Liam McKeown

Gamers are parched for half-decent soulslikes, and I'm assuming that's why this game is getting such rave reviews when it truly is only half-decent. This is a Bloodborne rip-off, through and through, that doesn't deliver that difficult an experience. The only true difficulty lies in managing to hit Sekiro-like parry windows, which is artificial difficulty injected to make the game seem harder than it is. The overall enemy design is fantastic; creepy, weird puppets that at times rip parts of themselves off to use as weapons is a cool aesthetic. However, that also means they move like puppets; janky, slow, easily telegraphed and easy to defeat. The weapon variety is there, and customisability is there, but a few hours in it just feels like a slog. You'll find an item that sounds unique and interesting, pop open your inventory and find out its just a reskinned Bloodborne consumable. The soundscape is immersive with the ticking, creaking and whirring of puppets backed up by some compelling music... but at the same time I felt like I've heard all of these tracks before, as they're again blatant rip-offs of Soulsborne music. The immersive, constant ticking, grinding, clanking and whirring of the puppets is also incessant, which sometimes leads it to be headache-inducing. The story is serviceable and linear, which will be a welcome change for some who find the environmental storytelling of Souls games too boring to be compelling, but at the end of the day it's just a retelling of Pinocchio, and it's not served well by piss-poor voice acting. All in all, if you're completely starved of challenging Soulsborne content, and have played Bloodborne, Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3, Demons Souls, Elden Ring and Sekiro to death, by all means you should definitely pick up Lies of P. Otherwise, just start another Souls run.