TA Playlist Wrap-Up: Lies of P

The August 2024 TA Playlist winner was selected to represent the sport of fencing in honor of this year’s Paris Olympics. Check out all the stats and community feedback as we slash, parry, and strike our way through Lies of P.

The TA Playlist Team

The TA Playlist Team

Published

Lies are a weapon used by humans who thrive in a world of deception.
– Sophia
Welcome back to another month of TA Playlist. Our August theme revolved around various sporting events in honor of the 2024 Olympics, which took place in Paris from July 26 to August 11. We nominated games featuring climbing, swimming, and archery, but the eventual winner was the game representing the sport of fencing, the recent Souls-like hit, Lies of P.


The “Soulslike” sub-genre of Action-RPGs came on the scene with FromSoftware games like Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls series, featuring challenging gameplay mechanics that require the player to master their skills while upgrading their character’s attributes in order to defeat challenging bosses while exploring the world. While 2022’s Elden Ring shows that FromSoftware are still the masters of this particular domain, there are other developers using similar mechanics to push the genre forward in different directions.

Such is the case with Lies of P, from South Korean developers Neowiz and Round8 Studio, which takes many of the familiar Soulslike mechanics and applies them to a gritty steampunk world featuring mechanical robots and inhuman monsters, all based on the story of Pinocchio.
SiegfriedX said:
Really good game. As someone that enjoys Soulslike games a lot and every 6 months feels the need to play a new one, I'm always on the lookout for entries outside FromSoftware games. Lies of P was the best game I found until now.
While Lies of P stays very true to the established gameplay mechanics of the Soulslike genre, it seeks to differentiate itself from the crowd by its setting. Most Soulslike games exist in a sort of dark medieval fantasy setting, but Lies of P has more of a late-19th-century European vibe. The developers describe the setting as “Belle Époque,” a French term meaning “Beautiful Era,” which refers to the decades of relative peace, prosperity, and rapid technological advancement on the continent prior to World War I.
Ladennifer said:
This was not my first Soulslike but I'm by no means a veteran of this style of game. I was completely hooked, I loved the weapons, the characters, and especially the environments. Laxasia was my favorite boss fight, so cinematic. Will recommend this game till the end of time.
Lies of P takes place in the city of Krat, once one of the most prosperous and advanced cities in Europe. The key to Krat’s prosperity was the discovery of a rare form of energy called Ergo, which led in turn to the invention of “puppets,” highly advanced robotic automata created to act as servants, factory workers, and many other specialized roles in Krat society. Many puppets are endowed with personalities, but they’re regarded as mere machines, lacking in free will. Bound by the Grand Covenant (akin to Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics), puppets are programmed to obey orders from their creators, and they are unable to harm humans or tell lies.

As our journey begins, however, Krat is on the brink of disaster. In an event known as the Frenzy, puppets have somehow broken free of the Grand Covenant and violently turned against their human masters. Corpses line the streets as puppet maids, puppet policemen, and puppet workers prowl the street searching for humans to kill. As the survivors seek shelter from the frenzied puppets, many are struck down by a resurgence of the deadly Petrification Disease, a plague that gradually disfigures the body as flesh hardens to a stonelike state. Even worse, some of the dead are reanimated into rotting monsters of reanimated decaying flesh, for reasons unknown.

Geppetto’s Puppet, P, awakens into this world with no memory of what came before. Contacted by a mysterious woman known as Sophia, in the form of an ethereal blue butterfly, P finds himself in an abandoned train car surrounded by diagrams and schematics. Exiting the train, P is guided by Sophia, and a helpful cricket puppet named Gemini, into the streets of Krat on a mission to save Geppetto, stop the puppet Frenzy, and save the city from destruction. But as P delves deeper into the mysterious dangers afflicting Krat, he’ll uncover surprising revelations about the source of Krat’s hardships, raise questions about who is friend or foe, and face choices that could change his own fate from that of a programmed puppet, cutting his strings and asserting his own humanity.
JohnnyInterfnk said:
Interesting Characters and World While Lies of P didn't hit the high that Dark Souls did in Environmental Storytelling (but to be fair, who ever does), I enjoyed the characters and setting of the game very much, and the "Lie" mechanic was a nice addition to the usual Souls formula. I felt the game had memorable characters, and I enjoyed my time in the game with them, and the post "Steampunk Robot Apocalypse" setting was a refreshing change of pace from the usual fantasy setting.
Note: JohnnyInterfnk provided regular updates and impressions throughout the month in the forums, with lots of excellent insights regarding the game’s mechanics and themes. You’ll see excerpts of his posts throughout this wrap-up, but it’s well worth checking out the forums to see his full comments. Welcome back to TA Playlist, JohnnyInterfnk!
When this game was first announced, you might have been forgiven for thinking that a children’s fairytale like Pinocchio would be a good fit for a Soulslike game, but that’s likely because you’re thinking of the Disney-fied version of the tale, with a cherub-like cartoon wooden puppet as the protagonist, full of morals about telling the truth and being a good boy. In some ways, Lies of P is a sort of dark inversion of the Disney version of the tale – both drawing inspiration from Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, but spinning off in wildly different directions. Even in the brief description above, you can see echoes of the more “familiar” version of the story: Sophia as the Blue Fairy, the cricket puppet Gemini as “Jiminy Cricket,” etc. For another example, the “campfires” of this game are called “Stargazers,” most likely a reference to the famous “When You Wish Upon a Star” theme from Disney’s Pinocchio.

Another one of our TA Playlist regulars, TymanTheLong, provided an excellent breakdown of many of these connections, comparing the characters and events of Lies of P to the original novel. Check out this post, and several other posts by Tyman in the spoilers thread to see a lot of excellent analysis on the literary connections to Collodi’s classic story.

There are significant depths to mine about Lies of P from a character and story perspective (another substantial post from TymanTheLong gave a full plot summary that expertly wraps up the story and highlights some lingering questions from the game), but that will quickly lead into spoiler territory, so feel free to check out the discussion in the forums and leave your thoughts as well!

Most of the commenters in our forums didn’t spend nearly as much time as Tyman exploring the story of the game, however… the vast majority of the comments focused on the more mechanical aspects of the game and the overall design.
JustJeyes said:
It's arguably the best non-fromsoftware Soulslike.
Catatonic Nali said:
Played Lies Of P earlier this year and loved it. Closest thing we have to Bloodborne on Xbox as far as I'm concerned. Not the easiest completion but definitely not as hard as I was expecting it to be so good luck to everyone playing it this month.
For those who enjoy Soulslike games, like the two commenters above, Lies of P generally seemed to hit the right notes, combining the classic gameplay of the genre with some new elements that made this game stand out from the crowd.
Cylon 118 said:
Really hope people give this one a shot. This is the first Soulslike I have played that wasn't made by Fromsoft that I believe ranks as highly as they do with the gameplay and polish to match them with some new mechanics like the weapon mix and match that I wouldn't be surprised to see copied in an actual Fromsoft title in the future.

One of the biggest innovations in Lies of P is the weapon system, which allows you to split most normal weapons you find into blade and handle sections, each with their own attributes. The blades and handles can be upgraded separately, with the blades determining characteristics like damage type and amount, while the handles determine blocking and parrying moves and attribute scaling. Different blades can be affixed to any handle in order to create unique weapon combinations to fit your preference, and can also provide advantages against certain enemy types.
JohnnyInterfnk said:
While, as I've stated before, I feel locked in with attribute choices and builds, I find that the weapon blade and handle swapping system gives you a lot of flexibility and can alter your playstyle (so maybe you lose attribute flexibility, but gain it all back here?). I really like this system so far — got my medium-sized blade on my greatsword handle, with the former giving me a perfect balance between speed, reach, and damage and the latter giving me the ability to temporarily earn all Perfect Parries using my Fable power. This allows perfect tailoring to my playstyle — with the added bonus of making finding a new weapon fun. Win win.
[…]
I think this was the first game where I didn't have one "go-to" weapon. For the latter half of the game, I would constantly switch between the Two Dragon sword (for stalker fights), the Puppet Ripper (for level clearing and some bosses), and a electric-sawblade-on-a-stick I built (for some other bosses and puppet-heavy levels), and much later the Golden Lie (for fights that needed balance, i.e. the final boss). Again, this switch-up of weapons shows that the game is very well designed, and switching between weapons became an interesting part of boss strategy.
Between the weapon types and the ability to prioritize “strength” (motility) or “dexterity” (technique) through your attribute choices while leveling up, Lies of P is accessible to players who prefer different styles, or who find the perfect timing required by some souls-like games to be a bit too challenging.
MarekVit said:
Just loving this game. I have always sucked at parrying in soulslike games and this one is no exception. Luckily tanking and dodging is also a way forward. Not like Sekiro.
Another thing that sets Lies of P apart from most other Soulslike games is the morality system, which, befitting the source material, is based on dialog choices that require you to answer with either a “Truth” or a “Lie.” These choices have a direct impact on the outcome of the game, determining which of the three endings you might get. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, though, it’s not simply a case of “Truth = Good” and “Lie = Bad.” Rather, the game frames these choices as a matter of free will… a puppet is programmed to never lie, while humans have the capacity to choose. In many of the dialogue options, P is faced with a choice of telling a comforting lie, thus demonstrating his humanity, or a cold, mechanical truth.
TymanTheLong said:
So, do we think this story, or at least many elements, are allegorical? There are really a lot of elements to the story that could be considered parallels to real life class struggle, especially in the early 20th century of the US and much of Europe. The puppets really are the scary monsters of the game much as early union efforts were boogeymen to the upper classes of the time. [...]
So are the puppets simply trying to throw off the chains of oppression? Are we working, as the player, against our very puppet brothers? Because I’ll tell you what, Hotel Krat sure is filled with a lot of rich, well dressed, upper class people. I killed the Vernigni Factory boss yesterday and it didn’t make me feel good. It’s not at all clear that he was the monster that everyone is claiming.
And here I am as P, trying to become “more human” (aka one of the upper class) by lying (something puppets supposedly cannot do) and having an imagination, listening to music (the ignorant masses could never appreciate Bach, right?) and aping a bunch of other “human” behavior.
[...] I certainly don’t know how this shakes out of if the later story justifies or dispels these parallels but I cannot help feeling that I/P might be the bad guy here.
Along with these two major differences, Lies of P also has a myriad of quality-of-life features that improve the experience compared to some of the more “classic” entries in the genre:
JohnnyInterfnk said:
Lies of P removed most of the annoying aspects of many Souls games. Ergo from dying were left outside boss doors so you don't feel cheated by trying a boss fight (and thus encouraging you to try your hand at fighting them, especially early). Stargazers were left near boss doors, so you didn't have to waste time mowing down trash mobs to try again at a boss. Teleporting allowed you to save time when heading back to a stargazer. No "Petrification" style lose-half-your-health whammy that punished you for not looking things up on the internet. And no "humanity" system that punished you for being bad at the game (looking at you Dark Souls 2, that was unnecessarily cruel).
Essentially, Lies of P emphasized all the fun stuff, and cut back on the annoyance/stupidity.
[…]
The mechanic where you can earn back your last "stim/estus/juicebox/etc" via attacking enemies is a great addition to the formula, as it adds what's almost a gambling mechanic to the idea of pressing on-ward when exploring. Very well thought out and a great addition to the Souls formula.
Finally, no discussion of a Soulslike game would be complete without mentioning the enemies you’ll encounter, especially the boss fights, sometimes featuring huge creatures several times your own size. Enemies in Lies of P fall broadly into three categories – puppets (mechanical robots), carcasses (undead flesh monsters), and alchemists (humans transformed by arcane techniques). There are bosses of each type, as well as human Stalkers (two factions, the Bastards and the Sweepers, who compete against each other as much as they fight their common enemies), and each different type of enemy comes with its own set of strengths, weaknesses, and styles.
JohnnyInterfnk said:
Different Boss Types = Different Strategies Fighting stalker enemies has a completely different feel that fighting the larger "boss" enemies, and my strategies for these types of fights were completely different. For the former, I wound up using a fast weapon and did a lot of dodging/circle strafing, wherein the latter I used a slower but more powerful weapon and tended to fight close, using parry/block more often. This is a sign of good design.

TymanTheLong said:
A lot has been made of the boss design in Lies of P but I always took that to mean visuals and boss fight mechanics. Those are undoubtedly well done and deserving of praise, but what I didn’t realize is just how much detail went into the movements and the animations, making them match both the physiology of the wielder (puppet enemies tend to have stiff movements with visible hitches that remind us they are propelled by gears and springs, for example) but also the design of any weapons.
Lies of P continues to surprise me with its attention to detail. It really has been a pleasure, despite any temporary frustration with a particular boss or mini boss.
Most of the comments about the game were positive this month, although we also had the regular fair share of people who stopped in to say that they weren’t going to play the game. For the most part, though, this seemed to be an issue with the genre itself, rather than this game in particular:
Xynvincible said:
No interest in Soulslikes despite the high press this one has gotten.I'm ready for gaming at large to move on from them.
BigBanjo K said:
Could never get into Souls Games. I don't know about Difficulty, but i could never seem to figure out where I was going for the next objective.
For that complaint, at least, Lies of P is a bit more accessible that many other Soulslike games. Your next objective is always pretty clearly defined, and you can’t accidentally wander into areas of Krat before the game directs you to go there, so you won’t run into a high-level area within the first hour of the game and get absolutely destroyed. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of personal preference:
Cylon 118 said:
The one thing I think many souls fans will mark it down for is its linearity, but I think of this as a positive, especially for newer or less confident players as they can never go down the wrong path to find enemies and a boss they will have an unfun time trying to beat putting them off games like this.
FruitofPassion said:
Idk. Looking at a game dev perspective, back in the day playing DS1, you go the wrong way and you have a very bad time. Your brain goes "huh, maybe I'm not supposed to be here yet, let's try this other path." Yay this other way feels like the intended path.
But over the years they gained a reputation as being "those really hard games." So some new to the franchise player comes along, goes the wrong way, has a bad time, but because they heard these games are really hard they accept this is just how it is and end up giving up in frustration. Any Soulslike has inherited this same problem. As such the devs may want to design their worlds in a way that's much easier to know where to go, and focus more on the bosses and combat system. Even DS2 and DS3 did this (mostly xD)
But DS1 was a huge maze, you could easily screw yourself going deep into late game territory. But that's also part of why it was so great. It was very unique in the way the world was intertwined through shortcuts and off the grid paths. They've never really attempted that again, nobody has. And I think the fear of gamers giving up in frustration of getting lost is part to blame.
I mean I know a few examples of people who gave up on Elden Ring cuz they got frustrated at the tree sentinel at the start. They couldn't figure out it was designed to teach you to go somewhere else and come back later.
Another complaint is that, while it has similar mechanics to a lot of other Soulslike games, Lies of P uses different terminology for familiar concepts, which can make it a bit harder to figure out the systems at play from the beginning.
JohnnyInterfnk said:
Confusing Terminology As mentioned above, Lies of P tries to get a bit different and cutesy with its terminology, especially for basic game mechanics. Whats Fable? Magic, got it. Whats Legion? Tech, got it. What's Motivity? Strength, got it. What's Technique? Dexterity, got it. Advance? Intelligence. While easily overcome with this list, the terms make the game confusing to first-time players.
As well, it's a common trope of Souls-like, but item descriptions could use a bit more polish telling you what an item is and what it does. Beginning of the game, I pick up a Star Fragment. What is it used for? No clue. Can I sell it? Do I need to hold it forever? No clue. An annoyance you see in lots of these types of games continues here.
Despite these minor complaints, it seems the general consensus of our forums for the month is that Lies of P makes for a great addition to the Soulslike genre. While those sorts of games don’t appeal to everyone, gamers who loved Dark Souls and Elden Ring should enjoy Lies of P for offering similar gameplay mechanics in an entirely different sort of atmosphere, with an intriguing spin on the Pinocchio tale.
Fox Andokai said:
I loved this game so much and can't wait to play the DLC when it finally comes out. compute
We know that both a DLC and a sequel are currently in the works, although as yet we don’t have a lot of details. Based on an end-credits scene, we can guess that a certain farmgirl from Kansas is going to be making an appearance, but we don’t yet know whether she’ll feature in the DLC, the sequel, or both. Director Jiwon Choi recently released a letter to fans in celebration of the game’s first anniversary confirming that work is ongoing, and included a screenshot from the DLC showing P standing in front of a large lighthouse, so my bet is that Dorothy will be the subject of the sequel, but that’s just a guess. Let us know what you think in the comments below!


A total of 6,526 tracked gamers unlocked at least one achievement in Lies of P throughout August, with 3,003 starting the game for the first time and 310 tracked gamers getting the full completion. That adds up to 49,973 achievements unlocked during the month for 1,006,200 total Gamerscore and 2,041,165 TrueAchievement score – an overall ratio of 2.029 for the month.
“Fatal Blow” was the most-earned achievement, which isn’t a surprise since the tutorial that teaches you how to land such a hit occurs pretty early in the first level. With 2,914 unlocks during August, nearly half of all people who were counted in this month’s stats unlocked that achievement during the month.

On the flipside, only 341 tracked gamers (just over 5% of the total participants) unlocked the rarest achievement in the game, the 4.08-ratio “Golden Melody”, which requires you to collect all 16 music records by making the correct choices across at least two full playthroughs of the game.
While this is a relatively challenging game, the fact that it’s relatively new led to a month of high participation, including lots of people who both started and finished the game during the month. A total of 58 Gamers made their way to the August 2024 Shout-Out List, led by Crimes XXI, who unlocked all 42 of the game’s achievements in just over 24 hours between August 12 and August 13. Impressive!

That will wrap it up for this wrap-up of the August 2024 Playlist game, Lies of P. With September now over, it’s time to turn our focus to the October 2024 Game of the Month, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. As always, you can earn your participation badge by unlocking an achievement in the game, or by making a substantive comment in this month’s Spoiler-Free and Spoiler Discussion Threads. See you next month!

Thanks to BetaSigX20 for writing this Wrap-Up!
More Lies of P stories:
Written by The TA Playlist Team
The TA Playlist is a monthly community event. Everyone votes on which of four games to play, and then we all play through it in the following month. There's a dedicated hub to discuss everything about the game, from story beats to gameplay tips – and of course, you can track your achievement progress during the month as well. TA Playlist was created by Mark Delaney and is now run by Miles, Nici and Chewie.
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