Round8 Studio's Lies of P demo has hit one million downloads, as per the Lies of P official twitter account. This shows a surprising amount of interest for a game that initially seemed a bit of a clone—and having played the demo myself, the studio hasn't done a huge amount of tinkering to FromSoftware's formula. They have, however, capitalised spectacularly on the lack of a PC Bloodborne port, a barrier-to-entry that's kept me from playing the Lovecraftian death grinder to this very day.
Lies of P takes place in Krat, placing you in the shoes of an Elizabethan construct—a puppet—whose long curly hair and dainty looks are pulled straight from the pages of Twilight fanfiction. A petrification disease is ravaging its way through Krat's denizens, its guard puppets have gone on a rampage, and it's up to you and a mechanised cricket to get to the bottom of things.
The demo has shown the game to be a convincing replica of the real deal, with enough ambitious twists inside that I'm not even seeing the strings. It runs well, flaunts a surprising amount of gameplay for a preview—I clocked about 3 hours—and adds a few new mechanics to keep things fresh.
You're able to mix-and-match weapon handles with their business ends to tinker with their stats, and one adjustment—the ability to scrape back your last healing item after dealing enough damage—has me wishing it was a genre staple. Lies of P even pulls some DNA from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, with an emphasis on parrying chains of attacks over frantic dodge rolls.
Similar to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty's Game Pass inclusion, letting people get their mitts on something they'd otherwise dismiss as a carbon copy is paying off. The wider reception of the demo has turned many sceptics, including myself, into pleasantly-surprised fans of the game's Burton-esque mirror dimension of puppets and robot clowns. Lies of P will also be coming to Game Pass on day one.
In what may turn out to be another Wo Long link, Team Ninja have announced a mutual collaboration with Lies of P, although there's nothing but crickets on the details so far. I can only speculate, but given how close the game is to release I doubt it'll be anything beyond a new outfit to truss up our mechanised soft-boy with.
You can download the Lies of P demo for yourself right now until June 27, after which you'll need to wait until September 19 for the full release.
