Lies of P, the upcoming Bloodborne-inspired action-RPG Soulslike based around the story of Pinocchio, featured an “All Cops Are Bastards” sign at one point. But if you go looking for it in the final game when it launches on September 19, you might come up empty-handed because the text was cut.
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In an interview with GLHF, the media side of the content agency of the same name, game director Ji-Won Choi spoke about his Pinocchio-influenced game. During the conversation, which took place before this year’s Gamescom, GLHF asked Choi what happened to the “APAB” (“All Puppets Are Bastards”) sign that was featured in Lies of P’s early promotional materials. Choi replied that it was removed for being “risky” and possibly having negative effects on players’ experiences.
“That was one of the messages we were going to use in the game, but we ended up taking it out,” Choi told GLHF. “We took it out eventually because we wanted everyone to enjoy the game exactly how we intended it to be enjoyed, and not judged based on any trends. We really wanted the world that we designed to be interpreted by the players exactly how we aimed it to be, so we took out factors that could be a little risky.”
If you remember playing the demo, just before the Mad Donkey boss fight on an abandoned steampunk-style bridge, you encountered a puppet strung up to the platform’s top arches. Lodged into its chest was a white sign that read “Purge Puppets,” but in pre-alpha trailers and other early promotional materials for the game, it said “APAB” in red text instead. Since it’s gone now you might think you were just seeing things, your eyes playing tricks on you, but nope. Choi confirmed the sign had changed.
“We respect everyone who might want to play this game, and we wanted everyone to get the best experience out of it,” Choi said. “But you did see it right, it was ‘All Puppets Are Bastards.’”
Kotaku reached out to Neowiz Games for comment.
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Whether removed for making too close of an IRL connection or because it could potentially signal developer Round8 Studio’s politics, “APAB” is an accurate statement based on the game’s events. The puppets, in this dark retelling of Pinocchio’s story, literally kill every human because of some strange corruption. So, if you ask me, all puppets are bastards. Look at the menace that is Chucky.
