The recently released demo for Lies of P solidifies what many had assumed based on months of preview coverage, that Round8 Studio's new Soulslike is as close to a Bloodborne sequel as fans could have hoped for. In addition to art direction and tonal atmosphere that immediately call to mind the blood-soaked streets of Yharnam, Lies of P proudly wears its Bloodborne inspirations in its encounter design and preference for aggressive combat over defensive posturing. While the title does have plenty to help set it apart from FromSoftware's cosmic-horror masterpiece, the comparisons to Bloodborne might be Lies of P's greatest strength and its greatest weakness.
Since its release in 2015, perhaps no other title has had a more-requested sequel or remaster than Bloodborne. After the changes that Dark Souls 2 introduced to the franchise under its new direction, fans were eager to get their hands on Hidetaka Miyazaki's next game, and Bloodborne would go on to become arguably the most popular game in the entire FromSoftware library until the release of Elden Ring. Lies of P has already proved to be a crowd-pleasing demo and the early impressions provided by this slice of gameplay have fans wanting more. Hopefully it has more under its hood to help elevate the subgenre forward rather than rest on its laurels as a Bloodborne 2 replacement.
Lies of P Gets Bloodborne's Fundamentals Down Just Right
Bloodborne represented a significant departure from FromSoftware in terms of its design and gameplay. Coming from a lineage of high-fantasy ARPGs with brutal and methodical combat, Bloodborne's switch to a Lovecraftian gothic-horror setting while also adopting more aggressive combat was a near opposite of its predecessors despite retaining much of the Souls series' core DNA. The first and most noticeable way that Lies of P benefits from its Bloodborne inspirations is in its dreary horror aesthetic, and already the small portion of the story on display in the demo promises a unique take on author Carlo Collodi's classic fairy tale.
The art direction and tone of Bloodborne are mixed ever-so-slightly with a steampunk aesthetic that calls to mind BioShock, but Lies of P has more up its sleeve from Bloodborne than just visual presentation. Bloodborne famously encouraged players to be aggressive and utilize an offensive playstyle rather than parry or dodge-roll, including the implementation of the Rally system that rewarded pressing the enemy in encounters. Lies of P's borrowing of this Rally system immediately makes the visceral combat more satisfying while also providing a bit of a salve for the game's lack of a smooth dodge mechanic.
Why the Soulsborne Genre Needs to Step Out of FromSoftware's Shadow
As the studio responsible for the subgenre's creation, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the best games in the Soulsborne category are all FromSoftware releases. Dark Souls' impact on video games is one that is still hard to articulate properly to this day, but it established a brand-new approach to combat-heavy ARPGs where an immense challenge gave way to greater feelings of accomplishment. Since its release, plenty of other studios have taken a swing at creating their own Soulsborne titles, but with very few exceptions these titles mostly fall short of the intangible quality of greatness that FromSoftware's releases retain.
Lies of P is already shaping up to be one of the better-quality Soulsborne titles not developed by FromSoftware, but in order for the subgenre to move out of FromSoftware's shadow it will be necessary for studios to elevate their games beyond being mere imitations or re-skins of the developer's library of classics. The Bloodborne comparisons both help and hinder Lies of P by limiting it to a very specific framework of criteria for its success. Either way, Lies of P is one of many exciting Soulslikes to look out for in 2023.
Lies of P launches on September 19, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.