Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s classical fairy tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Lies of P is a forthcoming Soulslike game by developer Neowiz. Players take on the role of Pinocchio in the wake of a mysterious and lethal puppet uprising that has laid waste to the Belle Epoque era-inspired city of Krat. To learn the truth of the automaton’s revolt and Krat’s other mysteries, Lies of P players must personalize Pinocchio’s combat style to overcome daunting bosses and labyrinthine environments.
Game Rant recently spoke with several members of the Neowiz team, including director Jiwon Choi, about the depth and variety of build options players will have at their disposal as they explore Krat. The core elements of Pinocchio’s arsenal consist of customizable weapon grips and heads, Legion Arms, puppet components that serve as equipment, and distributable player stats.
Lies of P Takes a Balanced Approach to Character Building
The brutal beauty of games like Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring is the mix of depth and flexibility they provide players with, in addition to the constant difficulty that forces players to both learn and adapt. Multiple character-building options are irrelevant unless they have a meaningful impact on how their character plays, and a variety of deep systems are required to achieve the appealing, multifaceted design that makes Soulslikes sing. Attaining this equilibrium was a crucial target for Neowiz according to Jiwon Choi:
“We recognize the significance of both build variety and depth in a soulslike game. If there is only diversity without depth, it’s less appealing to players, so we wanted to make sure that the game offers both as much as possible.”
One system presenting players with depth is the Fable Arts and weapon customization systems. After attaining weapons and access to the crafting table in Hotel Krat, players will be able to interchange weapon grips and heads to form new weapons with unique abilities called Fable Arts. Once players have obtained every weapon, there will be approximately sixty Fable Arts available for players to mix and match for different encounters.
A Tried and True Foundation
As revealed by the Lies of P demo, leveling up Pinocchio will be a familiar affair for veteran Soulslike players. Each level gained yields a single point which can be distributed among a number of attributes including those affecting health, stamina, equipment load, and a choice between finesse or strength-leaning damage-dealing stats. This may be the most traditional aspect of Lies of P‘s character-building system, but it has provided a solid foundation for nearly all of FromSoft’s genre-defining Soulsborne titles.
Regarding the frequent comparisons to Bloodborne, Choi stated that comparisons to “esteemed titles like Bloodborne and Elden Ring is truly gratifying” and that the Neowiz team is inspired to live up to their legacy. Between the game’s arsenal of Legion Arms, Fable Arts, equipment, and Soulslike stats for fine-tuning, all the ingredients for a compelling experience are on the table. And players won’t have to wait much longer to see how well they have been blended together.
Lies of P releases for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on September 19.