Back in 2023, many Soulslike fans were caught off guard by Lies of P. Developed by Neowiz and Round8 Studio, the game is a horror-tinged retelling of The Adventures of Pinocchio, and follows P through the plague-and-puppet-infested city of Krat. Players were pleasantly surprised by the robust combat options, the even more versatile Weapon Assembly and upgrade paths backing them up, and the unique atmosphere Lies of P established. Lies of P’s exact sales are unknown, but it topped a million in one month, and garnered an impressive seven million players before its first anniversary with the help of Game Pass.
Although a proper sequel to Lies of P was teased, the current game isn't out of the spotlight yet. Owing to its success, a downloadable expansion entered production some time around its launch, and is scheduled to come out in summer 2025 as Lies of P: Overture. This is slated to be both a prequel and an interquel to the main game via time travel, and will see players team up with Lea the Legendary Stalker to weather the ground zero of the puppet uprising. It sounds impressive, especially if it’s taking after the recently-crowned king of Soulslike DLC.
How Lies of P: Overture Triples Down on Supposedly Inadvertent Bloodborne Parallels
Lies of P and Bloodborne share a number of parallels, inadvertent or not, and the same also seems true of their Overture and Old Hunters DLCs.
There Are Plenty of Similarities Between Shadow of the Erdtree and Lies of P: Overture
Lies of P’s DLC Shares Elden Ring’s Goals
High expectations for DLC have been drilled into Soulslike fans thanks to years of FromSoftware delivering hit after downloadable hit, and Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree is its latest. Whether it's the best one is a whole other debate, as many criticisms have been levied at Shadow of the Erdtree, but it is the most ambitious by far. Set in a landmass equivalent to one of Elden Ring’s huge geographical regions, Shadow of the Erdtree feels like it still has an entire new Souls game compressed into a fraction of Elden Ring's space. After all, “a fraction of Elden Ring’s length” can still mean twenty or more hours.
According to Lies of P’s director Jiwon Choi, Overture is aiming for something similar. In a GDC 2025 interview with GamesRadar+, he estimated that Lies of P: Overture would be 15–20 hours long for experienced players, which is at least half as long as it takes to beat Lies of P itself. Adding what is essentially a final third to an already meaty RPG may even be more ambitious than Shadow of the Erdtree, as, although both it and Overture are of comparable length, their fraction size compared to their base games is vastly different.
How Lies of P: Overture Is Following In Shadow of the Erdtree’s Footsteps
There are a lot of similarities between Lies of P: Overture and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, up to the fact that both will have launched around two years after their predecessors. Overture boasts new areas, weapons, and bosses, as well as fancier abilities for P than what the Lies of P offered, all of which is also true for SotE and Elden Ring. As a full sequel to Lies of P will likely rename itself to cover other classic fairy tales, it has joined Elden Ring in turning its DLC into a smaller sequel in the interim.
Lies of P: Overture Still Aims For A Unique Experience
With all of that in mind, Lies of P: Overture isn't copying Shadow of the Erdtree beat-for-beat. Whereas Elden Ring demands endgame feats to enter the Land of Shadow, players have guessed that Lies of P’s DLC could begin halfway through its campaign, which has gained support from recent developer statements. Apparently, there will be some interplay between Overture and Lies of P, so it may be implemented as part of the game rather than as a separate challenge. Regardless, Lies of P: Overture has inherited Shadow of the Erdtree’s ambitions, and it's one of the few Soulslikes that can realize them.
