The following contains major spoilers regarding bosses in Lies of P: Overture.
Lies of P is not only one of the better Soulslikes as of late but also one of the hardest, even with newly introduced difficulty modes, so it should come as no surprise that Lies of P: Overture is comparably challenging. This is true no sooner than the DLC’s opening region, a snow-drenched Krat Zoo, which is perfumed with grotesque and formidable animal Carcass enemies that culminate in a giant crocodile boss fight—the Tyrannical Predator. Lies of P: Overture’s Tyrannical Predator boss fight isn’t a walk in the park by any means, yet the level that precedes it is far more unnerving.
In general, Lies of P: Overture bosses are crushingly difficult, and Markiona, Puppeteer of Death being the second boss players encounter is unbelievably intimidating. That said, there is a silver lining to nearly every boss in Lies of P: Overture, which is that the DLC only features one boss who boasts more than one health bar, and that’s a big relief in contrast to how bosses are designed in the base game.
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Lies of P: Overture’s Only Duo Boss Fight is a Great Distillation of Its Puppet Theme
Unlike the base game, Lies of P: Overture features a unique boss fight that indulges fully in the concept of a ‘puppet’ and its ‘puppeteer.’
Lies of P Bosses Can Be a War of Attrition
Lies of P isn’t the first Soulslike game to feature boss fights with multiple health bars representing distinct phases, and many of these bosses are phenomenal. That said, Lies of P indulges in this design formula quite strongly between Fallen Archbishop Andreus, the Green Monster of the Swamp/Puppet-Devouring Green Monster, Laxasia the Complete, and Simon Manus, Awakened God/Simon Manus, Arm of God; for example, the King of Puppets has a health bar dedicated to the boss’ initial phase before the giant mechanized form is destroyed and Romeo, King of Puppets emerges with the Puppet Ripper scythe.
Essentially, this tasks players with long and taxing efforts battling a single boss with twice the amount of attacks and mannerisms to telegraph and learn. This is especially egregious regarding the Black Rabbit Brotherhood, whom players encounter in two different gank fight instances, with the encore more or less reverse-engineering the design of the original.
Lies of P: Overture Bosses are Palatable and Succinct
Bosses are far and few between in Lies of P: Overture. And, while they’re all difficult in their own way, Lies of P: Overture’s bosses don’t rely on whole health bar-long phases to pad out the fight. No boss fight overstays their welcome—Lumacchio maybe being the lone exception—and it’s certainly noticeable in each of their designs that Neowiz made a conscious effort to spare players of gratuitous multi-health-bar bosses:
- Tyrannical Predator (single health bar).
- Markiona, Puppeteer of Death and the Queen’s Arche Puppet (single health bars for both ‘bosses,’ but beating Markiona defeats both of them).
- Veronique, Leader of the Sweepers (single health bar).
- Two-faced Overseer (single health bar, and players can summon the Tracker with the Daylight-Wreathed Horn to aid them in the boss fight).
- Premetamorphic Green Hunter (single health bar, but can repeatedly replenish health with cinematic command grabs).
- Anguished Guardian of the Ruins (single health bar, but with a cutscene-introduced second phase that’s triggered when the boss’ health is depleted by a quarter).
- Lumacchio, Leader of the Bastards (single health bar, but with two peculiar mini-phases: first, Lumacchio heals himself after losing a portion of his health; and second, Lumacchio eventually mutates into a Decaying Carcass monster and replenishes a portion of his health again).
- Arlecchino, the Blood Artist (two health bars, but players can interact with Lea in the arena and summon her to aid them in the boss fight).
Again, bosses with two or more health bars aren’t inherently poorly designed, but there’s something gratifying about knowing that players will achieve their victory over an eliminated foe once the one health bar they’re whittling down is depleted, and Lies of P: Overture’s bosses are incredibly satisfying to fight despite almost all of them having more than one.
Lumacchio’s single health bar repeatedly refilling is aggravating, especially because him drinking an elixir to heal is uninterruptible and all of his attacks, regardless of whether he’s a human or a Carcass, have harrowingly small Perfect Guard windows in Lies of P: Overture.
Meanwhile, Arlecchino, being the only boss with two health bars, is more than agreeable as he’s the final boss and has every right to be the most challenging foe that players come across in Lies of P: Overture. Plus, players can choose to tackle Arlecchino with Lea Florence Monad, the “Legendary Stalker,” for a thematic and poignant team-up.