Lies of P is actually a Christmas game. Mind you, not just any Christmas game, but the greatest one of 2023. Read on to learn why it deserves this distinction.
Lies of P is The Greatest Christmas Game of 2023
Need Convincing?
Looking for a good game to give a friend, family member, or your grandparent this Christmas? Are you on the prowl for a game that truly embodies the Christmas spirit this holiday season? Or perhaps you’re just looking for an excellent title to stream for your chat as everybody celebrates Yuletide? Look no further, for we here at Game8 have your back by handpicking the greatest Christmas game ever made that’s worth all your time and hard-earned money.
Lies of P.
Yes, you heard us right. Lies of P is actually a Christmas game. In fact, without a shred of doubt, it’s the greatest Christmas game released this year. We’re not making an argument here because it’s just a fact.
We’re simply here to tell you why. Without touching on any spoilers, of course.
Who’s A Good Boy?
Legend has it that Santa Claus only has gifts of happiness for children who behave themselves. These are the "good boys/girls" that deserve a new toy train or an RTX 4090 (ONE CAN DREAM) under the Christmas tree with their names written in neon colors.
Getting on Santa's good side is quite easy. All you have to do is behave yourselves, listen to your parents, and do good for your neighbor. Being an obedient child is particularly important because your parents' opinion on whether or not you deserve a brand-spanking new graphics card seems to play a vital role in getting Santa to gift you one.
They probably have Santa Claus' contact number or something.
Gepetto, quite obviously, reflects this aspect of Christmas perfectly. Serving as P's parent, he continuously reminds his child to behave himself and be a good boy. In exchange, he showers P with his care and concern throughout most of the game.
Lies of P manages to continuously press your moral compass as it presents its common conundrum; though lying may be bad, they are often the more human thing to do, especially in the situations in which the game presents you with such choices. The game also manages to assuage players' worries through a genius move. See, in the stories that involve our beloved Kris Kringle, he would usually opt to not give any gifts to naughty children, including those who lie. Krampus, a demon often appearing in Christmas legends, would leave behind a lump of coal for these kids instead.
However, with the city of Krat experiencing an unprecedented age of industrialization, what better gift could there be to symbolize the city's rapid development than a lump of coal?
Give Molly A Dolly
Santa's workshop, located at an undisclosed corner of the North Pole, is where he, along with his faithful and hardworking elves, manufactures the presents he gives to nice children on Christmas Eve. Despite being in an area famous for its unforgiving climate, it is a warm, homely place that serves as a light for all good kids to look up to.
The workshop is also present in Lies of P in the form of Venigni Works. There, Lorenzini Venigni, a good friend of P’s father, Geppetto, manufactures all of the city's puppets for widespread distribution. Carrying on its futile attempts to dissuade players from ever thinking that Lies of P is the greatest Christmas game ever made, it takes on a more steampunk design instead. Billows of fire and columns of smoke replace the serenity of slowly-falling snowflakes, and the cozy wooden walls of a Yuletide-loving icon are removed in favor of cold, lifeless brick-and-mortar.
However, that won't fool anyone. Since we're talking about a game set in a city that's experiencing an unprecedented industrial revolution, it's easy to connect the dots.
Krat is truly the ultimate Yuletide city. After all, the workshop's running all year round!
Got A Light?
Candlelight often represents hope, warmth, and rebirth, particularly in winter traditions worldwide. Eventually, or perhaps inevitably, these traditions merged with the ideas embodied by the Christmas season, promoting family-oriented values and symbolisms surrounding stories of Jesus' birth and the like.
Hope and rebirth are given specific importance in Lies of P's canon. Ergo, the game's equivalent of souls from the Dark Souls series, carries a power and symbolism parallel to candlelight but with a cruel twist. According to the game, Ergo is essentially the essence of life trapped by the Petrification Disease. However, due to an initiative that aimed to have Ergo be incorporated into as many aspects of everyday life as possible, containing the disease was next to impossible when the outbreak occurred.
Regardless of what it was used for in the game, Ergo still had a major role in P's journey to save the city. Without it, he wouldn't have had the strength to overcome the challenges he faced under Sophia and Geppetto's direction. But most importantly, Ergo is what allows him to save someone dear to him near the end of the story.
Or, to be more specific, it was instrumental in the rebirth of that someone. And do you know who else rose from death? That’s right.
Wish Upon A Star
Like many symbols that involve light, the star symbolizes hope during dark times. However, it also serves as a guide for lost souls and often appears in local stories where individuals separated from their families would follow its light back to their homes. In Christianity, the Star of Bethlehem led the three wise men to the baby Jesus, further cementing its role as a celestial escort.
You also have a guide in Lies of P in the form of Stargazers that dot the map. It marks your gradual progress through the game’s story and serves as a warm campfire, a place of refuge from the evils surrounding you. It’s also conveniently powered by Ergo, which parallels the candlelight that symbolizes Jesus’ birth. Coincidence? Definitely not.
Santa Claus Is Real!
For the most part, lying to others is something to avoid. If you can remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the moral is that liars aren't trusted, even if they are telling the truth. Friedrich Nietzsche himself was quoted to have said "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."
Since losing trust, something that's built over time, can be done in an instant, many, many cautionary tales of people who lied and suffered for it can be found in various stories across various cultures. The story Lies of P is based on, Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet, is itself one of these tales, with an emphasis on exercising prudence when lying. This moral is directly reflected in the game itself, with P often having to lie when the player takes the most "humane" path. This, of course, also has certain consequences in the game.
The same conundrum plagues parents during every Christmas season. After all, Santa, as far as we know, isn't real. Shocker, isn't it? However, any healthy childhood requires some amount of make-believe to foster imagination and dreaming. Santa also serves as a scapegoat for parents who want to convince their kids to behave besides the promise of a nice Christmas present.
But, like in Carlo Collodi's work, prudence must be exercised in both cases. Parents must resolve themselves to immerse in a child's make-believe instead of believing that they're lying to their children, therefore fostering a much more colorful childhood. On the other hand, players of Lies of P might not need to carefully consider their choices as much as they would if they were parents. Still, a truly immersive experience, driven by one’s own moral compass, would naturally tend to exercise restraint in P’s unique ability as a puppet to lie.
"Coincidence?" I Think Not
There are many other factors that truly set Lies of P up as a Christmas game hidden under layers of detail. For example, its release date was September 19, 2023, right on Talk Like A Pirate Day, an annual event targeted toward children (and adults who act like children). And who’s the patron saint of children? That’s right, it’s Father Christmas himself, Saint Nicholas of Myra.
Additionally, why does Geppetto look like the kind of person Balenciaga would hire as a Santa Claus model? And why does the game have enemies that vaguely resemble some of those present in Parasite Eve, another ostensibly wonderful Christmas game?
While one could argue that everything listed here is a mere coincidence, there comes a point where too many of them line up too perfectly to consider otherwise. In Lies of P’s case, that certainly is what happened.
The developers have done a great job pulling the wool over our eyes, but we will not be fooled. Lies of P is definitely a Christmas Game and, with a complete lack of better contenders for the year, the greatest Christmas Game of 2023.
Happy holidays! And have an amazing playthrough!
