I actually liked the inclusion of the Crafting system and the Peni...P-organ system the best. That is because the combat is a mix of bloodborne and sekiro and Lies of P did fine tune it, which is, still at essence just improving existing gameplay. But then making additions to the mix is what elevates the devs for me. You usually cannot just add another system into gameplay without destroying the balance and the devs just pulled this off masterfully. Big P-organ energy.
@@DreamlordGaming I wouldn't say it perfected sekiro's combat, as that game already had perfect combat. I would definitely say that its better than bloodborne's and made its mediocre healing system into something special
@@HowdyYT very very tone deaf joke. I love this guys stuff, or did when he actually made it. He just decided to soft quit but still lie and say he’s working on shit. I don’t fucking care how long your video is. Doesn’t take 4 years. He can do what he wants that’s fine, but it’s scummy to continue uploading here and just brush over the fact that you’ve been PROMISING a video for almost 4 fucking years.
Well I guess it's tough making a long critique about a nearly perfect game. He even had to go around and praise it for 40 minutes of the video just to get to this unimpressive mark.
The system of regaining 1 flask for fighting is so good and creates this loop of "just a few more hits and parries and I can heal", getting it, healing, getting hit, then locking back in to get another
If you want to be impressed by the boss animations and such in Lies of P, watch their feet. The footwork is impressive and it's what is telegraphing that they aren't quite done yet, most of the time. They adjust their stances to prepare for that next attack, etc.
@Kasaaz You're absolutely spot on with that. The mini-boss in the train station a bit before fighting Victor is an enemy that absolutely floored me with not only it's moves but animation fidelity. I have never had as much fun as this game for seeing what the next move from an enemy would be, but that one for in particular was the highlight for me, such a blast.
Now this, this truly is emergent gameplay. In martial arts you can tell a lot about someone you're sparring by where their balance is, and yes that includes how they adjust their feet.
If you break the eldest brother weapon the first time you fight him, then the second time u fight him it'll still be broken. Didnt figure this out till my 4th playthrough and I think its amazing attention to detail.
Whatttt, really. I broke the elder sword in the 1st fight and did not pay attention to this in the 2nd fight. Was wondering why he seem kinda easy compared to the first fight
Oh thank God that was legitmately one of my main critiques of the game. That legitmately made the early game significantly less fun. The other critique I had was that it heavily incentivizes smaller faster weapons, or a few smaller weapons on heavy handles to mitigate the slow moveset. Smashing an enemy with unbridled aggression with either quick charged heavies or a flurry of light blows feels infintely more substantial in building stagger compared to perfect parries
@@jordannoell4222 I played the game exclusively with heavy weapons (heavy pipe wrench, frozen feast and coil mjolnir) and they are absolutely viable, but you will have to make an appropriate adjustment to your mentality and playstyle, you can't play it like you would Sekiro. The only opponents where it truly felt like they didn't work well were the NPC fights. It's also frustrating when stronger enemies idle point-blank. With a slow weapon you often cannot safely go for an attack, so you're left with no option but to just... wait until they do something.
Not just that, they took all the things soulborne fans have been saying for years into account and acted on it: putting bonfire / stargazer near boss fights is a small yet massive benefit, although, yes it makes the game easier.
Seeing you use the Holy Sword in actual sword mode is crazy to me, that bad boy was in glaive mode the whole time for me. This game is a triumph and i'm so happy to hear you praise it so highly.
@@mrhattttttt holy shit I never noticed that, now I love this weapon even more. The long mode was still doing plenty of damage and quickly too, and the range was great for attacking without needing to adjust position first. But now switching it up makes more sense, as usual this game is even better designed than it seems at first glance.
I was a freshman in college when I first started watching your channel (first video was on Bloodborne) and my own journey has been influenced by your videos, thank you Joe for all you do
I think I have an idea why the dodge might feel off to a lot of people, myself included. This issue has been developing throughout the souls series. A dodge, on the face of it, is supposed to get you out of the way of the attack - you don't get damage cause you don't even get hit. In order to make that actually work in souls gameplay, i-frames were added to mitigate the feeling of "No fair, I should've dodged that!". As the players figured out the i-frames, the function of the dodge has shifted. Instead of getting out of the range of the attack, players have started using the i-frames to phase through the hurtbox and stay in range - this makes perfect gameplay sense, but doesn't match what actually happens on screen, where the character literally dives face-first into the attack, and yet receives no damage. Still, the dodge roll animation gives at least some verisimilitude to the idea that you actually avoided the attack. Getting to Lies of P, the dodge is again presented as the option to 'get out of the way' of the attack. In practice, however, the dodge is very short range, and the animation doesn't feel quite so crisp, so when people try to use the dodge intuitively, they feel like it doesn't create enough distance to avoid the attack, and you often end up getting clipped either by the end of the attack, or by the next one in a combo. So, in people's minds, the dodge doesn't do what it's supposed to do, making it feel bad. If you do think about it as more of a 'phase through the attack with i-frames', dodge starts feeling a lot better, and now the tutorial message about not being able to 'dodge' red attacks makes more sense - indeed, you can't phase through them, but you can still move out of the way.
I think they knew it so they made "link dodge" for these players, so you cover more ground with more I-frames, taxing your stamina more but allowing you breathing room
I think I mostly agree with this. Something that made the dodge feel janky to me is the fact it works different locked and unlocked, and if it's the second dodge with the chain dodge perk. With the perk and being unlocked, the sidestep turns into a roll. The roll either has more forgiving s or the fact that it makes you lower to the ground means you can clear more attack hit boxes. I especially noticed this with Nameless Puppet. He hit me every time regardless of when I dodged until I just unlocked and started rolling around. Then I could seemingly dodge whenever and still miss the attack. It's been funny seeing all the reviews for this game say "I started having more fun when I stopped deflecting/guarding. It's way easier to dodge," when I had the exact opposite experience. I fucking *hated* the dodge. Granted I'm more of a Sekiro guy, but the moment I started just deflecting everything is when I had the easiest and most fun time. So easy to break weapons and build posture damage for heavies that way.
@@Ashanmarili 100% agree with the original comment and i respond to you saying yes i feel like that also in BB, which is by far my least favourite fromsoft game. I know both lies of P and BB are great games but i cannot enjoy them to the fullest. Also i add that some times in life of p i tried to dodge against the enemy and i would get stuck to it. All in all is my fault for not being able to accostume to these two games.
You know you made an absolutely incredible game when even Joseph Anderson cannot resist heaping praise on it for 40 minutes. It's like I fell into an alternate universe.
I know right? He sounds so happy, too. He's like "I have so much praise I'm gonna have to flip the order I do these videos and start with the critique" and it works. Good formula.
@@sheezum Personally I don't think that counts as what they're trying to be as games is different. Witcher 3 is a narrative driven open world title whereas Lies Of P is a highly linear action adventure with very well tuned and balanced combat. They're both great but the priorities of the developers are different.
I remember watching someone fight the Nameless Puppet. At a certain distance the boss won't lundge at you, but will run in an arc to set up a swing. There is something about the way it sprints at you that is so lifelike and so god damned creepy. Whoever animated this game needs an award
HE'S ALIVE Also if you remember PT was developed by a team under the name 7780 studios, which ended up being Kojimas team. So that part of the intro about game development under pseudonyms actually has happened before.
I think you did a great job getting the gushing/criticizing ratio right on this video, based what I think your opinion was during the livestreams. (Obviously I'm ignoring the section where you *explicitly* talk about how your videos sometimes come off as more negative than intended)
As someone who absolutely LOVES souls games themselves but can't stand most of the "souls-likes", I remember watching the first gameplay video of Lies of P that was released and thinking that this was going to be a very special game. Playing through the demo completely blew me away and the full release genuinely impressed me more than I thought was possible. The developers caught lightning in a bottle here and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait for more.
Yeah I'm a hardcore Souls fan who did all achievements in all of them but every "souls-like" felt like a cheap knockoff to me. This is the first one that actually feels like something From made themselves. Very impressive game
Same here. Dark Souls is my favorite series ever, but I've never played a "soulslike" because they look so stiff and lifeless compared to the main series, as if the jank of Dark Souls 2 was amplified even more. Lies of P is a FromSoft-tier game, and that makes me so happy
"In lies of P, I just want to fight." really sums up my main engagement with the game and why I didn't mind the linear level design. It even got to a point where the levels felt like obstacles to gameplay more so than avenues, of course that might have been my desire to finish the game before my attention moved to something else, but also Soulslike levels can be fairly tiring to play through, with that constant sense of being worn down and danger. Especially so for P, since the Elites in this game tend to be rather challenging and will kick you back to the checkpoint most times you meet them, and Lies so loves to place them as final tests before the next checkpoint. So near the end I would have liked to have Lies embrace it's linearity a bit more and condense the final gauntlet to let the Boss fights and story shine more than they already do.
It's been like this for a while now, but the stigma around linearity in games baffles me. A large portion of the best games ever made are linear. It also allows for a more "scripted" experience, determining what you face and when. It's a huge reason why Sekiro has much better boss fights than the other From games, it's not just the fact that they built around a single moveset but could handcraft when you fought them. Open worlds are a novelty. Elden Ring will never be as enjoyable as the first playthrough, while things like Lies will be consistently engaging. Just my two cents.
Linear only gets a bad rep because open world has been a dominant genre for a long time. When I started gaming almost everything was linear. Personally as much as I love open world games, I'll take a tightly focused and crafted linear game over a baggy, pretty but boring open world one where you're forever doing nothing but running between checkpoints that are miles apart, or slowly riding a horse there etc. Lies Of P doesn't need horses like Arkham City didn't need a Batmobile, and both games are better for it.
@@mdbattlefrog1913 Thank you. I've thought that since Knight came out, but at the time everyone thought I was wrong. Years later, most people agree. Funny how that works 😁
Your writing keeps improving every time. Loved the self awareness about positive/negative points in the format. I wish there were more joseph video essays to go around
The Alan Wake footage during the discussion of Stephen King is hilarious lmao... I bet he thought those Alan Wake streams were paying off dividends as he was editing this
The Lies of P developers come off as people who have very deeply been intertwined with the genre and have a deep understanding of the mechanics and nuances of both the genre and videogames as a whole, who understand certain frustrations or decisions that dont really add to the fun and proposing solutions for issues that are sometimes forgotten or taken as standard nowadays, for example consumables, an often very neglected aspect of the genre, which most people usually never use due to their underwhelming performance or scarcity, actually end up being a pretty decent tool to use even outside the very first areas of the game. The weapon system was also so insanely clever to me not only because of the immense room for experimentation but also because it partly fixes the issue of getting a new weapon but having to upgrade it to see if its worth your time, sure you may still need to upgrade the handle when you want to try a new moveset, but it really adds to the joy of finding a new weapon when you dont have to immediately discard it because it doesn't fit your build or you cant be bothered to try it because it takes resources you would rather use in upgrading your current weapon. Amulets and the P-Organ's upgrade systems also feel meaningful, you may still stick to a few amulets or gravitate towards some upgrades you feel as more impactful, but you dont end up with 5% chance of poison damage you forget you even got, Joseph perfectly encapsulates the feeling of those in the video so i don't feel like i need to add anything more, so to quote, "Because a 50/50 chance to deal extra lightning damage to burning enemies on Tuesday mornings, is shit game design." (Paraphrased) But my respect for this game and its developers reached its absolute peak when i learned that they added busted silly "for the hell of it" upgrades for NG+, which is something that i feel not enough games do, add extra layers for the player to mess around with the system and simply have fun with it, sure someone could have made a mod of that at some point and it would have been the same thing, but its the acknowledgment of it, and it tells me of people who wished of this on their favorite games and thought to include it because of it, maybe im just projecting but nevertheless this is a game that understands fun, and im all here for it.
This is nicely put, good points. They've decluttered the BS from these kind of progression systems and made genuine mechanic rewards for people who New Game, not just "hey you get to keep all your stuff and oh the enemies are a bit tougher now, bye". So there's some subtle innovation too. In 2023 which has been a bit of a disappointing year for gaming, this and Alan Wake 2 look even more stunning
They definitely understand the most frustrating part of all souls like games ever in the history of human kind are STATUS EFFECTS and decided to DOUBLE DOWN on it. I will spend the rest of my days on this Earth searching for one person who has ever said "Oh yeah, I REALLY love when my game has STATUS EFFECTS in them." They are anti-fun, get them out of the game. It would be really nice if one mob hit me a single time and gave me 30 seconds of drained health and weapon durability. FUCK YES. God I LOVE status effects. "Use your anti fun potion to cure the status effect!" No dude, I don't play these games to shuffle through 10 items and drink a potion after every time an enemy hits me. No one does.
@@dillydallyyyy I love the status effects. Normally they're just an inconvenience that's there seemingly out of tradition more than anything else. But in this game they're more like the basilisks in dark souls where it ends up functioning as an alternative kind of attack that facilitates greater enemy variety.
Amazing video! I talk about the animation timing going into principles of animations, such as anticipation and reaction and the squash and stretch principles. I’m a graduate in animation, so my knowledge isn’t great. But in my review video talking about the game, I completely agree. The smoothness from this game is something people aren’t talking about enough. To show the comparison, I showed the animations of Jedi Survivor. It’s night and day. No hate on that game. But P is insane! But seriously amazing video!
This must've been a very taxing comment to type. It's so incredibly original, analytical and high effort that I'm sure it will greatly influence and emotionally move those who read it.
"They had a strong grasp on their P-Organ and what makes it work." I also had a strong grasp on my P-Organ while playing this game. Great video, I loved this game too and I'm so glad you're back to talk about it :)
You can deflect the White Lady's counterattack if she catches you in the parry :))) I didn't figure that out until my second playthrough, but i still didn't really struggle with it because with any boss fight that involves a sword I would always do nothing but parry them until their sword breaks HAHAHAHA - you can do that with the brotherhood big guy too!
I've literally never even come close to losing that fight, nor did I even know she had a parry. She has what feels like the lowest damaging attacks in the entire game, and a SUPREME weakness to side dodges.
Still killing it Joseph. I love your videos iv seen every single one at least three times others like the hollow knight video iv seen maybe eight or nine times. I use to fall asleep listening to your longer critique videos. I once had a dream where I had to climb these massive trash mountains using a jet pack and at the top of one was a house where you lived I had a long conversation with you and had dinner with your family. Thank you for your commitment to say pointful and meaningful things about video games.
When I did some of the translations for this studio (and this game) while I was in Korea, I immediately knew that this is a game Joseph Anderson will review and adore the hell out of. Glad to have been proven right ^^
@@fernandofaria2872 Nope, there was a list of predetermined words to use while translating which they likely just did inhouse prior to that. Some employees speak English somewhat of course, just not to the extent and accuracy someone like me does. It's also usually not a single translator doing the full translation, most of the time it gets reviewed by another translator, or projects as big as this one have texts be split up in sections. That can only be the case because I certainly see a couple of sentences and words (especially later on in the game), which I had never seen myself.
@@yanniclord-gg Do you think the translations were done well? I've seen a couple of Korean players asking whether or not the english sometimes sounds cringe (kind of does in some parts, mostly Gemini) but I can't compare it to the original since I can't read Korean.
Lies of Peak Sweep, absolutely incredible game. Frankly I was so burned out on soulslikes that I thought I'd never touch the genre again, but this game changed that in a single boss fight. Beyond amazing.
I really enjoyed these streams, combination of the game actually being good and Joe enjoying it. Can't believe we played this and True (Colours) in the same year
My personal GoTY. Loved watching your streams alongside my own playthrough and so glad you decided to do a video on Lies of P. As always I appreciate your videos for the depth they bring to conversations about video game design and rigorous critique. The perception that you are generally too harsh on games then goes to highlight what a gem we got with this one.
I might've squee'd when I saw a new Joseph Anderson video! Waiting ever so patiently for Witcher 3, absolutely thrilled you're still making content while tackling that beast of a project!
@@mejdlocraftci no, he has said that if he doesn't finish/post it by the end of 2023 he will delete his youtube/twitch, but it is unclear if that was genuine.
I'm really curious about the design and implementation process of movesets in a game like this. Assuming the model artist, character animator, and "combat design lead" are all different people, it seems like it would be remarkably difficult for all three to work together. All three elements are constrained by each other. The animator can only animate what's been modeled. The artist doesn't know how their creation will be animated. The combat director has to communicate a vision for both that suits gameplay needs and needs to find a way to do so with pretty limited language. (Try describing even a simple dance move in enough detail for someone who has never seen it before to recreate it well without an example and you will find out how hard this is.) Then go through the process of playtesting and adjusting things, which requires more nuanced work from all three parties in sync with each other. Coming up with a workflow for something like this is an incredible achievement on its own on the studio's part. Clearly they found something that worked, considering how many unique and well designed weapons + enemies are in the game.
This means the world to me!!!! I actually just finished your Witcher 1 and 2 commentary videos again! I am so intrigued by this game and was thinking how much I would love your take on it!
the links to other "fairytale" works is done so incredibly well in this game. someone else had to point out to me that Victor is a Victor von Frankenstein reference to me before i figured it out, and then i felt like an idiot for not getting it. even his boss arena reflects it, yet it still felt fresh and original while being inspired by something else
It took some time but lies of p really grew on me, especially with ng+ runs. Hi-Fi rush is my GOTY because it felt hard to find flaws and it tries to evolve a genre with new ideas and it never felt stretched. But lies of p came in a strong second for me.
after watching your streams for so long, hearing your 'video' cadence again is so odd! But I'm glad you liked lies of p so much, it's nice to hear such a positive video in general honestly, i think it's what I was in the mood for right now. good vibes. good to have better words for why this game FEELS so much more satisfying than other third party attempts at souls games.
Something i really loved was how equip load wasnt just an arbitrary thing you had to work around, but an actual game mechanic. Capacity is such an important stat, and boosting it is the only way to use some of the best amulets
Seen a lot of love for the healing flask recharge mechanic, but haven’t seen a lot of people talk about the complimentary mechanic; Discharged. When you run out of heals, you get put into a state called Discharged, and in the P-Organ there are sub-upgrades that make you stronger, have more stamina, lower weapon degradation etc, when you get put into that state. So, in combination with the hope of getting another heal back, you’re actually at your peak strength output when you’re on the ropes! Like you mentioned in the video, it makes it so that there are cool unscripted moments and ALWAYS gives you a chance at an awesome comeback.
"Grandpa, who was Joseph Anderson?" "Ahhh, yes my boy, that is a name I have not heard in a lifetime. Where did you hear that name?" "At school." "Well did they tell you why he was famous?" "No Grandpa." "You see, he made long commentary videos for many games, back before you could beam them into your head. You used watch them on the ol' monitor or television screen." "Wooooow Grandpa, that's amazing. When you were a kid you had to browse content with your eyes?" "Indeed my boy, no fancy AI brainchips back then." "What was so special about his videos?" "They were so long, yet so detailed. He used to review the games that all the youngsters used to play. There was your darksouls and your bethesda games..." "What's bethesda?" "Oh some old relic you wouldn't be interested in. BUT his Witcher videos were all the rage!" "Witcher?" "It was a game series we used to play and it was all the rage. It's not much now but back then it was the best kinda game you could get. And Joseph would review them for hours!" "So why was his so famous?" "He did 2 videos on the first 2 Witcher games, but legends say he will one day grace us with the third" "You mean he hasnt released it yet?" "These things take time you see. Long form youtube reviews are an ancient art form." "Will we ever get to see it?" "Not in my lifetime, but maybe when you are my age, you'll get to see it in all it's glory." "Its been so long grandpa, how do you even know if it's real?" "I have faith my boy... I have faith."
After watching your rewatch of your God of War vod, I have such an appreciation for the nuance in your editing - noticing how all the small things add up. Simply brilliant Joe
Clicking on this video and watching up to the spoiler warning just to say I am very much looking forward to watching this once I finish the game. Congrats on getting a video out this year.
I have returned to say I agree on every point. I did enjoy the straightforwardness of the game, it was relaxing to know that I wasn’t missing out on anything like a optional boss because I didn’t turn a certain corner, but on the other hand the big appeal of these games is finding out about that sort of thing whether in the moment or afterward. The big reason Elden ring was so magical was because everyone had these playground style stories about some crazy shit tucked away in a corner. I’m not saying these devs should strive for open world next, but I’d be interested to see how they might take that sort of inspiration going forward. Looking forward to the Witcher 3 video in a week. Assuming no one else reads the comments section…
Based on what I've seen, a lot of 'dodge is weird/bad' argument came from those who primarily relied on 'moving out of the way' as in avoiding the hitbox entirely rather than utilizing i-frame invulnerability to dodge 'through' enemy attacks. Also, from what I've seen and experienced (from playing the game), a lot of big, sweeping attacks from enemies (particularly the elites and bosses) are specifically designed to catch those who try to panic roll out of the way, away from the enemy in most cases. It is kind of interesting that I found out that 'dodging toward the incoming enemy' was often the most effective way to avoid attacks in both Lies of P... and Armored Core 6. (Against difficult, fast bosses)
I can believe that, as someone who's played a lot of souls games, for some reason I played as if i-frames weren't a thing and it only really dawned on me after I was stuck in my ways as mostly parrying things. No idea how it got to that point, maybe I just played sekiro too recently?
I don't know. Dodging "through" attacks was my primary way of dodging as someone who started the series with Elden ring. I think the animation being slightly off as well as how tight the dodge is make it feel kinda bad.
I've heard king wrote under the pseudonym not because of any personal reasons but moreso to prove to his publishers that the readers wouldn't tire of his work no matter how much of his work is circulated. In essence he wanted to show that his audience wouldn't burn out, because I believe at the time the publisher wanted King to backlog his completed works on a release schedule rather than have them all be distributed all at once and flooding the market. The story I heard was king thaught it was stupid and used the pseudonym to circumvent his publishers artificial release schedule and show that there is always a market for his work.
Dude!!! This is an incredible video ! I can’t believe you clearly articulated points I felt about the game but hadn’t even thought about putting them so properly into words. Especially the difficulty part you handled it sooo good!!! Subscribed asap and looking forward to more
Another fantastic video. I also want to say that you were definitely onto something with the animation work; I haven't even played the game, but just watching your video, I could tell that the animations were top-notch.
Two Dragons Blade is so, so satisfying to use, I completed a whole NG+ with only this weapon, and it feels so good to parry with R2, it just scratches in the right spot of my brain. I wish I could use this weapon in other soulslike games. Very well done.
I’m gonna say it and I don’t care who hears it. I like linear games. I like games that are designed to be played in a specific order of areas/bosses. I don’t like stumbling into an area that I’m vastly underleveled for just to realize I’m not supposed to be here yet, and that I need to go through other areas to level up before returning to try again. But I don’t like lies of P, I love lies of P. Game of the year.
Thank you for this review, picked up the game after your recommendation and it's the most fun I've had with a 'souls' game in a long time (including those actually made by Fromsoft). It really is the best parts of Sekiro and Bloodborne mashed together without the ball-crushing difficulty. Not just the gameplay, but the atmosphere, the world, the music, the characters, everything was just so beautiful. Definitely my game of the year, im surprised it wasn't a huge phenomenon.
The rare primarily positive critique. It actually felt like you talked proportionally about the things you liked and disliked here. Also just a very passionate endorsement of a game, which is always a delight. Thank you very much
This is one of my favorite of your reviews, because of just going stage by stage through the game, you go into why this game works so well in terms of design choices. Well done.
41:46 Is the Korok sound seed effect the equivalent of Wilhelm's scream for Joseph Anderson's videos at this point? also...cough cough Sekiro's Mikiri counter cough cough 42:27
I’m not a professional, but I have studied a lot of 2D and 3D animation in the past and I had the same exact experience with enemies/bosses. The animation work in Lies of P is incredible and the way enemies/bosses telegraphed their attacks helped make encounters not just fun, but also fair. Props to the team behind this game, they really hit it out of the park.
I feel so validated by your segment on experimenting with different defensive options against different bosses or even moves. It's possibly my favorite aspect of the game and I likewise like to sing its praises. Glad I wasn't totally off-base!
I want to say that this video made me jump on this game so fast. Now done with the 3rd area in the game and I am loving it. Man I wish I played this sooner, it is amazing me at each new area and enemy
What a return? To form?? I really feel like this was a trial new format more self aware of what all reviews have slowly become. Thanks for your insights and literary analysis, you may be overly negative but that only allows us who watch to soberly understand the positive.
43:45 strangely enough i defaulted to dogding because THAT was my go to in the souls games i played before, but about halfway through i went "Okay, this isn't working completely anymore. i KNOW this is a deflection game, at least in some capacity, so i need to start doing that." And when i incorperated that, it got way easier. to me, at least on my first playthrough (More playthroughs pending) i found deflecting and dodging to be more successful for me. I think you may have found it easier to do a run of "dodging only" because as you said, it was another playthrough. you already KNEW a lot of the game and attack patterns. Beyond that, i do think some enemies are very aggressive in the sense that they are very in your face with attack chains and dodging everything gives them enough space to wind up again unless you can parry or deflect them.
They obviously reward deflection as an "elite tier" option. For example, you can perfect guard Lax round 1 into submission. It makes no logical sense, her weapon doesn't break. But the round ends anyway. Plus deflecting her absurd 13 hitters just wrecks her. But I agree with you, even fights where I think they want you to dodge mostly (Simon).. dodging works but it's clearly inferior. It doesn't damage posture, it takes your stamina, it commits you to moving while the boss can react away and it stops you from controlling the fight as the boss can just push you around the arena while you just hope and pray for a big opening so you have time to run in and stabby-stabby. You never feel like a master of the fight doing this. So yeah I think the best thing is parry by default.. control the fight, damage the posture.. but then dodge when it's a really dicey combo to parry.
Honestly I wasn't super interested in Lies of P, but a couple of specific things you said about the combat have made me think I might like it more. In particular the ability to customize playstyle through equipment and not being forced into certain options. Thanks Joe
this game blew me away. I got it like 2 weeks ago and couldn't stop playing until I got every achievement and I still want to play more. Neowiz deserves even more credit than they're already getting for how good lies of p is.
There is much about the mechanics of combat nobody really discusses and could deserve its own essay. For example, LoP breaks a cardinal From Soft rule: you got boss combos that are rhythm (think Genichiro's 7-hit flurry) where you can't eyeball the tell and react to each individual strike. Then you have boss combos where you watch the tell and can visually time the response. FS has loads of bosses that have both types of attack, especially in Sekiro and Bloodborne. What they do NOT ever do is mix and match within the same combo. For example, Laxasia's 13 hit combos. Part of them you can eyeball and respond to, but the tempo ramps it into a rhythm move that's waaaay too fast to eyeball, then back out again. Granted, it is possible to learn to deal with these... whether this is a design no-no or simply a legit way amp the challenge is a matter for debate.
i love that combo, got to a point where I could close my eyes and parry all of them, I don't think attacks should be able to be eyeballed immediately, dying is natural and in this case you always do learn something new or something to improve on with each death or each hit that you take, which has been a staple for every boss fight (except for last ER dlc boss lol) But ofc that's just my opinion, and you're completely right that I wish this topic was explored and debated more, as far too often I see people just complain that "it had a long windup and a quick attack so I didn't like it" I think it's so much more nuanced than that, you are the first person I've seen to point out the mixing of these kinds of attacks and discern them
Honest to God, throwing in the little Korok "Hahaha!!" near the end when he got the baton was absolutely hilarious and he set it up so early. Joseph vids have such fun visual and audio humor.
Hey "Joe" I think this is probably your best critique, or at least near the top. I'm not really a fan of some of your critique where you take most of the runtime describing each scene or level of the game, so this one feels really nice. It's very concise and to the point on all your arguments. Good job!
The Witcher 3 video will be released one week after the most recent person finishes reading this comment. Right now that means you.
I’m glad to do my part
Oh my god..
Nice
Hype!
Whatever you say 'Joseph'
It is a good year when a Joseph Anderson video drops.
See you in 2025
@@TheSergio1021 Quite hopeful, aren't we ?
Good decade when one drops
@@Eogard I'm an optimist
Hbomb and Joe within a few days of each other? It really is Christmas time
I’ve had a frozen turkey dinner waiting for that Witcher 3 video. I hope I survive
Hey Jabo
I gave up waiting
@@alexpims7150I don’t think it’s ever coming
Idk mate, a lot can happen in 20 years
JAAAABO
watching this video is just pure vindication, this game IS the very rare and special souls-like
Loved your video too!
I actually liked the inclusion of the Crafting system and the Peni...P-organ system the best. That is because the combat is a mix of bloodborne and sekiro and Lies of P did fine tune it, which is, still at essence just improving existing gameplay. But then making additions to the mix is what elevates the devs for me. You usually cannot just add another system into gameplay without destroying the balance and the devs just pulled this off masterfully. Big P-organ energy.
@@DreamlordGaming I wouldn't say it perfected sekiro's combat, as that game already had perfect combat. I would definitely say that its better than bloodborne's and made its mediocre healing system into something special
Hell yeah. IronPineapple approved.
The visuals of sekiros parry are unmatched though. He has two or three deflect animation that look smooth as water.
Kinda cool to see you starting to make video essays alongside your full time streaming career
?????? I love that everyone here is either new or just forgot that this guy has been stringing us along for a godamn Witcher 3 video for like 4 years.
@@column3005it’s clearly a joke
@@HowdyYT very very tone deaf joke. I love this guys stuff, or did when he actually made it. He just decided to soft quit but still lie and say he’s working on shit. I don’t fucking care how long your video is. Doesn’t take 4 years. He can do what he wants that’s fine, but it’s scummy to continue uploading here and just brush over the fact that you’ve been PROMISING a video for almost 4 fucking years.
@@column3005 Ohohohoho did you fall for the bait?
nice to see my fave weeb streamer is branching out ot actually good games!
By Joseph Anderson standards a video of this length is basically a TH-cam Short.
Well I guess it's tough making a long critique about a nearly perfect game. He even had to go around and praise it for 40 minutes of the video just to get to this unimpressive mark.
The system of regaining 1 flask for fighting is so good and creates this loop of "just a few more hits and parries and I can heal", getting it, healing, getting hit, then locking back in to get another
It enables the player to "clutch" a fight which always feels great
Hollow knight did it first
@ross2858 yeah but this game has good combat
@@ross2858 thank you for your input
@@ross2858 Pretty sure it didn't, it was just the popular one.
If you want to be impressed by the boss animations and such in Lies of P, watch their feet. The footwork is impressive and it's what is telegraphing that they aren't quite done yet, most of the time. They adjust their stances to prepare for that next attack, etc.
It’s def the best animated souls game. Including fromsoft
@Kasaaz You're absolutely spot on with that. The mini-boss in the train station a bit before fighting Victor is an enemy that absolutely floored me with not only it's moves but animation fidelity. I have never had as much fun as this game for seeing what the next move from an enemy would be, but that one for in particular was the highlight for me, such a blast.
Now this, this truly is emergent gameplay. In martial arts you can tell a lot about someone you're sparring by where their balance is, and yes that includes how they adjust their feet.
Why you looking at their toes
@@InsertBuffSoundingNameHere Isn't this just good game design and art direction? How is this emergent gameplay?
If you break the eldest brother weapon the first time you fight him, then the second time u fight him it'll still be broken. Didnt figure this out till my 4th playthrough and I think its amazing attention to detail.
mf couldn't find some duct tape
Whatttt, really. I broke the elder sword in the 1st fight and did not pay attention to this in the 2nd fight. Was wondering why he seem kinda easy compared to the first fight
Yeah it's even broken in the cutscene where the younger brother picks it up after the first fight, which I thought was a nice touch.
@@MathewWithOne_T i mean he WAS dead
Wait you can break enemy weapons???
Cool to see Joseph experimenting with shorter, more bite sized videos ☺️
Someone said this on the newest hbomberguy video that was almost 4 hours long
Can’t wait to see this exact comment on his Witcher 3 vid lol
@@void2772 hey alright I'm gonna go make myself some toast and do the dishes now
@@jacobhackman8861bro gave a life update
@@trii0dide I'm gonna keep it real with you I got distracted and the dishes remain undished 😿
the fact that the devs listened and put rising dodge in the base dodge set in a patch is great. i love that they're listening.
Oh thank God that was legitmately one of my main critiques of the game. That legitmately made the early game significantly less fun.
The other critique I had was that it heavily incentivizes smaller faster weapons, or a few smaller weapons on heavy handles to mitigate the slow moveset. Smashing an enemy with unbridled aggression with either quick charged heavies or a flurry of light blows feels infintely more substantial in building stagger compared to perfect parries
@@jordannoell4222 The high block% and HP rally rate of heavy weapons more than make up for their slower speed.
@@jordannoell4222 The high block% and HP rally rate of heavy weapons more than make up for their slower speed.
@@jordannoell4222 I played the game exclusively with heavy weapons (heavy pipe wrench, frozen feast and coil mjolnir) and they are absolutely viable, but you will have to make an appropriate adjustment to your mentality and playstyle, you can't play it like you would Sekiro.
The only opponents where it truly felt like they didn't work well were the NPC fights. It's also frustrating when stronger enemies idle point-blank. With a slow weapon you often cannot safely go for an attack, so you're left with no option but to just... wait until they do something.
Not just that, they took all the things soulborne fans have been saying for years into account and acted on it: putting bonfire / stargazer near boss fights is a small yet massive benefit, although, yes it makes the game easier.
Seeing you use the Holy Sword in actual sword mode is crazy to me, that bad boy was in glaive mode the whole time for me. This game is a triumph and i'm so happy to hear you praise it so highly.
I love that sword but once I realised glaive mode gives a 20-30% damage debuff I never touched it again
@@mrhattttttt holy shit I never noticed that, now I love this weapon even more. The long mode was still doing plenty of damage and quickly too, and the range was great for attacking without needing to adjust position first. But now switching it up makes more sense, as usual this game is even better designed than it seems at first glance.
i got my bachelors degree and two beautiful twins between this and his last video. life is good
LOL
congrats
nice
Slept with twins or had children that are twins? Both are exciting and congrats worthy.
@@martymcfly88mph35you people only ever think about s*x and it's pathetic
Thank you to Tommy Tallarico for making this 48 minute video about Lies of P, the adaptation of Pinocchio by James Somerton!
His mother must be very proud
help my subscriptions are leaking into each other
Reading this made me think I was in the twilight zone for a second. I literally just watched that video.
Based on "Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi
@@riccardomazzaro1901+2 holy shit +2
I was a freshman in college when I first started watching your channel (first video was on Bloodborne) and my own journey has been influenced by your videos, thank you Joe for all you do
and people by you! thanks for YOUR vids as well man
its the destiny guy!
yo
I think I have an idea why the dodge might feel off to a lot of people, myself included. This issue has been developing throughout the souls series. A dodge, on the face of it, is supposed to get you out of the way of the attack - you don't get damage cause you don't even get hit. In order to make that actually work in souls gameplay, i-frames were added to mitigate the feeling of "No fair, I should've dodged that!". As the players figured out the i-frames, the function of the dodge has shifted. Instead of getting out of the range of the attack, players have started using the i-frames to phase through the hurtbox and stay in range - this makes perfect gameplay sense, but doesn't match what actually happens on screen, where the character literally dives face-first into the attack, and yet receives no damage. Still, the dodge roll animation gives at least some verisimilitude to the idea that you actually avoided the attack.
Getting to Lies of P, the dodge is again presented as the option to 'get out of the way' of the attack. In practice, however, the dodge is very short range, and the animation doesn't feel quite so crisp, so when people try to use the dodge intuitively, they feel like it doesn't create enough distance to avoid the attack, and you often end up getting clipped either by the end of the attack, or by the next one in a combo. So, in people's minds, the dodge doesn't do what it's supposed to do, making it feel bad. If you do think about it as more of a 'phase through the attack with i-frames', dodge starts feeling a lot better, and now the tutorial message about not being able to 'dodge' red attacks makes more sense - indeed, you can't phase through them, but you can still move out of the way.
I think they knew it so they made "link dodge" for these players, so you cover more ground with more I-frames, taxing your stamina more but allowing you breathing room
This game has some janky korean bullshit in it.
Did you have that issue with Bloodborne? To me it doesn't really feel any different than that. That is to say, fine.
I think I mostly agree with this. Something that made the dodge feel janky to me is the fact it works different locked and unlocked, and if it's the second dodge with the chain dodge perk. With the perk and being unlocked, the sidestep turns into a roll. The roll either has more forgiving s or the fact that it makes you lower to the ground means you can clear more attack hit boxes. I especially noticed this with Nameless Puppet. He hit me every time regardless of when I dodged until I just unlocked and started rolling around. Then I could seemingly dodge whenever and still miss the attack.
It's been funny seeing all the reviews for this game say "I started having more fun when I stopped deflecting/guarding. It's way easier to dodge," when I had the exact opposite experience. I fucking *hated* the dodge. Granted I'm more of a Sekiro guy, but the moment I started just deflecting everything is when I had the easiest and most fun time. So easy to break weapons and build posture damage for heavies that way.
@@Ashanmarili 100% agree with the original comment and i respond to you saying yes i feel like that also in BB, which is by far my least favourite fromsoft game. I know both lies of P and BB are great games but i cannot enjoy them to the fullest. Also i add that some times in life of p i tried to dodge against the enemy and i would get stuck to it. All in all is my fault for not being able to accostume to these two games.
You know you made an absolutely incredible game when even Joseph Anderson cannot resist heaping praise on it for 40 minutes. It's like I fell into an alternate universe.
I know right? He sounds so happy, too. He's like "I have so much praise I'm gonna have to flip the order I do these videos and start with the critique" and it works. Good formula.
I think this may also a change that is based on people criticizing that Joseph is overly negative when reviewing, even when he likes the game 🤔
Lies of P is a better game than TW3 using this logic, and I have to seriously hard-disagree.
@@sheezum Personally I don't think that counts as what they're trying to be as games is different. Witcher 3 is a narrative driven open world title whereas Lies Of P is a highly linear action adventure with very well tuned and balanced combat. They're both great but the priorities of the developers are different.
@@sheezumDamn right bro. Lies of PEAK > TW3
I remember watching someone fight the Nameless Puppet. At a certain distance the boss won't lundge at you, but will run in an arc to set up a swing. There is something about the way it sprints at you that is so lifelike and so god damned creepy. Whoever animated this game needs an award
HE'S ALIVE
Also if you remember PT was developed by a team under the name 7780 studios, which ended up being Kojimas team. So that part of the intro about game development under pseudonyms actually has happened before.
I 100% recommend checking out his streams if you miss the videos! They’re some of the most fun experiences I’ve seen on twitch!
@@Evanz111ok but where???? He let the second channel die with 99% of his streams not getting uploaded
@@xscaralienx9398other channels are out there. Highlights. Full Vods of the streams..
@@xscaralienx9398 he has a twitch channel.andersonjph . Same dragon pic lul.
@@xscaralienx9398 Twitch as some of the most recent VODs and the TH-cam channel "Falco" has most of his streams from the last few years with chat.
Don't lie. If Lies of P had a cart that you could carry to the end of the game, it would be your GOTY.
But it is his goty
It already is???
What is this in reference to?
@@JackRaiden12 Thwarted again by acting as if I've watched the full video. When will I learn?
@@michimatsch5862Trolley-Chan. A certified Joe Stream moment.
I think you did a great job getting the gushing/criticizing ratio right on this video, based what I think your opinion was during the livestreams. (Obviously I'm ignoring the section where you *explicitly* talk about how your videos sometimes come off as more negative than intended)
I usually stop watching after a couple of minutes because of it. It goes into rants and nitpicking too much too fast.
hi marik
What a stupid video
As someone who absolutely LOVES souls games themselves but can't stand most of the "souls-likes", I remember watching the first gameplay video of Lies of P that was released and thinking that this was going to be a very special game. Playing through the demo completely blew me away and the full release genuinely impressed me more than I thought was possible. The developers caught lightning in a bottle here and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait for more.
Yeah I'm a hardcore Souls fan who did all achievements in all of them but every "souls-like" felt like a cheap knockoff to me. This is the first one that actually feels like something From made themselves. Very impressive game
Same here. Dark Souls is my favorite series ever, but I've never played a "soulslike" because they look so stiff and lifeless compared to the main series, as if the jank of Dark Souls 2 was amplified even more.
Lies of P is a FromSoft-tier game, and that makes me so happy
"In lies of P, I just want to fight." really sums up my main engagement with the game and why I didn't mind the linear level design. It even got to a point where the levels felt like obstacles to gameplay more so than avenues, of course that might have been my desire to finish the game before my attention moved to something else, but also Soulslike levels can be fairly tiring to play through, with that constant sense of being worn down and danger. Especially so for P, since the Elites in this game tend to be rather challenging and will kick you back to the checkpoint most times you meet them, and Lies so loves to place them as final tests before the next checkpoint. So near the end I would have liked to have Lies embrace it's linearity a bit more and condense the final gauntlet to let the Boss fights and story shine more than they already do.
It's been like this for a while now, but the stigma around linearity in games baffles me. A large portion of the best games ever made are linear. It also allows for a more "scripted" experience, determining what you face and when. It's a huge reason why Sekiro has much better boss fights than the other From games, it's not just the fact that they built around a single moveset but could handcraft when you fought them.
Open worlds are a novelty. Elden Ring will never be as enjoyable as the first playthrough, while things like Lies will be consistently engaging. Just my two cents.
@@mdbattlefrog1913i think middle ground is best. I MUCH prefer linear to open world but a balance is best imo like dark souls 1 or 2.
Linear only gets a bad rep because open world has been a dominant genre for a long time. When I started gaming almost everything was linear. Personally as much as I love open world games, I'll take a tightly focused and crafted linear game over a baggy, pretty but boring open world one where you're forever doing nothing but running between checkpoints that are miles apart, or slowly riding a horse there etc. Lies Of P doesn't need horses like Arkham City didn't need a Batmobile, and both games are better for it.
@@InsertBuffSoundingNameHere the batmobile point lmao that's honestly a great take.
@@mdbattlefrog1913 Thank you. I've thought that since Knight came out, but at the time everyone thought I was wrong. Years later, most people agree. Funny how that works 😁
Your writing keeps improving every time. Loved the self awareness about positive/negative points in the format. I wish there were more joseph video essays to go around
The Alan Wake footage during the discussion of Stephen King is hilarious lmao... I bet he thought those Alan Wake streams were paying off dividends as he was editing this
The Lies of P developers come off as people who have very deeply been intertwined with the genre and have a deep understanding of the mechanics and nuances of both the genre and videogames as a whole, who understand certain frustrations or decisions that dont really add to the fun and proposing solutions for issues that are sometimes forgotten or taken as standard nowadays, for example consumables, an often very neglected aspect of the genre, which most people usually never use due to their underwhelming performance or scarcity, actually end up being a pretty decent tool to use even outside the very first areas of the game.
The weapon system was also so insanely clever to me not only because of the immense room for experimentation but also because it partly fixes the issue of getting a new weapon but having to upgrade it to see if its worth your time, sure you may still need to upgrade the handle when you want to try a new moveset, but it really adds to the joy of finding a new weapon when you dont have to immediately discard it because it doesn't fit your build or you cant be bothered to try it because it takes resources you would rather use in upgrading your current weapon.
Amulets and the P-Organ's upgrade systems also feel meaningful, you may still stick to a few amulets or gravitate towards some upgrades you feel as more impactful, but you dont end up with 5% chance of poison damage you forget you even got, Joseph perfectly encapsulates the feeling of those in the video so i don't feel like i need to add anything more, so to quote, "Because a 50/50 chance to deal extra lightning damage to burning enemies on Tuesday mornings, is shit game design." (Paraphrased)
But my respect for this game and its developers reached its absolute peak when i learned that they added busted silly "for the hell of it" upgrades for NG+, which is something that i feel not enough games do, add extra layers for the player to mess around with the system and simply have fun with it, sure someone could have made a mod of that at some point and it would have been the same thing, but its the acknowledgment of it, and it tells me of people who wished of this on their favorite games and thought to include it because of it, maybe im just projecting but nevertheless this is a game that understands fun, and im all here for it.
This is nicely put, good points. They've decluttered the BS from these kind of progression systems and made genuine mechanic rewards for people who New Game, not just "hey you get to keep all your stuff and oh the enemies are a bit tougher now, bye". So there's some subtle innovation too. In 2023 which has been a bit of a disappointing year for gaming, this and Alan Wake 2 look even more stunning
They definitely understand the most frustrating part of all souls like games ever in the history of human kind are STATUS EFFECTS and decided to DOUBLE DOWN on it. I will spend the rest of my days on this Earth searching for one person who has ever said "Oh yeah, I REALLY love when my game has STATUS EFFECTS in them." They are anti-fun, get them out of the game. It would be really nice if one mob hit me a single time and gave me 30 seconds of drained health and weapon durability. FUCK YES. God I LOVE status effects. "Use your anti fun potion to cure the status effect!" No dude, I don't play these games to shuffle through 10 items and drink a potion after every time an enemy hits me. No one does.
yes in fact, but they failed copying dark souls, they cannot make elden ring yet, lies of p has alot bugs .
@@dillydallyyyy I love the status effects. Normally they're just an inconvenience that's there seemingly out of tradition more than anything else. But in this game they're more like the basilisks in dark souls where it ends up functioning as an alternative kind of attack that facilitates greater enemy variety.
Amazing video! I talk about the animation timing going into principles of animations, such as anticipation and reaction and the squash and stretch principles. I’m a graduate in animation, so my knowledge isn’t great. But in my review video talking about the game, I completely agree. The smoothness from this game is something people aren’t talking about enough. To show the comparison, I showed the animations of Jedi Survivor. It’s night and day. No hate on that game. But P is insane! But seriously amazing video!
Just watched it. Good vid, man. Loved the boss play-by-play.
@@JosephAndersonChannel Thank you so much!
Wow! I really liked the video. There are some surprisingly similar points!
Exactly! Lies of P has some of the best animations I've ever seen in a video game. It's on a whole other level.
Just subbed to you. I hope you grow well.
Nice treat to find in my feed. Just finished watching your playthrough too. Glad you made this. This game is such a gem.
When the world needed him most, he returned
This must've been a very taxing comment to type. It's so incredibly original, analytical and high effort that I'm sure it will greatly influence and emotionally move those who read it.
@@yuanwang9324 Thanks for typing exactly what I was thinking. Also, I hope your day and mood gets better, if it's as sour as mine is.
@@yuanwang9324 what can I say, I'm just that good at coming up with banger comments (It took all of my brain power to think of it)
@@ThatOneGuyNamedLemon I can't wait to see what you come up with next. You're going places, buddy! Take care.
@@ThatOneGuyNamedLemonthe clap back is real, you a real one OP we were all thinking this comment.😂
Kinda cool to see you starting to make video essays alongside your full time the witcher 3 video is coming soon career
"They had a strong grasp on their P-Organ and what makes it work." I also had a strong grasp on my P-Organ while playing this game. Great video, I loved this game too and I'm so glad you're back to talk about it :)
They are so confident with their skill tree mechanic that they aren't even afraid to name it the P-Organ!
Cringe
You can deflect the White Lady's counterattack if she catches you in the parry :))) I didn't figure that out until my second playthrough, but i still didn't really struggle with it because with any boss fight that involves a sword I would always do nothing but parry them until their sword breaks HAHAHAHA - you can do that with the brotherhood big guy too!
I've literally never even come close to losing that fight, nor did I even know she had a parry. She has what feels like the lowest damaging attacks in the entire game, and a SUPREME weakness to side dodges.
@@thepowerfulpaet4937she is an absolute bitch at punishing backwards dodges. she's not difficult if you don't have the habit of doing that
Witcher 3 Video is gonna be like waiting for Half Life 3
Still killing it Joseph. I love your videos iv seen every single one at least three times others like the hollow knight video iv seen maybe eight or nine times. I use to fall asleep listening to your longer critique videos. I once had a dream where I had to climb these massive trash mountains using a jet pack and at the top of one was a house where you lived I had a long conversation with you and had dinner with your family. Thank you for your commitment to say pointful and meaningful things about video games.
This might be the most adorable fanboying I ever saw. I mean that as a compliment.
Did he mention the Witcher 3 video?
I'm with you, brother.
Guys, he meant the Chinese new year.
When I did some of the translations for this studio (and this game) while I was in Korea, I immediately knew that this is a game Joseph Anderson will review and adore the hell out of. Glad to have been proven right ^^
So you're the one responsible for "p-organ"? 🧐
@@fernandofaria2872 Nope, there was a list of predetermined words to use while translating which they likely just did inhouse prior to that. Some employees speak English somewhat of course, just not to the extent and accuracy someone like me does. It's also usually not a single translator doing the full translation, most of the time it gets reviewed by another translator, or projects as big as this one have texts be split up in sections. That can only be the case because I certainly see a couple of sentences and words (especially later on in the game), which I had never seen myself.
@@yanniclord-gg Do you think the translations were done well? I've seen a couple of Korean players asking whether or not the english sometimes sounds cringe (kind of does in some parts, mostly Gemini) but I can't compare it to the original since I can't read Korean.
Lies of Peak Sweep, absolutely incredible game. Frankly I was so burned out on soulslikes that I thought I'd never touch the genre again, but this game changed that in a single boss fight. Beyond amazing.
Which boss?
@@MrGandymanjr It was the Watchman, it's such a fun interactive fight. Immediately recharged me on soulslikes.
I really enjoyed these streams, combination of the game actually being good and Joe enjoying it. Can't believe we played this and True (Colours) in the same year
CAN WE GET SOME TRUE COLORS IN THE CHAAT?!
Yeah these were cream streams imo, it was fun watching Joe really enjoy himself with this awesome game
George R.R. Martin is going to finish all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books by the time the witcher 3 video releases.
Holy shit he never lies
Lies of J
@@nanashi7779not this time 🥳
We are so back
He's a puppet!
@@Pyreatehe's not even a dragon
@@gdttdeggegdh5471don’t break my immersion
My personal GoTY. Loved watching your streams alongside my own playthrough and so glad you decided to do a video on Lies of P. As always I appreciate your videos for the depth they bring to conversations about video game design and rigorous critique. The perception that you are generally too harsh on games then goes to highlight what a gem we got with this one.
No Witcher 3 vid, channel still here. Lies of J
He's nothing but a liar now, it's actually really sad
@@PeachShortcake_ Yeah like I could get if he just outright said he isn't working on it but this is pretty egregious
I might've squee'd when I saw a new Joseph Anderson video! Waiting ever so patiently for Witcher 3, absolutely thrilled you're still making content while tackling that beast of a project!
Ha! Gayyyyyyyy
Brother you know he gave up on that like 2 years ago
@@fatboyvladimir1555 he did?
@@mejdlocraftci no, he has said that if he doesn't finish/post it by the end of 2023 he will delete his youtube/twitch, but it is unclear if that was genuine.
@@meep1342He usually trolls around with this topic
I'm really curious about the design and implementation process of movesets in a game like this. Assuming the model artist, character animator, and "combat design lead" are all different people, it seems like it would be remarkably difficult for all three to work together. All three elements are constrained by each other. The animator can only animate what's been modeled. The artist doesn't know how their creation will be animated. The combat director has to communicate a vision for both that suits gameplay needs and needs to find a way to do so with pretty limited language. (Try describing even a simple dance move in enough detail for someone who has never seen it before to recreate it well without an example and you will find out how hard this is.) Then go through the process of playtesting and adjusting things, which requires more nuanced work from all three parties in sync with each other.
Coming up with a workflow for something like this is an incredible achievement on its own on the studio's part. Clearly they found something that worked, considering how many unique and well designed weapons + enemies are in the game.
I was just thinking this myself. I wonder how they do it.
Joe, we don't want the video, we want you back
I second that. It's been painful :(
This means the world to me!!!! I actually just finished your Witcher 1 and 2 commentary videos again! I am so intrigued by this game and was thinking how much I would love your take on it!
I feel this, i recently finished my 5th rewatch of both (sixth of the first vid)
just wait until you watch the witcher 3 video (i'm waiting too its been three years)
@@gkdunchcomes out in a week!!!! So hype bro
the links to other "fairytale" works is done so incredibly well in this game. someone else had to point out to me that Victor is a Victor von Frankenstein reference to me before i figured it out, and then i felt like an idiot for not getting it. even his boss arena reflects it, yet it still felt fresh and original while being inspired by something else
It took some time but lies of p really grew on me, especially with ng+ runs. Hi-Fi rush is my GOTY because it felt hard to find flaws and it tries to evolve a genre with new ideas and it never felt stretched. But lies of p came in a strong second for me.
Wow I just realized this is your first video in a year! Glad to see you back, though I also totally understand taking some time off
after watching your streams for so long, hearing your 'video' cadence again is so odd!
But I'm glad you liked lies of p so much, it's nice to hear such a positive video in general honestly, i think it's what I was in the mood for right now. good vibes. good to have better words for why this game FEELS so much more satisfying than other third party attempts at souls games.
I saw, and loved, what you did there with the "disassemble, reassemble" bit. My nostalgia thanks you
I'm not gonna lie, I shed a tear. Welcome back man, hope you are all good.
He's been streaming on twitch in the meantime
@@depalodorwho cares? I watch him for the scripted videos, not his bumbling streaming.
@@ghostoflazlo???? The original commenter probably does?
@@ghostoflazlohis streaming is peak
This ain't about you@@ghostoflazlo
Something i really loved was how equip load wasnt just an arbitrary thing you had to work around, but an actual game mechanic. Capacity is such an important stat, and boosting it is the only way to use some of the best amulets
Seen a lot of love for the healing flask recharge mechanic, but haven’t seen a lot of people talk about the complimentary mechanic; Discharged.
When you run out of heals, you get put into a state called Discharged, and in the P-Organ there are sub-upgrades that make you stronger, have more stamina, lower weapon degradation etc, when you get put into that state.
So, in combination with the hope of getting another heal back, you’re actually at your peak strength output when you’re on the ropes! Like you mentioned in the video, it makes it so that there are cool unscripted moments and ALWAYS gives you a chance at an awesome comeback.
Did not expect this to come out so soon :o Joe got us an early Christmas present!
Lies of P? More like Lies of Joseph
"Grandpa, who was Joseph Anderson?"
"Ahhh, yes my boy, that is a name I have not heard in a lifetime. Where did you hear that name?"
"At school."
"Well did they tell you why he was famous?"
"No Grandpa."
"You see, he made long commentary videos for many games, back before you could beam them into your head. You used watch them on the ol' monitor or television screen."
"Wooooow Grandpa, that's amazing. When you were a kid you had to browse content with your eyes?"
"Indeed my boy, no fancy AI brainchips back then."
"What was so special about his videos?"
"They were so long, yet so detailed. He used to review the games that all the youngsters used to play. There was your darksouls and your bethesda games..."
"What's bethesda?"
"Oh some old relic you wouldn't be interested in. BUT his Witcher videos were all the rage!"
"Witcher?"
"It was a game series we used to play and it was all the rage. It's not much now but back then it was the best kinda game you could get. And Joseph would review them for hours!"
"So why was his so famous?"
"He did 2 videos on the first 2 Witcher games, but legends say he will one day grace us with the third"
"You mean he hasnt released it yet?"
"These things take time you see. Long form youtube reviews are an ancient art form."
"Will we ever get to see it?"
"Not in my lifetime, but maybe when you are my age, you'll get to see it in all it's glory."
"Its been so long grandpa, how do you even know if it's real?"
"I have faith my boy... I have faith."
After watching your rewatch of your God of War vod, I have such an appreciation for the nuance in your editing - noticing how all the small things add up. Simply brilliant Joe
Clicking on this video and watching up to the spoiler warning just to say I am very much looking forward to watching this once I finish the game. Congrats on getting a video out this year.
I have returned to say I agree on every point. I did enjoy the straightforwardness of the game, it was relaxing to know that I wasn’t missing out on anything like a optional boss because I didn’t turn a certain corner, but on the other hand the big appeal of these games is finding out about that sort of thing whether in the moment or afterward. The big reason Elden ring was so magical was because everyone had these playground style stories about some crazy shit tucked away in a corner. I’m not saying these devs should strive for open world next, but I’d be interested to see how they might take that sort of inspiration going forward.
Looking forward to the Witcher 3 video in a week. Assuming no one else reads the comments section…
Based on what I've seen, a lot of 'dodge is weird/bad' argument came from those who primarily relied on 'moving out of the way' as in avoiding the hitbox entirely rather than utilizing i-frame invulnerability to dodge 'through' enemy attacks.
Also, from what I've seen and experienced (from playing the game), a lot of big, sweeping attacks from enemies (particularly the elites and bosses) are specifically designed to catch those who try to panic roll out of the way, away from the enemy in most cases.
It is kind of interesting that I found out that 'dodging toward the incoming enemy' was often the most effective way to avoid attacks in both Lies of P... and Armored Core 6. (Against difficult, fast bosses)
I can believe that, as someone who's played a lot of souls games, for some reason I played as if i-frames weren't a thing and it only really dawned on me after I was stuck in my ways as mostly parrying things. No idea how it got to that point, maybe I just played sekiro too recently?
This is very odd to me, as I basically instantly learned to dodge towards things the moment I learned how i-frames worked in souls games.
I don't know. Dodging "through" attacks was my primary way of dodging as someone who started the series with Elden ring. I think the animation being slightly off as well as how tight the dodge is make it feel kinda bad.
Crazy to know that when I see a 45+ minute video all I can think is, “guess it’s a short one”. 😭
I've heard king wrote under the pseudonym not because of any personal reasons but moreso to prove to his publishers that the readers wouldn't tire of his work no matter how much of his work is circulated. In essence he wanted to show that his audience wouldn't burn out, because I believe at the time the publisher wanted King to backlog his completed works on a release schedule rather than have them all be distributed all at once and flooding the market. The story I heard was king thaught it was stupid and used the pseudonym to circumvent his publishers artificial release schedule and show that there is always a market for his work.
Dude!!! This is an incredible video ! I can’t believe you clearly articulated points I felt about the game but hadn’t even thought about putting them so properly into words. Especially the difficulty part you handled it sooo good!!! Subscribed asap and looking forward to more
I came here after finishing the video to say:
I love you dude
If there's one thing I take seriously, it's him saying "play it yourself and then come back" whenever he really enjoyed a title
Another fantastic video. I also want to say that you were definitely onto something with the animation work; I haven't even played the game, but just watching your video, I could tell that the animations were top-notch.
Two Dragons Blade is so, so satisfying to use, I completed a whole NG+ with only this weapon, and it feels so good to parry with R2, it just scratches in the right spot of my brain. I wish I could use this weapon in other soulslike games. Very well done.
RIP Channel, you will be missed
I'm gonna graduate soon, I watched the Witcher video during covid lock
I’m gonna say it and I don’t care who hears it. I like linear games. I like games that are designed to be played in a specific order of areas/bosses. I don’t like stumbling into an area that I’m vastly underleveled for just to realize I’m not supposed to be here yet, and that I need to go through other areas to level up before returning to try again. But I don’t like lies of P, I love lies of P. Game of the year.
Joseph Anderson is posting shorts now?!?!
wonderful video Joe! the streams were a lot of fun and I'm glad you enjoyed more playthroughs of the game. Also the transition at 29:45 is so good
Thank you for this review, picked up the game after your recommendation and it's the most fun I've had with a 'souls' game in a long time (including those actually made by Fromsoft). It really is the best parts of Sekiro and Bloodborne mashed together without the ball-crushing difficulty. Not just the gameplay, but the atmosphere, the world, the music, the characters, everything was just so beautiful. Definitely my game of the year, im surprised it wasn't a huge phenomenon.
The rare primarily positive critique. It actually felt like you talked proportionally about the things you liked and disliked here.
Also just a very passionate endorsement of a game, which is always a delight. Thank you very much
This is one of my favorite of your reviews, because of just going stage by stage through the game, you go into why this game works so well in terms of design choices. Well done.
Glad to see this, and glad to see how much you enjoy this game also. Another vid to add to the "endlessly rewatchable" list that lives in my head.
so the new video coming out by the new year was a total lie huh
No shit lol. He lies, it's what he does dude
@@PeachShortcake_ ok DUDE. sure BRO. do a flip when you go PAL
I remember when he tweeted that witcher 3 will be uploaded soon .... in 2022
We have 28 days till lies of P becomes lies of J
41:46
Is the Korok sound seed effect the equivalent of Wilhelm's scream for Joseph Anderson's videos at this point?
also...cough cough Sekiro's Mikiri counter cough cough 42:27
Nice to hear from you again Joseph, I look forward to the next review this time 3 years from now.
I’m not a professional, but I have studied a lot of 2D and 3D animation in the past and I had the same exact experience with enemies/bosses. The animation work in Lies of P is incredible and the way enemies/bosses telegraphed their attacks helped make encounters not just fun, but also fair. Props to the team behind this game, they really hit it out of the park.
I feel so validated by your segment on experimenting with different defensive options against different bosses or even moves.
It's possibly my favorite aspect of the game and I likewise like to sing its praises. Glad I wasn't totally off-base!
damn that transition at 29:45 is gorgeous
Missed your voice, man! Love every piece of your content. Thanks for the hard work you put into these. 😊👍🏼
I'm very glad to have come back to this video after beating it... It truly is a special game
I want to say that this video made me jump on this game so fast. Now done with the 3rd area in the game and I am loving it. Man I wish I played this sooner, it is amazing me at each new area and enemy
What a return? To form?? I really feel like this was a trial new format more self aware of what all reviews have slowly become. Thanks for your insights and literary analysis, you may be overly negative but that only allows us who watch to soberly understand the positive.
Joseph anderson video game analysis gif XD
I can't wait for the sequel Lies of Q, which will focus on the 2020 Us election
Imagine if Joe didnt release the witcher video to just rebrand himself, with his real name like "Tony brown" or something
43:45 strangely enough i defaulted to dogding because THAT was my go to in the souls games i played before, but about halfway through i went "Okay, this isn't working completely anymore. i KNOW this is a deflection game, at least in some capacity, so i need to start doing that." And when i incorperated that, it got way easier. to me, at least on my first playthrough (More playthroughs pending) i found deflecting and dodging to be more successful for me. I think you may have found it easier to do a run of "dodging only" because as you said, it was another playthrough. you already KNEW a lot of the game and attack patterns. Beyond that, i do think some enemies are very aggressive in the sense that they are very in your face with attack chains and dodging everything gives them enough space to wind up again unless you can parry or deflect them.
They obviously reward deflection as an "elite tier" option. For example, you can perfect guard Lax round 1 into submission. It makes no logical sense, her weapon doesn't break. But the round ends anyway. Plus deflecting her absurd 13 hitters just wrecks her.
But I agree with you, even fights where I think they want you to dodge mostly (Simon).. dodging works but it's clearly inferior. It doesn't damage posture, it takes your stamina, it commits you to moving while the boss can react away and it stops you from controlling the fight as the boss can just push you around the arena while you just hope and pray for a big opening so you have time to run in and stabby-stabby. You never feel like a master of the fight doing this.
So yeah I think the best thing is parry by default.. control the fight, damage the posture.. but then dodge when it's a really dicey combo to parry.
Honestly I wasn't super interested in Lies of P, but a couple of specific things you said about the combat have made me think I might like it more. In particular the ability to customize playstyle through equipment and not being forced into certain options. Thanks Joe
Love hearing unscripted Joe chime in every now and then
this game blew me away. I got it like 2 weeks ago and couldn't stop playing until I got every achievement and I still want to play more. Neowiz deserves even more credit than they're already getting for how good lies of p is.
Can you believe it guys? Only one more day until channel deletion!!! Channel deletion only one day away!!
Only a few hours left🙏
Hahahahha
There is much about the mechanics of combat nobody really discusses and could deserve its own essay. For example, LoP breaks a cardinal From Soft rule: you got boss combos that are rhythm (think Genichiro's 7-hit flurry) where you can't eyeball the tell and react to each individual strike. Then you have boss combos where you watch the tell and can visually time the response. FS has loads of bosses that have both types of attack, especially in Sekiro and Bloodborne. What they do NOT ever do is mix and match within the same combo. For example, Laxasia's 13 hit combos. Part of them you can eyeball and respond to, but the tempo ramps it into a rhythm move that's waaaay too fast to eyeball, then back out again.
Granted, it is possible to learn to deal with these... whether this is a design no-no or simply a legit way amp the challenge is a matter for debate.
i love that combo, got to a point where I could close my eyes and parry all of them, I don't think attacks should be able to be eyeballed immediately, dying is natural and in this case you always do learn something new or something to improve on with each death or each hit that you take, which has been a staple for every boss fight (except for last ER dlc boss lol)
But ofc that's just my opinion, and you're completely right that I wish this topic was explored and debated more, as far too often I see people just complain that "it had a long windup and a quick attack so I didn't like it" I think it's so much more nuanced than that, you are the first person I've seen to point out the mixing of these kinds of attacks and discern them
My plans for tonight have suddenly changed, love your content, i can't wait to watch this one
Honest to God, throwing in the little Korok "Hahaha!!" near the end when he got the baton was absolutely hilarious and he set it up so early. Joseph vids have such fun visual and audio humor.
The clip froms streamer joe really shows the insane dissonace i get from hearing joes "monotone youtuber voice" and his actual voice lol
starting out with a small p organ and then making it bigger over time sounds like great gameplay
I just want to say how much I love the little bit editing around 24:20. Very cool.
Hey "Joe" I think this is probably your best critique, or at least near the top. I'm not really a fan of some of your critique where you take most of the runtime describing each scene or level of the game, so this one feels really nice. It's very concise and to the point on all your arguments.
Good job!