The following contains major story spoilers for Lies of P: Overture.
In no conceivable way am I immune to a sad, arresting story. To be fair, though, it isn’t always clear what game genres will be particularly hard-hitting, as I didn’t necessarily dive into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s turn-based RPG at launch anticipating a narrative proposing remarkably intelligent and philosophical considerations about grief and existentialism. Moreover, the last genre of games that I’d expect to gut-punch me is a genuine, traditional Soulslike, which is perhaps why Lies of P: Overture was able to catch me so vulnerably.
Having played Lies of P before, I chose to play Overture on the Legendary Stalker difficulty, though I wasn’t opposed to dropping to Awakened Puppet if it was much more challenging than I’d remembered. I expected Lies of P: Overture to be brutal because of how tough enemies and bosses might be, as is par the course for any Soulslike, let alone its post-launch DLC expansions, but what I didn’t suspect is that it would be equally heartbreaking. Lies of P certainly doesn’t tell a happy tale, yet there are several haunting and devastating story beats in the DLC that I’ll forever be grateful were told before Lies of P shuts the book on its fairy tale adaptation.
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Lies of P: Overture Pulls No Punches with Sad, Deceptive Stories
Lies of P: Overture’s Spider Cave Puppet Krat Mystery and Alexander Goodman’s philosophical predicament are two beats that hit me the hardest, and having them both occur nearly back to back dealt a doubly impactful blow. In the former, players are encouraged to discover where a mining puppet named Rockhead could be heard still striking a wall. This puppet is claimed to be murderous, and the faint sound of the pickaxe continued to frighten any human who had worked the tunnels since.
Players will know precisely where this “ringing” can be heard as they come across it while pursuing leads on how to find the person belonging to the voice emanating from broken-down Crusher puppets. The wall can be interacted with, but players aren’t prompted to hit it and trigger anything until they have the Decoded Corroded Cipher Machine Text. At this point, hitting the wall destroys it, revealing Rockhead and a skeleton on a nearby mattress.
I was admittedly not following Lies of P’s Krat Mystery lore all that thoroughly by the time Rockhead burst through the wall—after hearing about a “Spider Cave Puppet,” I was much more concerned with there potentially being some nightmarish creature waiting for me. But, after re-reading previous text logs I had procured and the Misfit’s Diary note that was left by the skeleton, knowing the puppet continued hitting the wall with the pickaxe in a never-ending attempt to free them both is unbelievably tragic.
As for the quest related to the broken-down Crushers and their disembodied voice, players eventually stumble on a room with a gas leak, another broken-down machine, and a brain in a vat. It was always fairly clear that all wouldn’t be as it seemed in this quest, much like with each Krat Mystery in Lies of P: Overture, but players are given the choice here to either grant Alexander Goodman’s request and pull the plug on his Mindkeeper Machine, essentially extinguishing his life support tank, or refusing to do so.
This choice wasn’t traumatic for me as I was removed from the character in question as well as simply agreeing to let him die as he wished; still, I found Alexander’s awful situation as someone who is suddenly forced to come to terms with his inescapable entombment and imminent death deeply sympathetic.
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Lea Florence Monad is the Bleeding Heart of Lies of P: Overture
The primary plot of Lies of P: Overture doesn’t truly begin until players learn about Lea Florence Monad, and its melancholy narrative refuses to relent thereafter. The fates of Lies of P’s Carlo and Romeo tie into the base game’s story with a bit more exposition and lore to chew on, too. However, I wasn’t drawn in wholly until Arlecchino was name-dropped.
Exhuming Lies of P’s most eerie and enigmatic character, Lies of P: Overture’s surprise final boss is a heinous and sinister figure who is made tremendously terrifying by how he chooses to take revenge on Lea. Plus, due to the cinematic and dynamic camera angles that are introduced to Lies of P via the DLC, I was that much more allured by Lea, someone whom I was tailing for the entire DLC prior to finally meeting her in a shack near the Krat Lighthouse.
Lies of P: Overture has a big lore dump in the Monad Charity House, but by then I was already hooked and committed to aiding Lea in whatever way possible. It’s crucial that players witness Romeo’s severed arms dangling from a statue through Lea’s eyes, and not just P’s—who is mute and whose expression is rarely expressive, regardless of how long or grey P’s hair is or how many times P’s heart has pounded in response to a choice made—because it’s Lea’s tragedy to endure. I loved the fact that I was basically her NPC escort as P and Lea raced toward the Monad Charity House, rather than her being another lackluster and futile companion atop foundations in games, and I was perfectly willing for the story to be hers in the DLC’s third act.
Lies of P: Overture’s post-credits scene paints a clearer portrait of how reprehensible and despicable Giuseppe Geppetto is, which helps to fully inform whether players might refuse or accept to freely relinquish P’s heart at the end of Lies of P.
Furthermore, while summoning the Tracker for the Two-faced Overseer boss fight has no effect on the story and is simply a means of lending players aid in the boss fight, Arlecchino, the Blood Artist is Lea’s score to settle, not P’s. Narratively, it felt correct helping Lea to her feet and engaging in Arlecchino’s boss fight cooperatively.
Part of me was disappointed that I solicited her help in the boss fight instantly as I didn’t get to learn the boss fight much at all, and I only died once before succeeding in my second attempt, again with Lea summoned. That said, with the lines of dialogue that players hear from her, the stunningly cinematic Fatal attack that P and Lea team-up for when Arlecchino, the Blood Artist is staggered in his second phase, and the cutscene that plays once Arlecchino is defeated, I knew summoning Lea was the right choice for me based on how invested in her and her story I was.
Lies of P certainly doesn’t tell a happy tale, yet there are several haunting and devastating story beats in the DLC that I’ll forever be grateful were told before Lies of P shuts the book on its fairy tale adaptation.