Lies of P definitely does have a decent wealth of new mechanics for Souls Vets, from breaking enemy weapons, to the recharge of the pulse cell urging you to continue working at a boss instead of just accepting death.
Perhaps the reference of the "Golden Lie" weapon P acquires only by reaching a high level of humanity (lying, making tough decisions, listening to music, human things) is a reference to the inner gold you mentioned
This game just oozes alchemic references I love it and really hope they carry the lore forward in their next title. The Relic of Trismegistus area had me thinking Hermes would somehow come into play lol. Not to mention the character Giangio is revealed to be named Philippus Paracelsus in the secret ending. Only reason I got the references was from your deep dives so I've got you to thank!
I just finished it and i got the cutscene where "Dorothy" ( with the shoes ) appears overlooking hotel at the end... Could that mean that if they make a sequel they will incorporate Wizard of Oz story somehow ? Also i didnt made the connection that Paracelsus is the guy selling me those stones o.O ...i was too shocked by what happened at the end, i did not expect that at all. :/
I read somewhere the Dorothy content won't be a sequel but a DLC. There's a golden stargazer you can't use nearby the Path of the Pilgrim one, and supposedly it was datamined to be connected.
@@DreamskyDance These devs would crush an Oz DLC. Some think P is going to be the Tin Man. "If I Only Had a Heart"... It just fits too well. And I gotta say a DLC where we assemble the squad, walk a "yellow brick road", fight flying monkeys and a wizard king would be sick. Hope it was't just an easter egg because I can see an amazing series being built on public domain fairytales like Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, anything from Brothers Grimm etc. I just hope it's still focussed on the alchemists and what they're up to. It would be so cool to have a souls-like series that explicitly pits you against a bunch of hermeticists. Could even incorporate some Yungian ideas with these archetypal fairytales coming to life due to the alchemists' influence. Would give Max another reason to mention our favorite Swiss psychologist lol
The name Ergo can also be taken from the word Ergonomics, wich tried to study the relation between between humans and Machines. The great Covenant is basically Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V of Isac Asimov's Three Robotic Laws. The movie, I Robot can be a good example for it.
the lore community is starved for content diving deeper into 'lies of p', so please keep making videos on it ! i specifically am interested in tree & butterfly imagery, the possibility that rosa isabelle monad was transformed into the golden coin fruit tree, & the speculative likelihood that giangio/hohenheim is the titular 'P', & that its actually his lies that are driving the story
A nice touch, going back to the Monad's Lamp, is that whenever you absorb Ergo, it doesn't go into P, it goes straight into the lamp to be stored and later on used to enhance P's abilities
I usually never comment on youtube videos but you did an amazing job Max! I too have been delving deep into the lore and Gnosticism of the game and come up with some of my own theories as well! I cannot wait for more of your videos on this wonderful game! PS: I tagged you in a tweet to a reddit theory I made, if you read this I would love for you to check it out on the connection between Lies of P and Adam Kadmon and the Sephirot Tree!
I finished this game last week. Gotta say it's the best souls-like I've ever played. (spoilers below) I love the narrative, how the original fairytale is implemented into the game, the little nods you can miss so easily. Pinocchio was lured by a fox and a cat, the same happens in the game in many ways. He was also swallowed by a whale, which in the game was a submarine P used to get on an island. (and it looked more like a shark to me in the game, but I get a reference) The Red Lobster Inn can be visited in Malum Street and it works as a shortcut to the area's boss. Also love how the classic Pinocchio's nose growth was implemented into the painting.
The nose doesn't just grow in the Dorian Gray painting, if you stand near the hotel star gazer and look at Carlo's shadow you will see his real nose (as big as the one in the painting)
@@Guigão_Boladãosaw this nugget earlier when playing and thought that was such an awesome connection to make. Dorian making enchanted portraits.. heh.😊
The ending has me BEYOND hyped for the DLC and future souls-like games from NeoWiz. If we end up getting an Alice in Wonderland, Peter pan, or Wizard of Oz, game im going to go crazy. A dual character game would also be amazing too like having the ability to switch between Hansel and Gretel or Jack and Jill would be bada**
Yup, hope they build a Fables-Soulsborne universe, that would be amazing...game already included Belle/Beast and Dorian Gray as well as Dorothy in the secret ending.
Love how King of Riddles is a direct, unmistakable refference to Brau 1589 from the *"Pluto"* manga. Psychotic, cryptic in nature, pinned to a wall with a spear-like weapon, yet very...human. 500 zeus a body.
Very cool video. Really expanded my understanding of the game. Talking about references to pop culture in the game, there is one really subtle NGE reference, in the way Arlecchino is portrait. He basically hangs from the wall, no legs, having ghostly pale skin and a double helix lance pierced into his chest. This is clearly a reference to the impaled Adam imo.
There's a minor reference to the manga of Pluto who recently gain an anime adaptation by Netflix, created Naoki Urasawa, the same creator of Monster. By the end of the game when you recevi the last Trinity key, you can meet with the King of Riddles, who is similar to the Brau-1589 from Pluto.
Game does have at least half a dozen interesting mechanics to differentiate itself from other souls games, like the brilliant weapon assembly system, or the P-organ upgrade tree that gives plenty of game changing upgrades (and adds new upgrades in NG+ and NG++), enemy weapons being breakable, the legion arms are an interesting evolution of Sekiro's prosthetic arm and they come with their own cool upgrades that add more functionality to each, then there is the lies/humanity system which ties unlocking different endings with the collectible OST and NPCs sidequests, health canisters being rechargeable with combat to reward skilled play, and finally the encrypted container treasure hunts and riddles, plus a lot of little QoL features like the star gazers menu highlighting new possible interactions with NPCs, etc More importantly they 100% nailed the tight level design of early Souls games, not only are the levels gorgeous and detailed but the way the levels flow and loop on themselves in certain areas (shortcuts) is fantastic specially with how they utilize verticality, there is room for some exploration but there is no room for meandering or dead ends, everything in the level serves an exact purpose, which makes the game highly replayable (something I struggled with when playing Elden Ring due to how massive the game is), something they clearly put a lot of thought into since each playthrough has a lot of new stuff. One point on Manus storywise, I think judging by the speech he gives after we defeat Victor he truly believes he is following the correct alchemical process when he spread the petrification disease, he thinks humans who overcome the petrification process and survive evolve and become "reborn" as awakened humans (like Laxasia) which mirrors the true alchemical process in his mind, his motivation is also quite interesting, he wanted to become a god to create a world without lies where everyone can read everyone else's minds (kinda like Test Subject 826), Manus was lied to and abandoned by his father in his childhood which created that sense of hatred towards lies, which is ironic since if anything he is lying to himself. All in all a truly brilliant game made more interesting by including plenty of references to other fairytales and fables, like Belle (from Beauty & the Beast) whose partner turns into a monster/beast, Dorian Gray and finally Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz which appears in the post-credits scene hinting that they are potentially building a Fables-soulsborne universe where multiple characters from folklore co-exist and interact with each other.
Was waiting for this video! And it was amazing! Definitely hope you do more :) In your video you pointed out a reason why I think I love this game the more I play it and why it may stand out eventually: the storytelling. These guys added a depth to the world of Lies of P that is similar in principle to the Souls games only a different application of it. The other references the game makes just makes the world so much more compelling. I already want the next game lol Either way, I feel like I could view this game's narrative as a modernized fable written into a game with a fantastic iteration of the Souls formula. Some of the stories in the game really hurt to watch play out but they were *really* good.
I got all the achievements yesterday so I had to watch this video. There's way more depth to the story than I ever expected. Thanks for the enlightenment on things I missed! I would love it if you made another video on this game.
You know a game left a mark on you when hearing the first notes of the menu theme instantly sends chills down your spine... Thank you for this video, it adds a lot of context, especially regarding Alchemists. I kind of got lost with the backstory from the moment you get to the final area, and your video brings a lot of interesting context for the NG+. Thanks a lot!
Am about to head into NG+! Thanks for this, Max, I adore FromSoft and Lies of P has been the only 'soulslike' that I've really felt any inkling of a connection to. I have a deep interest in Fairytales, Mythology and Folklore, so this story was really intriguing to me. I actually cried at the special scene after beating Laxasia 😢 A beautiful, touching game.
The Monad symbol is also very similar to the shape of the Gold Coin Fruit baring the square in the middle rather than a circle. I wonder if that is something significant too?
Thank you for mentioning ergo proxy!! the whole game I couldn't help but think they had so much overlap. Not just with shared origins of names and what not but things like cogito virus vs puppet frenzy etc. Great video!
Currently playing LoP, my frist "soulslike" game btw, and I am IN LOVE with it! I can't get enough of it, as well as I can't get enough of the lore! So please, feel free to do another video! :)
There is also a reference to Naoki urasawa Pluto, Arlecchino the first Ego puppet, who was the first to kill humans, resembless a lot Brau 1589 the first killer robot in Pluto. Infact when we encounter arlecchino for the first time in arche abbey, he is lying on the ground the same way as Brau.
You explain such difficult concept yet you make it very easy to understand and follow along. I dont really care for this game but i still learned a lot and it made me appreciate and understand other pieces of fiction that are influenced by/or have gnostic concepts in them. And this is exactly why i love your channel, even if you make a video about a series i dont care i still watch them because i learn so much from them. Keep up the good work 👍
I don’t know if they meant this or not, but I feel like the King of Riddles was a reference to Brau-1589 from Pluto. Both of them are murderous machines that are confined to a wall all broken and damaged and both of them even are impaled.
Max, thank you for this video. I just finished my plat for Lies of P and am in dire need of lore discussions! The story in this game while initially seems simple is actually very rich. I am not versed on the themes of alchemy and occult, but know a little about because of Fullmetal Alchemist. I cant wait for a 3 hour long video discussion about the one-winged angel of the cathedral, the metal angel the Trinity refers, the star that loved humans and came to earth to give them immortality that the Alchemists believe in in this game, the fact that the Arm of God is the left, and the angel with one wing is missing their left one, and P is also missing their left arm... Would love to hear your thoughts on all of this!
Me and a bunch of people in Lies of P discord in the lore section and literally not believe how deep the writers went to create aka cook up this world.. writers literally had to write an entire lore roadmap for the future,, no way they planned only this for one game..ofc than the post-credit hit and you are like..holy god
Just various addendums with "Gnosticism" references, Simon Magus was opposed by not just Christians, but also various Gnostic groups to varying reasons even within Nag Hammadi Library, the Pistris to "devour even God" wasn't just a FMA(B) reference, but also a reference to a Gnostic group apart from Valentinian, called "Sethians" The Sethians have text named "On The Origin of The World" where it have full blown Cosmological Genesis/Origin to actual Final Eschatology where Sophia sets up as the final eraser of the material and mental universe, where Valentinians sees Demiurgic creature (Cosmocrator) as good-intentioned but ignorant angel, various Sethian texts views him as somekind of Angel of The Underworld, where Earth is depicted as part of "heavens of Chaos" and will be consumed by either Sophia or even Barbelo and obliterated entirely alongside the class of "Hylics" (heathens/non-believers) meanwhile the "Psychics" (Ordinary Christians) can have the chance to achieve Salvation in Valentinians alongside even The Demiurge once they realised that they're not True God The first usage of the term "Monad" was also by a Christian Gnostic Arab named Monoimus, the concept had analogy to Moses' Serpentine mystery as the first life and creation (possibly alluding to Aeon Christ as a Serpent, hence John 3:14 have that latent analogy and Serpentine Christian Gnostic groups akin to Nassenes, Ophites, etc takes the line seriously in literal way), although there are Christian Gnostic groups which even puts Monad as plural/multiple and being just another emanations from Ineffable yet Unknown and Invisible God, but it's reserved for those in Bruce Codex and Askew Codex where Sethian Cosmology alongside the already lower Yaldabaoth is reduced into a torture demon in a layer of hell after Yaldabaoth's fall, but the texts are so cryptic that it makes Nag Hammadi Library like an easy New Testament readings Although this is need to be noted that Sophia as Wisdom entity and her children of 7 Archons have basis in Old Testament/Tanakh texts, it's not coming out of nowhere from Greco-Roman, Egyptian nor Near-Eastern Cosmology, in fact Gnostic Cosmologies from Christian Gnostic to non-Christian variants akin to Mandaeism, Manichaeism, to I would argue even earliest conceptions of Islam (as in The Qur'an have references to it, from Hanifs, to Hawariyyun to Ahl Kitab), particularly the presence of Wisdom in The Proverbs Where Wisdom established to "Build her house, where she hewn up 7 Pillars), corresponding to 7 Archons and their 7 heavens of Chaos, although even In Valentinian texts, Sophia is not begat by The Monad, but being an emanation of Anthropos and Ecclesia which being pair of First Man and First Celestial Church in Syzygy pair of Aeons which generated from Nous (Mind) and Aletheia (Truth), which Nous and Aletheia was created by Bythos/Monad through Silence, just like how the void below Pleroma is called "Kenoma", literally means "Emptiness" (you can see this parallels with Christian concept of "Kenosis" and even Buddhist concept of Emptiness (Shunyata) where Nirvana and Samsara are mirroring each other by their non-duality concepts in both Mahayana and Vajrayana/Esoteric Buddhism schools and sects, oddly enough both Chinese Mahayana Buddhism and Mandaeism have concepts of "Pure Lands" as final salvation stations too), back to Kenoma, as the realms of Kenoma is supposedly to be the border and last emanations of Pleroma, albeit they're created without any consorts from the Aeons, hence it's created through the "Error" of Sophia from trying to emanate something without the consent of her other half syzygy nor from The Monad, resulting in Demiurge and his 'angels' to drawn and creating physical world as psychic beings There are Three types of beings in Valentinian and Sethian categorisation of creations: Pneumatics (Spiritual, the highest) Psychics (Soulful/Self-oriented, The average Christians and Jews) Hylics (The carnal/Material, the lowest and most often associated with disbelievers and heathens/idolaters) Islam have similar category where there division of types between: Mu'mins & Muslims Ahl Kitab/'People of The Book' (Christians/Jews/Buddhists/Zoroastrians/etc) Kafir/Kuffar (disbelievers & idolaters)
Another relevant detail about Simon Magus: a large part of the cult that spun off of him centered around the myth of Simon and Hellen. Hellen was the human incarnation of God's feminine thought, called Sophia in gnosticism. There's a fair amount of parallels between that myth and Simon and Sophia in this game.
Man I love this game and all it's ways of bringing other fables and stories into the mix, with a good cinematic style narrative with the souls like lore on top. Now I have to go watch Ergo Proxy, so thanks for that. But seriously awesome vid that helped clarify a few things I wasn't completely familiar with.
I'm honestly curious to see what the Fromsoft teams' take on Lies of P is. My guess is they really love it, just like a lot of their fans love it (me included). Might be interesting if they take a few ideas from Lies of P and see what they can do with them (parry + blocking + sidestep mechanics, skill tree, weapon assembly, etc). Must be nice for them to finally get some inspiration/ideas from outside the studio
The game also makes a heavy reference to Naoki Urasawa's Pluto, with Arlecchino and Brau1589 sharing some glaring similarities. Also, the game has some of the same themes as the manga, so it's not hard to imagine the dev's looking for inspiration from Pluto. The manga is definitely worth a read, so check it out.
This game was the first souls like game ive played and i have done 6 playthroughs already from doing all the trophies, and i have 215 hours in the game, this is by far one of my most favorite games of this year! Excited for the dlc and sequel whenever they release!
Love the video man! I love the thought of the game taking reference from full metal alchemist. However, I initially took that statement from Adriana in the Pistris books II and III of Simon “swallowing god” as a reference to origination of the name Pistris being sea monster (same name as the submarine in the game). With the connection of sea monsters to story of Pinocchio, I simply thought it was making its reference to original sea monster (The Terrible Dogfish) that swallowed Pinocchio and Geppetto.
Your intrigue of psychology and mythos of videogames and how they interplay with life as we know it is is enthralling. I know you dabble into theatrical movies every now and then. Wondering if you'd be interested in putting out a fresh take on the film Mirrormask. It's one of Jim Henson's lesser known works.
As someone with an interest in occultism and historical magical practices, I was absolutely tickled pink playing this game. I was disappointed Hermes himself never shows up besides the name Trismegistus “Thrice Greatest” coming up a few times. They clearly read a lot of Victorian era occultism. Just the one point about the Monad and the Demiurge could be an hour of discussion. While there’s some anime references there’s a whole lot more to talk about for the game in the mystical.
Please, more more more, it would be nice a story of the game, like who is every character and why was Geppetto the ....guy and how did Sophia know about P in there and why was he just sitting there, etc etc
Awesome video! Please do more lore videos for this game. I want to know more about the arche abbey like who built it and what’s up with all the iconography and big head statues.
I LOVE Lies Of P and I cannot wait for the sequel, which seems will be based on The Wizard Of Oz. Looking forward to how they twist up that story like they did with Lies Of P. Great video sir, as always :)
I enjoy your analysis. Always refreshing to have someone besides vaati talk about these. He's far too posh for my tastes, always trying to prevoke an emotional response or overaddressing everything that makes something good.
"ergo," also a purposeful reference to Rene Descartes, in an early level you find a piece of lore written by a "Descarte." Cogito ergo Sum, also fits quite nicely into the themes of Lies of P.
This was such a fantastic game, and the links to alchemy were so cool to see as I was playing. I can't help but notice though, with all your videos on alchemy in gaming... you don't have any on Noita? Any intentions on checking that one out? It probably has more alchemical concepts crammed into it than any other game out there! Either way keep up the great work!
I knew you would look at this eventually. I had my Gnosticism Bingo Card ready to go as soon as "Sophia" started talking, and I picked up the "Monad" lamp to go out and collect "Ergo".
I haven't played a game that good since elden ring. The combat was so addicting, the scenery of krat and the lore ohh ...it was like like falling in love with bloodborne all over again
Am I the only one who thinks the Green Monster used to be a human hero from when hotel Krat was a castle? One of the hero weapons that Alidoro collects mentions something to that effect. It talks about an ancient hero and the colour green.
Awesome insight. I suck at Souls-like games so I noped out of Lies of P in the demo. But it sure is a beautiful game and I was interested from the start.
This game has nier aaaaaall over it. Also I'm surprised freemasonry never came up in this video. It's the only symbol that is always on the screen. It's on the weapons, the mercy statue, even geppetto. It's super wierd. The traditional "G" within the square and compass is replaced with a heart. But the "G" stands for God. So what could the heart represent?
I noticed something if it may help. The Arm Of God reminds of Pernida from Bleach, funny enough both of them were left arms of a god and were connected with evolution
i think there are lot of motifs of eating god, like Cronus eating Zeus. though, that is not a mortal trying to eat god. or perhaps, all those myths about the sun being eaten by bests. sun = god, beast = un-transcended mortal. in a Gnostic seance, the right way to become mortal is to be 'consumed' by god, so to speak. so to go the other way, and attempt to consume god, is the way to damnation. a common theme. though the specific phrase of 'swallow god' is most definitely reminding me of FMA :)
Yeah, the writer/creator of FMA did a lot of studying of ancient religions and alchemy before she wrote the story, the concept of "eating god" isn't entirely her creation, like you said it does appear in many different versions throughout old religions and mythology.
The refilling final health flask is probably the single best evolution to the souls like genre....I hope FROM picks that up and it becomes a permanent feature
Lies of P definitely does have a decent wealth of new mechanics for Souls Vets, from breaking enemy weapons, to the recharge of the pulse cell urging you to continue working at a boss instead of just accepting death.
pulse cell recharge was done before in hellpoint.
Multiple 99 healing itens like Demons Souls and DS2 are still the best method IMO.
Yeah but only 1 is charged back up.
My first thought was that Ergo references the famous "Cogito ergo sum" or "I think, therefore I am" which seems pretty pertinent to the story.
But “ergo” means “therefore” in that case
Perhaps the reference of the "Golden Lie" weapon P acquires only by reaching a high level of humanity (lying, making tough decisions, listening to music, human things) is a reference to the inner gold you mentioned
This game just oozes alchemic references I love it and really hope they carry the lore forward in their next title. The Relic of Trismegistus area had me thinking Hermes would somehow come into play lol. Not to mention the character Giangio is revealed to be named Philippus Paracelsus in the secret ending. Only reason I got the references was from your deep dives so I've got you to thank!
Yeah I definitely picked up those alchemic references & like the video points out the Fmab ones too.
I just finished it and i got the cutscene where "Dorothy" ( with the shoes ) appears overlooking hotel at the end...
Could that mean that if they make a sequel they will incorporate Wizard of Oz story somehow ?
Also i didnt made the connection that Paracelsus is the guy selling me those stones o.O ...i was too shocked by what happened at the end, i did not expect that at all. :/
I read somewhere the Dorothy content won't be a sequel but a DLC. There's a golden stargazer you can't use nearby the Path of the Pilgrim one, and supposedly it was datamined to be connected.
@@DreamskyDance These devs would crush an Oz DLC. Some think P is going to be the Tin Man. "If I Only Had a Heart"... It just fits too well. And I gotta say a DLC where we assemble the squad, walk a "yellow brick road", fight flying monkeys and a wizard king would be sick.
Hope it was't just an easter egg because I can see an amazing series being built on public domain fairytales like Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, anything from Brothers Grimm etc. I just hope it's still focussed on the alchemists and what they're up to. It would be so cool to have a souls-like series that explicitly pits you against a bunch of hermeticists. Could even incorporate some Yungian ideas with these archetypal fairytales coming to life due to the alchemists' influence. Would give Max another reason to mention our favorite Swiss psychologist lol
@@rellish510 I always wanted to see souslike Alice in Wonderland... XD
The name Ergo can also be taken from the word Ergonomics, wich tried to study the relation between between humans and Machines. The great Covenant is basically Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V of Isac Asimov's Three Robotic Laws. The movie, I Robot can be a good example for it.
The movie? Not the book (i, robot) that inspired the movie. Its themes are closer in nature to the themes in Lies of P.
That's not what ergonomics is. Ergo means work in Greek.
the lore community is starved for content diving deeper into 'lies of p', so please keep making videos on it ! i specifically am interested in tree & butterfly imagery, the possibility that rosa isabelle monad was transformed into the golden coin fruit tree, & the speculative likelihood that giangio/hohenheim is the titular 'P', & that its actually his lies that are driving the story
I want to know if Antonia was the legendary stalker, it also looks like Gemini was a real human that died and got transposed into that cage.
A nice touch, going back to the Monad's Lamp, is that whenever you absorb Ergo, it doesn't go into P, it goes straight into the lamp to be stored and later on used to enhance P's abilities
I usually never comment on youtube videos but you did an amazing job Max! I too have been delving deep into the lore and Gnosticism of the game and come up with some of my own theories as well! I cannot wait for more of your videos on this wonderful game! PS: I tagged you in a tweet to a reddit theory I made, if you read this I would love for you to check it out on the connection between Lies of P and Adam Kadmon and the Sephirot Tree!
Let it die.
Who asked!? Just kidding. Glad youre enjoying it, bro!
I finished this game last week. Gotta say it's the best souls-like I've ever played. (spoilers below)
I love the narrative, how the original fairytale is implemented into the game, the little nods you can miss so easily.
Pinocchio was lured by a fox and a cat, the same happens in the game in many ways. He was also swallowed by a whale, which in the game was a submarine P used to get on an island. (and it looked more like a shark to me in the game, but I get a reference)
The Red Lobster Inn can be visited in Malum Street and it works as a shortcut to the area's boss.
Also love how the classic Pinocchio's nose growth was implemented into the painting.
About the painting, one cool nod was the fact that Geppeto comissioned it from D.Gray.
As in Dorian Gray.
The nose doesn't just grow in the Dorian Gray painting, if you stand near the hotel star gazer and look at Carlo's shadow you will see his real nose (as big as the one in the painting)
the nose on the painting is a weapon
@@Guigão_Boladãosaw this nugget earlier when playing and thought that was such an awesome connection to make. Dorian making enchanted portraits.. heh.😊
@@Guigão_BoladãoI noticed this too, great reference
I played 100h of lies of p and can say that it for sure stands on its own both due to gameplay and the lore. Loved the video, waiting for more :)
The ending has me BEYOND hyped for the DLC and future souls-like games from NeoWiz. If we end up getting an Alice in Wonderland, Peter pan, or Wizard of Oz, game im going to go crazy. A dual character game would also be amazing too like having the ability to switch between Hansel and Gretel or Jack and Jill would be bada**
Yup, hope they build a Fables-Soulsborne universe, that would be amazing...game already included Belle/Beast and Dorian Gray as well as Dorothy in the secret ending.
Can't wait for the sequel to be "Lies of Oz", very fitting to that wizard character 👀
@@TheHalloweenSpirit Either Lies of O or Lies of D.
Love how King of Riddles is a direct, unmistakable refference to Brau 1589 from the *"Pluto"* manga.
Psychotic, cryptic in nature, pinned to a wall with a spear-like weapon, yet very...human.
500 zeus a body.
Very cool video. Really expanded my understanding of the game.
Talking about references to pop culture in the game, there is one really subtle NGE reference, in the way Arlecchino is portrait. He basically hangs from the wall, no legs, having ghostly pale skin and a double helix lance pierced into his chest. This is clearly a reference to the impaled Adam imo.
Absolutely brilliant stuff Max. This very video is why I've just signed up as a member of your channel.
Gnostic explanations, woo!
There's a minor reference to the manga of Pluto who recently gain an anime adaptation by Netflix, created Naoki Urasawa, the same creator of Monster.
By the end of the game when you recevi the last Trinity key, you can meet with the King of Riddles, who is similar to the Brau-1589 from Pluto.
Game does have at least half a dozen interesting mechanics to differentiate itself from other souls games, like the brilliant weapon assembly system, or the P-organ upgrade tree that gives plenty of game changing upgrades (and adds new upgrades in NG+ and NG++), enemy weapons being breakable, the legion arms are an interesting evolution of Sekiro's prosthetic arm and they come with their own cool upgrades that add more functionality to each, then there is the lies/humanity system which ties unlocking different endings with the collectible OST and NPCs sidequests, health canisters being rechargeable with combat to reward skilled play, and finally the encrypted container treasure hunts and riddles, plus a lot of little QoL features like the star gazers menu highlighting new possible interactions with NPCs, etc
More importantly they 100% nailed the tight level design of early Souls games, not only are the levels gorgeous and detailed but the way the levels flow and loop on themselves in certain areas (shortcuts) is fantastic specially with how they utilize verticality, there is room for some exploration but there is no room for meandering or dead ends, everything in the level serves an exact purpose, which makes the game highly replayable (something I struggled with when playing Elden Ring due to how massive the game is), something they clearly put a lot of thought into since each playthrough has a lot of new stuff.
One point on Manus storywise, I think judging by the speech he gives after we defeat Victor he truly believes he is following the correct alchemical process when he spread the petrification disease, he thinks humans who overcome the petrification process and survive evolve and become "reborn" as awakened humans (like Laxasia) which mirrors the true alchemical process in his mind, his motivation is also quite interesting, he wanted to become a god to create a world without lies where everyone can read everyone else's minds (kinda like Test Subject 826), Manus was lied to and abandoned by his father in his childhood which created that sense of hatred towards lies, which is ironic since if anything he is lying to himself.
All in all a truly brilliant game made more interesting by including plenty of references to other fairytales and fables, like Belle (from Beauty & the Beast) whose partner turns into a monster/beast, Dorian Gray and finally Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz which appears in the post-credits scene hinting that they are potentially building a Fables-soulsborne universe where multiple characters from folklore co-exist and interact with each other.
The game was amazing, and you're the only one that could do it justice in videos. Please sir, I want some more.
Was waiting for this video! And it was amazing! Definitely hope you do more :) In your video you pointed out a reason why I think I love this game the more I play it and why it may stand out eventually: the storytelling. These guys added a depth to the world of Lies of P that is similar in principle to the Souls games only a different application of it. The other references the game makes just makes the world so much more compelling. I already want the next game lol Either way, I feel like I could view this game's narrative as a modernized fable written into a game with a fantastic iteration of the Souls formula. Some of the stories in the game really hurt to watch play out but they were *really* good.
Let it die.
I got all the achievements yesterday so I had to watch this video. There's way more depth to the story than I ever expected. Thanks for the enlightenment on things I missed! I would love it if you made another video on this game.
You know a game left a mark on you when hearing the first notes of the menu theme instantly sends chills down your spine... Thank you for this video, it adds a lot of context, especially regarding Alchemists. I kind of got lost with the backstory from the moment you get to the final area, and your video brings a lot of interesting context for the NG+. Thanks a lot!
Am about to head into NG+! Thanks for this, Max, I adore FromSoft and Lies of P has been the only 'soulslike' that I've really felt any inkling of a connection to. I have a deep interest in Fairytales, Mythology and Folklore, so this story was really intriguing to me.
I actually cried at the special scene after beating Laxasia 😢 A beautiful, touching game.
The Monad symbol is also very similar to the shape of the Gold Coin Fruit baring the square in the middle rather than a circle. I wonder if that is something significant too?
Thank you for mentioning ergo proxy!! the whole game I couldn't help but think they had so much overlap. Not just with shared origins of names and what not but things like cogito virus vs puppet frenzy etc. Great video!
Don't forget the Robocop reference. The patrolman puppet boss is named Murphy which is the same of the man that became Robocop.
Currently playing LoP, my frist "soulslike" game btw, and I am IN LOVE with it! I can't get enough of it, as well as I can't get enough of the lore! So please, feel free to do another video! :)
There is also a reference to Naoki urasawa Pluto, Arlecchino the first Ego puppet, who was the first to kill humans, resembless a lot Brau 1589 the first killer robot in Pluto. Infact when we encounter arlecchino for the first time in arche abbey, he is lying on the ground the same way as Brau.
As always a breathe of fresh air with knowledge and references. Keep it up Max.
You explain such difficult concept yet you make it very easy to understand and follow along. I dont really care for this game but i still learned a lot and it made me appreciate and understand other pieces of fiction that are influenced by/or have gnostic concepts in them. And this is exactly why i love your channel, even if you make a video about a series i dont care i still watch them because i learn so much from them. Keep up the good work 👍
Another amazing video Max, keep up the great work.
Been waiting for an analysis of this game! Excellent as ever! Been diving into Gnosticism over the course if the last month.
I don’t know if they meant this or not, but I feel like the King of Riddles was a reference to Brau-1589 from Pluto. Both of them are murderous machines that are confined to a wall all broken and damaged and both of them even are impaled.
Max, thank you for this video. I just finished my plat for Lies of P and am in dire need of lore discussions! The story in this game while initially seems simple is actually very rich. I am not versed on the themes of alchemy and occult, but know a little about because of Fullmetal Alchemist. I cant wait for a 3 hour long video discussion about the one-winged angel of the cathedral, the metal angel the Trinity refers, the star that loved humans and came to earth to give them immortality that the Alchemists believe in in this game, the fact that the Arm of God is the left, and the angel with one wing is missing their left one, and P is also missing their left arm...
Would love to hear your thoughts on all of this!
Thanks for giving information on the Monad. I've definitely been face to face with it.
Let it die is insperation.
Me and a bunch of people in Lies of P discord in the lore section and literally not believe how deep the writers went to create aka cook up this world.. writers literally had to write an entire lore roadmap for the future,, no way they planned only this for one game..ofc than the post-credit hit and you are like..holy god
Yup, my jaw dropped when Dorothy suddenly showed up after the ending 😅
Definitely want more of these videos! I wouldnt have made so many of these connections! Thank you for your efforts
I’d be delighted with new content from you on this fascinating game! Thank you. 💜👍
Great video Max.
As soon as I started playing Lies of P I knew your videos on it would be excellent.
Can't wait to see the next one.
Just various addendums with "Gnosticism" references, Simon Magus was opposed by not just Christians, but also various Gnostic groups to varying reasons even within Nag Hammadi Library, the Pistris to "devour even God" wasn't just a FMA(B) reference, but also a reference to a Gnostic group apart from Valentinian, called "Sethians"
The Sethians have text named "On The Origin of The World" where it have full blown Cosmological Genesis/Origin to actual Final Eschatology where Sophia sets up as the final eraser of the material and mental universe, where Valentinians sees Demiurgic creature (Cosmocrator) as good-intentioned but ignorant angel, various Sethian texts views him as somekind of Angel of The Underworld, where Earth is depicted as part of "heavens of Chaos" and will be consumed by either Sophia or even Barbelo and obliterated entirely alongside the class of "Hylics" (heathens/non-believers) meanwhile the "Psychics" (Ordinary Christians) can have the chance to achieve Salvation in Valentinians alongside even The Demiurge once they realised that they're not True God
The first usage of the term "Monad" was also by a Christian Gnostic Arab named Monoimus, the concept had analogy to Moses' Serpentine mystery as the first life and creation (possibly alluding to Aeon Christ as a Serpent, hence John 3:14 have that latent analogy and Serpentine Christian Gnostic groups akin to Nassenes, Ophites, etc takes the line seriously in literal way), although there are Christian Gnostic groups which even puts Monad as plural/multiple and being just another emanations from Ineffable yet Unknown and Invisible God, but it's reserved for those in Bruce Codex and Askew Codex where Sethian Cosmology alongside the already lower Yaldabaoth is reduced into a torture demon in a layer of hell after Yaldabaoth's fall, but the texts are so cryptic that it makes Nag Hammadi Library like an easy New Testament readings
Although this is need to be noted that Sophia as Wisdom entity and her children of 7 Archons have basis in Old Testament/Tanakh texts, it's not coming out of nowhere from Greco-Roman, Egyptian nor Near-Eastern Cosmology, in fact Gnostic Cosmologies from Christian Gnostic to non-Christian variants akin to Mandaeism, Manichaeism, to I would argue even earliest conceptions of Islam (as in The Qur'an have references to it, from Hanifs, to Hawariyyun to Ahl Kitab), particularly the presence of Wisdom in The Proverbs Where Wisdom established to "Build her house, where she hewn up 7 Pillars), corresponding to 7 Archons and their 7 heavens of Chaos, although even In Valentinian texts, Sophia is not begat by The Monad, but being an emanation of Anthropos and Ecclesia which being pair of First Man and First Celestial Church in Syzygy pair of Aeons which generated from Nous (Mind) and Aletheia (Truth), which Nous and Aletheia was created by Bythos/Monad through Silence, just like how the void below Pleroma is called "Kenoma", literally means "Emptiness" (you can see this parallels with Christian concept of "Kenosis" and even Buddhist concept of Emptiness (Shunyata) where Nirvana and Samsara are mirroring each other by their non-duality concepts in both Mahayana and Vajrayana/Esoteric Buddhism schools and sects, oddly enough both Chinese Mahayana Buddhism and Mandaeism have concepts of "Pure Lands" as final salvation stations too), back to Kenoma, as the realms of Kenoma is supposedly to be the border and last emanations of Pleroma, albeit they're created without any consorts from the Aeons, hence it's created through the "Error" of Sophia from trying to emanate something without the consent of her other half syzygy nor from The Monad, resulting in Demiurge and his 'angels' to drawn and creating physical world as psychic beings
There are Three types of beings in Valentinian and Sethian categorisation of creations:
Pneumatics (Spiritual, the highest)
Psychics (Soulful/Self-oriented, The average Christians and Jews)
Hylics (The carnal/Material, the lowest and most often associated with disbelievers and heathens/idolaters)
Islam have similar category where there division of types between:
Mu'mins & Muslims
Ahl Kitab/'People of The Book' (Christians/Jews/Buddhists/Zoroastrians/etc)
Kafir/Kuffar (disbelievers & idolaters)
Ive been hoping you would do a video on lies of p, its one of my favorite games ive ever played, thank you great job as always!
Dude please more Lies of P ! This video was amazing
Glad to see the video! Like I said before, I knew you'd have fun with this one.
Another relevant detail about Simon Magus: a large part of the cult that spun off of him centered around the myth of Simon and Hellen. Hellen was the human incarnation of God's feminine thought, called Sophia in gnosticism. There's a fair amount of parallels between that myth and Simon and Sophia in this game.
More Lies of P content please! Just finished the game and I'm absolutely hooked!
Man I love this game and all it's ways of bringing other fables and stories into the mix, with a good cinematic style narrative with the souls like lore on top. Now I have to go watch Ergo Proxy, so thanks for that. But seriously awesome vid that helped clarify a few things I wasn't completely familiar with.
Also not to mention the fact that ed and p have a metal arm that they use to fight and the goal of becoming human (or returning Al to his human body)
I'm honestly curious to see what the Fromsoft teams' take on Lies of P is. My guess is they really love it, just like a lot of their fans love it (me included).
Might be interesting if they take a few ideas from Lies of P and see what they can do with them (parry + blocking + sidestep mechanics, skill tree, weapon assembly, etc). Must be nice for them to finally get some inspiration/ideas from outside the studio
This was a seriously awesome video; thanks Max!
The game also makes a heavy reference to Naoki Urasawa's Pluto, with Arlecchino and Brau1589 sharing some glaring similarities. Also, the game has some of the same themes as the manga, so it's not hard to imagine the dev's looking for inspiration from Pluto. The manga is definitely worth a read, so check it out.
This game was the first souls like game ive played and i have done 6 playthroughs already from doing all the trophies, and i have 215 hours in the game, this is by far one of my most favorite games of this year! Excited for the dlc and sequel whenever they release!
Love the video man! I love the thought of the game taking reference from full metal alchemist. However, I initially took that statement from Adriana in the Pistris books II and III of Simon “swallowing god” as a reference to origination of the name Pistris being sea monster (same name as the submarine in the game). With the connection of sea monsters to story of Pinocchio, I simply thought it was making its reference to original sea monster (The Terrible Dogfish) that swallowed Pinocchio and Geppetto.
Your intrigue of psychology and mythos of videogames and how they interplay with life as we know it is is enthralling. I know you dabble into theatrical movies every now and then. Wondering if you'd be interested in putting out a fresh take on the film Mirrormask. It's one of Jim Henson's lesser known works.
Needless to say, we need more lies of p analysis, Max!
This video arrived at the perfect time! I was just getting into the nitty-gritty of the game a couple of days ago.
Super interesting - would definitely like to hear more on this. Just finished the game and wanted to learn more about it.
Informative as always.
Amazing video as always Max, would love to see more.
Loved this video! Great job and I hope you put out more soon!
Loved the video, I'd somehow not even heard of this game, now I think I may need to pick it up!
Dude please more I loved this video please do another I must know how you think of this game it’s fascinating
As someone with an interest in occultism and historical magical practices, I was absolutely tickled pink playing this game. I was disappointed Hermes himself never shows up besides the name Trismegistus “Thrice Greatest” coming up a few times. They clearly read a lot of Victorian era occultism. Just the one point about the Monad and the Demiurge could be an hour of discussion. While there’s some anime references there’s a whole lot more to talk about for the game in the mystical.
Whew! This was amazing! TT_TT Great job as usual Max!!
As a dedicated Souls/FROM fan I can enthusiastically say, I can't get enough of this game. Starting my 7th playthrough as we speak!
But excessive
I think of Lies of P as like- the adopted child of the souls borne franchise. Personally
Yes please. I was really hoping you would cover it!
the FMA reference where simon reaches with his hand to god is so on the nose, and so fucking epic
Also, Lasaxia the Complete has certain resemblance of the Black Gaunas from Nihei's Abara manga
Please, more more more, it would be nice a story of the game, like who is every character and why was Geppetto the ....guy and how did Sophia know about P in there and why was he just sitting there, etc etc
Awesome video! Please do more lore videos for this game. I want to know more about the arche abbey like who built it and what’s up with all the iconography and big head statues.
Awesome video, as always!
This is y type of channel. Good thing I found you.
I LOVE Lies Of P and I cannot wait for the sequel, which seems will be based on The Wizard Of Oz. Looking forward to how they twist up that story like they did with Lies Of P.
Great video sir, as always :)
I enjoy your analysis. Always refreshing to have someone besides vaati talk about these. He's far too posh for my tastes, always trying to prevoke an emotional response or overaddressing everything that makes something good.
❤ I'm even more in love with this game and thank you for the superb analysis! Regards from Brazil, my friend!
Bring us more, Max ❤
Great video! For some reason Lies of P really reminds me of the manga Karakuri Circus, with the mechanical arms and the alchemy and all.
I just finished the game and it’s brilliant! I’d love some more videos about it.
Really looking forward for the next ones!!
Fascinating insights! I had no idea that the name Monad carried such implications
More plz! Rly awesome video dude!!
I'll love more videos on Lies of P.
Max Derret, he who can talk about a lamp for 5 minutes.
Great video as always. Thank you for sharing your insight.
"ergo," also a purposeful reference to Rene Descartes, in an early level you find a piece of lore written by a "Descarte." Cogito ergo Sum, also fits quite nicely into the themes of Lies of P.
This was such a fantastic game, and the links to alchemy were so cool to see as I was playing.
I can't help but notice though, with all your videos on alchemy in gaming... you don't have any on Noita? Any intentions on checking that one out? It probably has more alchemical concepts crammed into it than any other game out there! Either way keep up the great work!
awesome video! would love to see more!
I knew you would look at this eventually. I had my Gnosticism Bingo Card ready to go as soon as "Sophia" started talking, and I picked up the "Monad" lamp to go out and collect "Ergo".
I haven't played a game that good since elden ring.
The combat was so addicting, the scenery of krat and the lore ohh ...it was like like falling in love with bloodborne all over again
Am I the only one who thinks the Green Monster used to be a human hero from when hotel Krat was a castle? One of the hero weapons that Alidoro collects mentions something to that effect. It talks about an ancient hero and the colour green.
I love your videos I'm definitely more interested in checking this game out thank you max stay yellow and stay golden 😊
Wow, the _mundane_ and the esoteric, masterfully juxtaposed.
The spheres are aligning it seems.
glad I wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities to full metal alchemist brotherhood great video.
great video king
God damn. That was some great insight. Cant wait for more
Awesome insight. I suck at Souls-like games so I noped out of Lies of P in the demo. But it sure is a beautiful game and I was interested from the start.
does anyone else think that the gold coin tree looks like a person with the branches as the hair?
Its cause it is. They tell you that in-game
@@kickin_wing_135 oh, did not know that as i havent actually played the game yet, but plan to get it in the future
This game has nier aaaaaall over it.
Also I'm surprised freemasonry never came up in this video. It's the only symbol that is always on the screen. It's on the weapons, the mercy statue, even geppetto. It's super wierd. The traditional "G" within the square and compass is replaced with a heart. But the "G" stands for God. So what could the heart represent?
I noticed something if it may help. The Arm Of God reminds of Pernida from Bleach, funny enough both of them were left arms of a god and were connected with evolution
I liked the video. You should do more of them.
ahhhhhh yes im so happy you did this video!
i think there are lot of motifs of eating god, like Cronus eating Zeus. though, that is not a mortal trying to eat god. or perhaps, all those myths about the sun being eaten by bests. sun = god, beast = un-transcended mortal. in a Gnostic seance, the right way to become mortal is to be 'consumed' by god, so to speak. so to go the other way, and attempt to consume god, is the way to damnation. a common theme. though the specific phrase of 'swallow god' is most definitely reminding me of FMA :)
Yeah, the writer/creator of FMA did a lot of studying of ancient religions and alchemy before she wrote the story, the concept of "eating god" isn't entirely her creation, like you said it does appear in many different versions throughout old religions and mythology.
The refilling final health flask is probably the single best evolution to the souls like genre....I hope FROM picks that up and it becomes a permanent feature