Exam in Progress: P's Lies

Upon the release of Demon's Souls in 2009, a lot of people criticized the game for not being suitable for the mainstream. There were campaigns to convince people to purchase it only to play this ostensibly innovative and violent take on action role-playing games. After 14 years, it has grown to become one of the most popular subgenres in the business.

I must admit that I adore Demon's Souls and the majority of the games developed by FromSoftware after it. However, I like playing new games than old ones, and many Soulslikes that came after adhered a little too closely to the model for my tastes. Something about it bothers me. Although imitation is considered to be the finest form of flattery, when does it become plagiarism?

One of the best Soulslike games I've seen follow FromSoftware's lead is Lies of P. However, it's also one of the most derivative, and I can't seem to make sense of those opposing viewpoints.

P Lies (PC, PS4 [Reviewed], PS4)Created by: NeowizPublished by: NeowizPublication date: September 18, 2023Retail price: $69.99Carlo Lorenzini's The Adventures of Pinnochio served as the inspiration for Lies of P. I'm not familiar with the plot, so I miss most of the allusions. I understand the fundamentals. It is set in the pompous city of Krat, where the populace has been decimated by a strange sickness and its treasured automatons have gone crazy.As one of Gepetto's puppets, you take on the unique ability to defy the conventions that most other puppets are meant to follow. There's a lot of weight on violating these norms in a fresh narrative standpoint. When the protagonist is faced with an inevitable falsehood or a disagreement with a human, the game seems to pause. This is a pretty novel method to bring these notions back to life and give them importance, since they are hard to lend any weight to in video games.But a lot of the narrative is very similar to the Souls series, and especially to Bloodborne. When you talk to someone via a bright window that you only saw because they were coughing, it's difficult to avoid having déjà vu. In a similar vein, I find it astounding how similar the NPCs behave to those in the Souls series. Since the Lies of P does not alter perspective to enlarge on them during conversation, their lips are not very active. They're mostly imprisoned. They also have this quiet voice that comes from being inside all the time. It seems like it was taken.

Not that the aesthetic decisions don't affect other games; yet, Lies of P seems to have completely changed everything.How fast I became comfortable with the gameplay, depending only on my knowledge of FromSoftware's approach, is telling. "Star Gazers" have taken the place of campfires and candles. The mechanics of the estus flask are essentially universal. In my opinion, Lies of P differs much from what it copied in terms of the number of things it does not accomplish.It's also fascinating to me that FromSoftware has improved the world design of Elden Ring to the point where I doubt they'll return to the traditional Dark Souls approach of interconnecting paths. Thus, Lies of P is holding that torch. Ladders lengthen and doors need to be unlocked to make it easier to go beyond the debris that one has previously waded through. Exploring every crevice and corner of the earth yields more treasure. The Victorian aesthetic's evocation of Bloodborne's dismal environment doesn't help either.That being said, I'm okay with their being no multi-player. Once upon a time, the note system was useful, but today, it seems like the majority of the player notes are simply repetitive jokes and drivel whenever I pick up one of those games. Strangely enough, however, you may still call on spirits to help you in boss fights. These are AI controller dummies, however, and I found that most of the time they were merely helpful for diverting the bosses' attention while I kept jamming my sword up their ass. It's an odd compromise.

To a fault, sincere

I wouldn't argue that Lies of P isn't entertaining me.so far, but I'm attempting to convey that I'm unsure of myself. Since the video game business is so prone to following trends, it is uncommon to find anything that doesn't follow an established pattern. I've spent the most recent time sifting through an abundance of city builders that are Banished-inspired. I'm typically not bothered by it.On the other hand, when a game is modeled after a well-known game, the goal is often to expand upon it. A property's developer often adds their own unique touch. They often try to put their own unique twist on a famous game because they feel that something was lacking. I don't feel that way about Lies of P. After seeing Bloodborne, someone thought the market would benefit from having another Bloodborne.However, Lies of P is at least a delightful and well done work. Even while it sometimes falls short of its inspiration, it's nonetheless entertaining on its own. This is a good option if you like the Souls title and are looking for a fresh, capable interpretation of the concept. I'm still holding out hope that there could be a hint of uniqueness there. I yearn for the time to arrive at the conclusion as to why I ought to be playing this in addition to or instead of Bloodborne. At this moment, I think it would be preferable to go back and play Bloodborne again. If it has changed when I've finished fixing the puppet issue, I'll let you know._{[The publisher supplied a retail build of the game for this review.]}