4.5/5 ★ – Vole's review of Lies Of P.

Platform: Xbox Series X My experience: A New Favourite 🤩 Rating: 9/10 Beaten: 20th Jan 2024 Having played Elden Ring for 40 hours, I gave up simply because I wasn’t good enough to play it. I don’t think I ever fully grasped the combat or the style of game I was playing. It probably didn’t help with the fact it was open world, feeling lost in a world with combat your still not accustomed to was a nightmare. Lies of P however is my first souls-like game I’ve ever beaten, and I now finally see why people love this genre. Lies of P is beautiful, dark and brutal. Taking the original tale of Pinocchio and developing a murky, twisted world using it is not only brilliant, but masterfully executed. The world in Lies of P feels broken, yet so alive and realised. Whether you’re exploring the narrow streets of a Krat, or delving into the the deep boggy swamps, the environments are always atmospheric. The art style here definitely sells this with it’s dark fantasy look (akin to dark souls). In terms of its gameplay, this is the least amount of bullshit I’ve felt from this genre, it’s harsh but fair, mainly keeping you on your toes and ensuring your failures are mainly due to your player skill. Perfect Guarding is a fantastic addition to the gameplay, giving you more ways to eliminate damage received, whilst at the same time just feeling great to pull off. Combing weapons, arm legions, throwable, everything this game gives me feels great and I never got bored of the combat. My only issues with Lies of P really just lie within its foundations of trying to be a FromSoftware game. Character dialogue and voice acting is great, but everyone talks soooooo slowly, very reminiscent of Elden Ring. I also found it quite irritating when some mini bosses were ages away from Stargazers (save points), meaning every time I died, I had to run past serval enemies and it would take nearly a minute just to get back. Otherwise, this game is exceptionally good. Again, adapting the tale of Pinocchio is pure genius, and works so well with the games overall atmosphere. Boss fights were all unique and brilliantly fun to fight, combat is super tight with satisfying gameplay, the music is great with its Italian/French influences. I just can’t wait for more really.