Lies of P — everything we know about the Xbox Game Pass Soulslike

Lies of P is an upcoming Soulslike action-RPG heading straight to Xbox Game Pass with its own dark version of Pinocchio's story — here's what we know so far...

Heidi Nicholas

Published 28 Jul 2023

Lies of P is one of the most-anticipated games coming to Game Pass this year, so we've put together a run-down of everything we know so far about the Soulslike action-RPG, and will be sure to update it every time we learn a new unsettling detail about the city of Krat...

What is Lies of P?

Lies of P is a Soulslike action-RPG and a dark take on the tale of Pinocchio. It’s developed by Round 8 Studio and published by Neowiz.

What’s the Lies of P release date?

Lies of P launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on September 19.

Will Lies of P be on Xbox Game Pass?

Yes! Lies of P will be a day-one addition to Xbox Game Pass when it launches in September.

What’s it about?

Lies of P is a dark, grueling take on the tale of Pinocchio. We play as one of Geppetto’s puppets, who wakes up in the fictional city of Krat and is guided by a “mysterious voice” on a journey to save the city. The darker aspect of this version of the tale can’t be emphasized enough; Neowiz says “you must adapt yourself and your weapons to face untold horrors, untangle the unfathomable secrets of the city's elites, and choose whether to confront predicaments with the truth or weave lies to overcome them on the journey to find yourself,” all while facing “unimaginable monsters.”

The original Pinocchio tale isn’t particularly happy-go-lucky itself, but Lies of P makes more changes in addition to making the story a “dark, twisted adaptation.” Several characters have been adjusted; Geppetto’s friend, named Antonio in the original tale, is now an older woman named Antonia. The four original undertaker rabbits (already creepy enough) are in Lies of P turned into four disturbing assassins.

What’s the gameplay and combat like?

Two major aspects of Lies of P’s gameplay are that it’s a Soulslike game, and that as a reinterpretation of Pinocchio, it has a big focus on the choice between truth and lies. “In Lies of P, lies are actions that make Pinocchio believe he is human. To put it more into perspective, Pinocchio is a doll, but when he behaves like a human being or gives answers that humans can only understand, people will consider him as a human being, not a doll. In conclusion, players will have to think a lot to determine which would be the correct answer as a human being during the actual gameplay,” says Neowiz, speaking to GamingBolt. “‘Lies’ act as a means of the main quest and directly affect the endings. To complete the quest, every player has to answer various questions. When you choose the answer that is a lie, you get the reward of humanity, and the ending diverges according to the degree of compensation. Through ‘Lies,’ not only will the endings change, but the quests and the types of enemies change at the same time. In addition to this, many exciting factors appear in various ways depending on one’s choices.”

Lies of P will feature “dozens” of weapons, and you can create your own from different blades and handles. You’ll need to keep an eye on your weapon durability, but you can repair them when needed on the grinder. One thing that’s stood out in trailers is that P is also — literally — armed with a Legion Arm. This offers “special abilities” which use up your legion gauge. The Legion Arm can be changed; other versions include the electrical Fulminis, the flaming Flamberge, and the Puppet String, which you can use to pull enemies your way.

You’ll face different enemies, including other puppets, as well as a range of bosses, but P can call on the help of Specters for aid against those. Then there’s the Fable Arts: a combat skill utilized by using up Fable slots, which are charged from combat. P can also make use of the Groggy system — when an enemy’s HP bar is shining, you can inflict Groggy on them which opens them up to a Fatal Attack. The Lies of P team has also hinted at combat styles: Path of the Cricket, for balance, Path of the Bastard, for dexterity, and Path of the Sweeper, for strength.

On the defense side of things, P can guard against attacks, which uses up stamina. This will block some damage, and the rest is “transferred to Guard Regain” which contributes to your health. A Perfect Guard will be needed against Fury Attacks from enemies. Meanwhile, one of Geppetto’s Tools called the P-Organ lets you upgrade your character using a resource called Quartz.

What’s the world like?

The Lies of P team has been teasing something called the Hidden Journal of Krat — a journal found within the city that elaborates on how the world and society of Krat functioned leading up to the events of Lies of P. The journal’s author is worried about how all-important puppet technology now is in Krat and whether people “rely too much” on Geppetto and the Workshop Union, as the city’s society uses puppets for everything. Extracts from this same journal show the author’s terror at the sudden violence of those puppets and their tireless, bloodthirsty strength.

The city of Krat is also, according to director Jiwon Choi, “plagued with a petrification disease.” The Journal of Krat also makes reference to this, showing how the city is in chaos and unable to find answers for how to stop the disease, which is both extremely deadly and contagious. It seems to be this disease which is afflicting the character of Antonia, who resides at Hotel Krat. Other characters include Sophia, who seems to be P’s guide, along with weapon technician Eugenie, also found at Hotel Krat, and Venigni, “Krat’s unparalleled genius inventor.”

Lies of P is also set within the Belle Epoque era. Translating to “the beautiful era,” this phrase appears to generally refer to a time in European history when society was flourishing, yet the Lies of P team wants to highlight the darker aspects of the era. “The Belle Epoque era was one of the most fruitful, ravishing, and beautiful times of history… even in the most beautiful of times, the Belle Epoque era was not always glamorous. The Luddite Movement, for instance. It seemed like an era with deep disparities within the society. I wanted to utilize this sharp contrast within the game. Hence, I wanted the game to seem as dark as possible,” says art director Changkyu Noh.

Any news on the Lies of P achievements?

We don’t yet have the Lies of P achievements, but we’ll update here when we do!

More Lies of P stories:

Written by Heidi Nicholas

Heidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.