[REVIEW] Lies Of P: Complete Edition | Nintendo Switch 2

Lies Of P is an action RPG Souls-like developed and published by NEOWIZ. It was first released in September 2023 for most platforms with the exception of the Nintendo Switch. The game was well received by critics and fans alike for its realistic visuals, sound design, environments, and atmosphere. Now with the Switch 2, NEOWIZ has taken advantage of the console’s more powerful specs to bring the base game and all its post-release content to the system in the form of Lies of P: Complete Edition.

As far as the story goes, Lies Of P: Complete Edition takes inspiration from the classic Italian tale of Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi. It is a dark fairy tale set in the fictional city of Krat during the Belle Époque era. Thanks to the Second Industrial Revolution, fully automated puppets were created to serve mankind by taking over manual labour, ushering in a new era. The bliss was short-lived, though, as the puppets became corrupted and went into a frenzy, slaughtering their masters.

The city of Krat soon fell to ruin, and humans who have not been wiped out by the rampaging puppets are becoming sick from Petrification Disease, a nasty ailment that turns people into monstrous abominations. Things are looking rather bleak for the citizens of Krat, but perhaps salvation is on its way? The game’s protagonist is P, a puppet unlike any other. Bearing the remarkable resemblance of his inventor’s deceased son, P is tasked by someone called Sophia to come to her at Hotel Krat and find the inventor, Geppetto. Geppetto was one of the inventors who created the puppets and may know more about what the Puppet Frenzy and its connection to the Petrification Disease.

Although it takes plenty of inspiration from The Adventures of Pinocchio by using its characters and such, Lies of P: Complete Edition does a pretty good job of using the classic tale as a base and taking creative liberties to make a rather unique and interesting story of its own. Anyone who has read the original story or at least watched the Disney animation knows that it can get quite dark at times, but Lies of P: Complete Edition goes all the way in with its creepy-looking puppets and grotesque monsters that will unnerve you yet intrigue you at the same time.

Okay, so with the story out of the way, let’s jump into gameplay. As a soulslike, Lies of P: Complete Edition has many tropes that you may expect from a game in this genre: Huge bosses, tight combat that relies on perfectly timed parries, very little handholding, quests for better loot and weapons, etc. As the Puppet P, the player must explore the city of Krat and defend himself from the frenzied puppets and other enemies that may get in his way.

At the start of the game, the player has a choice of three weapons; however, you can find and purchase new weapons like sabers, daggers, and greatswords that each have their own fighting styles. Most weapons come in two parts: the blade and the handle. These can be taken apart and combined with other handles and blades in your inventory to make weapons that fit your particular playstyle. Don’t be afraid to mix and match to find the weapon that suits you better. That said, weapons dropped by bosses cannot be disassembled, but they can be pretty decent as is anyway.

Another thing I should touch upon is fable arts. These are particularly strong attacks that require you to fill up a gauge by performing melee attacks before you can use them. There are two types, one for each part of your weapon: blade arts and handle arts, and they have varying effects like guard parries and strong attacks that can come in handy in combat. Your character also has what is called a legion arm, which has unique features equipped to it. The Puppet String legion arm works like a grappling hook that can pull enemies towards you or you to them if they are quite hefty. The Fulminis Legion Arm can shock enemies with electricity once charged. You can acquire more Legion Arms with other abilities in the game, and they can be upgraded to unlock new perks as well.

The biggest thing I should touch upon is the performance. It is one of the things that NEOWIZ has really wanted to express when it comes to the Switch 2 version and for good reason. They worked hard on getting this game as well optimized so it could run on the system, and have provided multiple options catered to balanced, performance, or quality-centered graphics. In TV Mode, players can choose between these three options, with performance putting more focus on framerate (1080p/ 60fps), quality focusing on visual fidelity (1440p/30fps), and balanced being a medium between the two (1080p/40fps). For Handheld Mode, the three graphics modes are very much the same except for Quality-centric, still only reaching 1080p/30fps. For personal preference, I would recommend playing Quality-centric graphics in TV Mode and Performance in Handheld, as you’ll get maximum benefit that way. You aren’t getting any more resolution than 1080p in handheld, so you may as well go all in with framerate. Lies of P: Complete Edition looks and plays great on either setting and either mode (TV or Handheld), so it really depends on your personal preference.