Accessibility in Lies of P: Overture

Purchase your tram ticket for a one-way visit to Krat — a dark Belle Époque world overrun by vengeful puppets. The new Overture DLC for Lies of P introduces a brand new story set in the past. This update brings exciting new accessibility updates, allowing Souls-like veterans and newcomers to try out this hauntingly beautiful adventure.

Lies of P is a dark fairytale inspired by Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi over a century ago. Play as a nameless puppet, nicknamed P by players, as they fight their way through the ruined city of Krat, a once lavish French-inspired town where humans and puppets lived side-by-side. But all that changed when the Puppet Frenzy happened, an inexplicable catastrophe that blurred the lines of the Grand Covenant, which bound all puppets to three rules: puppets must obey their creator; puppets cannot harm humans, except in self-defense; and puppets cannot lie.

In true Pinocchio fashion, the player lies their way through Krat, forging connections with humans, who learn the puppet has a heart, even if mechanical, because they lie from a place of compassion, offering comfort in the face of despair and death.

The Overture DLC expands on the original journey in Krat by inviting players to return and follow a mysterious blue butterfly into the past to uncover the truth what happened to Krat before the Puppet Frenzy.

Press START

As the game loads and greets you with a mechanical clock laying on a red cloth on the main menu, the settings are available from the get-go, featuring loads of new options, like a Blood visibility, Motion Blur, Guidance, Colorblind Mode (and Intensity if you choose to turn it on), and Adjust Attack Direction, among many others.

But the most surprising addition is the inclusion of Difficulty Settings, offering three distinct options.

• Butterfly’s Guidance: A very easy difficulty for players who want a story-focused experience. You can experience the story without being impeded by combat.
• Awakened Puppet: An easy difficulty for players who enjoy lighthearted action games. You can experience the story with lighter combat challenges.
• Legendary Stalker: The standard difficulty for players who enjoy tense action games. You can experience the story while enjoying challenging combat.

Prior to the Overture update, Lies of P’s gameplay defaulted at Legendary Stalker, the hardest difficulty, making Butterfly’s Guidance and Awakened Puppet significantly easier choices.

Souls-like games have long faced criticism for their inaccessibility, often regarding their unforgiving combat mechanics that exclude disabled players from fully enjoying the game. Difficulty settings alone don’t guarantee accessibility, this move by NEOWIZ marks a major shift, making Lies of P one of the few mainstream Souls-like to offer difficulty choices from the outset, and helping to pave the way for a much-needed, wider conversation about inclusivity in the genre.

Updated Mobility

Overture brings a host of refinements to player movement, making it sharper and smoother, like Dash and Dodge being split to separate keys or buttons, and Dash being changed to a toggle. No more of that infamous Souls-like claw-grip on the controller!

The combat also received new updates. Auto Lock On activates when attacking enemies, mitigating frustrations with manually managing the camera mid-battle, or missing crucial strikes. Switch Sensitivity has been added when locking onto enemies, making intense fights—like the quadruple boss fight against the Black Rabbit Brotherhood, or densely packed enemy rooms—easier to manage. If that isn’t enough, the new Camera Auto Rotation feature automatically aligns the camera with your locked-on target, ensuring your attacks land in the right direction.

Quality-of-Life Updates Galore!

More than just accessibility upgrades, Overture brings a range of quality of life features that benefit everyone!

The P-Organ (no, not that kind of organ—ahem) can now be reset, letting players freely experiment with different builds and playstyles. Even better, you can now check the status of the P-Organ directly from the Character Info menu without sitting in a chair on the second floor of Hotel Krat.

For those who like to hoard Ergo until level-up and dread the chore of manually clicking through dozens of Ergo chunks—good news! The Level Up menu now features an Add Ergo button that lets you use all the stored Ergo with a single click. This time-saving feature is also available in shops, the weapon upgrade menu, and the alter handle menu.

And not to worry—Add Ergo will give you a clear warning if you choose to consume or sell your all Rare Ergo, keeping those valuable pieces tucked in your back pocket for trading in boss weapons and rings.

Cognitive Upgrade!

Tracking NPC quests in Souls-likes is famously stressful. One missed conversation can mean a tragic and permanent death.

Overture tackles this with quest progress indicators, including the exact Stargazer location you need to visit to continue a questline. It’s a game-changer for avoiding missed story beats or backtracking through Krat hoping everyone is still alive!

Smoother Audio Experience

And finally, the update includes Auto-Advance for dialogue when talking to NPCs, which can be toggled ON/OFF both in the Settings menu and during interactions at any time. This feature is perfect for players who prefer to let the story flow without mashing buttons. Subtitles will continue to display even when you’re navigating menus mid-chat, so you won’t miss a word.

Paving The Way For The Future

Overall, the Overture DLC is a wonderful update to an already polished experience, welcoming both returning and new players to experience Krat through new characters, new weapons, and much more.

Lies of P isn’t a perfectly accessible experience by any means, and it would still benefit from features like slow combat and combat assist for players who struggle with timing and button-mashing; however, it’s clear NEOWIZ is listening to feedback from it’s beloved fans. Overture adds a ton of thoughtful Visual, Auditory, Cognitive, and Mobility updates that point to a studio committed to improving accessibility.

Lies of P stands as a fantastic learning experience and strong first entry in their dark fairytale series, with whispers of The Wizard of Oz as the next tale to be reimagined. We’re excited to see how the studio builgs on what it’s learned in making Souls-likes more approachable for a wider audience.

We can’t wait to see whats next! If Overture is any sign, the next entry is sure to surprise us in the all the best ways.

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