Overture’s a prequel, and that trips up basically every newcomer: play it first, or save it?
Reasonable question. Go out of order in a soulslike and you can either spoil a big story beat or smack face-first into a difficulty wall. Here’s the thing, though: the game mostly makes this call for you. Let me walk through how, and why it actually works in your favour.
Understanding the Structure
Start with the part that ends the debate on the spot: Overture won’t even boot on its own. It’s DLC; it leans on the base game, and there’s no launching it cold from the menu. You crack it open midway through the main story, reach Chapter 9, grab the item called the Star’s Chrysalis, and that’s what opens the door back into the past. And what a past. Overture rewinds Krat to its Belle Époque heyday, right before the Puppet Frenzy rips the whole city apart, then hands you a fresh stretch of areas, a new roster of bosses, and a story circling a mysterious Stalker named Lea.
Never touched the series? Quick version. Lies of P is Round8 Studio’s 2023 soulslike, the one that reimagines Pinocchio as Geppetto’s puppet loose in a plague-rotten city. Overture is the big 2025 expansion that followed. Buying in now, you’ll usually spot the two bundled together, base game and DLC in one box, and honestly that’s the least fiddly way to grab the lot.
The Case for Base Game First
Nearly everyone should run the main campaign first, and the Chapter 9 gate is only half the reason. The base game is your classroom. It’s where parrying finally clicks, where bolting weapons together starts to make sense, where the Legion arm stops being a menu option and turns into muscle memory. Skip all of that and drop straight into Overture’s faster, nastier bosses? You’re going to have a rough time. The story pulls the same direction. Watch Krat come apart in the main game, then rewind to its “before everything broke” glory days, and those quiet, dread-soaked beats hit twice as hard. Do it backwards and you’re mostly just spoiling yourself.
When Overture Enhances a Replay
Where Overture really sings is on a return trip. Finish the base game, come back, and every callback lands harder because you know exactly where this city is headed. It also drops in two fresh difficulty settings, Legendary Stalker and Butterfly’s Guidance, and they carry over to the base game as well, so you can crank a replay up to brutal or dial it down to breezy; your call. Worth flagging: it doesn’t tie off the base game’s cliffhanger. That’s being held back for the sequel, so waiting on Overture costs you nothing. You’re just banking a stronger encore for when you’re ready. Want the whole thing from the jump? A Lies of p steam key gets the base game in cheap, and Overture bolts on as DLC the moment you hit the point that unlocks it.
Tips Before You Dive In
Don’t marry one weapon early. The assembly system lets you jam any blade onto any handle, so mess around until something just feels right in your hands. Learn boss openings instead of swinging back on reflex; patience wins these fights far more than aggression does. Keep a Specter summon handy for the ones that spike out of nowhere. And those throwables and consumables you’ve been hoarding “for later”? Overture is later. Use them.
Final Thoughts
Base game first for almost everyone, Overture as the victory lap once Krat feels like second nature. The structure steers you there anyway, and the story’s better for it. Grabbing both? A Lootbar game key is worth a look before you pay full price.
