PREVIEW – Lies of P is an action game to be released next year, developed and published by Neowiz Games. In Soulslike, a dark retelling of Pinocchio’s story, the player will control the legendary puppet who searches for Lord Geppetto. If like the critics, you didn’t like Robert Zemeckis’ recent adaptation of Pinocchio, which recently hit Disney Plus (our review coming soon), chances are you’ll just love Lies of P…

The game is set in a town called Krat, according to the Lies of P website. It starts with Pinocchio waking up in an abandoned train station in the city. He doesn’t know how he got there, but he finds a note instructing him to find Mr. Geppetto. According to the website’s short story summary, Pinocchio does not know who Geppetto is. Pinocchio’s adventure takes him to meet a wide variety of creatures in the city, which is described as “overwhelmed by madness and bloodlust.”

The story of Pinocchio has recently seen a bit of a revival, with director Guillermo del Toro working on a film based on the same tale, and a more classic version by Robert Zemeckis, which despite starring real stars (Tom Hanks as Geppetto), has recently been released on Disney Plus and has been a huge critical failure. Back to Lies of P: Pinocchio has to lie to “become more human”. According to the developer, this aspect of deception is a key feature of the gameplay.

Is there a release date for Lies of P?

According to the latest trailer, the game will be released in 2023. Next year is already shaping up to be a busy one, with titles such as Starfield and Destiny 2: Lightfall due out in the first half of the year. No specific release window was given. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass, the subscription service, on day one.

Neowiz has started talking about the game in August 2021, according to the Steam timeline. The Twitter account began tweeting on August 13, and the website launched four days later on August 17. A few months later, the first piece of alpha gameplay was shown to the public in November.

When the new gameplay was unveiled at Gamescom Opening Night Live, it was hailed by many, including GamesRadar+, as the star of the first day of the event. In fact, it was such a hit that attendees queued for more than two hours to play the short demo that Neowiz offered at its booth.

Is there a trailer for Lies of P?

“Lies of P” has impressed the gaming industry with its gameplay trailer shown at Gamescom Opening Night Live. The trailer shows Pinocchio exploring the streets of Krat. The protagonist even comes face to face with the mysterious Geppetto, who addresses him as his son. The trailer also features some unnamed characters that Pinocchio will interact with throughout the story.

As this is a gameplay trailer, Pinocchio is shown in action in quite some detail. Several confrontations – which appear to be boss fights – showcase the various monsters he will face along the way. There are even glimpses of the various weapons and abilities the player will be able to use.

Lies of P” is set in the world of the “Belle Époque” (“Beautiful Era” in French). The term refers to the period in European history between the late 1800s and the beginning of the First World War in 1914. The game fills this era with steampunk gadgets and architecture to make the setting even more special. In fact, this makes Lies of P the second steampunk soulslike, as Steelrising has just come out, which we reviewed yesterday. The trailer also shows the environment.

What will the gameplay of Lies of P be like?

In addition to the gameplay trailer, a 12-minute gameplay trailer has been released. Based on the extended gameplay glimpse, Neowiz makes pretty obvious (and “uninhibited”) use of familiar Soulslike elements. Anyone familiar with FromSoftware’s work will know what to expect. The combat will be relentless; the map will be full of secrets and optional bosses; and there will be plenty of dying to do. Don’t be surprised if “Lies of P” also features a first boss you’ll have to run into many times before you finally cut him down.

While the similarities to “Bloodborne” are obvious, “Lies of P” brings quite a few of its own tweaks to the Souls formula. According to the game’s Twitter account, there will be 30 weapon types in the game, and each weapon will be split into two parts: the blade and the hilt. The hilt is what dictates the attack moves and can be paired with any other blade.

We don’t lie: you will have to lie here!

As mentioned earlier, the lying of the characters will play a big part in the narrative. When the player lies, they gain something called Humanity Points. The game’s completion will be based on how many of these points the player has accumulated by the end. Lying will also determine the types of NPC interactions and enemies the player will face.

So Lies of P will arrive in 2023 on the usual platforms: newer generation consoles and PC – including, thankfully, Steam, so this game hasn’t been stalled for a year by Epic Games. Let’s hope the makers aren’t lying and the game will be awesome!

-BadSector-