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In a rare occasion for the Soulslike genre that spawned from the popularity of theDark Soulsgames,Lies of Pwill be breaking a celebrated and often controversial tradition for the genre.Lies of Pwas released in 2023 and was highly regarded for its combat, RPG mechanics, Victorian Gothic atmosphere, and visuals. A sequel is in development and a DLC expansion calledOvertureis releasing this summer, which will come with some interesting new gameplay options.
As reported byVGC,Lies of Pwill be adding two difficulty optionsto both the base game and its upcomingOvertureexpansion. Neowiz describes them as follows:
“A new base game patch adds two new difficulty settings toLies of P: Butterfly’s Guidance and Awakened Puppet. These settings are for players who want a more story-focused experience with varying degrees of intensity in combat encounters. The default difficulty setting is now named Legendary Stalker.”
The decision to introduce difficulty options came from a desire to get more interest in the game and the expansion, with director Jiwon Choi saying the developers"wanted to ensure a wider audience of players could play the game."
Difficulty Options Can Bring A New Audience
As Popular As Souls Games Are, They Haven’t Been For Everyone
Difficulty options coming toLies of Pis a bit of a surprise. The game was heavily inspired byBloodborneand otherbig FromSoftware titles, and none of those games offered traditional difficulty options. According to Choi, when asked about this decision and whether it was due to player feedback, he responded:“Absolutely, we have a lot of feedback from customers, and from our developers.“The base game was quite challenging and didn’t have the brand recognition that theSoulsseries has.
Choi went on to say that Neowiz and Round8 Studio wanted the game and the expansionto appeal to as many people as possible, sayingthat “by making development adjustments and introducing these difficulty options, we can offer the experience to different types of players. This broadens the base.”TheSoulsgames have a relatively high barrier to entry, so it does make sense for a lower-budget game not carrying theSoulsbrand to attempt to introduce new players and reacquaint veterans with theOverturepatch and release.
Our Take: No Need To Gatekeep Soulslikes
The Original Difficulty Is Still There
While this decision will likely cause some controversy among die-hardSoulsfans,I see this as a win for everyone, as “more story-focused” implies an easier experience for less seasoned fans.Players must own the base gameto play the DLC, and the start of the new content is likely not a traditional menu option, akin to otherSoulsbornegames.
There’s no need to gatekeep Soulslikes. With this being one of the few popular Soulslikes to offer difficulty options,Lies of Pmay see a drastic increase in player count and interest for both the base gameand theOvertureDLC. Even two years later,Lies of Pseems to have a lot of life left in it.
UPDATE: 2025-07-30 18:27 EST BY LARA JACKSON
Clarification on new modes.
This article has been updated to clarify Neowhiz’s official statement on the difficulty settings.
