Highlights
- Lies of P draws fair comparisons to Bloodborne in its design and gameplay, with the demo receiving early approval from fans.
- The Scrapped Watchman boss in Lies of P resembles Bloodborne's Darkbeast Paarl, suggesting that other boss 'clones' may be present.
- While Lies of P should avoid cloning or improving bosses that were not particularly fun to encounter in Bloodborne, it has the opportunity to adapt and enhance the Shadows of Yharnam boss fight.
The comparisons that Lies of P draws to Bloodborne may never cease, and they’re truly fair considering how alike Neowiz has decided to design its Pinocchio Soulslike. This is definitely in Lies of P’s favor, and the lengthy playable demo that it launched has given fans enough reason to stand behind its quality with a seal of early approval that most Soulslikes struggle to receive. Of course, not every last detail in Lies of P can be traced back to Bloodborne. Still, the demo’s final boss, the Scrapped Watchman, demonstrates that other Bloodborne boss clones may be peppered throughout as well.
Players who are familiar enough with Bloodborne’s Darkbeast Paarl will have surely been reminded of the gangly, electrified creature when encountering Lies of P’s Scrapped Watchman. Both games are different enough that the approach to tackling either boss is incredibly unique, but they are similar nonetheless, and ‘clone’ refers simply to that resemblance. This doesn’t reflect negatively on Lies of P, but it does suggest that other bosses in the game could bear resemblances to Bloodborne bosses. If so, there is one boss—or rather a trio—that Lies of P should either avoid cloning or attempt to improve.
Bloodborne’s Shadows of Yharnam are Unique, But Not for the Best Reason
Bloodborne’s boss diversity is relatively large, whether players are tediously pursuing Micolash or hacking at the legs of the Amygdala. There is a wealth of inspiration Lies of P can draw from with any boss featured in Bloodborne, but obviously cloning them outright would be a disservice to the originality that Lies of P has already fluently showcased.
Not every boss shown has featured a resemblance to a Bloodborne boss, but with the Scrapped Watchman’s seemingly clear nod to Darkbeast Paarl it would be fair to assume other resemblances will make their way into Lies of P, and that could actually be a detriment to it if it decides to take inspiration from bosses that were not tremendously fun to encounter. Micolash is certainly a boss Lies of P could afford to avoid, for instance, but Bloodborne’s three Shadows of Yharnam encountered in the Forbidden Woods could be even worse.
The Shadows aren’t particularly difficult; rather, the difficulty of this boss fight comes from there being three enemies players need to contend with at once, with each Shadow utilizing a different attack. There are strategies players can employ such as kiting to isolate one Shadow from the others, but with giant serpent AoEs and needing to rely on decent pathing RNG for each Shadow it is an irritating fight either way. Players are encouraged to participate in co-op for this fight or use summons to even the playing field and not be outnumbered, but Lies of P might do best to avoid it altogether.
Lies of P Can Make Bloodborne’s Shadows Fight Even Better
Lies of P having its own Shadows of Yharnam boss could be troubling for the same reasons, but it would actually make quite a lot of sense if three individuals from the Black Rabbit Brotherhood were to appear in a single boss fight. Players have already squared off with the Mad Donkey, a humanoid enemy, and it’s fully possible that a future encounter includes three similar enemies who all use a different weapon or ability.
So while Lies of P could avoid the tedium of such an awkward multi-boss, there’s a legitimate opportunity here too for the game to adapt the Shadows fight and improve it greatly. Lies of P does allow players to block and parry traditionally, unlike in Bloodborne, and those mechanics alone could make a trio boss fight much more palatable than it is with Bloodborne’s dodge and gun parry mechanics exclusively.
Perhaps Lies of P uses this kind of boss approach to encourage summons similarly. However, it could make the fight even more dynamic with better options so that it doesn’t become a clone, but instead a boss that Lies of P enhances in its own interpretation.
Lies of P launches on September 19 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
