![]() There's a mismatch between parts of Lies of P's combat logic, too. Somehow, Lies of P pulls off its gritty Pinocchio retelling At times it seemed like all my options were bad ones when an attack was coming my way. I'll dodge a puppet's first swing, see what's been a safe opening in other fights, and take a hit during my attack's wind-up when I can't cancel into a dodge. Others have long windows after their attacks to continue into a combo, but they won't always, pausing and then reacting in a way that feels cheap. In places Lies of P has learned the wrong lessons from its role models' worst moments: enemies can launch into long, relentless combos that'll eat my health bar if I fumble a single dodge. Just about every enemy has a heavy attack that can only be blocked with a Perfect Guard, but the parry windows are too inconsistent to be reliable. I've still got complaints, even with a functional dodge. Lies of P is so much better in the hands when you aren't playing it with the equivalent of Goku's weighted training clothes slowing you down. Turns out, it's because I skipped over an early P-Organ upgrade to Pinocchio's dodge that so dramatically changed how responsive the game felt, I'm baffled it's optional in the first place. Every fight felt stiff, and I never got more comfortable with the combat. ![]() Unfortunately, a mishap with my P-Organ (it happens to a lot of us) made the first half of my playtime miserable. Lies of P also adds a skill tree to Pinocchio's progression, thanks to his upgradable-prepare yourself- "P-Organ." The lack of any multiplayer means I couldn't measure my cleaver against the rest of the world's weapons in glorious Pinocchio combat, though, which feels like missed puppetential. I'm free to experiment as I'd like, thanks to plentiful upgrade materials and the ability to adjust a handle's scaling to better align with my build investments.īy the end of my playthrough, my weapon of choice paired the nimble attack animations of a curved greatsword handle with the reach, damage, and defensive bulk of a massive bonesaw blade. A billy club on the stab-centric moveset of the rapier hilt? Of course, but I won't like the results. Can I slap a dagger blade on a greatsword handle? Absolutely. But otherwise, any blade can be paired with any handle, even if it shouldn't be. Unfortunately boss weapons can't be disassembled-a shame, because some offer the game's most interesting movesets. If an enemy seems like it's resistant to my sword's slash attacks, I can swap in a pickaxe head to try blunt damage. Finding a weapon means I can immediately disassemble it and mix-and-match its blade and handle however I want. The handle, determining attack animations and how its damage scales with statsĮach part also contributes one of your weapon's two Fable Arts-resource-consuming special attacks like Elden Ring's skills.The blade, determining base damage, defense, and damage type.Weapons in Lies of P are built from two pieces: Weapon assembly is the one piece of combat in Lies of P that feels truly distinct from anything FromSoftware's done. I mostly stuck with the grappling hook-like Puppet String, which pulls enemies to me and after an upgrade lets me zip to them like Spider-Man. It'd probably take other Pinocchios heavy investment in a specific stat for Legion Arms to really shine. Without speccing Pinocchio to emphasize them, the couple uses I had available at each respawn weren't impressive enough that I'd bother burning consumable refill items, like a cool toy that's too much of a hassle to regularly play with. In other words, the Legion Arms are a hell of a lot like the prosthetic gadgets in Sekiro, except here they're flashier than they are effective. It's like having a Swiss Army Knife for an arm, if a Swiss army knife had a flamethrower, an acid launcher, and a Mega Man-style arm cannon that shoots a delayed charge that embeds into enemies. It's a metal limb that I can swap out at bonfires-sorry, "Stargazers"-to equip different combat gadgets. Weapon assembly is the one piece of combat in Lies of P that feels truly distinct from anything FromSoftware's doneĮven one of Pinocchio's defining abilities, his Legion Arm, feels like a FromSoft appropriation. At one point, while descending into some spooky woods after a boss fight in a church against a giant mutated priest, I couldn't shake the awareness of how closely it matched the sequence of beats I'd played in Bloodborne. I won't lie: the borrowing from its Souls forebears is stark. The similarities continue, straight through the interface design and Krat's distinctly Yharnam vibe.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |