We’ll be honest. Many of us here at Shacknews are still reeling over the fact that there is a Soulsborne-style game with the classic fable of Pinocchio as its foundation. We’re also amazed it was so freaking good and beautiful from head to toe. Lies of P may have struck us bizarre at first, but it quickly won our hearts, and a notable portion of that lies in the incredible world Pinocchio traverses as he attempts to save his humans and put down a robot frenzy.

Lies of P’s city of Krat looks like it could have been yanked right out of the sketchbooks and concepts at FromSoftware. It’s a moody city bathed in Victorian steampunk and alternate universe technology. It’s actually quite incredible to see it for what it is by the time Pinocchio arrives. It was the apex of robot technology, mass-producing “puppets” that served mankind… up until they went into a frenzy and started killing their masters. In every nook and cranny of the city, that technological prowess was on display, and bathed in the blood and death of the Puppet Frenzy.

Lies of P is a game that bleeds cool when it’s not being fascinating. NEOWIZ did an incredible job with its weather effects and how they boost the scenery. Case in point, there’s a spot early in the game where you break out of downtown Krat to a cliffside pass that leads up to Krat Hotel. From the cliffside you can see a vista that leads up to where the hotel overlooks its own cliff, with clouds swirling, rain falling, and lightning striking behind it. It was a scene that stuck with us as an early point of breathtaking beauty in the game.

In dead cities beneath Krat, in the cathedral of the old city, and in the Krat Puppet Factory, there is a wealth of further beautiful scenery that belies the dark secrets of the city. The grave sins the city committed to be the bastion of technology seep out of its dark corridors and give it such an incredible tone of mystery that we couldn’t help but be entranced.

There are plenty of reasons to love Lies of P. Its combat is incredible, as is its weapon combination system, and its bosses are punishing, yet awesome. Even so, the sheer beauty of its moody world can’t be denied. If you get nothing else out of Lies of P, take heart in the fact that you’ll be in for at least a beautiful stroll as you dig through its story. That’s why it gets our Shacknews Best Art Style of 2023 award.

Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2023 feature.