The Pinocchio soulslike Lies of P got an easy mode alongside the release of Overture DLC last week, an entirely uncontroversial move that riled up absolutely no one. But the DLC also apparently introduced a major difficulty spike in the Legendary Stalker mode—previously the game’s default—and it’s bad enough that game director Ji Won Choi says developer Neowiz is going to make some adjustments.
Soulslikes are supposed to be tough, yes, but as you can see in this newly formed megathread on the Lies of P subreddit (via Kotaku), Lies of P felt a little too tough for quite a few players following the launch of Overture. The problem seems particularly bad in NG+ modes. Naturally, there are a few who proclaim the game is actually very easy—there always is—but the bulk of posts seem to feel that the DLC has thrown things out of whack.
“The base game was basically pitch perfect. There were a few stupid things, but nothing was super egregious,” redditor Lord_Nightraven wrote. “DLC? The devs overdid things. And it shows. The stat numbers alone feel like NG+1 end game/early NG+2. That’s on NG+0. That’s a massive spike all things considered on intended difficulty, aka Legendary Stalker.”
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“I’m NG+1 getting two-shot by everything even on easiest difficulty and I’m stuck on the predator boss,” tylxr567 complained. “I’m bad but seriously I can complete the main game on hardest difficulty just fine, this DLC is crazy.”
RJE808 was somewhat more to the point about it: “Markiona is about to make me drop this shit. Holy fuck.”
Well, good news, Overture-sufferers: Your plaintive wailing has been heard.
“We want to thank you for all the feedback and suggestions our community has sent us since the launch,” Choi said in a video posted today. “We’re reviewing all of it carefully and are already looking into when to implement some of your suggestions.
“Among all the feedback, we are paying the closest attention to the combat experience. We identified areas that did not turn out quite as we intended. Therefore, we are reviewing various adjustments, including difficulty reduction.”
Lies of P: Director’s Letter – YouTube
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Don’t expect Neowiz to start waving the nerfhammer around immediately, though. “Combat is one of the most fundamental experiences in Lies of P, so any modifications or changes require meticulous work and thorough testing,” Choi said. Developers are still digging into what exactly needs to be done, but Choi added that he wanted to put the word out now so fans know “why it’s taking our team some time, and the general direction we’re heading.”
It says something, I think, that the reaction to the announcement of the difficulty reduction seems mostly welcoming. Again, the git gud crowd is there to say it’s not actually hard at all, but the broader feeling is that the DLC introduced serious issues with difficulty scaling. The adjustment, whenever it happens, will no doubt lead to a fresh round of “I beat it pre-patch” jokes, but if it also means the majority of players can properly enjoy it again, I’d call that a fair trade.