Lies Of P PlayStation 5 review – Prepare to lie

(Contains minor spoilers for Lies Of P)

Soulslikes, Soulsbornes, recursive action RPGs… who knows what they’re called anymore, but any doubts that FromSoftware’s world-conquering formula could become a fully-established gaming genre have long since been dispelled. We’re awash with everything from 2D indie offerings to big budget rip-offs, and now South Korean developer Neowiz joins the fray with something that’s somewhere in the middle: a ‘double A’ Souls clone with some clever parlour tricks and a gleam in its clockwork eyeball.

It’s tempting when reviewing a game that’s about malfunctioning mechanical puppets to labour the robot metaphors, so I’ll get them out of the way quickly: Lies Of P is as polished as a state-of-the-art machine, and at first glance equally as soulless.

But like its protagonist, who is never actually named as Pinocchio but is clearly intended to represent the hero of the beloved Carlo Collodi fable, there is more humanity to this creation than meets the eye.

First, the similarities to the FromSoftware canon, of which there are many.

This game is basically 60fps Bloodborne with clanking steampunk automatons in place of the ghouls and werewolves, and Sekiro’s parry system added to spice up the slash-and-dodge action.

The gameplay is painfully familiar, the soundtrack is a very faithful homage, and the (admittedly beautifully-realised) city of Krat is essentially Yharnam if it was spit-shined for a visit to the World’s Fair.

Even the story beats are eerily recognisable: there’s the melancholy lady who helps you level up, the obligatory traitor, and a Patches stand-in to trick you into a pitfall trap. Poison swamp level? Got you covered (in acid). Difficulty level set to ‘teeth-grindingly hard’? Yep: prepare to get smashed into scrap metal countless times on your journey to become a real boy.

It’s all executed incredibly slickly, with well-tuned combat, satisfying secrets and a story that’s pretty intriguing until it disappears into a bit of a mess once the tentacle monsters and the curse come into play (oh yeah, there’s one of those as well), but nothing we haven’t seen countless times before. Talk about recursive.

But it’s in the rare moments where Neowiz dare to flex their own creative muscles that the game actually starts to glitter.

The ‘grinding’ mechanic, where your weapon requires sharpening during battle to avoid it becoming dull and ineffective, is a clever idea (and also – words I never thought I’d write – the sight of Pinocchio honing his sword against an elbow-mounted grindstone, sparks flying everywhere, looks really flippin’ badass).

Weapons can be dismantled to enable different handles to be combined with different blades, so if you like your gigantic iron wrenches with a little bit more finesse then you’re free to graft them onto a tiny police baton grip or a delicately crafted rapier hilt to your heart’s content.

The titular lying mechanic, whilst nothing more than a series of simple ‘lie or don’t lie’ choices during the adventure, does yield some interesting side quest outcomes and cool collectibles, like vinyl records you can play in the game’s hub location if you fancy a change from the usual doleful dirge.

The game is surprisingly long, but sustained its high quality and my attention throughout, with some fun surprises and genuinely memorable boss encounters.

The difficulty curve really ramped up about a third of the way in, and some of these battles became huge challenges, although I’m told my technique-centric playthrough is something of a ‘hard mode’; those pursuing a strength build were apparently able to bash their way through Krat’s clattering contraptions with much greater ease.

There’s also a convenient summon mechanic for those needing support during the game’s toughest fights, although with no multiplayer mode this only summons NPC assistance.

Perhaps the true measure of a FromSoft clone is its ability to linger in the mind for days after its completion, and Lies Of P has certainly passed that test. Neowiz has fashioned a haunting and gruelling experience that will satiate anyone craving another Soulsekiroringborne fix before the release of the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, and I have no hesitation in recommending this peculiar and beautiful game.

But I can’t help wishing the developer had unshackled their creation a little more from the leash of its forebears; Lies Of P is a very credible facsimile, but with a bit more courage it might have been truly able to cut the strings and stand on its own two feet.

VERDICT: 4/5

This game was reviewed by Jon Richter, writer of dark fiction and co-host of the Dark Natter and Hosts In The Shell podcasts. Follow him on Twitter @RichterWrites, Instagram @jonrichterwrites, or visit his website at www.jon-richter.com.