Lies of P - Souls-like Steampunk Pinocchio

[Isgrimnur]

Sep 19, 2023, Day 1 on Game Pass.

[coopasonic]

Tomorrow.

I'll be checking it out as Starfield has run out of steam for me and I need to put my GamePass to use. Yes, I understand the irony of that statement. I've watched a bit of this on twitch over the weekend and I am not too excited about it, but I am willing to give a shot.

[GreenGoo]

I like soulsbornes in general, but this one leaves me cold. It could be a great game, but I wouldn't know, as Pinocchio is not my jam.

[Scraper]

I think it unlocks tonight at 8pm eastern. I'll definitely be playing it tomorrow morning. It's been getting good reviews from all the major sites.

[coopasonic]

I think it unlocks tonight at 8pm eastern. I'll definitely be playing it tomorrow morning. It's been getting good reviews from all the major sites.

On gamepass it is available right now. Apparently as of 7 minutes ago. I just started the install, NOT the preload.

[Kurth]

Watched the trailer last night, and it looks really interesting. But who am I kidding? Will likely still be playing Starfield months from now . . .

[malchior]

As I mentioned Starfield was a complete dud for me so this is a near target though I'm also working through Act 3 BG. To Gamepass!

[Octavious]

Already installed it yesterday. I have a feeling I'll deflect off it as it's 100% aimed at copying Bloodborne which is the only souls game I didn't finish. As it's on the pass and I dig the art style I'll certainly give it a shot. The reviews have been very positive. Seems like it's a B+ game that could elevate into elite status with a few patch corrections. (Apparently you can customize weapons and people think it's super fun, but after you beat a few bosses it becomes pointless.)

We also have 2.0 of Cyberpunk this week. So it's a fun week for things I don't need to pay for.

[coopasonic]

I played for about a half hour at lunch and am not impressed so far, but I will give it more time. Apparently I will also be ordering a new controller as my current one is squeaky as hell and was already starting to see some significant drift.

Anyway, I think the comparisons to Bloodborne would only really apply to the aesthetic. Gameplay isn't really that similar.

[malchior]

I played about an hour and agreed that gameplay is different from Bloodborne. The aesthetic is similar so but leans way more into the Steampunk. At this point, it hasn't grabbed me yet and I've found the combat to be too easy. I'll curious to see how it is when it gets more challenging.

[Octavious]

Everything I saw was that the basic mobs are a bit too easy, but some of the bosses are challenging. So they might appeal to people that found the other series too hard. I'm not one of them. I like that pretty much everything can rip my face off.

[malchior]

One of the tutorial mobs was challenging...mostly because they don't explain crucial game mechanics until you face it the 2nd time.

[Octavious]

Can't be worse than the 1st boss in Dark Souls 3. It look Madelynn hourssssss to get past it.

[Scraper]

I have played past the first boss and the opening area didn't really grab me either. BUT, the game did get better for me after the first boss when you can really start feeling like there is some progression to the game. It is very much a Dark Souls type of game as far as gameplay and level design. There are only 3 different classes to choose from at the beginning and all they really amount to is different starting stats and weapons.

At this point the game seems like a good Dark Souls type of game, but I want to get more hours in before I really pass judgment.

[Octavious]

Certainly didn't grab me in the beginning. It's just such a blatant copy of Dark Souls that it kind of puts me off. I'll go back to it soon m, but I know Cyberpunk releases 2.0 on the 21st and I want it play that.

[Scraper]

I put some more time in with this yesterday and the game is really starting to click for me. Don't let the opening area scare you off. About 3 hours in you get to the game's central hub which gives you access to things like weapon modification and leveling up. It also eventually unlocks the ability to improve your character's abilities in a skill tree type format. So the game gets much deeper.

At this point I've finished off 3 main bosses and I see no reason why I wouldn't play this game to completion. One cool thing this game does better than most Souls like games is that if you die in a boss arena your souls will be placed just outside of the fog door for that arena, so you never really have to worry about losing a bunch of souls in a boss fight. It's a small touch, but there are lots of things like that designed to make the game a littler more user friendly than a Souls game.

I will say this, the boss difficulty level is up there with Dark Souls. They're not walks in the park, but they also aren't so hard that you feel like you will never beat them. I would say the boss difficulty has been just right for me so far (3 main bosses in).

[Pyperkub]

Watched the trailer last night, and it looks really interesting. But who am I kidding? Will likely still be playing Starfield months from now . . .

I thought I'd be playing Starfield, but I kind of got stuck in a what to do? after getting off the intro planet and beating the pirates - I boarded a ship, killed the crew and looted it, and I'd like to sell it off, but I don't know how to do that at this stage in the game, then I saw the trailer for this, and it looked totally cool and a lot more like a game I'd enjoy than I thought. Downloaded on gamepass last night, might give it a shot tonight (tho the posts saying it takes hours to get to the cool stuff seems like it may be too much of a time investment. I may end up back in Diablo 4 to finish off the season of the malignant before it goes away in October...

[Scraper]

I'm about 10 hours in now and all of the reviewers putting this game in the 8 to 9 range are pretty spot on. It's that rare game that is very clearly a Dark Souls clone, BUT it does everything right and doesn't feel 2nd rate. The game it reminds me of the most at this point is the Demon Souls remake. The areas are tight, but do have some exploration, the standard enemies aren't hard, but if you screw up they will punish you and the boss difficulty is just about right for this style of game.

The world building and story is a lot like a Souls game but I would say Lies of P has more interesting NPCs with a bit more of a background story than your average Souls NPC.

The game definitely makes me say "Ok just one more try" every time I get killed by a boss or do something stupid and die.

[Scraper]

I should add that I'm playing this on the Series X thanks to Gamepass. I have the graphics settings at optimal graphics and the game runs smooth. I have no idea what the FPS is but it's not noticeably slow, so I would guess its at a solid 30 or more.

The game itself runs on one of the Unreal engines and it looks good. Not as good as Demon's Souls but better than Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring.

[Unagi]

This game title keeps making me think back to when one of my kids used to try and cover up the fact that they totally wet the bed.

[Octavious]

I should add that I'm playing this on the Series X thanks to Gamepass. I have the graphics settings at optimal graphics and the game runs smooth. I have no idea what the FPS is but it's not noticeably slow, so I would guess its at a solid 30 or more.

The game itself runs on one of the Unreal engines and it looks good. Not as good as Demon's Souls but better than Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring.

I played it on Quality mode and there's no way that was 30 FPS. It was way too smooth for 30 FPS. The performance mode looks pretty much pointless from the couple hours I played. That's probably a totally different story for the Series S. I'll go back to this after Cyberpunk I just wasn't in the mood. I've found with any of these types of games I have to be in a certain mood or I don't want to deal with it.

[Octavious]

Looked it up. Quality targets 30 FPS, but I have to believe it's going much higher as it's way too smooth. Not a complaint obviously.

[Moliere]

Check point save?
Made it to the first mini boss in the train station. Died and was sent all the way back to the beginning when you first get off the train. Now I have to fight all the respawns to get back to the mini boss?

[coopasonic]

Check point save?
Made it to the first mini boss in the train station. Died and was sent all the way back to the beginning when you first get off the train. Now I have to fight all the respawns to get back to the mini boss?

First, have you never played a souls-like before? Second, I don't really remember the details that far back but odds are there are shortcuts you failed to open up IF it's really a mini-boss and it is that far back to the fight.

I will note that, for many very strong enemies that are not bosses, they are very often right BEFORE anew bonfire (forget what they are called in this game). You can generally run past them and hit the bonfire and then fight them.

[Moliere]

First, have you never played a souls-like before? Second, I don't really remember the details that far back but odds are there are shortcuts you failed to open up IF it's really a mini-boss and it is that far back to the fight.

I will note that, for many very strong enemies that are not bosses, they are very often right BEFORE anew bonfire (forget what they are called in this game). You can generally run past them and hit the bonfire and then fight them.

Yes. That doesn't make me like check point saves any more. It discourages experimentation on routes and fight options.

I finally made it past that guy and reached the second Stargazer. This game is a little heavy on the rails so we'll see how long I last.

[Scraper]

First, have you never played a souls-like before? Second, I don't really remember the details that far back but odds are there are shortcuts you failed to open up IF it's really a mini-boss and it is that far back to the fight.

I will note that, for many very strong enemies that are not bosses, they are very often right BEFORE anew bonfire (forget what they are called in this game). You can generally run past them and hit the bonfire and then fight them.

Yes. That doesn't make me like check point saves any more. It discourages experimentation on routes and fight options.

I finally made it past that guy and reached the second Stargazer. This game is a little heavy on the rails so we'll see how long I last.

There is a shortcut door you open, literally right next to that mini boss.

[GreenGoo]

Yes. That doesn't make me like check point saves any more. It discourages experimentation on routes and fight options.

Completely fair.

However, this is an entire genre of its own now, and every single one of them have this mechanic. I would go so far as to say it's a core mechanic of Soulsbornes. It's one of the reasons these games are known for their "difficulty" among many other features.

Just so you know.

As mentioned above, unlocking "shortcuts" is another core feature of these games. Keep your eyes open for routes that were previously closed to open up as you progress further.

[Scraper]

I've gotten to the point in this game where you can construct different arms for your character. The arms essentially act as magic or special abilities and are upgradable. They really open the game up to experimenting with different play styles, especially when combined with different weapon types. For instance one creates toxic pools which do damage over time, another gives you a shield that blocks 100% of damage and when upgraded reflects it back, another gives you a grenade launcher. It's a pretty cool system that differentiates this game from your typical souls game.

[GreenGoo]

Sekiro had different equipable prosthetics that did various things, including flame throwing. Just noting it.

[Scraper]

Sekiro had different equipable prosthetics that did various things, including flame throwing. Just noting it.

That's true, but this one is a bit different and little more robust.

[GreenGoo]

That's true, but this one is a bit different and little more robust.

No doubt!

Just felt like Sekiro needed a little love, that's all.

[Pyperkub]

Put a little more time into this - got past the intro area and took a stab at the first boss, and while I really like the art and steam punk motif, I think I'll just go back to try to finish Elden Ring first

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[coopasonic]

There was a patch that was supposed to make it a bit easier. I may give it another look after Cyberpunk. The 6th boss was causing me trouble and he's not supposed to be a hard one.

[Scraper]

I finished this up over the weekend. It took about 40 hours to beat. It is easily one of my favorite Souls style games. What sets it apart is that it actually has a coherent storyline that you can follow. Granted it's not on the level of God of War or similar story heavy games, but there is a story here and it's not as vague as the From Software stories are. Throughout the story you will be presented with chances to lie and you have to make a quick choice, if you're following the story and reading all of the notes hidden around then the choices aren't always easy. The choices affect how the story ends and I think the various endings can be very different.

Spoiler for my ending

Spoiler:

I think I got what can be considered a somewhat good ending. My Gappetto asked me to give him my heart, I refused and he had another puppet attack me to get the heart. At the end of the battle Gappetto steps in and gets killed by the other puppet. My Pinocchio then goes out onto the balcony and sacrifices his life essence to give it to Sophia's puppet so that she could live.

[Moliere]