The Cardinal Sins of Lies of P: Overture Explained

Lies of P: Overture is the deep end of Lies of P’s pool. Fortunately, one of the biggest defining elements that distinguishes Lies of P: Overture is its streamlined storytelling. There are a bunch of mysteries to sink teeth into if players want to explore Lies of P’s lore further, meaning that it isn’t as tough to parse its narrative as many other Soulslike are. Likewise, Lies of P and its DLC expansion, Lies of P: Overture, are unlike any other Soulslike experiences regarding gameplay, and no Soulslike can quite prepare players for what they’ll endure or what they should anticipate.

What players shouldn’t do is equally paramount as what they should do in Lies of P: Overture, with many of the same guiding principles being transferable between the vanilla game and its DLC. Anyone can play however they like, ultimately, but some considerations are more dire than others when it comes to what unwritten rules players shouldn’t idly ignore.

Lies of P Overture Neowiz Worthy Soulslike Genre

Lies of P’s Overture DLC Proves Neowiz is a Worthy Inheritor of the Soulslike Genre

Lies of P: Overture cements Neowiz as a wholly competent torch-bearer when it comes to the potential of non-FromSoftware Soulslikes.

What Not to Do in Lies of P: Overture

Refusing to Learn Perfect Guard Windows

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 heavily encourages dodging as a way to practice input windows and slowly wade players into parry waters, but it doesn’t quite work like that in Lies of P. Lies of P has fairly awful dodging animation frames as an incentive for players to block or, preferably, Perfect Guard, and actually dodging isn’t optimal or truly effective unless players have either Link Dodge (a Phase 1 P-Organ perk) or the Ghost Walk Amulet (purchased with the Puppet-Devouring Green Monster’s boss ergo). Instead, blocking is highly incentivized since players will be able to rally back any health they’ve had chipped away by incoming attacks, and Perfect Guards can result in enemy weapons breaking or enemies being staggered and left vulnerable for a Fatal attack.

Devoting Oneself to a Single Build

Lies of P’s combat styles are discerned by three unique scaling paths: Advance, Motivity, and Technique. Players may feel obligated to stick with one over the others if they’ve invested ergo and Quartz into speccing toward it, but Lies of P and Lies of P: Overture are incredibly generous when it comes to respeccing and players need only forage Gold Coin Fruit in the hotel to do so, meaning that players are free to explore any build or weapon whenever they wish.

Dismissing Throwables

Because of how exhilarating and engaging Lies of P’s novel weapon system is, it can be easy to overlook unfathomably overpowered throwing objects. Like how Kusabimaru combat with an emphasis on parries is overwhelmingly monopolized in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, so too are assembled weapons and Perfect Guards in Lies of P: Overture, with the following arsenal of throwables being fully nonessential yet undeniably omnipotent:

Acid canister
Carcass body fluid bottle
Cluster grenade
Electric blitz canister
Fire canister
Saw blade
Sharp pipe
Shot put
Thermite
Throwing cell

Not Visiting the Training Courtyard

Hotel Krat’s training courtyard is a perfect resource for Lies of P to offer since there are so many possible weapon permutations that players may want to experiment with between disassembled blades and handles, let alone Lies of P’s diverse catalog of Legion Arms. However, even if they’re fine field-testing their weaponry, players won’t be wasting time by taking a quick step into the training courtyard as they’ll be treated to a free replenishment of Fable, which is granted there for players trying out a new weapon’s Fable Arts and can be exploited as an infinite source of Fable when low, as long as players don’t mind returning to the hub.

Neglecting to Activate Every Possible Stargazer

It’s unlikely that players will miss a single stargazer as they’ll undoubtedly want the checkpoint, fast travel potential, and replenishment of Pulse Cells they provide whenever one is encountered. That said, it’s particularly imperative that stargazers aren’t idly passed by if players have a hankering to complete Lies of P’s side quests, as the stargazer menu of possible teleportation points will bear quest-related icons and portraits when a new interaction is available.

Dismissing Miscellaneous Text Collectibles

Lies of P: Overture’s lore is almost exclusively doled out via written articles, diary entries, letters, and advertisements. The Monad Charity House alone is a hotbed of lore if players are willing to loot every nook and cranny.