Developed by Round8 Studio under NEOWIZ and released in September 2023, Lies of P is a dark reimagining of the classic tale The Adventures of Pinocchio in the form of an action RPG. Players take on the role of P, a puppet navigating the plague-ravaged city of Krat in search of Mr. Geppetto, while making critical choices between lies and truth. The game received a major DLC expansion titled “Awakening” in 2025, adding new bosses, weapons, and story branches. As a title deeply influenced by the Soulslike genre, it places heavy demands on guarding, dodging, and resource management, yet it carves out a distinct identity through its unique weapon assembly system and lie mechanics.
Weapon Assembly: Freely Combining Blades and Handles
The most creative design feature of Lies of P is the weapon assembly system. Every weapon is composed of two parts: a Blade and a Handle. The Blade determines base damage, attack speed, and attribute scaling tendencies. The Handle determines the moveset — light attack combos, heavy attack forms, dash attacks — as well as the weapon’s Fable Art. At Hotel Krat, you can freely assemble weapons through the NPC Eugénie, attaching any Blade to any Handle.
This system means you are never locked into a weapon’s default form. Mounting a greatsword Blade onto a dagger Handle yields the attack speed of a dagger with the damage of a greatsword. Conversely, placing a rapier Blade onto a heavy Handle grants extended reach and higher stagger potential. For new players, one reliable early-game combination is the Puppet’s Saber Blade paired with the Bramble Curved Sword Handle. This setup offers a reasonably fast light attack, solid charged heavy attack damage, and the Fable Art “Patient Smash,” which performs reliably in boss fights. Another combination worth trying is the Tyrant Murderer’s Dagger Blade paired with the City Longspear Handle — the dagger’s high critical rate combined with the spear’s reach allows you to trigger critical hits frequently from a safe distance.
Weapon upgrade materials are scarce in the early game, so do not waste them. It is recommended to use the Puppet’s Saber Blade plus Bramble Curved Sword Handle as a transitional setup until you find a combination that truly suits you, saving your upgrade materials for the Blade you intend to keep. Half Moonstones are used for upgrading standard weapons, while special weapons require Dark Moonstones. The acquisition paths for these two materials differ, so do not confuse them.
The Lie System: A Tactical Choice, Not a Moral Trial
The Lie system is one of the greatest distinguishing features of Lies of P compared to other Soulslikes. Throughout dialogues and quests, you are frequently presented with the choice to tell the truth or tell a lie. This system is not a simple morality gauge — lying accumulates Humanity, gradually transforming P from a puppet into a human. The level of Humanity affects two key outcomes: first, which of the game’s three different endings you will reach; second, the stat bonus of the Golden Lie weapon — the higher your Humanity, the greater the weapon’s damage output.
More importantly, upon reaching certain Humanity thresholds, P gains passive bonuses, including increased Fable charge recovery speed and higher resistances. This means lying is not merely a narrative choice but a tactical decision that affects combat performance. If you are aiming for the true ending, you should choose to lie in most critical dialogues.
However, there are moments when lying is ill-advised. Certain NPC questlines have strict time windows, and if you lie to a key character before gathering sufficient information, you may prematurely terminate a side quest, causing you to miss out on weapon or costume rewards. A relatively safe principle to follow is: lie during main story dialogues to accumulate Humanity, but in side quests, complete the prerequisite conditions before making your decision.
Fable Arts and the P-Organ: Logic for Allocating Combat Resources
Fable Arts are active skills inherent to each weapon, consumed by expending Fable charges. Different Handles offer different Fable Arts, and they require varying numbers of Fable slots. Fable charges are accumulated by attacking enemies, functioning similarly to a skill gauge in other games. The P-Organ is the game’s passive skill tree, unlocked by spending Quartz collected throughout the world. The P-Organ is divided into five phases, with each unlocked node providing attribute boosts, additional item slots, or enhancements to dodge and guard performance.
For new players, the early priority for P-Organ upgrades is very clear: max out dodge-related nodes first — increased dodge distance and extended dodge invincibility frames — before considering guard nodes. The reason is that guarding requires precise timing, and the cost of a mistake is too high for a beginner; dodging provides more consistent survivability during boss fights. Once you become sufficiently familiar with enemy attack rhythms, you can return to fill in the guard nodes later.
Full Boss Strategies: From Parade Master to Nameless Puppet
The main story features over ten boss encounters. Below are strategies for the three bosses most likely to wall new players early on.
Parade Master serves as the game’s tutorial boss, with slow movements and clearly telegraphed attacks. Maintain mid-range distance, move in to land two strikes after he finishes his three-hit combo, and resist the urge to go for a third. His spinning sweep has wide range but is slow; when you see both arms extend outward, retreat immediately.
Mad Donkey is where many newcomers experience their first real frustration. His charge attack tracks your position and cannot be avoided by simple lateral movement; you must dodge at the very last moment. His standard three-hit combo has a clear rhythm — one hit, a second hit, a pause, then the third. Guard the first two, dodge the third, then counterattack. An alternative, safer approach is to keep your distance, wait for him to use his charge, dodge it and counter with two hits, then create distance again, repeating the cycle.
Nameless Puppet is the final boss and the steepest hurdle. In the first phase, he wields a greatsword, using slow but high-damage horizontal sweeps and vertical slams. The guard windows are relatively forgiving. Once you reduce his health below half, the fight enters its second phase — he discards the greatsword and switches to rapid combos and lunges, dramatically increasing his attack frequency. The strategy for this phase is to abandon guarding and dodge everything. His lunges track your position, but unlike Mad Donkey, they have some turning limitations. After dodging, do not retreat in a straight line; instead, move in circles, and his tracking speed will not keep up with your turns. The second phase also features a key mechanic: he periodically uses a charged burst that unleashes a full-screen shockwave. When you see him enveloped in red energy, sprint to the edge of the arena. As the shockwave expands to its maximum range, dodge toward the center, using the invincibility frames to pass through the damage hitbox.
To achieve the true ending, you must collect all of Geppetto’s letters and specific NPC side quest items throughout the game, and then refuse to give up P’s heart at the final choice. Missed collectibles cannot be retrieved retroactively. If you intend to reach the true ending on your first playthrough, you must cross-reference a collectible guide before entering the final chapter.
