Lies of P was just announced as a brand new soulslike action RPG from developer Round8 Studio, and publisher NeoWiz. Interestingly, Lies of P is inspired by Pinocchio and follows a player-controlled Pinocchio who embarks out to find his creator, Geppetto. However, Lies of P has left Pinocchio's usual setting behind and replaced it with a Belle Époque town in Europe where all of humanity is gone, leaving the city to rot. The game also features a unique mechanic focused on players lying to NPCs about their actions throughout the game. How players lie throughout the game will influence quests and dynamically change them.
Little has been shown of Lies of P beyond its cinematic trailer, but there are already some comparisons that can be made between Lies of P and some of the biggest soulslike games on the market. Of course, players know some of what can be expected from a soulslike action RPG. One can expect massive boss fights, high difficulty, stamina-based combat, and lots of dying. Of course, there is also a lot of variety between soulslike titles; some focus more on parrying over dodging, some feature slower or faster combat mechanics. How Lies of P handles its own spin on the genre remains to be seen, but there is still a lot that can be compared to other soulslike games.
Comparing Lies of P to Dark Souls
Of course, the Dark Souls series are some of the biggest soulslike titles out there, and are largely responsible for the genre's popularity. One of the biggest features of the Dark Souls series that Lies of P could be similar to is the subtle nature of its storytelling. The Dark Souls series features some extensive lore, delivering it to players in an unconventional way.
Players are left to piece together the story of Dark Souls through cryptic hints from item descriptions and conversations with the few NPCs players come across. While the story of Dark Souls has been pieced together by dedicated members of its community, it is likely that Lies of P will require similar effort for players to understand what the story of the game really is.
This could very well be a consequence of Lies of P's lie system. If the player has to lie to the characters they come across, it would make sense that other characters in the game would lie to the player as well. With how much a player's lies impact the quests throughout the game, it could also be difficult for the game's community to decipher what the canon story is. Lies of P's lying could also make interacting with characters similar to the experience in Dark Souls, with lines often being hard to understand or driven by madness. This could also lead to players having to parse through the lies they are told to figure out where to find valuable items or weapons like in Dark Souls.
Comparing Lies of P to Bloodborne
One of Bloodborne's most remembered characteristics is its world of Yharnam. Yharnam is a sprawling city filled with Victorian and gothic architecture. The entirety of the game takes place within Yharnam, which allows layers to become intimately familiar with Bloodborne's Yharnam and all of its secrets. It seems that Lies of P could be going for something similar with its setting. Lies of P features the city of Krat, which has its design also deeply rooted in the architecture of a particular period. While Krat features architecture from Europe's late 19th century, which is long after the gothic architecture movement, it could have an impact on the game similar to Yharnam.
With players spending all of their time in Krat they will likely become extremely familiar with its locations and streets. Lies of P will have players exploring the streets repeatedly, and it would make sense for the city to be filled with shortcuts and secrets similar to that of Bloodborne's Yharnam. Lies of P also says that it will feature a variety of unspeakable horrors for players to fight, which could very well be similar to the host of terrifying monsters present in Bloodborne. It could also turn out that Lies of P's weapon combining system could create some very creative and unique weapons similar to Bloodborne's diverse suite of weapons.
Comparing Lies of P to Thymesia
Despite it not being released yet, Thymesia has already been compared a lot to Bloodborne. While Thymesia's atmosphere and aesthetic do look similar to Bloodborne, there is also a lot that it could have in common with Lies of P. The most immediate comparison between the two is that both games have a plague as part of the setting. The plague in Thymesia is a big part of its world, with even the player character donning an instantly identifiable plague doctor mask. It is not clear how much the plague will impact the gameplay of Lies of P, but it will undoubtedly influence its world significantly.
Another comparison between the two comes from their combat systems. Thymesia has an interesting plague weapon system that allows players to customize their playstyle by equipping attacks that feature different large green weapons that the player summons and attacks with. Likewise, Lies of P allows players to customize their Pinocchio character by modifying the clockwork parts of their body. Lies of P has not released any official information on how that system will work in practice but seems as though it will offer a similar level of customizability for players to find their own playstyles and approaches to combat.
Of course, there is also a lot about Lies of P that seems unique and makes the game stand out from other soulslike titles. Not only does it feature a great aesthetic with clockwork mechanical influences, but its dark spin on the familiar Pinocchio story could be very interesting for players to experience when it launches. There is no news regarding what release window Lies of P is aiming to hit, but hopefully players will get a greater look at the title during the upcoming E3 and Summer Games Fest events.
Lies of P is in development for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.