A mostly unknown South Korean studio with very little experience in creating single player games adapting the classic children's story of Pinoccio as a hardcore Soulslike? What sounded like a hodgepodge of arbitrary ingredients turns out to be a major surprise in a packed year and as a contender for the best game of its genre since the original Dark Souls.

Playtime: Finished playthrough at 50 hours hours, with most optional quests finished and roughly three quarters of the collectibles, weapons etc acquired. Finished with the "Real Boy" ending. Played on version 1.01 before the most recent update.

Pros:
+ Cool steampunk setting with fitting architecture and character designs
+ Level design is mostly linear but always smart and full of surprises
+ Biomes and buildings are distinguishable and believably designed
+ Some of the vistas in the later half are truly impressive
+ Interfaces and UI are uncluttered and quick to navigate
+ Huge amount of customization options allow for varied playstyle
+ Weapon pieces can be mixed and matched for up to 100 different combinations without penalty
+ Legion arms can be upgraded and offer ranged attacks
+ P-upgrades and cube system are complex and push the optimization to its limit
+ The hub area is one of the best ever designed for a Soulslike...
+ ...and offers an area to freely experiment with weapons and their special attacks
+ Plenty of QOL improvements: quest markers, number of dropped souls is always visible etc.
+ Not all bosses and mini-bosses have to be beaten to progress
+ Boss introduction sequences are extremely witty and the best in the genre
+ The comprehensive storytelling and writing style are a welcome fresh of air in the genre
+ High quality voice acting and memorable NPC designs
+ Great soundtrack and incredible songs you can find and play in the hub

Cons:
- Poorly optimised on PS4 Pro, with frequent texture pop-ins and FPS issues
- Loading into and out of the hub era in particular takes ages
- The linear design leads to bosses possibly becoming frustrating brick walls
- Bosses with more than one phase tend to become grating towards the end
- Lack of a poise stat leads to frequent moments frustration in combat
- There is no indicator for enemies' stagger level
- The timing window for perfect guards is extremely small
- Little enemy variety and their health varies inexplicably
- Souls dropped by enemies do not scale properly towards the last third
- Throwable items are extremely overpowered
- Negative status effects are usually lethal and tough to avoid
- Routes in the story are tied to player decisions that are not always transparent
- Final boss is tied to one specific playstyle and ending choice
- Some collectibles are hidden behind New Game+

Magic Moments: Combining two weapons for the first time and understanding how complex the assembly options are. Watching the boss introduction for the Brotherhood boss and actually laughing at the intricacy and wittiness of its design. Hearing the song "Quixotic" on the gramophone for the first time and marveling at the singer. Entering the final are and watching the play of dark and light from afar.

Best Weapon: Salamander Blade with a long handle. Adds additional fire damage until completely burning enemies and does a reliable amount of damage until the end.

Best Legion Arm: Eagly Eye. Combining it with the option to gain ammunition from enemies turns this game into a different beast and really deepens the combat options.

Verdict:
Talk about a welcome surprise! Lies of P is a Soulslike of the highest caliber and a joy for anyone interested in witnessing the genre evolve into a more sophisticated, more complex version of itself, and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best games of the year and its genre. What the South Korean team has produced here is much more than just a soulless clone of now classic Fromsoft games. Instead, aspects like the complexity of the combat options or the small but extremely smart quality of life improvements like showing quest markers on the teleport menu and the number of dropped souls on the HUD or streamlining the upgrade processes are proof that the team were not relying on mimicry but actively understanding the issues and boundaries of the genre.

The most recent update even seems to adress some of my criticisms like the distribution of souls gained from enemies over the course of the game (while also nerfing some of the bosses). But considering the depth of the different systems and large number of approaches to beating each chapter, both newcomers to the genre as well as old hats like me who have thrown a controller here and there over the years absolutely find plenty to enjoy here.

So cross my heart and utter no lie: You need to play this if it all looks interesting to you and have a decent amount of skill and patience to overcome some frustrating challenges here and there. I cannot wait to see what the studio does next - and if the ending is any indication, I have plenty to look forward to.