This is a substantial but finite commitment. Most players will spend 25–35 hours seeing the story through, which for a busy adult translates to several weeks of regular evening sessions. The structure is kind to your schedule: levels are linear, checkpoints are frequent, and bosses sit behind clear gates, so you can usually wrap up a segment in 60–90 minutes. It’s easy to say “one more push to the next checkpoint” and actually mean it. Being purely single-player, there’s zero need to coordinate with friends or meet raid times. You can pick it up and put it down on your own terms. However, coming back after longer breaks carries a cost: your timing and boss knowledge fade, making late-game returns rough. And while you can pause anytime, mid-boss interruptions still fracture your concentration. Overall, it’s a good fit if you can carve out focused chunks a few nights a week and don’t mind committing to one demanding game for a month or so.

Moment to moment, Lies of P expects you to be locked in. Fights revolve around reading animations, judging distance, and hitting tight guard or dodge windows, which means your eyes and hands need to stay fully engaged. It’s not something you can comfortably play while watching a show or chatting on your phone. Even regular enemies can punish a brief lapse, and new areas introduce fresh attack patterns to learn. Outside of combat, there are calmer stretches where you explore, manage gear, and talk to NPCs in the hub, giving your brain a small breather. The good news for busy adults is that you can pause anytime, even mid-fight, so sudden real-world interruptions don’t ruin a run. The tradeoff is that returning to a boss with broken focus often leads to sloppy mistakes. Overall, it asks for serious attention when you’re actually moving and fighting, and rewards that focus with very satisfying, skill-based encounters.

Lies of P isn’t instantly comfortable, even if you’ve played action games. Early on, you’re juggling unfamiliar timing, strict defenses, and a stat-and-weapon system that takes a bit to parse. Expect the first 5–10 hours to feel like climbing a hill as you adjust to delayed swings and perfect-guard expectations. Once things click, though, your growth curve feels fantastic. You’ll notice yourself reading attacks faster, wasting fewer heals, and squeezing out extra damage with smarter build tweaks. The game strongly rewards sticking with one main weapon style and steadily refining your approach. As you improve, bosses that once seemed impossible turn into fair, even exhilarating duels. For a busy adult, that means your limited weekly hours can translate into very visible skill gains, not just numbers going up. The flip side is that if you dislike repeating tricky encounters or practicing timings, you may bounce off before reaching that satisfying competence threshold.

Emotionally, Lies of P lives in the high-tension zone. Bosses hit hard, demand precision, and often kill you in just a few mistakes, which makes each attempt feel loaded with pressure—especially when you’re carrying a pile of Ergo. The dark, unsettling world design adds a low hum of dread on top, so the overall mood is far from cozy. That said, intensity isn’t flat-out constant. Time spent in the Hotel Krat hub, upgrading gear or talking to characters, gives you short emotional breaks. Some level sections are more exploration-focused, letting you recover between gauntlets. Still, most busy adults will find long streaks of failed attempts mentally and emotionally draining, particularly after a full workday. This is a game that can leave you buzzing after a clutch win or frustrated after a bad night, not one that gently eases you into sleep.