Lies of P: Complete Edition Review
The Complete Lie
Back in 2023, publisher NEOWIZ and developer Round8 Studio released Lies of P, an absolute standout in one of the most legendary years for game releases in recent memory. The game takes a dark, steampunk aesthetic and uses that as the foundation for a loose adaptation of Pinocchio. Combined with a well-tuned Soulslike combat system, stellar enemy and level designs, and a satisfying narrative, Lies of P quickly became one of my favorite games in the genre, and a game I always enjoy returning to. Now, with Lies of P: Complete Edition, the game arrives on Nintendo Switch 2, complete with the 2025 expansion Lies of P: Overture.
Lies of P stars P, or Geppetto’s Puppet, a puppet created by, well, Giuseppe Geppetto. “Puppets” in this game are effectively robots that are powered by a magical resource known as Ergo and bound by the “Grand Covenant,” which echoes Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, principally in restricting a puppet’s ability to harm a human. Another important element of the Grand Covenant is that puppets are unable to lie, though P is unique in that he actually is capable of lying throughout the game. The Grand Covenant is also proven suspect by the Puppet Frenzy, an event in which the vast majority of puppets in the city of Krat have become violent and unresponsive to humans. This is especially an issue because when the Puppet Frenzy hit, puppets had already been heavily integrated into Krat’s infrastructure. P’s journey is largely about uncovering the source of the Puppet Frenzy, the mysteries surrounding Ergo, and discovering what makes him unique from his other puppet brethren.
[caption id="attachment_200410" align="alignnone" width="640"] Sophia is the one who awakens P at the beginning of the game and is deeply connected to the mysteries of Ergo.[/caption]
Lies of P’s narrative is one of its strongest aspects, combining a strong thematic core with incredibly compelling moral dilemmas that P is consistently presented with throughout the game. The Overture expansion, which is included in Lies of P: Complete Edition, is another layer that adds quite a bit of flavor to the main campaign’s foundation while still standing on its own in the narrative department.
Lies of P: Complete Edition is incredibly solid in the visual department, both technically and artistically. Lies of P has amazing art design, fusing a Belle Époque aesthetic with some steampunk vibes and not-so-subtle inspiration from FromSoftware’s Bloodborne, and manages a very striking visual identity. Complete Edition, being on the Nintendo Switch 2, also looks and runs well, and the game has a few preset modes players can use if they prefer higher visual fidelity or a higher frame rate. Even in handheld mode, the game runs rather smoothly, though the performance-focused setting lowers the image quality quite a bit compared to playing on a monitor, so handheld mode might not be preferable for those who don’t want to compromise their experience in any way.
Lies of P has all of the core pillars of a Soulslike in its gameplay systems: a slower player character that has to manage a stamina bar for most actions, a currency gained by defeating enemies that acts as both experience points and money, narrow level design that rewards exploration, and an emphasis on boss encounters that encourage taking multiple attempts to learn their moves and how to punish them. Perhaps Lies of P’s greatest strength is in how well it executes these ideas. The bosses especially are some of the best in the genre. Every single one poses a significant challenge, but none of them feel downright unfair. Using the game’s parry to deflect an enemy combo and punish accordingly is extremely satisfying, and the game’s progression from area to area is finely tuned enough that as long as players are consistently upgrading their levels and gear, no boss is going to punish mistakes so severely that it demotivates continuing to learn the fight.
The game also has its own innovations in the combat system. A major one is the durability system, where each weapon has a durability gauge that, when depleted, will render the weapon completely unusable until the player sits at the next Stargazer, this game’s equivalent of a Dark Souls bonfire or Elden Ring’s Sites of Grace. To counteract the massive punishment of this, players have access to a tool that can repair weapons on the fly. While on paper this sounds like a level of tedium added to the combat system, in practice it’s a solid way to slow a fight down and give the player some downtime. Another wrinkle is that this durability system applies to any enemy or boss that is wielding a weapon, though enemy weapons only lose durability if the player parries their attacks, so taking a hit, blocking, or dodging the attack won’t affect the enemy’s durability. Usually, destroying an enemy’s weapon only acts as a heavy damage debuff, though there is one cool interaction later in the game.
Another neat element is the weapon assembly system. All weapons, with a few exceptions, are divided into a blade and a handle, and these can be swapped at Stargazers. This allows for some especially fun combinations, such as a police baton handle that is fitted with a pipe wrench for some incredibly big damage numbers, or a saw blade that can boost players forward with the heavy attack. This takes an already solid lineup of weapons and exponentially increases the options available to the player. Thankfully, when upgrading a weapon, that upgrade is applied to the blade, so players don’t need to worry about sticking to one combination if they like a certain blade but want to experiment with other handles.
[caption id="attachment_200413" align="alignnone" width="640"] The game also comes with a boss rematch mode after completing the game, which is welcome for those who want to further improve.[/caption]
Sound can be a bit of a stumbling block in Lies of P. The voice acting, especially in the base game, is incredibly uneven. The actual talent present is great, with multiple characters voiced by actors in other acclaimed games, perhaps most famously Geppetto being voiced by Anthony Howell, the voice of Margit in Elden Ring. However, in this game, the voice direction leads to some strange line deliveries and cadences. This is a problem largely solved in Overture, but it does stick out. The soundtrack is also a bit of a mixed bag. The actual moment-to-moment soundtrack is fine, but often feels like it riffs on its peers in the genre a bit too much without having a distinct identity. However, the game does have several Vinyl Records that can be collected, primarily by completing side quests, that have their own songs attached to them. These songs are unique, can only be played in the hub area of the game, and are a fantastic way to flesh out certain characters and themes, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity when the rest of the soundtrack feels so derivative.
Being able to play a Soulslike as well-executed as Lies of P on the go is an amazing proposition even with the necessary visual compromises that are made to facilitate that, and the value of the Overture expansion being included cannot be understated. Ultimately, Lies of P: Complete Edition is an incredibly solid way to play the game, and RPGamers who own a Nintendo Switch 2 and haven’t played this on another platform can expect a great experience with this package.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
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