Lies of P

I think I’ve played too many souls games, at this point they all feel way too familiar.

The gothic aesthetic/story is really what kept me going. I love the twist on the Pinocchio lore. But at this point Im not overly fond of the way these games tell their story, with mystery characters saying half truths and you having to piece it all together using journal entries and newspaper clippings that you have to find scattered in the world.

Tbf, the main thrust of the story is pretty straightforward. Stop the bad guy from becoming a puppet-god thing, or whatever.

But my issue is that the aesthetic never really GOES FOR IT.

At its heart, this is a child’s fantasy story, but the game is mostly gothic buildings and elevators. The final temple area was horrible.

I do love all of the puppet designs, but the game will throw some undead/carcass monsters at you later on. I didn’t much care for these enemy types because it felt unimaginative, even though the lore behind them made it work.

Boss designs are mostly really well done, with only a couple duds, imo (Archbishop).

Loved fighting the Black Rabbit Brotherhood.

Imo, Lies of P doesn’t do much on the gameplay side of things to stand out from all the other souls-borne games.

Though, granted, the main protagonist design is pretty great. I loved using and swapping all of the different Legion Arms.

The parry system is another highlight. The game wants you to parry A LOT. It’s pretty essential if you want to take down enemies more efficiently, particularly bosses.

Naturally, parrying gets a lot more difficult the further you go and encounter more difficult enemies.

Unfortunately, parrying also gets less fun the more you have to do it.

Im someone who enjoys parrying more than dodging in games that do them well.

Sekiro, for example, had a VERY tight and balanced parrying system.

Lies of P doesn’t really do it for me, especially since you’re punished so severely by just blocking enemy attacks.

Most of the time you’re running around the same areas several times in order to collect souls I mean ergo so that you can upgrade your stats and have better survivability. It’s the same loop as every other souls-borne game.

Overall, if I were to score Lies of P, I’d probably give it a 7.

It’s a good game, I’d recommend it.

Im just kind of burnt out on the formula.