LiEat (PC) review "Lie, eat, steal."

If you don't know what you're getting into with LiEat, you'll be in for some surprises. Whether or not they're good or bad surprises remains irrelevant... If you didn't brush up on what this package offers, its initial window will catch you off guard. Three LiEat entries sit before you, asking you to select one. You don't recall this product being marketed as a collection, but you welcome the additional installments all the same...

The tale begins with a traveling duo consisting of a man and a young girl. You don't get a huge info dump on them right at the get-go, but pick up small pieces of character development as time goes by. You soon realize the adult of the pair is a conman who specializes in dealing info, with your initial task revolving around delivering some juice tidbits to a client in a dark, remote town. The girl, on the other hand, is a bit different... You question at first whether you read some of the exchanges between the two properly. You ask yourself, “Wait, she's only days old? But she looks like she's at least eight... And she can carry full conversations... And she hatched from an egg? What is going on?”

Enter Efina: a lie-eating dragon. You see, dragons in this world don't manifest as humongous reptiles that sit on piles of gold and gems, eating maidens and fighting knights. Rather, they're rare, humanoid creatures that are born from eggs that seem to randomly appear in peoples' living spaces. Efi's egg just happened to materialize in her companion's room, and now the two travel together like a bit like older brother and annoying sister.



Dragons also possess unique magical abilities, with each one differing from one specimen to the next. Think of them as similar to mutants from Marvel comics. Efi dines on misinformation, while a couple of dragon detectives you meet also have powers: one passes through solid objects, while another is functionally immortal.

So, how does she eat abstract concepts like lies, you ask? Whenever someone fibs, Efi can sniff them out. The lies then take the shape of tiny shadowy creatures that you engage in turn-based combat. Yeah, as it turns out, this game comes with RPG elements rather than presenting itself as a straightforward graphic adventure, representing yet another of the package's many surprises. After winning the battle, she grabs the hapless beast and chows down. Unfortunately, sometimes truths can also take shape, causing her to devour an ironically bitter-tasting morsel.

All of this works out perfectly for her info-peddling partner, who also moonlights as a private detective. The first outing sees the two enter a town, only to become embroiled in a creepy murder mystery. Oh yeah, horror elements abound, too. If you know me, then you know I'm always down for surprises like that!



The first entry mostly consists of one or both main characters wandering around a small area, talking to NPCs to further the campaign. Eventually, things get eerie and the scenery takes on a darker, more chilling appearance. The sun dips and the small neighborhood looks steadily less welcoming and more lonesome. All but one house stands empty, giving you a feeling of isolation that's completed when you realize the game doesn't allow you to skip town. Before you know it, one supporting character falls and you're searching for additional information, talking to shady folks, brushing up on the burg's history, and wolfing down some dirty lies. This occurs a lot during this affair, where the con chats with other characters, who then create critters for Efi to kill and chew up. It's a nearly perfect way to get the truth out of townsfolk hiding dark secrets...

After you've solved the mystery, the episode concludes with a credit roll. You don't get the opportunity to save your party's stats, which is fine. Each individual campaign provides such brief content that you can easily restart with your characters back at their minimum levels and still wrap them up in under two hours.

The second entry follows a trail similar to its predecessor where the pair enter another situation with a crime to solve, albeit less murdery and scary in nature. However, it's as this point you receive more info on the conman, who constantly changes his name and appearance. You begin to wonder why he does what he does, and why he insists on journeying with Efi. The two seem to be an odd match, yet they ultimately get along like family. The conman never shows it, but you know he genuinely appreciates her presence and regards her as family.



There's more depth to this guy than merely swindling marks and earning cash. You know he can't be all that terrible when goes out of his way to help others and solve mysteries. You can tell he isn't just doing it for the cash, as he occasionally drops hints that he might actually give a damn. The constant drip-feed design of his character arc prompts you to continue playing because you want to know the conman's backstory. The game also hints that dragons appear to people for particular reasons, and you just have to know how someone as innocent as Efina became entangled in a crook like him. Hell, even supporting characters question their pairing...

Finally, the third chapter kicks off and takes us into darker depths. In order to discover the truth about our subject, you'll have to dive into a gritty segment where our antiheroes find themselves trapped in a mansion during an apparent robbery, which soon turns into a surreal nightmare. Lies manifest with less precision, turning into monster-producing mud that prevents all egress. What's more is that the conman's history is lain bare, with his own lies exposed. This part of the trio of stories caps the experience off perfectly, finally tying up all of the loose ends and dishing intel on our two protagonists. As mentioned before, surprises crop up and you realize that this game has been playing you all along...

LiEat has been misleading you all the way, in fact. Why are there RPG elements when each storyline only transpires within a single setting? Why would levels matter when you can sometimes find challenge-defying legendary weapons early in each of he proceedings? Why do you earn money from battle when there are no shops? Why do characters occasionally do things that seem out-of-character? Why does a tale that doesn't take itself so seriously eventually jump into more sober themes, complete with commentary on how our system fails certain people, which in turn facilitates the need for illicit behavior? Because the experience itself indulges in meta content, presenting you with lies and half-truths to keep you guessing and surprise you. Of the two Miwashiba games I've played up to now, this one is by far the better because it deceptively hits you with some bold material while initially presenting itself as a cute, comical adventure.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (July 13, 2023) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.