WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS for Lies of P ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Highlights
- Lies of P challenges the notion that lying is universally negative, presenting it as a tempting and rewarding action in certain situations.
- By lying, the puppet protagonist P develops his own form of humanity, understanding human emotion through acts of mercy.
- The game's best ending is achieved by consistently lying, as it leads to a final act of sacrifice and proves P's journey made him more human than his creator.
Lies of P is a new Soulslike title based on Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio. The title translates many of Pinocchio's most memorable characters, events, and settings into a dark and twisted world of renegade puppets, horrifying monsters, and devastating plague. Like its fairy tale source material, many of Lies of P's most impactful moments revolve around P, also known as Pinocchio, choosing whether to tell a lie or the truth. However, unlike nearly every other iteration, Lies of P flips this concept on its head. The title sees P forced into dynamic situations, in which lying provides a distinctly human kindness. By forcing P into situations that test his humanity, Lies of P makes lying as tempting as it is rewarding.
Lies of P follows the titular puppet as he rescues his creator, the master alchemist Geppetto, and attempts to put an end to the city of Krat's mysterious Puppet Frenzy. Geppetto's previous creations have rebelled against the Grand Covenant, brutally attacking the city's human inhabitants. For this reason, Geppetto created P with the unique ability to lie, a characteristic that separates humanity from puppets. Using this skill, P is able to navigate Krat and enter areas that are usually off-limits to puppets. However, the most impactful application of P's ability to lie can be found in chance encounters with the city of Krat's human survivors.
Lies of P Tempts Players to Defy Its Fairy Tale Conventions
Lies of P forces players into narrative situations in which they must decide whether to lie or tell the truth and quickly makes it apparent that lying is not the universal negative depicted in the original story. However, it also confirms that telling a lie has a direct impact on P himself. During the introductory mission, players must lie to access the narrative's main hub, the Hotel Krat. After telling their first lie, a message informs the player that P's springs are reacting to the decision. With this mandatory lie breaking the ice, Lies of P tempts the player to continue lying, offering easier access to certain areas and the ability to deceive shady characters.
The true depth of Lies of P's lying system is found in its application to optional encounters. While exploring the city of Krat, P happens upon human survivors who send him on quests. Upon returning to the quest-giver, usually with an object or message found within the overworld, P is often faced with the decision to lie to the character or tell a harsh truth. Breaking the mold of the original Pinocchio's truth-focused conventions, Lies of P treats these lies as a kind or merciful act. What's more, committing this act has a surprisingly positive effect on P.
Lying Makes P Truly Human
In Lies of P, lying is a distinctly human action. In telling lies, P develops his own unique form of humanity, as each challenges the notion that he is nothing more than a puppet. Telling a blind woman that the doll she believes to be her baby is beautiful, rather than revealing its true nature, is an act of human mercy. Likewise, bringing a husband the news of his wife's death, and lying that she left behind a message confirming her love, shows an understanding of human emotion and grief. Each time P lies, he develops an emotional tie to his humanity, and these ties are put to the test during his final conversation with Geppetto.
Upon defeating Lies of P's mandatory final boss, it is revealed that Geppetto has no intentions of turning P into a real boy. Rather, he requests that P give up his own life so that Geppetto might use his heart to revive his dead son, Carlo. If players have lied every time they are able to do so, P's refusal to give his life for Carlo leads to Lies of P's best ending. Following a bout with the Nameless Puppet, who tries to take P's heart by force, Geppetto apologizes for perceiving P as nothing but a puppet, before dying in his arms. Then, in a final act of mercy, P sacrifices his life to revive a friend, proving that his journey made him far more human than Geppetto ever could.
Lies of P is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
