Videogame Review: ‘Lies of P’

Beloved for its own sake, Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” also continues to exert a widespread cultural influence 140 years after its publication. A case in point: the action role-playing game “Lies of P” (NeoWiz).

Like its classic source, “Lies of P” encourages players to ponder what it means to be human as well as the ethical status of deception. What constitutes a lie? Is lying always wrong? Through the protagonist of the title, whom they control, gamers explore these themes even as they contend with the demands of the Soulslike subgenre to which his adventure belongs.

Named for the “Dark Souls” series published by FromSoftware, Soulslikes are characterized by challenging gameplay and by designers’ attention to detail in the creation of the world within which the narrative unfolds. Accordingly, those taking on such a game will likely be visually rewarded but, at the same time, must be prepared to improve with practice or quit in frustration.

The story begins as P awakens on an abandoned train in the ruined city of Krat. Krat’s downfall has been caused, players learn, by a combination of war and pestilence.

The fighting pitted humans against Krat’s many mechanical puppets. Concerned about safety, the great scientists who developed these automatons – the brilliant Gepetto (voice of Anthony Howell) foremost among them – initially bound their creations to the Grand Covenant, a set of rules in their programming intended to prevent them from lying or attacking people.

But the robots managed to circumvent the Grand Covenant, and their subsequent rebellion resulted in wholesale slaughter. To make matters worse for the hapless community, it was also beset by the incurable Petrification Disease whose victims first went blind, then turned to stone and died — or, worse yet, were transformed into hideous monsters.

Amid these unpromising circumstances, P is assisted by a mysterious woman named Sophia (voice of Allegra Marland) who serves as the game’s stand-in for Collodi’s Blue Fairy. She sends P on a quest to find his maker, Gepetto, the only person who can put a stop to the prevailing violence.

Sophia also gives P a guide for his journey in the form of a cricket named Gemini (voice of Rasmus Hardiker). What follows is a blend of restrained – though by no means bloodless – combat and interior self-discovery.

Thus P can earn Humanity Points by imitating the behavior of a real boy. Such activity not only includes morally neutral actions like applause but the exercise of P’s ability to deceive as well.

Theologians have been arguing about the sin of lying for over 1500 years. While the Catechism of the Catholic Church presents a fairly straightforward definition of the offense, it also mentions that the intent has to be to lead another into error about the truth and that the gravity of dissimulation may vary according to circumstances.

Can misleading someone sometimes be an act of politeness or even charity, however? The game presents us with a poignant example.

P encounters a woman with a shattered mind who begs him to find her baby. The infant, though, turns out to be nothing more than a broken doll. Asked if the baby is cute, P is confronted by a dilemma. Telling someone in such a state that her child isn’t real would be sheer cruelty. Affirming that the supposed baby is beautiful, by contrast, would constitute a kindness.

Such ethical conundrums are naturally intriguing and add depth to the gaming experience. At least some parents might see in them the basis for a productive family discussion and therefore might wish to allow older teens to access “Lies of P,” its quotient of mayhem notwithstanding.

Playable on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series.

The game contains warfare violence with some strong blood effects, gory images and themes requiring mature discernment. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Entertainment Software Rating Board rating is M — Mature.

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