Highlights
- Lies of P features challenging "run-backs" after death, with perilous obstacles to traverse.
- The game's narrative gradually unfolds into horrors, revealing the poor condition of the world.
- Mini-bosses in the game can be as intimidating and difficult as traditional bosses, often requiring strategic approaches to defeat.
One feature that is vital in many Soulslike games is the so-called “run-back” when players perish in combat and must get back to where they died again, traversing whatever perilous obstacles were purposefully positioned in that particular biome. Some Soulslike run-backs aren’t nearly as arduous as others, while some take quite a while and can aggravate the process of needing to die to bosses through trial and error. Lies of P indulges in run-backs of its own, but its environs in general are almost always harrowing to navigate due to its frequent mini-bosses.
Lies of P has a wonderful progression through its narrative as the story slowly devolves into horrors that were thankfully shrouded in pre-release trailers and marketing. Learning about carcasses and the Petrification Disease is only a small part of the mystery that unfolds before the player, and as P continues onward to new locations it is clear how poor the condition of the world around him is. This is further emphasized in gameplay as fearsome foes populate the land, and mini-bosses appearing often in the player’s path can present more of a challenge than some bosses, even if many of them are optional.
Lies of P Blurs the Line Between Ordinary Enemy, Mini-Boss, and Boss
It’s clear when players are up against regular fodder enemies due to them being roughly the same size as P, but as enemies get larger it becomes less clear what their categorization truly is. Either way, whether they can be classified as mini-bosses or simply big brute types, players will be made fully aware when an enemy should not be mistakenly overlooked. Indeed, Soulslike mini-bosses are typically enemies that are much more dangerous than regular enemies but do not hold the status of a traditional boss, allowing them to be peppered throughout the game without any relative story significance.
Such examples are made obvious and even have their own health bars, such as Lies of P’s Mad Clown Puppet on Rosa Isabelle Street, but it is arguable that the tall, industrial automatons at the factory are also mini-bosses due to how tanky they are and how much damage they can dish out in individual hits. These latter types of enemies also drop incredibly valuable resources on an initial kill, too, and therefore they’re certainly worth the herculean effort if players don’t mind tediously learning how to parry or dodge their glowing red fury attacks, which are often spammed back to back.
Lies of P’s Mini-Bosses Can Be More Intimidating Than Traditional Bosses
Traditional bosses in Lies of P with story significance—or at least a story progress impediment—are often much larger, and players will know they’ve found one when they need to emerge through a ‘fog door’ to enter the arena and attempt the fight again. However, because mini-bosses can be tremendously daunting on their own, some traditional bosses make for much easier fights.
The Lorenzini Arcade’s jester enemy only appears twice in Lies of P and if it can be classified as a mini-boss, it is truly one of the most difficult to defeat. It’s arguable that the difficulty for mini-bosses and larger enemies could be due to the fact that the arena players fight them in is much more restricting, which is definitely true of the cellar that players encounter the jester in. Mini-bosses also tend to come out of nowhere to surprise the player, like the hulking carcass enemy who can instantly manifest a shield and quickly become a nuisance, and when they appear later as a regular enemy type that cold wash of dread comes flooding back each time.
Lies of P is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
