During the IGN Fan Fest, a new trailer and release window for Lies of P, the Bloodborne-like soulslike reimagining of the adventures of Pinocchio, made by Round8: August, 2023, has been released. Of course, we hope this isn’t a lie, otherwise the protagonist’s nose might get bigger.

But it won’t be an easy month for Lies of P, as it will put P up against two RPGs. Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 is scheduled to leave early access the same month, and Sea of Stars, the retro Nintendo-style prequel to The Messenger, is also due in August.

As for the trailer, it shows the ruined, plague-ridden city of Krat, where bloodthirsty beasts lurk alongside fallen automatons and puppets. As one of the slimy beasts merges with a mechanical figure and reassembles into what will likely be a boss to fight, a scarred man (named Simon Manus according to the Lies of P account on Twitter) drains blue energy into an occult device.

How all this relates to the story, which is about a wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy, is not entirely clear. The blue energy could be a reference to The Turquoise-haired Fairy, who eventually grants Pinnochio’s wish, and Simon Manus could be an analogue of the theatre master Mangiafuoco (renamed Stromboli in the Disney version). Or not. Perhaps Lies of P will have little to do with the story that inspired it, except for a few names.

What we do know is that telling lies will be important. Reversing the message of the original story, the tagline of Lies of P states “You must always lie to others if you hope to become human”. The way you lie can obviously vary, with “interconnected procedural missions that play out depending on how you lie”. In classic video game choice-and-consequence fashion, the lies you choose to tell help determine what kind of ending you get.

Because P is a living doll, he can swap body parts in and out to change his abilities. Weapons can also be combined to create new ones, and research is required to find the best combos.

We saw some extended gameplay from Lies of P last year, which highlighted just how soulslike this particular soulslike is, even with animations and a UI that’s very similar to Bloodborne. Not to mention the questgivers talking through the windows and the giggles the NPCs like to end their dialogue with.