FromSoftware has struck gold with the Soulsborne formula, and its games have continued to enjoy mainstream critical and commercial reception for decades at this point. But amongst the many games that the developer has produced to date, 2015’s Bloodborne stands out as one of the most unique and memorable experiences by FromSoftware. And a lot of that praise can be chalked up to the spectacular gameplay and a whole host of other factors that come together to make Bloodborne a simply unforgettable experience.
Between the absence of any direct sequels and the ever-growing fan interest for the same, many developers have tried to create games that aim to fill this void. Recent examples include the likes of Thymesia, but many of these games have repeatedly failed to hit the mark in one way or another. That being said, a strong contender is looming just over the horizon, one that shows all the trappings of a great game and has the potential to be a worthy successor to Bloodborne.
I am, of course, talking about Lies of P – an upcoming Soulslike from developer NEOWIZ. Based out of South Korea, Neowiz is a small development studio that excels at creating mobile games for a casual audience with the likes of Guitar Girl and Baseball Clash among others. Lies of P is the studio’s biggest and most ambitious project to date. It looks like the team has brought its A-game to the field when it comes to this project, and the results are honestly surprising.
Starting off with the narrative, Lies of P has a pretty interesting concept. NEOWIZ has essentially taken the famous children’s story of Pinocchio and turned it on its head with some dark twists that make it appropriate for a Soulslike game. You take on the role of a puppet controlled by an individual named Geppetto, and your task is to trudge through a monster-infested city of Krat while navigating a web of lies and conspiracies in hopes of regaining your lost humanity. The concept sounds pretty intriguing, to say the least, and NEOWIZ has done a wonderful job of taking a familiar narrative and making something fresh out of it.
But like most other Soulslikes, the gameplay is king when it comes to Lies of P – and suffice it to say, it looks absolutely amazing. The production values are high across the board, which is the one area where most Soulslikes tend to falter in execution. The combat looks brutal with hard-hitting attacks that stop the player and the enemy in their tracks, but it’s also very methodical with animation-based gameplay that requires putting attention to every move and performing attacks with intent.
Much like Bloodborne, Lies of P is all about playing aggressively, which means that players don’t have access to shields to hide behind and wait for an opportunity to attack the opposition. You can try to parry the enemy’s attacks by pressing the appropriate button at the last moment, but that’s more of a last-ditch effort to minimize damage than an effective strategy to defeat enemies. For the most part, you will need to time your dodges perfectly to avoid getting hit and use the limited window of opportunity to punish the enemy accordingly. It takes a while to get used to this combat system, but it makes for some fun adrenaline-fueled encounters where you essentially perform a meticulous ballet of swift dodges and quick strikes to down your enemies.
Another aspect where Lies of P’s gameplay perfectly mimics the combat of Bloodborne is the encounter design. Those familiar with FromSoftware’s works might know how enemies in that game tend to hide in unlikely spots and ambush the player at every turn, and Lies of P does a great job of crafting similar encounters. Just observe the gameplay footage and you can see many instances of the player getting attacked from behind, and you can also see encounter designs that require you to think carefully and isolate enemies from packs in order to stand a chance at victory.
And this neatly brings us to level design where we get to see NEOWIZ’s excellent understanding of what makes Bloodborne and by extension, all Souls games an absolute treat. As you can already see from the trailers, the maps of Lies of P are labyrinthian environments that feature a ton of verticality alongside interesting traversal challenges that should keep exploration a constantly engaging experience. Just watch how the player character makes his way through a beam all while an enemy on another rooftop tries to disbalance you with a flurry of gunshots, and the gameplay trailer has plenty of similar instances that are reminiscent of FromSoftware’s works.
One of the areas where Lies of P expands upon the ideas of Bloodborne is the weapons system. You see, players will have the option to create their own custom weapons by mixing and matching parts of different weapons to create something that’s entirely unique. For instance, you could take the hilt of a greatsword and attach the blade of a spear for a unique weapon or you could take a hammer and attach it to the same greatsword hilt for another heavy weapon of sorts. NEOWIZ states that players will be able to create over 100 different combinations by combining 30 basic weapons – and we’re really excited to see the many creative builds that are possible with this system in the final release.
Lies of P also borrows a design element from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with its prosthetic arm attachments. Players will be able to swap out their left arm in favour of attachments like flamethrowers, blast arms, and electrocuters to add more utility to their weapon loadout. The gameplay trailer showcases the player character using a sort of stun arm to electrocute a boss and open up more opportunities for attacking the enemy, and another instance shows a spring attachment being used to bring a distant enemy up close for some deadly damage.
Let’s also briefly touch upon the visuals, because it’s a very important part of what makes Lies of P such a promising release. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 to power its visuals, but it makes good use of the engine’s feature set to deliver a world that’s brimming with personality. It not only excels at creating a world that has a high level of graphical fidelity but also boasts great art direction that brings the world and the developer’s vision to life.
In conclusion, Lies of P is looking to be a worthy successor to Bloodborne. It shows a lot of promise in many aspects ranging from the fresh story to the aggressive gameplay and the looping level design that we all love. It also doesn’t stick too close to the rulebook and expands upon FromSoftware’s works with a highly customizable weapon system and Sekiro-esque prosthetic arm attachments. As such, the game looks like a prime candidate to be one of the biggest hits of the near future – but for that to happen, NEOWIZ will have to take these promising elements and create a cohesive experience that’s enjoyable from one end to the other.
Lies of P is slated to release on 19 September 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. We will be checking it out when it releases – and we genuinely hope that the game ends up surpassing expectations and carving out a legacy for itself.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.