Improved Parry Window
Lies of P gets ideas from more than just Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has a big impact on the game. This is shown in relation to the parry feature, as there are no shields in Lies of P. This means that, like in Sekiro, players will have to either avoid strikes or block them with their weapon.
Even though it can be fun and rewarding to pull off a parry, Sekiro’s posture mechanic doesn’t provide a strong safety net. In Sekiro, if players mess up a block, their Posture Meter goes up, but in Lies of P, they just lose health. This can make it hard to fight enemies, especially when you don’t have a shield to block their hits.
Fable Attack Invulnerability
The Fable Arts are one of the newest things that people can do in Lies of P. With this skill, players will build up a special meter as they fight. Then, players can use their Fable Arts to make a unique Fable Attack for each weapon. For some weapons, Fable Attacks are a quick and furious series of blows.
Players only have a short amount of time to use their Fable Attack, so it would be great if they were immune to damage for a while after using it. The way it works is fun, but getting hit by such a targeted onslaught of blows takes away from Lies of P.
Clearer Health Steal
Bloodborne is the most clear source of inspiration for Lies of P. Even though Bloodborne 2 might not come out soon, Lies of P looks like the closest and best game for Bloodborne fans to play. One of the things that Lies of P adds to Bloodborne is health-stealing, a skill that lets players get their health back after getting hit by an enemy.
But in Lies of P, you can’t get your health back with just any hit. Players have to block with their shield to open a window to steal health, but the window isn’t very big, and the health bar doesn’t make it clear how much health can be taken back. To stay alive with their Ergos, which are like Souls in this game, players will need to keep their strength.
Monad’s Lamp Uses
In the Lies of P demo, as soon as the player starts their journey, they will find Monad’s Lamp in the training area. This tool is used to light up dark places and find butterflies that can move between dimensions. But Monad’s Lamp could be used for more, especially since the game says that the cricket inside will lead the player.
If Monad’s Lamp could tell people where to go, that would be great. That could be to the next Stargazer, boss, or story path. A map of where to go in Lies of P could set it apart from other games like Souls that don’t have a map.
Quicker Recovery Time
Some of the enemies in Lies of P can do some really bad things. Not every player can successfully dodge or block every attack to stay on their feet, and the more strong enemies will always knock the player off their feet. Still, it seems like players are exposed for far too long in this state, and the game needs a shorter time to recover.
In many games that are similar to Snow Rider 3D, if the player gets knocked down, they can just roll back up to their feet to end their vulnerable time. For players to stay interested in the fight, they should be able to get back up quickly so the fight can continue.
Fury Attack Safety
The fights in Lies of P can be done in different ways. Even though the demo already has a lot of tools and ways to fight, enemies have many more ways to fight. Some enemies in Lies of P can use a Fury Attack, and the hardest bosses in the test love to use them.
Normal strikes are much less dangerous than a Fury Attack. Players can only parry it; they can’t dodge or block it. But the time to parry is much too short, and players will be punished a lot if they are even a millisecond or a frame late. There should be some kind of level-up or improvement that makes it easier to stop the Fury Attack, since it’s so hard to avoid. But since it’s a game like Souls, players like the challenge of hard games.
Lies of P comes out on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox X|S on September 19, 2023.