Lies of P had no right being as good as it was. Coming in from fairly new developers in the form of Round 8 Studio, the Soulslike starring Pinocchio of all things turned out brilliantly thanks to its incredibly atmospheric setting and creativity when it came to customizing combat to fit your style. It also turned a known story into something else entirely while maintaining the elements that made it so beloved in a smart way by having the main character’s morality actively play a part in the overall story.
Now, Overture is here to expand upon the original game. Taking place in an entirely new area, the Krat Zoo, it takes P and Jiminy to an alternative timeline full of dangerous, hideously mutated animals who are out to kill you, and a sidestory that’s as full of dread and the expected drama if you’ve made your way through the main game. Speaking of which, you’re going to need to have reached chapter 9 in that before starting this DLC, so keep that in mind before purchasing it.
It’s been a little while since the last time I’ve played Lies of P, so upon booting it with Overture installed, I was greeted by the additions that came into the game since then, like the new difficulty options, which are welcome, because some folks had lots of trouble playing it originally. Another good feature is being able to select whether or not I wanted to pick up a new game plus version of my save or go to the latest one possible in order to go straight to the DLC, which is what I did, of course.
Overture takes place in an alternate timeline where the Krat Zoo still stands, whereas the normal one we know and adore, has been burned to smithereens. It’s up to P to find out just what is going on and why the special Stargazer – Lies of P’s version of the bonfire – that took him there in the first place. It’s a snowy area for starters, which comes into play by throwing a new physical affliction in the game, the freeze, that as you can probably guess, takes health away if the meter fills up completely. The first enemies you come across put that into practice by puffing clouds of that your way just so you learn how dangerous it can be.
The enemies in Overture are really what make it so special. They’re absolutely hideous, even more so than the ones in Lies of P proper, are very aggressive and fight in packs against your lonesome self. Monkeys, elephants, alligators, and even kangaroos make up the army of abominations that you’ll be squaring off against, and they’re all frightening. The zoo itself is also a character in and of itself. It drips the same atmosphere as the main adventure, with corpses, dried out husks, and blood everywhere. Disgusting!
But don’t fret, not everything there is out to skin P alive. At least not all the inanimate things. He now gets to play with some new toys in the form of weapons, chief among them is a bow, the game’s first exclusively ranged weapon, that I put into play right away after having spent a considerable amount of time playing as Ironeye, the archer in Elden Ring: Nightreign. While they are quite different experiences since the latter has a whole lot more mobility than P, it’s a neat and challenging way to play this one that way and it’ll be interesting to test out how the bow is balanced in regards to the rest of the base content in Lies of P.
The humanoids that you get to battle in Overture are as dangerous or even more than the animals themselves. You’ll square off against some known ones for sure, as what’s usually called “trash mobs”, but don’t let that name fool you: you’re the one who’ll get trashed if you underestimate them, and like their pals, they come in groups, stun-locking you to oblivion. And that’s not even getting to the bosses, who also bring in mechanics that weren’t seen in the base content, with fights that are very challenging, sometimes infuriatingly so, even for someone who has bested all there was to see in Lies of P prior to this downloadable content.
Lies of P: Overture is easily one of the best DLCs to a Souslike that I’ve seen. It’s contained, makes good use of its setting, offers meaningful additions to the core game, and has some of the most difficult fights in Lies of P. If you’ve enjoyed the main campaign and are looking to spend more time in this twisted version of Pinocchio’s story, then you should most definitely look into buying this.
