The Adventures of Pinocchio—the original Pinocchio novel—is one of the most translated books in history, and its popularity has led to no shortage of adaptations. Disney’s Pinocchio is definitely the most famous, but the adaptations don’t stop there. From movies and shows to other novels and even works of art, Pinocchio’s story has many different interpretations with interesting twists. I’m always interested in a new or different take on it, which is what drew me to the game Lies of P and more specifically, Lies of P: Complete Edition.
Lies of P is a Soulslike action RPG from NEOWIZ and Round8 Studio that originally released in 2023 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The game is on its way to Nintendo Switch 2 as Lies of P: Complete Edition, and it includes the prequel DLC Overture, which was released in 2025. I actually played the original at release but didn’t play much because I didn’t have the time. Since then, I’ve been wanting to return to the game, and I’m glad I was finally able to with this release. It’s a really solid Switch 2 port, but it still needs some work.
The Lies of P
Lies of P takes place in the fictional city of Krat. Krat was once a hub of industry built around the mineral Ergo, which powered everyday puppets. Now, Krat is collapsing at two ends: the petrification disease, an illness that blinds and kills those who are infected, and the puppet frenzy, a sudden phenomenon that caused most puppets to massacre the humans of Krat. No one knows what caused these disasters, and with limited safe areas and resources, it’s starting to look like Krat’s days are numbered.
You play as a puppet that suddenly awakens in the middle of all this. He hears the voice of a woman named Sophia telling him to get to Hotel Krat, one of the few remaining safe buildings with people capable of helping the protagonist. After waking up, he finds a puppet named Gemini who lives in a lamp that can guide him. Along the way, he must fight puppets and Stalkers, the human armed forces of Krat that all have different motives, good and bad. One important person you save is Geppetto, the man who designed the puppets in Krat, including the protagonist.
I really enjoy the premise, and it’s such an interesting take on the tale of Pinocchio. The heart of this story is the puppet you play as, who is never explicitly called anything besides Geppetto’s son or puppet, but I will refer to him as Pinocchio. Pinocchio is quite a unique puppet; he is very humanlike and can lie unlike other puppets. As the game continues, Pinocchio will be presented with many opportunities to lie, and it can affect how others perceive him. This makes the narrative so engaging to me, and I loved watching him become more human as the game went on. I have a soft spot for stories about gaining sentience, humanity, and family, and this nailed all of them.
Besides Pinocchio, the other characters are great too. I loved watching Pinocchio develop a friendship with Gemini and Sophia. The rest of the characters in Hotel Krat also have interesting stories that I liked watching play out. Outside of the hotel, you’ll also find a few intriguing characters as well, good and bad. Some of my favorites are the Red Fox and Black Cat, friendly stalkers you will run into from time to time, and the king of riddles, who has a memorable storyline. I can’t remember the last time I was this invested in a game’s world and characters, and I can’t wait to do another playthrough and interact with them again.
Great Soulslike Gameplay
Lies of P’s core combat is fairly standard for the genre; you have a light and heavy attack, dodge, and block. If you block at the right time, you will parry the attack, which will be needed for a lot of the boss fights. All actions you perform will consume stamina, so make sure to keep an eye on that as well as your health. Beating enemies will give you Ergo, which serves as both the in-game currency and XP system. This is fairly standard for a Soulslike, but it does a few things to stand out that I enjoy.
Since Pinocchio is a puppet, one of his arms can be modified. This is called a legion arm, and it serves as another attack. It has its own meter as well, so be careful when you use it. You will unlock different arms throughout the game, but the three I stuck with had an electric attack, a fire attack, and a grappling hook. I also liked how this game handled weapons; each standard weapon has two parts: the blade and the handle. You can combine different blades and handles to get different stats and special moves called fable arts. This system is a lot of fun, but I didn’t use it as much after getting a powerful special weapon that can’t be altered.
All the combat and weapon systems work well together, making the game a delight to play. From basic enemy encounters to boss fights, I rarely got bored and had fun experimenting with loadouts. The boss fights can be quite the challenge, but they’re entertaining. A lot of the boss fights will test how well you know the game’s systems. One thing I will say is that if you don’t like parrying, then you will probably have a bad time here. I still had a lot of fun with the boss fights, and no matter how hard they got, the satisfaction of beating them is unmatched. On New Game Plus, you can also fight the bosses again whenever you want and even fight three in a row similar to a boss rush.
Besides combat, the game also has some exploration. The game feels more linear than others in the genre, but it’s still fun to explore Krat. Each area feels distinct and helps flesh out the world more. Exploration still feels rewarding, with the game giving you plenty of items, collectibles, lore, and even side quests for exploring. The side quests all do a great job of fleshing out the world and characters, and each one ends on a note that perfectly matches the game’s themes. It all makes Krat feel like a real place, one I can’t help but keep coming back to.
An Overture
New to my experience of Lies of P is the Overture DLC, a prequel story to the original game. Most of my praises can be transferred to Overture, but it does have some unique issues I want to go over. The starting and ending areas are some of the best locations in the game. However, the rest of the DLC locations are pretty weak, especially compared to the main game. The first boss is also terrible, and the DLC is also pretty short. I didn’t mind a short DLC, but Overture does feel like it should have one more boss.
While I had my issues, I still enjoyed Overture. The DLC brings new weapons, including the bow, which is now my permanent secondary. The story is also great, fleshing out the world even more and ending on one of the game’s most haunting notes. It also has some great side quests, one of which might be my favorite in the entire game. Despite the first boss fight not being to my liking, the rest are great and have interesting mechanics. I also loved how it recontextualizes some parts of the base game, and it’s also more difficult than the base game, so be ready for a challenge.
The Sound a Puppet Makes
Despite loving the boss fights, world, and story, my highest praise for Lies of P has to be the music. Each piece fits its respective area perfectly and amplifies the emotions I felt while playing. The music melds with the background, subtly influencing your emotions. The few songs that do take center stage stand out and feel that much more powerful. There are hints of classical, folk, and jazz sprinkled throughout the soundtrack, and I love it all.
You can collect a lot of the music in-game as playable records, and they quickly became my most sought-after item. A lot of the side quests will reward you with one of the records, and I was amazed how each one fit their story perfectly. I lost track of how many times I stopped playing because I heard a song in the background that I had to listen to. This soundtrack won’t leave my head, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. I hope to own the soundtrack one day, but until then I’m happy relistening to it as I play.
Some Optimization Needed
Lies of P: Complete Edition is the game’s debut on Nintendo Switch 2. The console has been getting a lot of ports lately, some great and some downright horrendous, but I’m happy to report Lies of P is mostly solid on Switch 2. The game has three graphical settings when docked and two when handheld. Docked has Performance-centered, Balanced, and Quality-centered, while handheld just has Performance and Quality. I tested out all modes, and performance is the way to go.
While visuals do take a hit, Performance isn’t too different from Quality and Balanced, in my opinion. In a game like this, a consistent framerate is everything, and the Performance modes emphasize just that. I had no frame drops in docked or handheld mode, and the game ran smoothly. When playing in balanced or quality mode, the game doesn’t feel as smooth, and the framerate isn’t as consistent. I do wish it was a bit smoother in handheld, but a day-one patch will add a 60FPS performance mode for handheld.
I was impressed overall by the performance, but I do have a few other things to say. As with many Switch 2 ports, hair just looks weird. It’s not a deal-breaker, but you do have to get used to it, and it makes the cat at Hotel Krat look like a mess. All the faces look weird too; each one has a smoothing filter that looks like Vaseline. There are some pop-in issues too, and while they can throw me off, they never hurt the overall experience.
Besides the visual quirks, there are a few other issues. The game crashed on me three times: once in the final area and twice in the DLC. After each crash, the game would stutter for a bit, then return to normal. Granted, this only happened three times in my nearly 60 hours with the game, but I hope this issue gets sorted out. That said, it’s still solid overall, and hopefully a few updates can fix these issues.
A Great Soulslike Experience
Ultimately, Lies of P: Complete Edition is a great game. It checks all the boxes for me when it comes to Soulslikes, and it’s now one of my favorites in the genre. On top of that, this has become one of my favorite adaptations of Pinocchio. The Nintendo Switch 2 port is pretty good for the most part, aside from its few issues. I do think it needed a bit more time in the oven. Fortunately, these are issues that can be fixed, and with the day-one 60FPS handheld performance mode update, I can see this becoming the best way to play the game. I still loved Lies of P: Complete Edition and can recommend it despite the few hiccups, and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Disclaimer: NEOWIZ provided a digital Switch 2 copy of Lies of P: Complete Edition for review purposes.
