Despite an influx of quality games already released this year, somewhat surprisingly, the Soulslike genre has experienced a slight lull. Only two noteworthy titles that could be classified as Soulslikes have been released in 2023:Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, andStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.This makes the upcomingLies of Peven more intriguing, and the recent demo has only served to heighten anticipation for what some consider to be aBloodborneclone. If the demo is anything to go by, thenLies of P’s boss fights will likely take inspiration fromBloodborneand otherSoulstitles too.
From the momentLies of Pwas revealed, the similarities toBloodbornewere clear to see, and they’ve only become more apparent as more of the game has been gradually showcased. Players got to experience the gameplay for themselves when a demo was released duringGeoff Keighley’s Summer Game Festlast month, and feedback has been generally positive. The lengthy demo contains three bosses, each showcasing something different both visually and aesthetically, and they offer a clue into the types of boss encounters fans can expect from the full game.
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Lies of P’s Bosses May Seem Familiar
As a general rule, a Soulslike is only as good as its boss battles. The unwavering quality ofFromSoftware’s boss encountersis a big part of the reason the developer is still considered the king of the genre that it created. The Japanese developer is constantly creating new and exciting encounters for fans to enjoy, so it’s totally natural for other developers to try and emulate this formula. It isn’t exactly easy to replicate though, and over the years, many games have fallen flat in this regard.
Games such asSteelRisingandThymesiahave shown flashes of brilliance but were unable to sustain it over the course of a whole game.Lies of Pis looking to ensure its name doesn’t get added to this list, though, and the bosses on display in the demo offered hope for the genre’s army of fans that it could prove to be one of the better Soulslikes on the market. With each of the three bosses,Bloodborne’s influence was clear, and whileLies of P’s aesthetic is obviously very different from the Lovecraftian theme on display in the 2015 PS4 exclusive, there are some glaring similarities in design and move sets.
The first boss players encounter is the Parade Master, a huge, towering mechanical figure with a battery concealed in its core and a large cage attached to its back. It moves slowly, but with purpose, and is a little similar in design toBloodborne’s Cleric Beast, which is the closest the game has to a tutorial boss. Later in the demo the player will encounter the Mad Donkey, a human-shaped enemy with the head of a donkey. He moves with similar speed to the player and wields a large sword, and could easily be compared to one of the many Hunters the player encounters inBloodborne.
The last boss encountered inLies of P’s demo is the Scrapped Watchman. Despite having the appearance of an electrical puppet dressed as a police officer,Bloodbornefans will quickly be reminded of theirboss encounter with Darkbeast Paarl, whose move set and mechanics bare a striking resemblance to the Watchman’s. Given the fact that aBloodbornesequel is becoming increasingly unlikely with each passing year,Lies of Pmay be the closest that fans ever get to aBloodborne 2, so all eyes will be on the game’s launch to see if developer Neowiz can stick the landing.
Lies of Plaunches on September 19 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
