Summary
Much like any other budding sub-genre during its initial few years, Soulslikes went through a bit of a rough patch when they first started releasing. Attempting to imitate the successful formula oftheDark Soulsseries, the first wave of Soulslikes failed to understand what made FromSoftware’s beloved formula so compelling in the first place, sometimes thinking it was simply just about making the game hard and tacking on a stamina bar. Thankfully, though, as the sub-genre has had more time to evolve, Soulslikes have started to become genuinely great titles, with the best easily standing right alongside FromSoftware’sSoulsseries. Hopefully,Lies of Pwill be one such game.
Originally announced back in May 2021,Lies of Pgained immediate attention for its own unique interpretation of the Soulslike formula, choosing to take more inspiration fromBloodbornethanDark Souls. And withBloodbornefans being hungry for any type of sequel or spinoff in a similar style, it’s only natural thatLies of Pcaught their eye, with an extremely similar Gothic art style, similar parry and rally mechanics, and bosses seemingly heavily inspired byBloodborne’s own set of beasts and monsters. But when it comes to taking inspiration fromBloodborne, there’s one boss in particular thatLies of Pmay want to stay well away from.
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Lies of P Shouldn’t Have its Own Micolash
Widely considered to still be one of FromSoftware’s best games,Bloodborneis home to over 20 monstrous Eldritch bosses, with each one providing a unique challenge and offering plenty of visual variation.Bloodborne’s bossesrange from gigantic, deformed mutant beasts, to corrupted hunters, or from Lovecraftian nightmares to horrifying spiders, and each is more interesting to look at and fight than the last. When looking back onBloodborne’s bosses even today, it’s clear that FromSoftware was firing on all cylinders, and it only makes sense thatLies of Pwould want to borrow some of that magic.
On top of its environmental design, mechanics, and general art style,Lies of Pseems to be heavily borrowing fromBloodbornewhen it comes to bosses. ThoughLies of P’s mechanical bosses share little visual similarities withBloodborne’s more Lovecraftian terrors, the mechanics and general feel of some fights definitely do, and that’s evident even inLies of P’s demo. DuringtheLies of Pdemo, players will encounter the Parade Master, the game’s first boss.
Though it looks like a big mechanical circus ringmaster, its moveset and general stature might remind players of the many beast fights inBloodborne, in particular the Cleric or Blood-Starved Beast. The Mad Donkey boss fight later on in theLies of Pdemo offers another type ofBloodborne-esque boss fight, this time imitating the many hunter fights in the game by putting players up against a foe of a similar size, and brandishing a similar fighting style to their own. Players can probably expect to find plenty moreBloodborne-inspired bossesinside ofLies of P’s full release, but there’s one boss that shouldn’t inform any ofLies of P’s enemies, and that’s Micolash.
Gimmick boss fights in FromSoftware games are nothing new, butBloodbornefeatures one of the most egregious. Towards the latter half of the game, players will encounter Micolash, a human with a big cage on his head. For an excruciatingly long time, players will need to chase Micolash through a series of narrow and winding corridors, all while he giggles to himself and teleports away the second the player gets too close. Though it’s a cool concept in theory,Bloodborne’s Micolash fightis tedious at best, and infuriating at worst, not giving players many opportunities to land any hits of their own while just one of his can decimate a whole health bar. If there’s anyBloodbornebossLies of Pneeds to avoid, it’s Micolash.
Lies of Plaunches on September 19 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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