This is the first Souls-like to ever come close to From Soft quality. Even more shocking is that it actually does reach that level of quality at some points.

+ Great Atmosphere
+ Excellent Art Direction
+ Superb Bosses
+ Surprising variety of mini-bosses/elite enemies
+ Spot-on Soulsbornekiro gameplay
+ You can play records in the Hub and vibe while you go about upgrading, restocking and leveling up
+ Fantastic Sound Design
+ Twink

- Very Linear
- The stagger system could be communicated a bit better to the player, the lack of an on screen stagger bar can be frustrating
- Some of the elite enemies are a bit HP Spongey
- Sudden difficulty spikes (Not a huge deal but it can be a big turn-off to some)
- Last chapter is too long
- Balance is a bit messy, certain blades are just soooooooo much better than others

Alright let's see what this is about.
starts trailer
"Lies of P is a thrilling souls-like"
closes trailer

I was reminded of this and I'm sad it didn't make it into the final game.

EDIT 10/01/2023: I was wrong, the game's great.

Yeah I gotta drop this shit I'm getting filtered too hard. I honestly hate parry gameplay because I don't wanna learn that shit! I want a damn greatshield and I want to 100% block everything. I still think the game is good (for the most part), it feels pretty damn good and I wish I never had to fight a elite enemy or boss ever! Elites and Bosses just have super fucking annoying moves always.

I'm just gonna start with some compliments cause this game does a lot of cool things! The weapon system is pretty fun. I didn't like the moveset of the starting greatsword too much (too much thrusting), but I found a police club with a moveset I liked (have a chargable overhead), but attack range was too small. I put the long greatsword blade on the handle and boom, it ruled. I do wish you could swap scaling on handles without needing unique materials (just use souls like elden ring), cause that means I don't get to experiment really. I liked the vibes and enviroments, wish i got to see more!

The smelter boss I think is actually just loaded with the most annoying moves imaginable. Both him and the electric boss set ground traps and like, I dont want that shit! Elite enemies are too spongy, might as well be bosses with less moves. The ganksquads in this game way more annoying than any other game i've experienced, and they don't have the buffer of me thinking Miyazaki is being a mischievous jokester. Stagger system needs a indicator/bar or something.

Side Note: I think games should start adding an option to increase the your parry window. I felt like I kept fucking up parries by like frames, so I think I would get the same enjoyment as anyone if I was allowed to make the window a little bigger for accessibility.

Side Note 2: While playing I thought about what if a parry based game just put up a Guitar Hero fret board when an animation started, and when the note reached the circle, thats when the attack would hit you (whether you are near the attack or not). I would probably fuck with parrying there because dev's love obfuscating attack animations to troll timing.

ADDENDUM: I also am getting sick of the item scarcity? item management? Whatever it is that keeps me from using consumable items. I think everything should just be recharged at bonfires. Get like a couple throwable items that get recharged. Things that remove debuffs get recharged. Also the souls system they took from Hollow Knight thats tied to the weapon arts is fucking annoying because that also doesn't recharge at bonfires, you have to grind them back up slowly. It makes me not want to use them during boss fights because what if I die, then i have to fucking GRIND them. Dark Souls 3 Cinder mod/Sekiro easy mod just like opened my eye to how much fun a souls-like could be if it was way more lax on the item/mana limitations; you have a fun movekit, i wanna use it!

There's a great sense of cheapness about the whole thing that seems to come from a lack of internal cohesion: there's something heterogeneous about the animations, the different art assets, the awkwardly translated item descriptions and the Crunchyroll dub voice-acting. Everything feels cobbled together, and this feeling's heightened by the way it appropriates so many aspects of Bloodborne without much consideration for the overall effect that game achieves with them.

There's something sympathetic about any piece of media whose goal is to be just as good as another, driven by a kind of scrappy acquisitiveness that insists it needs neither talent nor originality to succeed. However they de-Italianized Pinocchio which is unforgivable.

Pinóquio femboy🤤🤤🤤

O parry e as esquivas são ruins

Platinei o jogo e aprendi usar a esquiva e parry, são bons

I greatly enjoyed my time with Lies of P, as much as I would playing a FromSoftware!
Sit down and grab a snack, it's a long review.

First of all, the story is actually really good. It has a sense of grandiose, and a better sense of climax than some of the FS games, partly thanks to the clearer narration; it feels a lot more like a NieR in that. Some sidequests are a real lesson in storytelling, and that came up as a really good surprise. I didn't expect this game to deliver on these fronts.
Although very freeform, there are references to Pinocchio EVERYWHERE--obviously you would say, but it's just nice to see how much of the source material is being referenced.
I loved the characters, and their voice acting. Whoever voiced Venigni, and better yet, Arlecchino... Legends.
Some people compare the voice acting here to anime voice acting, and I'm like, have you even ever watched dubbed anime? Because that's a heck of difference here. Not to say the voice acting in Lies of P is always perfect, but it's miles better than 90% of dubbed anime, let's be real.

The atmosphere is fantastic. This game's ambience is truly something special, and to me it's the best part of it. You really ARE immersed in a dystopian Belle Epoque. The devs really managed to capture what makes the atmosphere in FromSoftware games so special, better than any other soulslike before it. In this regard, I'd say what we have here is as good as Bloodborne, but in a different way. It also offers great landscapes and stunning art direction, although nothing as impressive as say, Leyndell or Farum Azula (that's a very high bar, I know).
In terms of actual graphics and technique though, Lies of P clears any FromSoftware game by far, which is nice.

The music is also sweet and contributes to said atmosphere greatly. Boss themes are very good. The records are nice and varied and can be played while you do other things at the hotel. Speaking of which, the hotel's music is bewitching and perhaps my favorite track in the game; I've had it stuck in my head for days!
Sound design is also solid. Love the sound when you break an enemy's weapon, and the ambient/horror noises.

The level design is very nice. It's not as intricate as anything FromSoftware, but it's well done and pretty throughout. Seldom will you get lost, and sadly, the game is very linear; you have to go through all of the areas in order. I understand that this is for the sake of narration (which again is a lot less cryptic in Lies of P), but I wish it had been possible to visit at least a part of the later areas, just to have a glimpse of what's ahead, and to try to gather more materials while taking a risk. Geppeto teases the areas you must go to in advance, so I find it a shame not to be able to choose. It is what it is though, and what we have here is excellent nonetheless, with many little surprises waiting for you at every corner.
There are many shortcuts to go back to a same stargazer (this game's bonfires), which shows how well-made and interconnected the individual areas are, but they're limited to a same area. Rarely will a shortcut steal a "woah!" out of you by bringing you back to an area you've visited before; it's no DkS1 when it comes to this. Still, it feels very coherent and accurate. Each transition to the next area is perfect, so although each level feels distinct, it's not a case of DkS2 where levels don't make sense at all based on the previous.
Something also very rare on a personal level: I enjoyed going through every single level in the game! Normally, there are always a few areas in FS games that I think are a slog and really unpleasant to explore (Elden Ring's Lake of Rot and Consecrated Snowfields, Bloodborne's Nightmares and the second half of the forest, Irithyll Dungeon in DkS3, the DLC coop areas in DkS2, and half of DkS1 really...), but here I was happy to explore every single place. And not a single one of them felt padded or overstayed its welcome. What a great feeling!

Now on to gameplay. It's very good! It starts off feeling kind of rigid, partly because there's a pretty long cooldown after each hit. Even most of the faster weapons feel like the equivalent of a greatsword in DkS3. One thing I do find really strange though is that light attacks are barely any faster than heavy attacks. The difference is there and it can definitely save you from being hit after attacking in context, but it's not obvious at all. The difference is a lot more evident in Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring. It's kind of unsettling. But on the bright side, each weapon comes with its own unique moveset; it's never the same, and yet there are MANY weapons. Even FS never managed to make every weapon this unique! You're sure to find at least one or two you really like. And on top of that, many of them look really cool.
Leaving weapons aside, we've got the perfect parry system, prosthetic arm and "posture" from Sekiro, the health recovery system from Bloodborne, and the Fable Arts, this game's Ashes of War. These mechanics all blend nicely together and feel cohesive rather than just a patchwork, despite being mechanics we're already familiar with.
Overall, the rather slow combat is closer to DkS1 and DkS2 than newer FromSoftware titles, for good and bad. This makes Lies of P a more methodical game where you have to really count how many hits you can deal before actually getting punished, and generally that's only one or two during boss fights. You have to really feel the timing and stay patient, and wait for the perfect time to become super aggressive, thus opening the way for a stagger and critical blow. And when you manage to finally land it, oh boy, does it feel good! You feel like you deserved it. I find this tactical approach to an action game really interesting, and it makes boss fights a real joy, even when you lose.
Speaking of staggering, unlike most people, I appreciate the lack of a visible meter for it, forcing you to focus on the boss patterns instead of constantly having your eyes on it. I can understand that being stressful though.

Speaking of boss fights, they are consistently good to great throughout the game. There are only 2 bosses that I really didn't like. I'd say Bloodborne has higher highs but also lower lows (reminder that Rom and One Reborn exist).
Elite enemies are also very nice and come in a very satisfying number. By contrast, I feel like the game could use a tiny bit more variety for regular enemies, but it's just a nitpick.
To conclude this part, big kudos to the devs for understanding what makes good gank fights. Remember Nioh's post-game where they were basically taking 2 bosses from the main game and mindlessly slapping them in front of you, leaving them both as aggressive as they were on their own? You can rest easy, Lies of P never does that. The enemy placement is very clever, and the gank bosses are programed to have just the right amount of aggression. It's always challenging yet fair, and that's excellent.

About the dodge roll: Unlike people make it out to be, it actually does work perfectly well. If you time it properly, you will evade attacks. The problem is that the fast roll animation is awkward, making it look unreliable. The wrap-up might also be a bit too long. But if you try not to focus on how it looks, you will see it's actually pretty generous in i-frames. It's the opposite of the default DkS2 roll, where the animation is perfect, but you still get hit if you have low ADP. If they can improve the roll animation to better communicate to the player how efficient the fast roll actually is, that'll be great. Game probably needs a bit less cooldown in general for player actions. We'll see how future patches will address that.

About perfect block: Yeah, the timing's tight. Unless you're a Taiko no Tatsujin pro, you might struggle; the frame is very small. I'd have it just a tad bigger ideally, but I'd rather have it too strict than too forgiving like in Wo Long, with its ridiculously generous parries which made it way too easy. That said, if you get the timing right in Lies of P and are able to perfect block several times in a row, the game will reward you with a solid opportunity for counterattack.

About difficulty: Honestly, it's not a very difficult game overall. It's probably easier than other soulslikes out there, barring Wo Long (the easiest by far). I find Lies of P to be very well balanced, and one thing I appreciate is that it's got a perfect difficulty curve: the game starts off quite easy, and progressively gets harder as you progress, like classic 80-90s games. This feels pretty rare among soulslikes, with Team Ninja games having a reversed difficulty curve (games get gradually easier) for example, or Dark Souls games just staying as difficult from start to finish, with some easier moments sprinkled in-between. In Lies of P, even level design is something that gets tougher as you go, with the appearance of more labyrinthian places on the second half.

When it comes to length, the game is about as long as DkS3. My first playthrough took me about 34h, but expect anywhere from 20 to 40 hours to see the end credits, depending on your playstyle, skill, and how many sidequests you engage in. You'll clock in a lot more if you want to see all the endings.

All in all, Lies of P is a piece of every FromSoftware game from the last decade mixed together, with elements from NieR Replicant and NieR:Automata, as well as its own additions. And the funny thing is, the whole game still feels fresh! It didn't feel stitched together for the sake of it, but it feels more like a burning love letter to these games. It oozes with passion for its reference material, and it's obvious in the level of detail we can see throughout the game, on nearly every aspect of it. It all feels very polished, and it runs as smooth as butter, with no bug encountered as far as I'm concerned. Beautiful!

If you don't like the game, that's fine. But if you claim it's just a clone or a money grab with no passion involved, then I believe that you're either arguing in bad faith, or out of complete ignorance about anything related to game development. The care with which this was made is reflected in all the little details that were absolutely not mandatory, but contribute to the immersion (I'll leave you to discover what I'm talking about), and in how well-optimized the game was at launch. The devs made the choice to rely heavily on their inspirations despite all the comparisons it would inevitably bring, and the possible backlash, all while trying to do their own thing, and I respect that. Regardless of how much you enjoy or not the end product, no one is to say that there was no love poured into this. And of course, if you haven't finished the game to see all it has to offer, it is even easier to dismiss claims you may have in this respect.

If you're enticed by the atmosphere but you're not into soulslikes, give it a try still. If you take some time to understand how every mechanic works, it's not as difficult a game as it seems; I'd dare say it's even quite accessible among its genre (and it was made even easier with the latest update!). I say this without any kind of malice and without memeing: if you gave up after the first few bosses, just get good. It's not so hard, and the game gives you plenty of time to get yourself used to everything before things get serious. It's worth it!
And naturally, if you ARE into soulslikes, it's a must-play.

I found a new favorite among the genre. If Lords of the Fallen doesn't manage to be even better, this is my GOTY 2023!

I will update this review with more impressions and thoughts, including things about NG+ when I get to it.

EDIT: like in FS games, NG+ is nothing much. It's just there for collecting all the stuff you missed, and getting a different ending. The gameplay does not change at all, so don't expect something nearly as mechanically interesting as Nioh (which has by far the best NG+ features and overall replayability in all of gaming IMO). I'll give praise to the scaling, which was actually done right and doesn't make NG+ as disappointingly easy as in Dark Souls or Bloodborne.

More like Lies of Plagiarism.

This is actually the worst Soulslike game I've ever played. Its existence is an airtight argument for the abolishment of the Soulslike genre.

This game shamelessly copies the aesthetic of Bloodborne. It cherry-picks mechanics from From Software's contemporary releases, haphazardly combining them without attempting to ensure they actually gel.
It's been quite some time since I've played a game with mechanics that actively work against each other the way they do in this. Health regains after taking damage works in Bloodborne because you get rewarded for pressing your attack and maintaining aggression. It adds a sense of accelerated pace to the Souls formula.

It doesn't work when you tie the same mechanics to a block. This is compounded by the fact that blocks knock the player backward.

The parry is among the worst I've ever seen in a game. It's not a frame one parry, and the window is a super tight eight frames--that also locks you into a long animation--so it feels like it has a half-second input delay. This means you have to parry before the attacks hit. It's not difficult, but it just feels unsatisfying. Moreover, the parry barely builds stagger meter, but failing to execute it results in half of your health (or more) being taken, so it's mostly taking a considerable risk for little reward.

The dodge, like many of the character's latent abilities, is underpowered because someone decided that carving out abilities that players should just have and throwing them into a skill tree was a good idea. It's a pathetic way to try and force some layer of progression. Still, it is an active detriment to the experience.

Couple these issues with the fact that bosses have far too much health and very few windows for attack, and these encounters mostly boil down to tests of patience.
It's not even particularly challenging. It just feels fucking awful play. If you're gonna emulate something you closely, you better not miss, and Lies of P fucking whiffs in an almost impressive fashion.

It's clear that the developers did not actually understand the games they were ripping off. Instead, they took unharmonious mechanics, tried to slap them together, and made slight adjustments so it didn't look like they straight-up copied From's homework.

But like the kid in school that tried to cheat off of you, they fucking failed.

Crashed on first boot. Game randomly black screens for 2 seconds (no crash, 4080 GPU, latest drivers). Input prompts constantly toggle back and forth between M+KB and controller, which causes controller to drop inputs.

This isn't even getting into the gameplay, which is as basic of Souls fare as it comes. Game is as focused on timed blocks as Sekiro but the timing isn't sensible, enemy telegraphs are poor, and this comes at the expense of intentionally making the dodge roll so bad it's unusable.

Visuals and voice acting are solid but I didn't go further than the first 2 bosses so I can't comment on story.

As Mentiras do Pinóquio.
Lies of P é uma ótima experiencia para os fãs de SoulsLike e pra quem quer ingressar no gênero, contando com diversos elementos dos jogos da From e com uma certa facilitada em relação a eles. O jogo conta com cerca de 30hrs de Gameplay, e por mais que pareça muito, conforme você progride no jogo você acaba por nem perceber o tempo passar. De pontos positivos posso citar sua ambientação, por mais que seja similar a BloodBorne, acaba por ter uma identidade própria por conter cenários mais luxuosos. O jogo é super bem polido e tive pouquíssimos problemas em questão de performance, e o seu maior ponto alto é sua gameplay que consiste em uma mistura de alguns elementos vistos em Souls existentes como BloodBorne e Sekiro. Eu acho muito legal você poder optar por qual estilo de jogo quiser jogar, se você gosta de jogar dando Parry por ser satisfatório, você pode, se você é familiarizado com DarkSouls, você pode jogar com esquiva. Não existe modo certo de se jogar.

Esqueci de colocar na review, mas o começo por mais que pareça lento, vale a pena continuar por que o jogo tem muito conteúdo a oferecer.

I LOVE this game.

The setting and art direction of the game is definitely my style and easy to immerse yourself in. The sound design is solid too. The story is actually pretty good for a souls-like.

The gameplay is where this game shines for me, but it does suffer from a few clunky mechanics. You have to unlock certain upgrades to make the dodge function properly, you can´t cancel your attack animation or dodges by inputting another action, the perfect parry window feels very narrow sometimes - all of this and more small things can make it feel frustrating when you are fighting a particularly difficult elite or boss. With that said, the combat is quite satisfying overall.

The weapon customization is great, but I wish it was easier to get hold of more upgrade stones so you can truly try out a bigger variety of weapons that are actually upgraded. When you unlock new items in the shop you only unlock a very small amount of them, and I wish there was more or even an infinite amount of some items.

I don´t like when games sell early release as a deluxe edition. I did buy it this time because I wanted to spend my weekend playing the game and not have start in the middle of the week. It´s a minor thing, but I would prefer if games didn´t do this.

The game had very few bugs and glitches at launch, which seems to be rare these days so that´s great.

Weapon durability has never been something I´m a fan of, but it´s not too annoying in this game imo.

Update1: I have completed the game now, and yeah it's amazing. Still there are some bosses that are made annoyingly difficult by delayed attacks, insane tracking and no time to breathe, which feels very frustrating, yet satisfying when you are finally able to beat the bosses. Also the difficulty has sudden spikes which can feel a bit frustrating.

Update2: Since my initial reviews I have replayed the game, and they have patched certain things like having to get the upgrade to dodge-roll up after being knocked down. Additionally I have gotten very used to the parry windows so it´s not longer an issue for me. I have grown to love this game even more than before, and most of my complaints have gone away tbh.