Announced back in May 2021, Lies Of P immediately intrigued players with an unusual premise inspired by the tale of Pinocchio, and with just a few trailers shown at the moment but no official release date, it's become one of the most highly anticipated Soulslike games currently in development. However, unlike the family-friendly classic Disney film, Lies Of P will take players through a dystopian pre-industrial city as they war with roaming mechanical automatons all while uncovering a buried narrative within.
As soon as Lies Of P was announced, fans were quick to draw parallels between it and Bloodborne, something which could be why the game has gained a significant following. While these Bloodborne similarities weren't intentional as developer Round8 states, it hasn't stopped fans from going full throttle with the comparison and wondering just how far the similarities go between the two games. However, if Lies Of P is to learn and adopt anything from Bloodborne, then it needs to take advantage of its mechanical premise and include Trick Weapons into its combat.
Lies Of P Shouldn't Miss A Trick
Unlike FromSoftware's previous Souls games, Bloodborne broke the developer's mold in several ways, including favoring a more aggressive combat system and severely reducing the functionality of shields. One such change came with Trick Weapons, a novel kind of weapon that, unlike others, could be transformed into an alternate form which brought with it new kinds of attacks. An easy example is the Threaded Cane, a cane for close combat which then turns into a notched whip for longer range. It provided versatility to weapons that could either suit each player's preferred fighting style or allow the player greater flexibility in combat situations.
It would seem an obvious benefit then to Lies Of P to incorporate a similar concept into its own game. Not only would Trick Weapons provide players with the versatility offered by these weapons, but it could capitalize on the untapped potential canon that the story of Pinocchio and the fields of puppetry and automation might provide. With Bloodborne, as with many games from FromSoftware, weapons were inspired by the motifs and themes of the game, such as the Amygdalan Arm or the Kos Parasite. Already from gameplay teasers, elements of both combat and weapons from Lies Of P have been showcased such as what appears to be a log saw to sabers, so fans are anticipating some interesting and unique designs.
Trick Weapons also align perfectly with this premise of automatons gone rogue, as due to the artificial nature of Pinocchio, it opens a door to body and weapon modifications that will improve overall gameplay. Though Geppetto's role is currently very ambiguous, it could be revealed that his function in the game is to help repair and upgrade the player as they navigate through the world of Krat, the game's setting. Bloodborne's Trick Weapon concept could even be improved upon if players initially obtained weapons at a low level, but could upgrade them to have transformative capabilities, some even having more than one transformation available and forcing the player to choose.
The more that is known about Lies Of P, the better the distinction players can make between it and Bloodborne. Initial comparisons could have been drawn from both games sharing a similar aesthetic and setting, but Lies Of P diverges when it promises a moral challenge to players through its "Lying quests", where Pinocchio becomes either less or more human, with advantages and disadvantages either way. Just exactly how different this will make Lies Of P is still unclear, but if the game is to take anything from its spiritual predecessor and forge its own path among the Soulslike genre, then Trick Weapons are the perfect way to do it.
Lies of P is currently in development.