Lies of P vs Bloodborne: Which to Play - Game Scout

It is the game everyone reaches for when they want Bloodborne on current hardware, and the resemblance is not an accident. Lies of P sets you loose in Krat, a Belle Epoque city gone quiet and hostile, all wrought iron and gaslight, and the silhouette of it reads as Yharnam at a glance. The reviews and the r/LiesOfP threads land on the same line again and again: this is the closest a non FromSoftware studio has gotten to that specific gothic atmosphere.

The difference is what the two games do with their worlds. Bloodborne hides its story inside item descriptions and the shape of the streets, so the lore is something you assemble rather than watch. Lies of P actually tells its tale, a reworked Pinocchio where a puppet hunts through a fallen city, and it commits to letting characters speak. Neither approach is wrong. But if you came away from Yharnam wishing someone had explained any of it, Lies of P is the one that meets you halfway.

This is the real split, and it is bigger than the shared art style. Bloodborne removes shields and hands you the rally system: take a hit and you win the health straight back by attacking at once, so the game shoves you forward into the danger. Trick weapons transform mid swing to change range and moveset, and that fast, aggressive rhythm is the thing players single out most in the reviews. It is combat built to make you the aggressor.

Lies of P is the more measured, defensive read on the same idea. It leans on a perfect guard, a tight deflection window that the soulslike subreddits nickname the parrykiro style, and it lets you assemble a weapon from separate blades and handles to tune the feel. Player reviews call the combat satisfying and diverse, though a recurring complaint is that it can feel clunky before the deflection clicks. If you want to attack, Bloodborne. If you want to read an enemy and turn its swing against it, Lies of P.

This is where I come down on the side people do not expect. Bloodborne has the more celebrated atmosphere, and the reviews are right about that: the art design and the cosmic horror slowly curdling underneath Yharnam are the best thing going for it, and the community treats piecing that lore together as the actual reward. It is beautiful and it is deliberately withholding.

Lies of P wants you to follow along. Its Pinocchio retelling is spelled out in cutscenes and conversations, its own atmosphere and graphics draw steady praise in the reviews, and the story lands cleanly even if it never reaches Bloodborne's strangeness. The honest knock, and it turns up in the reviews too, is that some of the bosses do not stay with you and the ending divides people. Bloodborne's world is the one I would call unforgettable. Lies of P's is the one whose story actually holds together start to finish, and for a story-first player that is worth more than it sounds.

For a PS5 owner this section usually decides it. Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive that runs on PS5 only through backward compatibility, still locked at 30fps with no PS5 patch, no remaster, and no PC port. That is not a minor gripe: a higher framerate is the most common single request in its player reviews, the thing its own fans keep asking for. The consolation is that it is included in the PlayStation Plus Extra catalogue, so a subscriber can start it at no extra cost.

Lies of P is the native option. It runs on PS5 and PS4, plays at 60fps on current hardware, and is a normal purchase rather than a Plus catalogue title. So the trade is clean. Bloodborne is the higher rated game you play at 30fps, free if you already pay for Plus Extra. Lies of P is the smoother sit you buy outright. If the locked framerate is what has kept you off Bloodborne, this is the answer to that specific problem.

Play Bloodborne if you can live with 30fps and you want the more aggressive combat and the richer, stranger atmosphere, especially if you already have PS Plus Extra and it costs you nothing to start. It is the higher rated game on Game Scout for a reason, and its world is the one players still call the best in the genre a decade on.

• Play Lies of P first if you want a soulslike that runs at 60fps on your PS5 today, prefer a defensive parry to relentless aggression, or want a story the game actually tells you.
• Play Bloodborne first if the locked framerate does not bother you and you want the aggressive rally combat and the denser atmosphere, or you subscribe to Plus Extra and want to start for free.

The community verdict I trust most is the one from the FromSoftware subreddit: Lies of P is the best Souls game nobody at FromSoftware made, and it is still not quite as polished as Bloodborne. Both are rated great by players here. If you only get to one, pick by the thing you cannot change: the framerate you will actually play it at.