Soulslike prince Lies of P added difficulty settings after its own developers struggled to beat it: “Most couldn’t even make it halfway”
Lies of P introduced difficulty settings after internal testing showed that many developers found the Soulslike action game too demanding to complete. The decision matters because it marks a shift towards making a genre known for its punishing challenge more accessible without removing its core combat experience.
According to the developers, most staff could not reach the game’s halfway point during testing. The new options allow players to tailor the challenge, reflecting feedback from the team’s own experience as well as the desire to welcome a wider range of players.
In short
- Internal testing revealed the game was too difficult for many developers.
- Difficulty settings aim to improve accessibility.
- The change broadens access to a traditionally challenging genre.
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The case for
Introducing difficulty settings broadens the audience without compromising the experience for challenge-seekers who can still engage with harder modes. When the developers themselves struggled to complete their own game, it suggests the design may have been misaligned with its intended scope. Offering adjustable difficulty respects player agency and allows more people to experience the story and world, aligning with modern game design principles of accessibility.
The case against
The Soulslike genre's core identity rests on unified, demanding challenge, and difficulty settings risk fracturing the developer's artistic vision and the sense of shared achievement that binds the community. When challenge becomes optional, players lose certainty about what experience the designers truly intended and the sacrifice required to achieve it. The meaningful accomplishment of mastering an uncompromising vision becomes negotiable rather than intrinsic, potentially undermining both replay value and the genre's particular appeal.
Explained simply
Lies of P is an action role-playing game inspired by the story of Pinocchio, set in a dark city filled with hostile machines and other enemies. Players explore, fight opponents and improve their character as they go.
It belongs to the “soulslike” genre, named after the Dark Souls games. These games are known for demanding fights, where learning enemy patterns and trying again after defeat are central to play.
Difficulty settings let players choose a level of challenge. Their use in a soulslike game raises questions about how developers can make demanding games accessible to more people while preserving the combat experience the genre is known for.