Lies of P looked like a clone at first, but that’s not why critics stayed
Lies of P is proof that a game does not need to reinvent the Soulslike to earn a seat at the table. It needs to hit hard, stay readable under pressure, and give players a reason to care beyond another pile of corpses and cryptic item text. By that standard, this thing lands with real force.
One quick bit of honesty before the verdict: this review is based on the critical record and source evidence around Lies of P, not a fake “I sank 40 hours into it on three platforms” diary. The good news is that the consensus is unusually clear. Most critics came away impressed by the same things: the combat is tight, the bosses are memorable, the weapon system adds real flexibility, and the grim Pinocchio framing gives the whole package a stronger identity than the usual Soulslike photocopy.
Key takeaways
- Lies of P is widely seen as one of the strongest non-FromSoftware Soulslikes.
- Its best feature is not originality for originality’s sake; it is refinement.
- Combat, boss design, and weapon customization do most of the heavy lifting.
- The dark Pinocchio premise and lie-based choices give it a memorable thematic spine.
- Its biggest weakness is obvious: it borrows so openly from Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls that the comparison never leaves the room.
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Lies of P looked like a clone at first, but that’s not why critics stayed
If you want a polished, atmospheric Soulslike that understands why people keep coming back to this genre, Lies of P is easy to recommend. If you need every major release to push the form into brand-new territory, this is where the enthusiasm cools. It is familiar on purpose. The surprise is how often that familiarity feels like confidence instead of dependence.
That distinction matters. Plenty of Soulslikes copy the posture of FromSoftware without understanding the rhythm. They get the dodge roll, the checkpoint loop, the moody architecture, and then fall apart where it counts: hit feedback, enemy timing, build identity, encounter escalation. Lies of P avoids that trap. Critics repeatedly describe it as smooth, well-tuned, and hard to put down once the systems click together. That puts it in rare company for a game working inside such a crowded shadow.