While Lies of P is set to receive a big update this year when the prequel DLC Overture arrives, another update will be just as noteworthy: Lies of P is going to receive difficulty options. Meaning, the notoriously difficult soulslike is going to become easier — and more accessible.
“We wanted to make sure a wider audience of players could play the game,” game director Jiwon Choi told VGC. Lies of P has already found an audience — it sold 1 million copies in its first month on market and has been played by at least 7 million people — and an easier gameplay experience can open it up to more players who were put off by its difficult and unforgiving nature.
Choi noted this decision stemmed from player feedback as well as “from our developers” at Neowiz and Round8 Studio. “So by making development adjustments and introducing these difficulty options, we can offer the experience to different types of players. This broadens the base.” The default difficulty will be named “Legendary Stalker” while the two new options will be called “Butterfly’s Guidance” and “Awakened Puppet.” Polygon has reached out to Neowiz for further comment on the details of these difficulty options, and will update this story when we hear back.
New difficulty options will also be a welcome addition for longtime Lies of P players and soulslike vets; anyone who’s been absolutely bodied by the Mad Clown Puppet before the Opera House knows what I’m talking about. And while Lies of P has plenty of bosses worthy of a challenging and engaging fight, some, like the Green Monster of the Swamp and the Walker of Illusions, are more frustrating than fun. The ability to lower the difficulty on future playthroughs for bosses like those will certainly circumvent some of the frustration stemming from those encounters.
Alongside the DLC and difficulty options will also be a new boss rush mode, Death March. You’ll also be able to replay boss fights via the new Battle Memories mode, which is really something that every soulslike game needs.
