Preview: Lies of P can't deny how much it wants to be Bloodborne | VGC

Jordan writes, "There must come a point when making a Soulsborne that a development team has to look at each other and say “I think we’ve referenced one specific game a little bit too much.” In the case of Lies of P, this conversation perhaps happened too late into development."

[leahcim]

I will summarize my impressions of the demo: (played every Fromsotware souls since ps3 Demon´s Souls)
Presentation: Slick
Stage design: Mediocre
Voices: Slick
Menus: good
Controls: great
Combat: poor

Conclussion: hey Sony where is Bloodborne 2!??

[Palitera]

How bad is the combat?
Even in the controlled environment of the trailer, a backstab to a sitting character is missed.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

The combat is tight and feels very close if not spot on to a Souls games. I had no problem with back stabs. A red indicator pops up when u can stab them so you really shouldn’t miss.

[Sonic1881]

Something does feel kinda off with the combat. When you parry the enemy is not even vulnerable it's like he still can hit you regardless if you parry 😂

[repsahj]

When you perfect parry, enemy weapons will break at some point. Sometimes you need to parry more than 1x to break their weapon, which is weird. So why do you parry 2 - 3 times(to break their weapons) if you can kill them instead.

[Kaze88]

@Repsahj you mean perfect block? the Y(triangle) + block is parry. perfect timing of block is just perfect block.

[jambola]

they're making new games

[Kaze88]

The combat felt better when I realized that dodging is not it's thing, perfect BLOCK is the way to go. Though have to admit that Boss second phases usually make your life tedious. I would prefer proper dodge, but the perfect block works way better in this game.

Like on the last boss if you even get perfect block on the hits there is always a thunder strike on every spots 2-3 seconds after the hit. So you basically need to perfect block and dash/move out of the lightnings way and repeat that 3-6 times to get 1-2 hits in. At that point it becomes tedious. First phases with perfect block are enjoyable when you succeed, then second phase shits the bed.

[Sonic1881]

I didn't like that. I have a feeling I will get frustrated playing this game. I never got frustrated playing Bloodborne

[Kaze88]

Yeah it's basically like sekiro, not bloodborne.

[Magic_Spatula]

The writer of the article probably doesn't realize that maybe it's what the dev team wanted. Maybe they wanted a Bloodborne type game and decided to make one. Nothing wrong with that. While I'd love Sony and FromSoftware to develop Bloodborne 2 or even port it over to current gen/PC, it ain't gonna happen cuz for some reason, as the IP holders of Bloodborne, Sony's being stubborn about it. I'm glad other devs are doing what Sony refuses to do.

[I_am_Batman]

I don't think they're trying to deny it. It's clearly inspired by Bloodborne and Souls games in general. Defensive options are way too strong in the demo for it to truly feel Bloodborne-esque though. From Software deliberately took away block options in Bloodborne to make the combat have higher stakes and encourage an active playstyle.

Obviously this is a new IP and an entirely different development team, so I don't want to go into it with too many preconceived notions, but they kinda invited the comparisons by wearing their inspiration on their sleeves.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

It plays NOTHING like Bloodborne. It’s far more inline with a Souls game. It may look similar to BB but that’s really about it.

[senorfartcushion]

They’re all the same game!

Bloodborne is just a Dark Souls game.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Not at all. I have to wonder if you ever played Bloodborne with that kind of comment. BB is far faster gameplay, no blocking, instant heals, weapon transformation, Lies of P has none of that based on the demo so how exactly is it almost the same game ?

[senorfartcushion]

Lol not at all?

Is the “blood” instead of “souls” thing enough for you or something?

It’s the same game. It doesn’t matter if one slightly encourages the player to be aggressive in combat with a parry weapon. They’re the same game, gameplay-wise. Of course they are 😂

[Babadook7]

I agree. And Bloodborne was literally called Beast Souls early on. It is a bit different from Demons souls but certainly very similar as well.

[The Wood]

Soulsborne is the genre now encompassing 2 different games with similarly styles. Demons souls being the kick off on consoles

[potatoseal]

Yeah it seems like you've never played Bloodborne. Seriously, don't pretend, because people will know

[senorfartcushion]

It’s all a ripoff anyway.

It’s just ANOTHER bloody Dark Souls ripoff. Like every game that’s not a live service game.

We have two popular games in AAA:

- Live service games

And

- Dark Souls ripoffs.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

You heard it here everyone. FPS games, RPGs, open world and action games all don't sell.

[Knushwood Butt]

Humanity must fit in the 'live service game' category.

[Goozex]

Nothing will come close to bloodborne

[Babadook7]

"Lies of P can't deny how much it wants to be Bloodborne"

Honestly that is quite a draw as far as I'm concerned. Imitate the best.

The graphics look pretty decent also. Downloading the demo.

[gleepot]

Lies of P has unabashedly been a Bloodborne since it was announced. And you know what? I'm all in. If From is just going to completely ignore the existence of Bloodborne then this is the next best thing.

[toxic-inferno]

Me too - it's been on my radar since it was announced, and I'm pleased to say that the demo has really impressed me.

As for the controls and combat, several Dark Souls games (especially DS2) feel sluggish and awkward to begin with, but improve massively after a couple of hours of leveling up. I anticipate that this will be exactly the same.

[Ethereal]

The inspiration from the souls series is evident. I liked what I played and it is definitely on my radar. My only major issue is the movement, predominately the walk/run speed just feels off to me. It is awkwardly slow and the character seems to float.

[aws04]

PloodPorne

[Demetrius]

I will just watch playthroughs to check out the story I won't be buying cause I don't really enjoy souls like or souls combat I don't like being forced to get hit and die lol even though ya dodge in time