A world once beautiful has become a crumbled hell filled with – in Neowiz’s words – unspeakable horrors.Īnother reason Pinocchio was chosen as source material by the devs at Neowiz is for the sheer variety of locales in which Pinocchio visits. Lies of P is said to begin with Pinocchio waking up in an abandoned train station in the Euro-stylised city of Krat, itself a city once prosperous during the Belle Epoque era of the late 1800s, now fallen to ruin, its citizens degenerated to madness and bloodlust. This, coupled with Pinocchio’s already established familiarity, are principal reasons Neowiz chose to build a game around the character.

As explained by Lies of P director Choi Ji-Won in interview, the Disney iteration of Pinocchio is more family friendly, whereas Carlo Collodi’s original story is much darker and macabre by comparison. Perhaps most interesting is Neowiz choosing Pinocchio for its first foray into Souls-like action, for most Westerners’ frame of reference for the character comes from the mischievous puppet’s depiction in the 1940s Disney movie.

In an ever-bloating sub-genre of video games, what can Lies of P offer to stand out from the crowd of Souls-like games? Instead, it’s Lies of P’s obvious Soulsborne influence – complete with direct, sometimes mirror image comparisons to Bloodborne – that is turning heads.

Twisting a childhood fable such as Pinocchio into something murky and macabre isn’t an entirely new concept no, children’s stories often flirt with darkness. South Korean developer and publisher Neowiz created quite a stir with the release of Lies of P’s gameplay trailer last month.

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