries behind what’s going on which fascinated me because that has never been done before in a souls game. This game’s XP, or equivalent to runes or souls, is called Ergo which is the life essence and memories of a human. Through research, the Alchemists found out that when a person’s ergo is stored in a Puppet who resembles them, an ego awakens within the Puppet, functionally making them more human than machine. At first, this didn’t really click for me and I thought it was just another basic gameplay mechanic to help level up and buy things. There’s hints at first like when you first lie you get a text pop up saying “your springs are reacting,” or “your ergo is whispering”, which comes much later the more you lie, but it’s never fully explained what that means until P begins to grow hair and that blew me away. That’s the exact moment I realized how much the concept of ergo drives the entire story. We soon find out that Geppetto was actually the one behind the Puppet Frenzy through an encrypted message from Romeo, the King of Puppets, and even later we learn why as collecting ergo would allow P to collect enormous amounts of Ergo in his P-Organ, otherwise his heart, for Geppetto to use to bring his real son, Carlo, back to life. This coupled with the decision to either lie or tell the truth, creates a fascinating interaction within the game as well. Seeing this all come full circle and tie together was amazing, I hadn’t expected that and it’s just a testament to how well the writers buried this lead because once you get past the surface-level souls disguise, you see this is a very story driven game and I loved that. Each component of the game has actual weight to it and aren’t superficial or arbitrary.

You can functionally choose whether or not to stay a puppet or become more Human, and this includes more than just lying, it also includes selfless acts. The game tells us that Puppets aren’t programmed with the ability to lie, but P is allowed to and we find out that Geppetto specifically made sure he wouldn’t have that programming, and the more P lies and makes humane actions, the more the Ergo he’s collected reacts and makes him human. You gradually see these changes of P through a few examples: 1) P’s legion arm begins to twitch the more human you become, and the rate it twitches increases the more you lie, 2) P’s hair will grow the more he becomes human, 3) there is a cat in Hotel Krat who at first doesn’t like P and will hiss at him at the beginning, but the more you become human, the more it warms up to you and it culminates to a point where you’re even able to play with the cat, 4) there is a portrait of Carlo that you can find and give to Geppetto, and as the game progress and you lie, a wooden twig gradually grows from the portrait’s nose. There’re more small details that show how significant P’s decisions are, but these were some of my favorites and constantly made me elicit an audible reaction while playing. 

The cast’s relevance is also a huge addition that I think has been severely underutilized in Soulslike games, but is done very well here. P has a place in this world, he’s not just a random character you created to stop the Puppet Frenzy and help find a cure for the Petrification disease. He’s a real, genuine character who has history in this world, is known by other characters, and forms real bonds with them during the story. Sophia, who I mentioned before, has a HUGE place in the story, Lorenzini Vegnini is literally the reason we find out the story twist about Geppetto, obviously Geppetto is the catalyst for half the conflict in the game without being a true antagonist until the end, etc. Often, souls games will have that with characters in sidequests, but never do they have that big of an influence on the main story and the character. This was crucial because you end up having actual emotions for these characters, instead of them kind of just being there. 

As a souls game with decisions, it also comes with a few endings. At the end of the game, you’re met with Geppetto one last time who congratulates you and asks for your heart. Giving him the heart will kill P as Geppetto successfully revives Carlo with a relic you received in the previous boss fight. This will lead to cutscene that takes place later and we find out Geppetto had Carlo kill the friends P made at Hotel Krat throughout his journey in order for Geppetto to make Puppet servants loyal to Carlo. This ending sucks, and it’s the ending I initially got because I, for some reason, thought Geppetto would use the relic to complete P’s evolution into being human, but I was so wrong and regretted it as soon as the screen went to black and Sophia posthumously asks me “Is this truly the future you wanted?” No, Sophia, I didn’t, I was just very naive. Now, if you refuse to give him your heart, Geppetto will release his very first Puppet to fight you and retrieve P’s heart by force. Geppetto will eventually sacrifice himself to stop the Puppet from harming P’s heart. If you hadn’t lied enough and your humanity was low, Geppetto will chastise P for being useless which is unfortunate but it makes sense as this would mean P hadn’t become human. However, if you’ve been lying throughout the game, this will cause P to cry and makes Geppetto realize that his son Carlo had been revived after all, and he apologizes to P before passing away. This ending is obviously the best of them, and it’s so heart warming because Geppetto is a selfishly evil man, willing to kill millions just for his son to be resurrected, to have him finally turn is nice and actually shines some light on an otherwise dark story. 

Another thing I’ll touch briefly on before I get to my cons was the final cutscene of the game that you get regardless of your ending. We find out that the merchant we meet, Giangio, who helps us find the Gold Coin Fruit tree and creates a sort of cure for the petrification disease, is actually named Paracelsus who’s a former Alchemist and now works for an organization who seeks paths to eternal life. He’s on a train to his next destination as he gives a report on how the Krat Experiment went to his superior and he mentions that he’s continuing his search for “Dorothy”. The scene cuts to a rooftop overlooking Krat and we see a girl in a red skirt, striped socks and red shoes walking across the roof, she turns to face the city and clicks her heels twice. I was stunned. I don’t know exactly what this means, it could mean DLC, it could mean a sequel, I hope the latter, but this was fascinating as it expands this world so much and I would love to continue being in this world. Seeing more gothic takes on fairy tale characters and seeing how their classic tales can be spun the way Pinocchio’s was…Yes. Absolutely do more of this, I am a big fan.

Now, I’d like to talk about a couple cons I had with this game, the first one being Simon Manus. You’ll notice I hadn’t mentioned Simon at all in this review, and really it’s because his impact on P’s story isn’t really felt until late in the game, he’s really more connected to Sophia. Simon led the experiments with the petrification disease, which either killed the infected or turned them into zombie-like creatures. He believed those who fought the disease would be rewarded with enhanced bodies, classic survival of the fittest mentality. With this in mind, Simon captured Sophia and used her powers to accelerate the spread of the petrification disease. This disease IS what killed Geppetto’s son, but the reason for Carlo’s death is never really emphasized, only that it devastated Geppetto. P’s whole involvement with this subplot of the story really is just to stop Simon and retrieve a relic that Geppetto uses to revive Carlo. That’s really it, and I had almost no connection to this part of the story, and outside of Simon being the reason that a part of a city is quarantined off, I just didn’t care for him as an antagonist. I don’t think it’s bad, but it could’ve been better.

Next, Black Cat and Red Fox. These two are Stalkers, a group of mercenaries and vigilantes that P comes across multiple times in this game and are annoying. In the final chapter of the game, you meet these two separately, first Black Cat and then much later Red Fox, and they each ask for a single Gold Coin Fruit since it can cure people with the petrification disease and Black Cat had contracted it. You have the choice to give them each a Gold Coin Fruit or not, and if not they’ll become a boss fight. Unfortunately, if you’re out of Gold Coin Fruit, you don’t have the option to come back with one, you can only refuse which ensues a boss fight, which happened for me when I reached Red Fox. I’m not really a fan of that, I wish it was a little bit more intuitive because I gave Black Cat one and I feel like there should’ve been a way for Red Fox to know that so that she didn’t even need to ask, or at the very least give me an option to say I’ll come back. Which is odd because that’s something you CAN do the first time they ask for a Gold Coin Fruit earlier in the game. It was very unfortunate because I didn’t really care to fight Red Fox or Black Cat, they’re annoying characters, but they’re not exactly bad people, in fact I felt bad for them because their story is actually pretty touching when you read into it through their gear.

Another issue I had with the game was the final chapter, it felt brutally long. Once you reach the Black Seaside, I feel like this section of the game would have benefited from being more of a boss rush. For example, in the final area in Elden Ring, Leyndell, Ashen Capital Area, you can absolutely explore a bit, but you’re pretty much at the end and can make a b-line to the final three bosses as they occur one after another. Also, at this point, you’re at a level where fighting hordes of enemies kind of feels pointless and is more annoying than anything, they don’t reward enough ergo for levels and in this section there are quite a bit of enemies with big health pools and/or annoying movements. It just feels like one long climb to each boss fight. I would’ve liked for this section to take 2 hours max. However, I’m pretty sure I spent a good 6-7 hours here and I was sprinting past enemies in certain sections so I could unlock shortcuts back to Stargazers to progress up more safely because I really couldn’t be bothered. That’s just how massive this area is, and there isn’t much story progression either so it’s even more aggravating. 

All in all though, Lies of P is a deeply fascinating game, even beyond it being a souls game, the story is so gripping and hooked me from the start. Everything is so shrouded in mystery and not in a way that past souls games were where the answers came from lore. This was the first time I entered the final chapter of a souls game with the main objective of getting answers, and actually getting them from the story itself. Usually, souls games have a very barebones, on the surface story with a general theme that can be extracted from them, but all the interesting meat and lore is hidden through optional side quests or gear that you can miss pretty easily. Lies of P has so much information on the surface that gives you a full scope of the story and why things are the way they are, with the optional stuff being purely supplemental. It really helps that you find NPCs who are not only suffering from the affects in the game, but also either build a relationship with Pinocchio, or already have one. It makes the world feel more connected to the character, it makes the stakes of the conflict feel more present. It all culminates in your final decision with Geppetto holding SO much weight because it actually means something personally to your character, instead of it just feeling like a conquerable achievement. Really, this is due to your protagonist actually being a character with history and connections to people, instead of having a silent protagonist who’s largely a nobody in the world. This is the true distinction of Lies of P from the rest of the genre, and it helps the game pave its own lane while still being a souls game through and through.