During the Summer Game Fest, a new trailer for Lies of P was shown. In addition to confirming the postponement of the release from August to 19 September, it also announced the release of a full-bodied trial version for all platforms, allowing players to test this particular version of Pinocchio for themselves.
The demo encompasses the first few hours of gameplay (including two bosses), allowing us to familiarise ourselves with all the controls and various game mechanics thanks to the tutorials.
Let's cut to the chase:
Is it souls-like? Yes, and the authors certainly make no secret of their love for Fromsoftware titles, which can be seen in some basic mechanics, in some very similar (if not identical) animations, and even the location of some enemies on the map will give some déjà-vu to more avid players of the Japanese studio's titles.
Is it as deep and technical as the various Dark souls, Demon's souls and Bloodborne? No, BUT that's not necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary.
Lies of P could be the ticket to entry for anyone new to the genre.
Starting the game, the fighting style of our 'special puppet' might be found a bit wooden, although once you get familiar with the gameplay, it will be rewarding and fun.
But what will make Lies of P suitable for those who are not souls-like fans will be many little things that the authors have mitigated from the titles from which their game is inspired, so as to make the experience much less 'frustrating'.
For example, if we run out of healing but manage to hit enough enemies, we will be able to recharge one of the healing capsules and prolong our survival, or if we are defeated by a boss, we will lose the ergo in our possession, i.e. the energy that will allow us to level up, but the latter will be released outside the combat arena, giving us the chance to recover it and use it as we see fit, or simply the fact that we possess a grinder on our mechanical arm, which can be used to repair the durability of our weapons even during a battle, and more.
Despite having a structure that is extremely familiar to fans of the genre, Lies of P manages to maintain its own identity, with environmental design rich in details that tell the story, well-drawn and recognisable enemies, a narrative that seems to be presented in a much more direct way than Fromsoftware titles, and some good gameplay gimmicks such as moral choices (which seem to have a certain importance on our 'special puppet'), the ability to break enemies' weapons by parrying or the ability to mount and dismount the hilt of weapons at will so as to be able to combine different blades and obtain, for example, the moveset of a rapier on a broadsword blade.
Of course, as it is still only a demo, there is still a lot to be discovered, but if these are the basics, Lies of P has all the cards in order to be one of the best souls-like around!
