Lies of P: Complete Edition Nintendo Switch 2 Preview
Round8 and Neowiz’ Lies of P (2023) was a Soulslike that understood what makes FromSoftware so successful. FromSoft’s games are difficult, for sure. But they earn that difficulty by balancing it with outstanding mechanics, a delicious dopamine-drip of character progression, and interesting settings and stories. Lies of P got it. I’ve played through the base game and its excellent Overture DLC many times on PC and PS5. I was excited to get my hands on the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 version. This isn’t a review, but a sneak peek.
No Lies
Fundamentally, Lies of P is a riff on the classic story of Pinocchio. Set in the ruined European city of Krat, automatons created to serve humanity suddenly go rogue and murderously attack their makers. You play as a puppet who can choose to lie. Your goal is to survive, uncover the truth, and make choices that evolve you towards being a “real boy.” A number of familiar characters from the Pinocchio story make appearances as NPCs. The gearpunk setting has echoes of games like Steel Rising and Bloodborne (minus the Lovecraftian elements).
Lies of P has one of the more interesting and fully-imagined narratives of any recent Soulslike. However, where the game really shines is in its combat, progression, and weapons systems. Weapons break down into interchangeable components, so that you might combine the handle of a police baton with the blade of a sword. Handles and blades have separate impacts on a weapon’s effectiveness. Although Lies of P doesn’t have an immense catalogue of weapons, the parts can be rearranged in interesting ways.
Parrying is a staple of FromSoft’s games and the parry mechanic is especially critical to success in Lies of P. Quite a number of the game’s bosses are built around it, but there’s almost always a way to brute force your way to victory if you can’t nail the parry timing. Generally speaking, Lies of P’s combat is nearly as fun and addictive as the best Souls game. Only a few gimmicky bosses get in the way of perfection.
Making the Switch
The upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 version is the Complete Edition, which means it includes the outstanding DLC, Overture, and an array of cosmetic packs that were released previously. The DLC made some significant tweaks to gameplay, including difficulty options. Interestingly, the hardest setting is the original game’s difficulty level.
As someone who has played the game on a high-end PC, the Nintendo Switch 2 graphics options feel pretty constrained. Playing handheld, there is a choice between quality and performance modes, with a balanced mode coming but not yet implemented. Docked, there are quality, performance, and balanced options. Aside from brightness and HDR settings, that’s about it. There is no way to turn down or turn off motion blur, for example.
Playing with the game in handheld mode with the 30fps quality setting seemed to push the Switch 2 quite a bit, resulting in a disconcerting amount of pop in and sluggish performance. Obviously, the performance mode helped with the framerate, but only some of the pop-in, and overall the visuals were a little blurry. The game fared better in docked mode using the balanced setting. It doesn’t come close to the sharpness of Lies of P on a good PC, but compromises are expected.
Worth Playing, Anywhere You Can
If you’re a fan of action RPGs and Soulslikes, Lies of P is a must-play. While the Switch 2 version might lag a little (literally and figuratively) behind the PC and PS5 versions in visual quality, the game remains incredibly fun and addictive. I’m enjoying playing through it again.
***Nintendo Switch 2 code provided for preview***
