Lies of P director Jiwon Choi has come up in a new video to talk about what Round 8 will be changing in the game after receiving demo feedback.
Before going through each detail one by one, it is interesting that Jiwon pointed out that Round 8 managed to avoid story spoilers in the demo. That affected part of the feedback, but mainly, it shows that they really don’t want to spoil anything until it releases.
Jiwon identifies the dodging system as important in Soulslike games, and promises that the studio is meticulously reviewing every detail of the system.
They are also reviewing key elements of the combat system as a whole. Jiwon identifies the camera, lock-on, and character movement, as elements they are refining. On top of that, he specifically mentioned the sensation of impactful hits as one of the things they want to nail down.
Jiwon also mentioned some enemies being ‘off-beat’, and confirmed they are working on making their attack patterns and cadences easier to intuit.
Jiwon expressed an interest in making Lies of P accessible to gamers who find Soulslike games too hard. Round 8 is working on making good guides and tutorials, but Jiwon really emphasizes that they have a great story that they want more players to experience rather than fewer. Jiwon does expressly state that he wants Lies of P to be inclusive. We don’t know if that is QOL or accessibility option inclusive, but we will of course eventually find out.
Jiwon is grateful that fans noticed how well optimized the Lies of P demo is, and promises that they continue to work on that aspect until launch. It’s a strong promise, when you remember that another recent Korean funded project, The Callisto Protocol, launched in poor condition, hampering the reception of what is now a decent game. That first impression matters, and Round 8 seems to get it.
Now one huge complaint was about having to go to Hotel Krat to level up instead of being able to do so at Stargazer. This is the one quirk that couldn’t be helped. Jiwon explains that Hotel Krat is a central location to the story, where many key scenes will happen. Sophia will also be telling stories that will be important in progressing in the game. Round 8 couldn’t really change what the fans wanted here, but we will presumably understand it better when we get the final product.
Finally, about sound, Round 8 will improve the immersion from environmental sounds, and the sound depth, so that players can recognize if enemies are nearby even if they can’t see them yet. There will also definitely be more music in the game.
It’s an interesting interview, in that it shows that Round 8 is quite confident that they can deliver a game that is up to the expectations for a AAA to a global audience. It’ll definitely make you look forward to its final release.
Lies of P will be released on September 19, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam. You can watch director Jiwon Choi’s video below.
