Who knew that Pinocchio could be turned from a Disney cartoon into something so cool? At first, when you try to imagine how something so childish could be remade into one of the greatest games of 2023, you quickly realize that it makes sense. The classic sci-fi story of machines wanting to become human, whereas humans wish to become Gods by becoming machines. It's funny that I have never looked at Pinocchio in that way, leading me to question what other fairy tales could be remade into something more serious and visceral.
The Story:
The story is set in the city of Kratz where a puppet apocalypse has taken over the city. As Gepetto's chosen puppet/son, you are tasked with stopping the source of the disaster whilst discovering the deeply twisted and reimagined lore of Pinocchio.
The Setting & Graphics:
The graphics are pretty decent for 2023, but nothing groundbreaking. They fit well the current generation. The late century dark French-Victorian style really makes this world dark and mysterious.
The Gameplay:
It plays almost exactly like bloodborne with the exception of addition abilities such as Fable Arts which are some special attacks, but most of the other mechanics are what a typical souls-like offers.
The difficulty:
The game is as hard as your average souls like, but still easier than most From Soft games. Just to compare, I found Blood-borne's DLC much harder.
What I liked and Improvements made to the Souls-Genre:
I was happy to see that new ideas were implemented into Lies of P which make total sense. I like how your last "health flask" can be refilled by defeating enemies, giving you that extra edge to reach the next save point.
I really enjoyed how they allow you to fuse different handles and blades to create custom weapons. You can adapt your stats to any type of custom weapon you want. Basically, it means that if you are more of a stabber, you can create a close range weapon that suits your play style. I found that a long spear with a fast handle was the most efficient weapon in this game, but that's just me. You can even have a few weapons ready for certain bosses. Human waves of enemies are weak against spears, huge bosses are weak against fast attacks, and swords and staggering weapons are better against human NPC duels. I found myself switching weapons a few times.
What I disliked:
The skill tree has various unnecessary elements and has a weird setup. I don't like how you need to unlock different types of dodging, which should have been available out of the game.
I don't like how some unnecessary upgrades are featured in the tree, especially at Phase 5 (the last branch of the skill tree). I was very disappointed to see that endgame skills are mostly completely useless.
I really didn't like that fact that you have no poise, and if you get pummeled into the ground, you stay there for half a minute slowing trying to get up.
Conclusion:
It's a solid 9 out of 10.
For those who are familiar with the souls like genre, you will be pleased to hear that this game is as close as we ever got to get a Miyazaki game which wasn't released by FromSoft. If FromSoft had slapped their brand onto "Lies of P" I would have believed without question it and furthermore even applauded.
This is a phenomenal game and I seriously recommend for all you die hard souls fans out there.