Episode 166 - Doctor, I Am Pagliacci - Lies of P

Grand Covenant’s Fourth Law: A podcast cannot lie. Welcome back to
the podcast! Lies of P is definitely a game that turned some heads
when it was announced, given that it’s based around Pinnochio. Set
in a city overrun by automatons, stylized as puppets, who have
broken their safeguards and begun attacking people, Lies of P takes
its themes and ideas from Pinnochio, along with some of its
characters, but not necessarily its plot. In fact, the way it
manages to weave this inspiration into the rest of the game is
probably its most impressive narrative feat. This is particularly
notable that the thing it’s weaving these elements into is just a
Dark Souls game. More so than any other game we’ve played, on- or
off-air, this really feels like a FROM designed Souls game, or at
least very close to it. The combat takes heavy cues from Sekiro and
Bloodborne with the healing mechanics and stats from Dark Souls,
you can tell the developers have been taking notes. And this can be
both good and bad, because the game feels familiar and also very
good to play most of the time, but it does also call attention to
elements from the games (upgrade materials, consumable items, a
prosthetic) that feel more or less necessary for this game
specifically. It’s a strange experience to some extent, but still a
very good one if this style of game is something you already
enjoyed. Is this game derivative? A little, for sure, but there is
still some novelty to be found, particularly in its aesthetics.
This and the combat mechanics that combine the weapon variety of
Dark Souls (as well as a unique weapon recombination mechanic) with
the satisfying defensive options of Sekiro, mean that as much as
this makes you think about where its inspirations came from, as
weird as the theme of the game is on its face, and as difficult as
the game can be at times, it’s still a very good time. We’re going
to be talking about the integration of the source material into the
mechanical identity of the game, how auxiliary mechanics complicate
the game both for good and for bad, and how they really should have
just called the game Pinnochio. Thank you for listening this week!
As you can probably tell, we’ve been doing a bit of a Soulslike run
recently, which we’ll be finishing up on pocket next time, but I
think it’s shown just how diverse this subgenre can be. Lies of P
stands out less for its own identity but more for its devotion to
the identity of the games that inspired it, and it’s a complicated
topic to discuss. Do you think this impressive adherence to FROM’s
catalog will be a positive change for these types of games going
forward, normalizing the base gameplay and allowing for more
diversity in how those mechanics are utilized and twisted to fit
the game at hand, or do you think this is just one direction for
the genre to go, with the other elements taking center stage as in
games like Lunacid? Let us know in the comments or over on our
Discord! Next time, we’re going to be sprinting as far as we
possibly can in the other direction and talking about Pentiment, so
we hope you’ll join us then.