Latest news with #Geppetto
Tom's Guide
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
One of my favorite PS5 games of all time is free on PlayStation Plus — and Bloodborne fans need to play it right now
PlayStation Plus has offered PS5 and PS4 gamers some pretty fantastic 'free' games in the past, but when I saw the monthly lineup for August 2025 on the PlayStation Blog, I instantly knew it ranked among the best trio of monthly games the service has ever offered subscribers. While Day Z and My Hero One's Justice 2 aren't exactly the most desirable titles around (No offence to the passionate My Hero Academia fanbase), the headliner is an incredible Soulslike that I genuinely haven't stopped talking about for almost two years since I first played it. Of course, I'm talking about Lies of P, the 2013 action game from developers Neowiz and Round8 Studios. This tricky game that takes clear inspiration from Dark Souls creators FromSoftware, most obviously 2015's acclaimed Bloodborne, is available to all PlayStation Plus members at any tier level. And I'm telling you right now, you need to play it ASAP. Lies of P: was $59, now FREE (w/ PlayStation Plus) @ PlayStation StoreInspired by games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Lies of P is a new entry in the Soulslike genre that challenges players to explore its nightmarish world and vanquish horrifying enemies. Master fast-paced combat and craft your perfect loadout, as you delve deeper into the sinister city of Krat as a powerful puppet come to life. Just don't expect to overcome the game's many brutal bosses without a few defeats along the way. I've praised this game so often, it's become something of a meme among my friends, with me liable to drop Lies of P into the conversation at any chance I possibly can get. Plus, even better, there genuinely hasn't been a better time to dive into Lies of P than right now. Lies of P is part of the Soulslike genre, which essentially is a shorthand for saying it cribs the formula perfected by Dark Souls developer FromSoftware. Though, as noted, Lies of P takes more cues from the Japanese studio's 2015 title Bloodborne, packing fast-paced combat that demands player aggression, and a sinister gothic world to explore. Inspired by the classic stories of Pinocchio, you play the eponymous P, a puppet come to life, who must venture out in the corrupt city of Krat to find their father, Geppetto. The story is intriguing, but it is mostly presented in optional conversations and collectible files rather than cutscenes. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. The star of Lies of P is the meticulously crafted combat and the punishing, but highly rewarding level of challenge. Like all Soulslike, Lies of P asks a lot of its players, with fearsome bosses likely to cut you down numerous times before you vanquish them. But each hard-fought victory is satisfying, and it plays so well you'll feel compelled to carry on. Now is also a fantastic time to be diving into Lies of P. Earlier this summer, the Overture expansion was released, and while it's an additional $29 downloaded, it adds 12-15 hours of new content to the game, and if you enjoy the base experience, trust me, you'll want to play Overture as it packs some grand story reveals and some of the game's best bosses. Alongside Overture, a free game update launched, which adds a new Boss Rush mode, letting you refight the game's hardest encounters (and even make them significantly tougher), as well as adding difficulty settings, which can reduce the challenge if you hit a brick wall. Lies of P really is a fantastic game, and was my pick for GOTY in 2023, which is no small praise considering that particular year saw numerous heavy-hitters like Marvel's Spider-Man 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3. While I enjoyed and even loved all those games, Lies of P rose above them all. I'm thrilled that, thanks to PlayStation Plus, even more players are about to dive into the twisted city of Krat and see exactly why I rank this experience as one of the PS5's very best games. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
CNET
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
All PS Plus Subscribers Can Play Lies of P and Other Games All August Long
Lies of P is an award-winning game that reimagines the story of Pinocchio as a soulslike action role-playing game set in a grimy world overrun by killer mechanical puppets. And all PlayStation Plus subscribers can play that award-winning game, and others, at no additional cost now. PlayStation Plus is Sony's version of Xbox Game Pass, and it offers subscribers a large, constantly expanding library of games. Subscribers can choose from the Essential, Extra and Premium tiers, which each have unique perks and benefits. The plans start at $10 a month, and each tier gives subscribers access to monthly games and rewards. Here are the games all PS Plus subscribers can play throughout August. You can also check out the games Sony added to the PS Plus Game Catalog in July, including Cyberpunk 2077. Lies of P This is a macabre soulslike game akin to Bloodborne and based on Carlo Collodi's classic tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Puppets have torn the city of Krat apart, and you play as Pinocchio as he searches for Geppetto in the grisly, oil-stained city. You'll encounter traps, twisted contraptions and maniacal humans in your search throughout the city, and maybe you'll find what it means to be human along the way. DayZ Sony Can you survive the zombie apocalypse? DayZ places you and dozens of other players into a dense 163 square-kilometer (about 63 square-mile) map filled with zombies and materials you'll need to last. And with no checkpoints or saves, you'll need to work together; otherwise, you'll have to start all over. My Hero One's Justice 2 This over-the-top fighting game is the sequel to the arena fighting game My Hero One's Justice. In this game, you can fight as -- or against -- many of the characters from the popular anime series My Hero Academia, including All Might, Endeavor and Fat Gum. You'll use your characters' Quirks -- or unique powers -- to overcome your opponent's abilities and win these epic clashes. For more on PlayStation Plus, here's what to know about the service and a rundown of PS Plus Extra and Premium games added in July. You can also check out the latest and upcoming games on Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.
CNET
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
All PS Plus Subscribers Can Play Lies of P and Other Games This August
Lies of P is an award-winning game that reimagines the story of Pinocchio as a soulslike action roleplaying game set in a grimy world overrun by killer mechanical puppets. And starting Aug. 5, all PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to play that award-winning game, and others, at no additional cost. PlayStation Plus is Sony's version of Xbox Game Pass, and it offers subscribers a large, constantly expanding library of games. Subscribers can choose from the Essential, Extra and Premium tiers, which each have unique perks and benefits. The plans start at $10 a month, and each tier gives subscribers access to monthly games and rewards. Here are the games all PS Plus subscribers can play starting Aug. 5. You can also check out the games Sony added to the PS Plus Game Catalog in July, including Cyberpunk 2077. Lies of P This is a macabre soulslike game akin to Bloodborne and based on Carlo Collodi's classic tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Puppets have torn the city of Krat apart, and you play as Pinocchio as he searches for Geppetto in the grisly, oil-stained city. You'll encounter traps, twisted contraptions and maniacal humans in your search throughout the city, and maybe you'll find what it means to be human along the way. DayZ Sony Can you survive the zombie apocalypse? DayZ places you and dozens of other players into a dense 163 square-kilometer (about 63 square-mile) map filled with zombies and materials you'll need to last. And with no checkpoints or saves, you'll need to work together; otherwise, you'll have to start all over. My Hero One's Justice 2 This over-the-top fighting game is the sequel to the arena fighting game My Hero One's Justice. In this game, you can fight as -- or against -- many of the characters from the popular anime series My Hero Academia, including All Might, Endeavor and Fat Gum. You'll use your characters' Quirks -- or unique powers -- to overcome your opponent's abilities and win these epic clashes. For more on PlayStation Plus, here's what to know about the service and a rundown of PS Plus Extra and Premium games added in July. You can also check out the latest and upcoming games on Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.
Irish Independent
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
M3GAN 2.0 review: Horror robo-doll returns, now with convoluted storyline
In cinemas; Cert 15A The first M3gan film was a hoot. Funny, freaky and feverishly violent, Gerard Johnstone's original robo-doll horror imagined a comically absurd scenario in which a brainy roboticist (Allison Williams's Gemma) designs a demented, artificially intelligent companion for her orphan niece (Violet McGraw's Cady). A tasty concept, and Johnstone's feature made a fortune. A sequel was inevitable, but did it need to be this complicated? A new unkillable android has entered the arena. Say hello to Ivanna Sakhno's Amelia – another creepy self-aware threat with ulterior motives. Originally designed for warfare, Amelia has gone rogue, and now Gemma, the conflicted Geppetto of our tale, will need to build a new body for M3gan (the lethal scoundrel from last time) to help take down the upgraded baddie. Talk about over-egging the pudding. A crowded, convoluted farce, M3gan 2.0 lacks the depth and discipline of its predecessor and borrows shamelessly from a certain James Cameron classic (you know the one). Original ideas are non-existent, and this catastrophically stupid sci-fi brings out the worst in everyone involved. In a word? Unwatchable.
Tom's Guide
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Lies of P: Overture is a massive expansion for one of my favorite PS5 games — and it's absolutely brutal
2023 was considered a pretty phenomenal year for video games. The likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4 remake, Baldur's Gate 3 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 all duked it out for the majority of GOTY awards (Spidey ultimately won ours). While I thoroughly enjoyed all of those titles, my personal pick for the best game of the year was Lies of P. And after all this time, I stand by it. This action-Souls-like shamelessly cribs from the works of genre-originator FromSoftware, and feels a lot like the Bloodborne sequel we all want, but Sony frustratingly refuses to actually give us (Please, Sony, even a remaster will do). I loved almost every moment of my 60 hours spent with Lies of P across two playthroughs (one on PS5, the other on Steam Deck OLED), and that playtime just increased thanks to its meaty new DLC expansion. Called Lies of P: Overture, it offers you the chance to return to the gothic city of Krat and square off against a new range of tough bosses that will do their very best to cut you down. In a nutshell, Overture is more of the brilliant Lies of P experience I love, but with the difficulty ramped up to 11. Lies of P: Overture: $29 @ PlayStation StoreLies of: Overture is the new DLC expansion for 2023's critically acclaimed action-Soulslike Lies of P. Adding around 15 hours of new content, you explore a past version of the city of Krat, and take on very challenging bosses. To help you fight back against the numerous tricky foes, you get access to a suite of new weapons and powerful abilities. Additional platforms: $29 @ Steam | $29 @ Xbox Store In Lies of P: Overture, you once again play as Geppetto's deadly puppet and are tasked with exploring the nightmare city of Krat. The wrinkle is that this time, you've stepped into the past to experience the striking location before the events of the base game. But it's certainly no more welcoming in this period. The Puppet Frenzy massacre, the aftermath of which you encounter in the base game, is currently ongoing, dropping you into the thick of a city in complete turmoil with chaotic scenes of violence and blue blood all around. So, where do you go first? The Zoo, of course. Overture's opening takes you to Krat Zoo, and it might just be my favorite level in all of Lies of P. Fighting back against deformed animals from aggressive ages, to a truly twisted type of kangaroo, sees the body-horror, which was already a strong theme in Lies of P, ramped up to new grotesque levels. And the first major boss fight, an oversized crocodile, is an absolutely doozy. Later DLC locations like an underground facility and a cavernous mine are less visually dynamic, but the final two of Overture's five chapters do occur in more visually distinctive settings (which I won't spoil here). So, the DLC starts and ends strong, with a slightly mundane middle. The core game's fast-paced combat is maintained, which is a very good thing, because outside of the works of FromSoftware, Lies of P offers the best Soulslike gameplay I've ever played. Though, for the record, I still suck at parrying, so the dodge button remains my best friend. Perhaps the DLC's biggest addition is its numerous lore implications and revelations. I'm far from a Lies of P scholar, but I was constantly finding hidden notes that had me rethinking what I thought I knew about the Lies of P universe and the characters within it. If you enjoyed the well-told story of the base game, you're going to love what you learn here. Alongside the new levels to explore, there's also a bunch of useful new weapons to pick up, new gear to wear and powerful legion arms, including my personal favorite, which lets you shoot spinning sawblades from your wrist. Adding around 10-15 hours of new content, Lies of P: Overture is solid value for money at its $29 price. But fair warning, prepare for a tough time. If I have one substantial criticism of Lies of P: Overture, it's that developer Neowiz has gone a little too far in its efforts to make this DLC the hardest content in the game to date. As part of the Soulslike subgenre, Lies of P was always a tough game by design. And that's part of the reason I loved it so much. Few feelings are better in gaming than slaying a testing boss after dozens of attempts. And some of the base game bosses rank as my favorite ever in the genre. In fact, it's not Overture's bosses where the overtuned difficulty can be felt. Aside from one late-game dud, these named DLC combatants are mostly brilliant. The last boss in particular gives Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree a run for its money. Finally bringing them down had me leaping from my chair in satisfaction after they had torn my face off for almost an hour. The problem arises in the various open spaces, corridors and choke points between bosses. Regular enemy mobs have had their health pools and damage-dealing abilities seriously beefed up, and even my max-level weapons often felt like merely smacking a raging puppet with a pool noodle. Overture also appears to have taken cues from the divisive Dark Souls 2, as not only are standard enemies extremely overpowered, they're also thrown at you in sometimes ludicrous quantities. I'm taking crammed rooms that contain an enemy count in the double digits. This leads to numerous sections that are a complete slog to play as you regularly find yourself swarmed by enemies that can send you to an early grave in just a few hits, and that take a practically silly amount of damage to be defeated. These moments see Lies of P: Overture fall on the wrong side of the fine line between frustration and fun. To somewhat counteract this issue, Lies of P: Overture's launch has coincided with a major free upgrade that adds two new difficulty options to the game. One is marked as essentially easy, the other very easy. Of course, for dedicated Souls players, dropping the difficulty is antithetical to why the genre appeals; the struggle is supposed to be part of the experience. I should warn any new players hoping these new difficulty settings might allow them to breeze through the game, and enjoy the excellent world-building and rich lore, even on the simplest setting, Lies of P: Overture still puts up a real fight. You will need some skill, whatever level you play on. Overall, Lies of P: Overture has given me the perfect excuse to return to one of my favorite games of this current gaming generation. It's a largely well-crafted expansion with some intriguing new locations to explore, and some tough but tantalizing new bosses to overcome. I just wish the supposedly "regular" enemies didn't always hit with the force of a turbocharged monster truck. However, after rolling credits on Overture, my itch for more Lies of P remains burning, which is perhaps its biggest accomplishment. I was already desperate for the already-confirmed full sequel, and after experiencing Lies of P: Overture, that wait is going to feel just a little bit longer.
