I really don't understand the hate toward this game. Well, yes, it's entirely fair to complain about performance issues and bugs, poor online, as well as the fact that it was released essentially unfinished; it's becoming more prevalent in this industry, and it's not ok, no matter who's at fault.
That said, the game itself is fantastic! Despite these problems, I feel like I got my money's worth.

The worldbuilding and map layout are easily the best I've seen in the genre; it's like DkS1 all over again. It's marvelously interconnected, and it's beautiful! The whole map layout makes sense, and if you take the time to observe your surroundings, you will at almost all times understand where you are. And you will be amazed at the shortcuts you can unlock!
The map sketches are a really cool idea to help with your navigation, making you feel like you're on an ancient treasure hunt.
The lore is also surprisingly engaging!

Combat needs some getting used to, but the sensations are great, and there's good potential for builds.
Enemies suffer from a slight lack of variety IMO, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be.
Many bosses are wonderfully designed, but they still need some work on their moves, aggression and behavior to truly shine. They're also often much easier than their respective area, being similar to DkS2 in that regard (this is being addressed with frequent patches).

I loved this game to bits, to me it's a 5/5, but I can't in good conscience give a perfect rating at the moment. I will gladly do so once I see that the game is somewhat stable and in the state it should have been on release.

If you are considering this game, know that it's undergoing a lot of changes at the moment, so I'd suggest you wait until next year to buy it, as it will 1) be more stable, 2) be better balanced, 3) have more content (they're slowing adding more).

As it stands now, Lies of P is still my GOTY 2023. Nonetheless, LotF now stands as a diamond in the rough and has amazing qualities; it will become a truly incredible game one year down the line!

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.