I recently finished playing Lies of P after a single playthrough of the main story, collecting what extra collectables and delving what optional areas I found along the way. I came away from it wondering what fans like about soulslike games, disappointed in the writing and voice acting and score (though the optional collectable songs were lovely), and soured on the genre as a whole. Spoilers follow.
This game feels like they wanted to hit a certain mood (sour, gross, sad, gloomy) and a certain game design philosophy (tough, derisive, “fair”). And goodness did they succeed. But I don’t think it’s for me.
I like the philosophy of levelling up the player instead of the character. The character doesn’t accumulate experience points for failing to advance (in fact: the opposite), but you as the player accumulate experience in the attempt. And that makes subsequent attempts more likely to succeed. However, the way they ensure this arc is by laughing at the player: hiding enemies around corners to surprise you only the first time, having pitfalls to catch you only the first time. Yeah, of course it feels like my (the player’s) experience is valuable in subsequent runs… but only because jumpscares only work the first time.
For bosses, it’s the same thing but instead of pitfalls and hidden enemies, it’s hidden rhythms in the moveset and unknown numbers of stages. This appears to be the more “pure” expression of the philosophy of player experience over character experience points, though, as even knowing and having seen the entirety of a boss doesn’t mean you can avoid the punishment for failure. Repetition (training) is what grants you the resilience to outlast the onslaught and sneak in your attacks just enough so their health reaches zero just before yours.
If you’re familiar with soulslikes, I apologize for writing out stuff you already know. This was my first of this genre and I don’t think I like it. Though the philosophy appeals to me academically, I struggle to imagine an expression of it that doesn’t involve laughing at the player. I don’t know that there’s an expression of it that isn’t _mean_. And I don’t like that relationship between video game and player: to me we’re collaborators in my enjoyment. We’re in this together to trick me into not optimizing the fun out of the experience, to divert my attention from the real world for a while, and maybe to get me to think about things in a new way.
I believe the enjoyment in these games is supposed to be catharsis from overcoming a challenge with, predominantly, your improved mastery over the game’s systems. For some reason, that doesn’t stick with me. Defeating a boss, making it through a dangerous area unscathed… that feeling doesn’t last long, replaced quickly with frustration when there’s another pitfall or mean punishment for stepping foot in a new place or swinging a sword against an enemy for the first time. And many times even the catharsis was sour as it didn’t feel as I did anything better on the run that succeeded over the runs that failed.
On top of not being really sure I like this genre, or how others like this genre, I’m unsure that this is a perfect example of the type. There’s three decision prompts in the dialog system that all serve the same purpose. The writing is very tell don’t show, the voice acting is unevenly skilled, and the antagonist motivations range from cliche to nonsensical. At some point I began wondering if I was playing the game incorrectly: I never really wanted to use any of the items or any of the Legion Arms. Heck, I mostly forgot about Fable Arts, and never customized a weapon except to upgrade its damage level. Was I missing the joy because I didn’t play with all the toys? Or did I do the best I could with systems that were neither necessary nor pleasant to use?
The one thing I liked was the portrait I found in a house that grew a nose whenever I lied or did something else “human” (as opposed to “puppet”). It was goofy and gamey and strange and unsettling and odd. Wonderful. And that I could’ve walked right past it without noticing felt nice. Would that the rest of the game’s mechanics had been similarly playful in tone.
All in all, I didn’t like the game. It performed and responded well to my inputs, communicated its mechanics in a way that encouraged engagement, and had a difficulty that was surmountable after challenge… but it was mean, frustrating, nonsensical, gloomy, overwrought, and unfun. If it is indeed a typical exemplar of its genre, I might recommend it to others who like this kind of thing. Otherwise, I don’t think I could recommend it at all.
https://chuttenblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/06/so-ive-finished-lies-of-p-ps5/
#sif #soIVeFinished #videoGame #whyIsTheBadGuyTelepathicForNoReason