Lies Of P Preview

Lies of P is a polished soulslike that could end up surprising a lot of people.

When Lies of P was first revealed back in 2021, pretty much everyone compared it to Bloodborne. It was easy to see why, since the dark, horror-filled streets of Krat shared more than a few similarities with the gore-covered streets of Yharnam. Its inspirations are clear from the get-go, but mimicking a game as highly regarded and beloved as Bloodborne would always run the risk of setting expectations far too high. Thankfully, Lies of P is on track to be a great spiritual successor, one that will unlikely reach the heights of its inspiration, but will scratch an itch that Bloodborne fans have had for quite some time.

Fans of soulslikes will feel instantly familiar with Lies of P, which has all the same trappings as games that came before it. Stargazers act as Bonfires, you collect upgrade resources called Ergo from slain enemies, there's a hard-as-nails boss fight to throw yourself at towards the end of each area, and the city of Krat is filled with secrets to find and shortcuts to unlock. It does very little to differentiate itself in that regard, content to try and drape its own aesthetic and story around existing mechanics that have been perfected by others over several years.

Related: I Can't Believe We Haven't Had A Bloodborne Remaster Yet

Instead, Lies of P sets out to nail the core soulslike experience, and achieves its goal in its opening areas. Each location is cleverly designed, with real thought put into enemy variety and placement. You’re constantly looping back around to open shortcuts, which are a lot more frequent than in your standard soulslike. However, it makes exploration feel much more rewarding as a result, and gives the developers the chance to sprinkle in a few more tricky encounters. If you come up against an enemy that completely pummels you and drains your healing items, chances are there's a shortcut further on that lets you bypass it completely.

Combat is fast-paced, with more of a focus on well-timed dodges rather than blocks. A parry system is in place, but the timing to pull off a perfect parry (the only way to block that completely negates damage) is extremely harsh. You can recover the health you lose from blocking by quickly attacking your opponent, but it's usually just safer and more practical to time your dodges and roll out of the way of oncoming attacks. Much like everything else in Lies of P, it functions very similarly to Bloodborne, but it does really well in trying to recreate that same kind of quick, satisfying combat system.

While Lies of P doesn't stray out of the soulslike comfort zone much, it does have small hints of originality. When you die and lose your Ergo, the pile that you leave behind will diminish depending on how many times you’re hit when trying to retrieve it. It's not the biggest change, but it adds a lot more tension when going back through an area. Similarly, your weapon will degrade fairly quickly, which will lower your damage output as its condition worsens. However, your character is equipped with a mini belt sander, so you can repair it on the fly and even in the middle of a fight. It's a little something extra to manage that requires a bit of thought, and it fits in nicely with the flow of the game.

Lies of P's one big gimmick that sets it apart is the morality system, as you’re given the option to either tell the truth to the people you meet, or lie to them to protect yourself. It's a little difficult to gauge how much of an impact this has on your character or the overall story in the first few hours, mainly because the choices you’re presented with are relatively inconsequential. It's a system that has promise though, and a soulslike that changes depending on how dishonest you are is extremely intriguing, to the point where it's going to be a bit disappointing if all it does is have an effect on the game's final outcome. Even if it's just different enemy types or side quests, a soulslike with a morality system has a bunch of potential, and I hope the game makes the most of it.

Lies of P falls down most in its story. Its combat is satisfying, and the boss fights are grand and explosive, but the game's first few hours consists of going to a place, rescuing a person, and then returning to the central hub. There is no overarching goal that you’re striving towards besides surviving in a puppet-infested city, and it lacks a sense of mystery that makes other games in the genre so enticing. It sprinkles interesting pieces of lore throughout each location in the form of notes, and there's always the chance that the story is just taking a while to get going, but I’m not optimistic from what I’ve seen so far.

If Lies of P maintains the level of polish and quality that it sets in the first few hours for its entire runtime, then I think it's going to surprise a lot of people. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but it has the potential to be a very enjoyable soulslike with a few little twists.

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Joshua Robertson is a News Editor for TheGamer. When not playing Pokemon or scaring himself silly with the latest horror games, he can usually be found begging FromSoftware for a Bloodborne remaster.