Taking inspiration from Carlo Collodi’s book The Adventures of Pinocchio, Lies of P is an action-filled videogame developed by Neowiz Games. This twisted version of the children’s tale was released in September 2023.
While the soul-like genre is not necessarily unpopular, only a few games stand out and create a new atmosphere.
Choi Ji-Won, the main director behind Lies of P, has ensured that besides having stunning graphics and absorbing fight scenes, the game also has an interesting storyline that’ll make you want to keep going until the end.
Set in the Belle Epoque-like city of Krat, Lies Of P takes us through the Boy’s adventure as he sets out to restore peace in Krat. After most of the humans of Krat were wiped out by puppets and disease, only the Boy, Pinocchio, can help find out the dark minds responsible for this mess.
Lies Of Pi: What Happens In The Game?
Lies of P begins with The Boy awakening in a room and being guided to a hotel. When he reaches the place after witnessing the dystopic and post-apocalyptic state of Krat, we are introduced to Sophia. The hotel has now become a shelter for those who survived the puppet frenzy and petrification disease.
The land of Krat was once a prosperous place, with its people looking forward to new advancements every day. Soon, a mysterious yet powerful ore called Ergo was discovered in Krat. This crystalline substance was way more powerful than electricity or any other element known to man.
Geppetto, a puppet creator, started creating hundreds of puppets and giving them life using Ergo. These puppets began to do tasks like cooking, cleaning, transporting, etc. They couldn’t attack humans because all of them were bound to the Grand Covenant, which prohibited them from doing so.
Despite the Covenant, one day, Puppets started going crazy and killing their owners, reducing the human population of Krat significantly. Moreover, the humans exposed to Ergo started developing a petrification disease that would blind them and eventually turn them into stone.
Pinocchio performs tasks given to him by Sophia and Geppetto to find out who’s responsible for destroying Krat. The Alchemists are believed to control Krat from the shadows, so the puppet frenzy is assumed to be their work along with the Puppet King.
As the Boy explores the ruined city, he finds monsters and ergo-powered humans to defeat to move to the next challenge. After finding out that Geppetto has been kidnapped by Simon Manus, the leader of Alchemists, Pinocchio uses a submarine to travel to the Isle of Alchemists.
He witnesses Sohpia’s real body, which was now heavily mutated after she was exploited for her special powers related to Ergo. Eventually, Pinocchio has to fight Simon himself, who had injected Ergo to become much stronger.
Lies Of P: Ending Explained
After defeating Simon, the Boy meets Geppetto, who congratulates him for coming this far and succeeding in his missions. Geppetto is like Pinocchio’s father, so when he offers to turn Pinocchio into a human, Geppetto asks him to give his heart.
We’ve had a choice to lie or say the truth throughout the game, but this final choice would greatly determine how Lies of P ends for us. If Pinocchio chooses to give away his heart, Geppetto uses it to bring Carlo, his dead son, back to life.
Geppetto had a secret rule in the Covenant, which made all puppets obey whatever he said. He was responsible for the Puppet Frenzy and now wanted to kill humans so that when Carlo comes back to life, no human is left to transfer the Petrification disease to him. Moreover, using a strong heart like Pinocchio’s would ensure that Carlo remains healthy.
If we go ahead and refuse to give up our hearts, Geppetto becomes furious and puts life into Carlo’s dead body using the relic of the Arm of God. A tough Boss battle occurs, ending with the Nameless Puppet cornering us. However, when the puppet goes for the final blow, Geppetto comes in between and is killed.
Geppetto has different dialogues here, depending on how you played the game. If Pinocchio had only lied, Geppetto would have been apologetic and called Pinocchio his son.
Later, Pinocchio sees a puppet just like Sophia and transfers some of his Ergo into her body. As Sophia wakes up, Pinocchio falls into her arms, and she smiles.
After the credits roll out, Giangio, pretending to be a pharmacist, turns out to be Philippus Paracelsus. He talks to a woman on the phone about the “Krat Experiment” and how Pinocchio may be used as a key for figuring out Eternal Life. Paracelsus also talks to his superior about another key, Dorothy.
Meanwhile, in Krat, a girl with bright red shoes walks on a rooftop. She is shown clicking her heels thrice before Lies of P ends. This was an obvious reference to Dorothy from L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz.
It’s likely that after turning Pinocchio into a souls-like game, the developers want to do something similar with Wizard of Oz’s characters, like Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and others.
The idea of turning these well-known children’s tales into dark, bleak, and thrilling videogames with highly polished combat scenes is exciting. After Lies of P has become a hit within the genre, there’s much more interesting stuff to expect from Neowiz games in the future.
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