Latest news with #Geppetto
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Lies of P: Overture is a massive expansion for one of my favorite PS5 games — and it's absolutely brutal
2023 was considered a pretty phenomenal year for video games. The likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4 remake, Baldur's Gate 3 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 all duked it out for the majority of GOTY awards (Spidey ultimately won ours). While I thoroughly enjoyed all of those titles, my personal pick for the best game of the year was Lies of P. And after all this time, I stand by it. This action-Souls-like shamelessly cribs from the works of genre-originator FromSoftware, and feels a lot like the Bloodborne sequel we all want, but Sony frustratingly refuses to actually give us (Please, Sony, even a remaster will do). I loved almost every moment of my 60 hours spent with Lies of P across two playthroughs (one on PS5, the other on Steam Deck OLED), and that playtime just increased thanks to its meaty new DLC expansion. Called Lies of P: Overture, it offers you the chance to return to the gothic city of Krat and square off against a new range of tough bosses that will do their very best to cut you down. In a nutshell, Overture is more of the brilliant Lies of P experience I love, but with the difficulty ramped up to 11. Lies of P: Overture: $29 @ PlayStation StoreLies of: Overture is the new DLC expansion for 2023's critically acclaimed action-Soulslike Lies of P. Adding around 15 hours of new content, you explore a past version of the city of Krat, and take on very challenging bosses. To help you fight back against the numerous tricky foes, you get access to a suite of new weapons and powerful abilities. Additional platforms: $29 @ Steam | $29 @ Xbox Store In Lies of P: Overture, you once again play as Geppetto's deadly puppet and are tasked with exploring the nightmare city of Krat. The wrinkle is that this time, you've stepped into the past to experience the striking location before the events of the base game. But it's certainly no more welcoming in this period. The Puppet Frenzy massacre, the aftermath of which you encounter in the base game, is currently ongoing, dropping you into the thick of a city in complete turmoil with chaotic scenes of violence and blue blood all around. So, where do you go first? The Zoo, of course. Overture's opening takes you to Krat Zoo, and it might just be my favorite level in all of Lies of P. Fighting back against deformed animals from aggressive ages, to a truly twisted type of kangaroo, sees the body-horror, which was already a strong theme in Lies of P, ramped up to new grotesque levels. And the first major boss fight, an oversized crocodile, is an absolutely doozy. Later DLC locations like an underground facility and a cavernous mine are less visually dynamic, but the final two of Overture's five chapters do occur in more visually distinctive settings (which I won't spoil here). So, the DLC starts and ends strong, with a slightly mundane middle. The core game's fast-paced combat is maintained, which is a very good thing, because outside of the works of FromSoftware, Lies of P offers the best Soulslike gameplay I've ever played. Though, for the record, I still suck at parrying, so the dodge button remains my best friend. Perhaps the DLC's biggest addition is its numerous lore implications and revelations. I'm far from a Lies of P scholar, but I was constantly finding hidden notes that had me rethinking what I thought I knew about the Lies of P universe and the characters within it. If you enjoyed the well-told story of the base game, you're going to love what you learn here. Alongside the new levels to explore, there's also a bunch of useful new weapons to pick up, new gear to wear and powerful legion arms, including my personal favorite, which lets you shoot spinning sawblades from your wrist. Adding around 10-15 hours of new content, Lies of P: Overture is solid value for money at its $29 price. But fair warning, prepare for a tough time. If I have one substantial criticism of Lies of P: Overture, it's that developer Neowiz has gone a little too far in its efforts to make this DLC the hardest content in the game to date. As part of the Soulslike subgenre, Lies of P was always a tough game by design. And that's part of the reason I loved it so much. Few feelings are better in gaming than slaying a testing boss after dozens of attempts. And some of the base game bosses rank as my favorite ever in the genre. In fact, it's not Overture's bosses where the overtuned difficulty can be felt. Aside from one late-game dud, these named DLC combatants are mostly brilliant. The last boss in particular gives Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree a run for its money. Finally bringing them down had me leaping from my chair in satisfaction after they had torn my face off for almost an hour. The problem arises in the various open spaces, corridors and choke points between bosses. Regular enemy mobs have had their health pools and damage-dealing abilities seriously beefed up, and even my max-level weapons often felt like merely smacking a raging puppet with a pool noodle. Overture also appears to have taken cues from the divisive Dark Souls 2, as not only are standard enemies extremely overpowered, they're also thrown at you in sometimes ludicrous quantities. I'm taking crammed rooms that contain an enemy count in the double digits. This leads to numerous sections that are a complete slog to play as you regularly find yourself swarmed by enemies that can send you to an early grave in just a few hits, and that take a practically silly amount of damage to be defeated. These moments see Lies of P: Overture fall on the wrong side of the fine line between frustration and fun. To somewhat counteract this issue, Lies of P: Overture's launch has coincided with a major free upgrade that adds two new difficulty options to the game. One is marked as essentially easy, the other very easy. Of course, for dedicated Souls players, dropping the difficulty is antithetical to why the genre appeals; the struggle is supposed to be part of the experience. I should warn any new players hoping these new difficulty settings might allow them to breeze through the game, and enjoy the excellent world-building and rich lore, even on the simplest setting, Lies of P: Overture still puts up a real fight. You will need some skill, whatever level you play on. Overall, Lies of P: Overture has given me the perfect excuse to return to one of my favorite games of this current gaming generation. It's a largely well-crafted expansion with some intriguing new locations to explore, and some tough but tantalizing new bosses to overcome. I just wish the supposedly "regular" enemies didn't always hit with the force of a turbocharged monster truck. However, after rolling credits on Overture, my itch for more Lies of P remains burning, which is perhaps its biggest accomplishment. I was already desperate for the already-confirmed full sequel, and after experiencing Lies of P: Overture, that wait is going to feel just a little bit longer.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Is Lies of P available on Xbox Game Pass in 2025?
Lies of P was one of the most talked-about games in 2023. It dropped on Xbox Game Pass on day one, letting fans explore a twisted version of the Pinocchio story in soulslike fashion. But things have changed since then. If you're wondering whether the game is still on Xbox Game Pass, the answer is no. Microsoft removed Lies of P from the service on March 15, 2025. That means players who did not buy the game before that date can no longer access it through the subscription. The removal came just as developer Neowiz teased fresh content with its first major DLC drop. What is Lies of P: Overture DLC about? Director Ji Won Choi has an important message about Lies of P: Overture. The new DLC titled Lies of P: Overture officially launched on June 7, 2025. It was first revealed earlier this year at the PlayStation State of Play event. The DLC explores the final days of Krat, the fictional city where the game takes place. With new areas, fresh weapons, and eight intense boss battles, the DLC offers around nine hours of new gameplay. In Overture, you once again play as P, the deadly puppet created by Geppetto. The game stays true to its dark tone and difficult combat. Though it is not part of Xbox Game Pass anymore, many players feel it's worth buying if you're into deep storytelling and challenging gameplay. Should you still play Lies of P? Even without Game Pass access, Lies of P remains a solid title for fans of the genre. Whether you want to dive into the main story or try out the new Overture DLC, the game is available for purchase across platforms. If you missed it when it launched, now might be the right time to give it a shot.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
See The Boom XB-1 Rip Through The Air As It Breaks The Sound Barrier
Boom Supersonic broke the sound barrier in late January with its XB-1 test jet, paving the way forward in the startup's efforts to build its own supersonic airliner. Boom and NASA released a unique image from the test flight over the Mojave Desert on Monday. The photograph visualizes the flow of air around the XB-1 as it flew faster than the speed of sound, allowing the public to see an aircraft break the sound barrier. The image captured by NASA shows the silhouette of Boom's demonstrator streaking across the sky, except the atmosphere is rendered in a vivid shade of orange and the jet's exhaust is a pale yellow trail. It's an example of Schlieren photography, a technique that uses refraction to visualize the shifting density of air as an object moves through it. You can see the XB-1 pushing its way through the air with streaks flaring away from the plane. Read more: Here's Why You Always Board Planes On The Left Schlieren is the German word for streaks. The photo is a tangible reminder that we're breathing a fluid because both liquids and gases are fluids. Boom CEO Blake Scholl said in a release: "This image makes the invisible visible—the first American made civil supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier. Thanks to Geppetto's exceptional flying and our partnership with NASA, we were able to capture this iconic image. We also confirmed that XB-1 made no audible sonic boom, which paves the way for coast to coast flights up to 50% faster." While the photo is a visually stimulating product of the test flight, the most significant development was Boom's announcement of "Boomless Cruise." It was independently confirmed that none of the sonic booms created by the XB-1 reached the ground. The aerospace startup is confident that its Mach cutoff technique can be carried over to its full-scale Overture airline. If that is the case, Boom could convince the FAA to lift its restrictions on overland supersonic flights. Airlines have been promised a supersonic future before. During the 1960s, the country's major carriers eagerly awaited the arrival of a faster-than-sound commercial jet subsidized by the federal government. Pan-Am and TWA placed at least a dozen orders for the Boeing 2707 while it was still in development. Miami-Dade County even had plans for a bespoke supersonic airport in the middle of the Everglades. Everglades Jetport was envisioned as an intercontinental hub that would make Miami a truly global stop in the same way that Emirates has elevated the status of Dubai. However, the FAA ban and the subsequent collapse of the Boeing 2707 derailed those plans. Only one of the six runways were built before the project was halted. The lone runway eventually became a training airport for airline pilots and occasional a lengthy dragstrip. In the 2010, the county wanted to revive the facility as the site for a trade airshow but it never came to fruition. A revival of supersonic flights won't bring back the Everglades Jetport either because it's remote location was intended to keep sonic booms away from the public, a non-issue if "Boomless Cruise" is successful. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
