In this preview we’re going to talk about Lies or P, exposing our first impressions of the playable demo made available after the Summer Game Fest
Lies of P was one of the protagonists of the main event of the Summer Game Fest, the videogame review presented by Geoff Keighley, during which, in addition to presenting the release date, the availability of a playable demo was announced; demo that we have tried and played thoroughly and which we are going to tell you about in this one preview. As usual, the focus of this preview will be the analysis of what has been tested (which inevitably remains a small part of the game), which we will highlight strengths and weaknesses and how much, in our opinion, can still be modified before market launch. All ready, therefore, to dive into this interesting and particular version of the Collodian imaginary.
Introduction to fiction | Preview Lies of P
The first element we are going to deal with in this one preview of Lies of P it concerns narration and everything that falls into this macro-category. We are not going to introduce plot issues, we believe that the enjoyment of the title and its technical component passes precisely through the pleasure of discovering the lore and the plot itself. Instead, we will analyze the management of the narrative which, according to these first hours of the game, appears to be on the one hand in line with what happens in other souls-likes but, at the same time, offers an extra starting point. A cue dictated, in our opinion, from the origin of the project itself.
The story of Pinocchio is a story that lends itself to being appreciable and appreciated by different target audiences: it contains elements very adults and complex as well as concepts easily assimilated by a wider audience infantile. All this within Lies of P translates into quite effective dialogues in the field of communication, capable of being cryptic but also direct. We really appreciate this feature which makes the game, from a narrative point of view, capable of addressing both an audience more accustomed to souls and those approaching it for the first time.
Keyword: derivative | Preview Lies of P
As reported in the title of this paragraph, a word that could summarize Lies of P is: derivative. The title has very clear, blatant, at times bordering on plagiarism, references to BloodBorne, the title of From Software published in the now distant 2015. Starting from the setting (which we will discuss in the next paragraph) and ending with the movement and combat system, passing through the interaction with some characters holed up inside their homes. There are different elements, however, and we are referring in particular to the mechanics of summoning ghosts before boss fights and, in this case, it is a mechanic that loudly suggests the name of Elden Ring.
Having said that though, we can say that Lies of P certainly offers an interesting experience in terms of gameplay but, at the same time, it presents some critical issues in our opinion. For example, if on the one hand the presence of an attack stealth and therefore of a backstab is very welcome and directs us towards a certain strategic freedom, this same mechanic is slightly castrated by the lack of a silent movement and by the excessive linearity of the areas.
This last passage, in our opinion, turns out to be one of the major defects of these early game phases of Lies of P. The so classic and guided structure of the map areas not only limits the sense and pleasure of exploration but, above all, it greatly increases the frustration that a souls-like can generate. Here, therefore, a second critical element takes over, namely the balancing. From the outset you can feel how difficult the title is but at the same time unbalanced. To remedy this imbalance will consist in always traveling and retracing the same (reduced) areas, trying to level as much as possible and then proceeding to a boss-fight or whatever prevents us from progressing.
The frustration, in this case, can indeed be caused by the continuity with which one dies but it is also and above all caused by an excessive sense of trial & error and by the tediousness which can take over always do the same route, always eliminate the same enemies and repeat everything until you accumulate so many erghi that you can level. To make all this even more complex there is a management of the dodge which – also in this case takes a lot from BloodBorne – it does not allow to rollfurther complicating things. Very interesting, in our opinion, everything concerning the management of weapons, modifiable and combinable and the management of skills.
Collodi and Steampunk, a perfect combination | Preview Lies of P
At the time Lies of P was first presented, let’s be honest, after an initial enthusiasm we had some doubts related to the amalgam that two such different elements: Collodi’s Pinocchio and the Steampunk universe, could have when combined. All our doubts, however, were resolved in approx 4 hours of testing. The world of Lies of P is extremely fascinating and the work carried out on the atmosphere, on the environments (especially the internal ones) is artistically valuable. Even from a graphic point of view, in our opinion, the game works and holds up great even in terms of frame rate. And it is for this reason that the criticism raised in the previous paragraph turns out to be even heavier as far as we are concerned.
Running into some invisible walls which, although small, are still annoying, realizing how small and linear the areas of the map are and the lack of always convincing physics (sometimes it is), makes us sorry and at the same time hope for a fix between now and day one. The animations of the characters, both of the enemies and of our protagonist are very fluid and harmonious. There is, therefore, a beautiful world to see and to experience: gloomy, gloomy, sometimes violent and in which the lies fall perfectly (and just the lies will have an interesting role to be discovered within the gameplay) but which, probably, suffers from an overly classic game design.
Looking forward to September
Here we are, therefore, at the final stages of this one preview of Lies of P. As mentioned in the text we are faced with a complex title, both to play and to analyze. On the one hand there are many interesting ideas, on the other an anchorage to some characteristics of the souls-like imaginary which, in our opinion, especially after Elden Ring, can be set aside by trying to innovating a genre that risks becoming excessively stale. We just have to wait for september and we invite you to try the Lies of P demo to get an idea of what might await you in the full adventure. For further updates and news, continue to follow the pages of techgameworld.com.
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