Lies of P 2 must become more than a darker Wizard of Oz

A sequel can follow its predecessor’s blueprint so closely that it forgets why the blueprint worked. That is the danger facing Neowiz’s next action RPG: the early evidence suggests a careful continuation of Lies of P, but the real test will be whether it can make that familiarity feel like evolution rather than repetition.

The project is still officially untitled. “Wonders of O” is a possible name linked to a trademark, while the connection to Oz follows the secret ending of Lies of P. Neowiz and Round8 Studio have not formally presented the sequel’s title, release window or full gameplay plan. Still, a new Character Concept Artist listing offers a useful glimpse at the priorities behind the project. As Console-Tribe reports, the listing points to Unreal Engine 5, detailed level design, intense action and a broad range of characters, monsters, weapons, costumes and accessories.

That is not a reveal. It is a design manifesto in miniature—and, in our view, a promising one.

The sequel’s safest choice is also its biggest creative trap

Lies of P earned its identity through precision. Its dark Belle Époque setting, mechanical creatures and tense combat were not separate attractions; they reinforced one another. The world made the fighting feel deliberate, while the fighting gave the world its rhythm and menace. The sequel should absolutely protect that relationship.

But preservation is not the same as conservation. If every new enemy, corridor and boss exists mainly to recreate the sensation of the first game, the sequel will become a polished echo. A job listing’s emphasis on intense action and deep level design suggests that Round8 is not abandoning the formula. That is sensible. The mistake would be assuming that a familiar structure automatically provides a fresh experience.

The move toward an Oz-inspired setting could help, provided it is treated as more than a new coat of paint. The secret ending already opened that door, and the possible title Wonders of O makes the theory harder to dismiss. Yet a different literary world only matters if it changes what the player does, how the spaces connect and what the story believes about its characters.

Oz should expand the game’s ideas, not just its bestiary

Pinocchio gave Lies of P unusually strong material for a soulslike: the tension between creator and creation, the desire to become human and the moral ambiguity of lying. An Oz-inspired sequel has its own thematic tools, but those tools should lead somewhere distinct.

The opportunity is not simply to replace puppets with witches, or mechanical streets with a more colorful fantasy landscape. It is to build a world where identity, desire and artificiality operate differently. If the sequel is about crossing into an unfamiliar realm, then its systems should make that transition meaningful. Exploration, character relationships and progression ought to express the new setting rather than merely decorate another sequence of combat arenas.

This is where the listing’s references to different body types and a wide variety of visual elements become more interesting than the promise of “high-level” graphics. Those requirements suggest a broader visual vocabulary for the sequel. We think that variety will matter most when it supports factions, cultures and creatures with different purposes—not when it becomes a checklist of concept-art novelty.

Unreal Engine 5 matters only if the world earns it

The sequel is being developed with Unreal Engine 5, according to the recruitment material, and the position also indicates development for PC and consoles. Those facts establish the technical direction, but they do not guarantee a larger or better game.

A bigger environment is not automatically a deeper one. In fact, Lies of P benefited from strong visual readability: players could understand the mood of a location, the threat posed by an enemy and the route through a space without needing the world to become enormous. The sequel should resist the industry’s reflex to treat scale as progress.

The phrase “deep level design” is therefore more important than any engine name. The best expansion would be a world with more meaningful spatial relationships: areas that reveal different sides of the setting, shortcuts that change how a location is understood and encounters that ask for more than repeating the same successful response. If Unreal Engine 5 helps Round8 create richer spaces, excellent. If it only supplies more spectacle between familiar fights, it will be wasted potential.

Neowiz is right to demand players who understand the genre

The most revealing detail in the listing may be the requirement that candidates have played Lies of P for at least 30 hours, provide proof of that time and completed at least three soulslike games. Uagna outlines those requirements, alongside the expectation that applicants genuinely play and enjoy video games.

For a concept artist, that request makes sense. Understanding the genre means understanding why a silhouette communicates danger, why equipment needs to look functional and why an enemy’s shape can teach the player before the first attack lands. It also signals that Neowiz knows what it is trying to preserve.

But genre fluency can become genre tunnel vision. The sequel needs developers who understand soulslikes well enough to challenge their habits, not simply reproduce them. Its strongest new ideas may come from the tension between a familiar combat language and a setting that demands different emotional and mechanical answers.

That is why “Wonders of O” should not be judged yet as a promise of an Oz reskin. The available evidence is too limited for that, and the title itself remains unconfirmed. What it does show is a project retaining the pillars that made Lies of P recognizable while reaching for a broader visual and technical foundation.

Our verdict is cautious optimism: Neowiz should keep the exacting combat and gothic conviction, but it must stop treating comparison as a destination. The sequel wins when it uses Lies of P as a foundation, not a cage. Until the studio shows how its new world changes the rules, the smartest expectation is not “more Lies of P.” It is a game that proves Round8 has learned why the first one worked—and is willing to build beyond it.