I have been a fan of Soulsborne-style games for a long time and many of them fall short of capturing that sense of isolation in a world that feels just as dangerous as the enemies lurking within. When you step beyond the realm of From Software titles, many of them were lackluster until I tried Lies of P. The Lies of P demo shows that it is possible to follow the Soulsborne formula and come out with a real winner.
While the demo for Lies of P isn’t extremely long, you do get to experience a good amount of the game mechanics and each one feels unique while also offering that familiarity to Bloodborne and Dark Souls that any veteran of the series and genre will love.
A puppet in a strange world
One of the best parts of the Lies of P demo is the world and enemy designs. The world is designed like a European dream — if that dream were demented and filled with murderous puppets. Throughout the game, I encountered multiple twisting paths through the city that confused and delighted me. The more paths there were, the more fun I had exploring.
Not only is the layout of the world magnificent, but the architectural style of each building also helps put you in the mindset that any alleyway could lead to your doom. The gothic style mixed with the blood and gore helps create a looming darkness that hangs over you throughout the game, keeping you on your toes in a way that most action RPGs don’t manage to accomplish.
Part of creating a captivating world is enemy placement and the devs behind Lies of P got that down perfectly. Hidden enemies, combined with unseen paths, will have you second-guessing your movements and exploring with deliberate caution because blindly running around will get you killed. When that happens, you must start over from the nearest Stargazer in true Souls fashion.
Puppets have many contraptions
Breaking down the mechanics of the game is difficult due to the complexity Everything feels familiar if you are a fan of action RPGs, yet it all has its own unique spin. Each weapon in the game can be broken down as a handle and a blade, allowing you to create your own weapons and help you create standout builds.
Combat is broken down into key mechanics like dodging, parrying, and timing blocks to avoid taking damage. This may seem standard on the surface, but it offers little twists that set it apart from other games. The use of an item called the Legion Arm, for example, allows you to perform special attacks sort of like Sekiro. Weapon crafting allows you to break apart weapons and forge them into new ones as well.
Everything about the combat felt refined, almost as if the developers had made hundreds of action RPGs before this one. At no point did I feel like anything was unfair or throwing me off, and instead accepted my fate each time I died and went on to try again and again.
Boss fights were a whole other beast to tackle. The demo has three bosses I fought with two of them being hulking monster puppets and one being a humanoid foe similar to fighting a hunter in Bloodborne. All three boss fights, while taking a while to learn, were fun to experience and gave a true challenge without being so difficult that I wanted to throw my controller at the wall.
I played through the demo on both my Steam Deck and my PC, and on both systems, everything about the combat felt well-tuned like the game was made by a triple-A development company. While there was a noticeable lag on Steam Deck that made my character feel sluggish, that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the game in the slightest.
Just try it
If you are a fan of action RPGs with a strong emphasis on souls-like combat, there is no doubt that you would love Lies of P. The game has been on my radar for a while and finally getting my hands on it was worth the wait, even if it is just a demo.
