When you first pick up a Soulslike, it’s part of the deal you make with the genre that you’ll be a bit lost when you get going for the first time. An aspect that has long been present in anything looking to pastiche the formula of the Dark Souls franchise is intentionally leaving many elements of the fictional world, narrative, and gameplay mechanics vague and obtuse. Sure, it’s wonderful to discover something game-changing all by yourself without a tooltip pop-up helping you along, but even then, some things are easy to overlook. Lies of P, the excellent Bloodborne-like from Neowiz and Round 8, is a little better at clarifying itself straight out of the gate but even then, a few handy tips can never go amiss, right? In a game as challenging and grand as Pinocchio’s latest grim reimagining, it’s best you get ready for every violent puppet that lies ahead. Whether you’re looking to prepare for the game or find yourself struggling in the early hours, we’ve got some tips for beginners on how to make the most out of Lies of P.
1. Perfect Guards Are Essential
Enemies in Lies of P hit hard. Even the lowly police puppet stumbling about the streets of Krat can take away far more health than you might think. It’s for this reason that parrying becomes essential to surviving, especially once you start going up against some of those towering bosses. Guarding is handy, but at the end of the day, you’ll still run out of health; even if you never step out of your defensive stance, your foes can still chip away at your health until you ultimately die. Perfect guarding is the best way to approach combat as it allows P to stop an enemy attack without taking any damage, effectively setting him up for a quick counter.
Figuring out the timing of the perfect guard may take you some time since it’ll be different for every enemy but you won’t find a better way to stand against the hordes of deadly automatons strolling the city. Take encounters slow at first and pay attention to when an enemy attack will hit, preparing to guard at just the last minute. It’s also useful to get used to this mechanic early on since some enemies can unleash a devastating attack that can only be stopped with flawless timing. Remember, practice makes perfect guard!
Related: How Long is Lies of P
2. Sharpen Your Weapon
Like most Soulslike games, Lies of P has a weapon degradation system that will leave your preferred tool of puppet slaughter next to useless if you don’t keep an eye on it. While it’s difficult to completely dull the edge of your sword on the smaller foes, the larger battles of attrition against some bosses can make managing the state of your blade much more important. Fortunately, Lies of P makes repairing your weapon significantly easier than other games.
Thanks to Pinocchio’s Legion Arm, the robotic limb that can take the form of different tools, players can use the Grinder to sharpen their swords on the go. It can take some time but the longer you have the tool activated, the quicker the repair process. It can also be used whenever you like and isn’t constrained by a cool down. While it may not be necessary to sharpen your kit after every encounter, it’s a good idea to at least make a habit of fixing up things in a moment of quiet. The puppet who sleeps with a sharp sword at his side is a fool every night but one.
3. Use Your Pulse Cells
If you’re the type of person to hold on to all your healing potions until the final boss, it’s time to unlearn that particular trait. Pulse Cells are Lies of P‘s equivalent to the Estus Flask with Pinocchio stumbling upon the glowing blue healing items very early in the game. You’ll start off with just three, but each one will heal you up quite a bit when you pop it, which you should definitely do. Even if you use up all three, the game has a system that will reward you with a single Pulse Cell charge for staying in the action. Attacking enemies with no Cells to your name will slowly fill up the item slot, and once it’s full, you’ll be rewarded with an extra heal.
It’s worth noting that players can only generate a single Pulse Cell through this method, making it more of a last-ditch attempt at keeping you alive rather than a sustainable way to navigate the game for long stretches. If you’re completely out of Pulse Cells, then a short rest at a Stargazer will replenish your stock. You can also purchase more of them from the P-Organ but those will require you to pay with Quartz, a fairly rare in-game item.
Related: Does Lies of P Have a Multiplayer Invasion Mode?
4. Attack Back
One of the things Lies of P very clearly borrows from Bloodborne is its health regain system that comes into play when you get hit by an enemy. After Pinocchio is battered about by a foe, there’s a short window where he can strike back with successful hits netting him back a portion of his lost health. It’s a risk-reward system, one that incentivizes players to get back on their feet and get aggro, and I can’t overstate how important it is to surviving the hordes of Krat.
Am I telling you to rush in blindly, swinging your weapon like a toddler at a piñata party? Absolutely not. Most enemies in Lies of P are able to string together a decent combo of hits that can leave Pinocchio an oily mess on the floor. But after you take one on the chin, get back in there for a cheeky slash and then back out, comfortable in knowing that you made a bad situation a little bit better.
5. Choose Your Adventure
Lies of P introduces lying very early on, but doesn’t necessarily clarify exactly how it’ll impact the game. Throughout Pinocchio’s adventure, he’ll be presented with opportunities to be honest or tell a fib with each option potentially altering entire side-quests and their rewards. It also impacts which ending players will get from the possible three but there’s a catch that the game doesn’t tell you about. To get the “good ending,” players must only tell the truth while achieving the so-called “real” conclusion requires Pinocchio to only tell lies. The “bad” ending can be achieved no matter what decisions you make in the story.
Given how strict these requirements are, I recommend choosing which route you’re going to take before Pinocchio even rises from his chair. Sure, you could always just choose whichever option feels good for the story or, heaven forbid, your conscience but then you’re not min/maxing the story! Which, if you think about it, is the real success of video games. And those are all our tips for Lies of P.
If you’re looking for more tips on the game, check out how long Lies of P takes to beat.
