The following contains major spoilers for Lies of P and minor spoilers for its DLC, Overture.
Like Bloodborne’s Old Hunters or Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Lies of P: Overture is a wonderfully complementary DLC. Plus, considering the massive emphasis on story-driven characters and narrative that Lies of P has, a prequel chapter such as Overture bears significant weight. It’s thrilling to travel through time and have a fuller picture painted of Krat’s landscape and the horrors that befell it, for instance, and Lies of P’s whimsical and eerie themes are undoubtedly present and accounted for in Lies of P: Overture.
Moreover, Lies of P: Overture is an opportunity to portray more inventive terrors among the game’s three distinct enemy factions: puppets, humans, and Carcasses. Abhorrent animal Carcasses are a fantastic motif to draw on for the DLC—a gap left waiting to be filled—and Overture even doubles down on a theme that deserves to be indulged in wholly. Indeed, Lies of P: Overture leans ever-so-slightly more into the fascinating premise of puppeteers and their puppets in a way that the base game’s optional final boss fight barely skims the surface of.
Lies of P: Overture is Proof of Why a Soulslike DLC Shadow Drop is Not the Right Play
Lies of P suddenly released its story DLC, Overture, in a shadow drop at Summer Game Fest, but, in doing so, players may be underprepared.
Geppetto’s Nameless Puppet is a Great Final Boss, But Pales as a ‘Puppet’
Refusing to give P’s heart to Geppetto at the end of Lies of P triggers the game’s true final boss fight against the Nameless Puppet. Interestingly, the implication made is that Geppetto is more or less controlling the Nameless Puppet as he withdraws the haunting foe from a trunk with a glove device bearing blue ‘strings,’ but Geppetto himself is removed from the boss fight entirely, and the Nameless Puppet acts independently of Geppetto in the second phase onward. Therefore, how the Nameless Puppet boss fight dabbles in the premise of puppetry is thematically fascinating yet practically underwhelming, as if players were battling an ordinary, Frenzied automaton.
Like Bloodborne’s Old Hunters or Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Lies of P: Overture is a wonderfully complementary DLC.
Markiona, Puppeteer of Death is a Perfect Representation of Lies of P’s Puppet Theme
Geppetto’s lack of a role in the Nameless Puppet boss fight is somewhat rectified by Markiona’s boss fight in Lies of P: Overture. Here, the glove device worn by Markiona, Puppeteer of Death tethers her to the Queen’s Arche Puppet, and the former battles the player alongside the latter.
The Queen’s Arche Puppet is a complete distraction in Markiona’s boss fight, and focusing damage on it is pointless as Markiona resurrects it with a full health bar if players do manage to defeat it before her, while defeating Markiona first defeats them both.
Like any good distraction, the Queen’s Arche Puppet is front and center in a lot of the boss’ attacks with Markiona waiting for players to close the distance before executing sweeping strikes with blue spheres. The boss fight itself is disorienting with the camera hectically juggling Markiona, Puppeteer of Death and the Queen’s Arche Puppet, depending on who players are locked onto at any given moment, as they strike from out of frame.
Fortunately, players can learn to telegraph what attacks the Queen’s Arche Puppet is about to land based on the puppeteering animation Markiona performs and the color of the string between them. It wouldn’t be surprising if some players haven’t reached Markiona yet, however, as Lies of P only just shadow-dropped.
It’s safe to say Overture doesn’t perfect Lies of P’s puppeteer boss fight concept, and it’s upsetting that there may never be another chance to do so if Neowiz is closing the book on one fairy tale and opening the book on another. Nonetheless, Markiona’s boss fight is a fine evolution of the puppeteering teased in the Nameless Puppet boss fight, perhaps demonstrating the design theory’s limitations and faults as much as its potential applications in an action-RPG, Soulslike boss fight.
WHERE TO PLAY
Lies of P: Overture is a dramatic prequel to the acclaimed soulslike action RPG, Lies of P. It transports you to the city of Krat in its final days of haunting, late-19th-century Belle Époque beauty. On the brink of the Puppet Frenzy massacre, you follow a legendary Stalker—a mysterious guide—through untold stories and chilling secrets. As Geppetto’s deadly puppet, you’ll journey through Krat and its surroundings, uncover hidden backstories, and face epic battles that shape the past and future of Lies of P.
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
