Picking up a new Soulslike blind is risky, especially when the publisher, Neowiz, has built the entire hype around a single question: how does Wonders of O connect to Lies of P, and do you actually need to finish the first game before stepping into this one? This Wonders of O soulslike guide answers that head-on, breaks down the combat style, and tells you exactly what to expect on day one so your wallet and your weekend both survive.
What Kind of Soulslike Is Wonders of O?
Wonders of O is a third-person action RPG built on a punishing stamina-and-poise system that veteran Soulslike players will recognize on contact, but the moment-to-moment combat leans much harder into guard-based deflection than the dodge-roll meta that defines FromSoftware's catalog. The core loop revolves around parrying enemy strikes with a hand-held mechanism, recovering P-Energy from successful parries, and spending that resource on Legion Arms — modular attachments that swap your offense and traversal tools on the fly. If you bounced off Lies of P because the weapon-arts system felt too tame, this one tightens every screw.
The game borrows its visual identity from Belle Époque Europe, filters it through a layer of clockwork machinery, and drops you into a semi-open hub called the Atelier Quarter that branches into roughly seven distinct regions. Each region is a self-contained difficulty curve, so you can soft-route progression instead of locking yourself into a single-path run. For a deeper comparison between the two Neowiz Soulslikes, the is Wonders of O a soulslike breakdown walks through the mechanical overlap in detail. The three pillars below define almost every encounter in Wonders of O, and understanding them before you buy will save you from a refund-shaped disappointment on hour three.
Combat Pillars at a Glance
| Pillar | Core Mechanic | Skill Ceiling | What It Replaces in Lies of P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deflection Parry | Timed block that staggers most enemies | Very high (input window tightens by 30% past NG+) | Replaces the standard block-and-punish loop |
| P-Energy Gauge | Resource that powers Legion Arms | Medium (regen rewards aggression) | Replaces the Motivity/Technique split |
| Legion Arms | Swappable shoulder-mounted weapons | High (rotations matter for bosses) | Replaces the original Legion Arm slot from Lies of P |
The deflection parry is the single most important skill to train because stagger windows on humanoid bosses open only after two or three clean parries, which means a player who only rolls is going to spend twice as long on every major fight. Community data from the closed beta suggests that deflection-focused clears run roughly 22% faster than pure dodge builds on the same boss, which tracks with how the stamina economy was tuned.
Difficulty, Death, and Recovery
Wonders of O keeps the Soulslike tradition of dropping your P-Coins at the death location, but the recovery loop is friendlier than its reputation suggests. The game seeds a small number of Salvage Tokens across each region that act as a one-time insurance policy, and the Atelier Quarter merchant sells a permanent Coin Retainer upgrade early in Act 2. Difficulty sits roughly between Lies of P's base campaign and its Overture DLC, so if you finished the original without grinding you should be ready.
| Difficulty Modifier | Effect on Enemies | Recommended For |
|---|---|---|
| Guided | 25% less damage, 40% larger parry window | Players new to Soulslikes |
| Standard | Baseline tuning | Players who finished Lies of P on Normal |
| Devotion | 50% more health, new attack patterns on bosses | Veterans chasing the true ending |
There is also a fourth hidden mode that unlocks after beating the game once, which strips the parry window back to its tightest possible value and remixes boss phases. Most players report this mode feels like Elden Ring's Malenia fights on a bad day, so plan accordingly.
Is Wonders of O Connected to Lies of P?
Yes, but the connection is thematic and mechanical, not a direct narrative sequel. Wonders of O takes place in a parallel era of the same reimagined Belle Époque world, follows a different puppet protagonist named O, and treats the events of Lies of P as a background myth rather than a plot point you need to remember beat for beat. If you have not touched the first game, the only thing you genuinely lose is a few optional dialogue nods and one late-game weapon skin. The full timeline of where Wonders of O sits in the shared universe is covered in the Lies of P story recap before Wonders of O, which is worth a skim if you care about lore.
Shared DNA, Different Direction
The two games share a publisher, engine version, and a small team of combat designers, which is why the Legion Arm and P-Energy systems feel so similar on first contact. Where they diverge is in the moment-to-moment boss design: Lies of P leaned on humanoid duelists with readable telegraphs, while Wonders of O pushes more multi-phase fights with arena hazards layered into every encounter. According to Neowiz's Q1 2026 earnings briefing, the studio confirmed the Lies of P sequel has now entered full-scale development, and Wonders of O is positioned as a parallel Soulslike rather than a stopgap before that release.
| Shared Element | Lies of P | Wonders of O | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | Unreal 4 fork | Unreal 4 fork | Identical lighting and physics base |
| Currency | Ergo | P-Coins | Same drop-on-death recovery loop |
| Modular Slot | Legion Arm | Legion Arm | Different rotation, similar UI |
| Hub City | Hotel Krat | Atelier Quarter | Both offer fast travel and vendors |
| Story Link | Standalone | Loose sequel | Player character and timeline differ |
The key takeaway is that Wonders of O is a soft spinoff designed to be playable on its own, and the developers have been explicit about not wanting to gate story content behind finishing the previous game. If you skipped Lies of P, you are not locked out of anything that matters to the main path.
What You Actually Lose by Skipping Lies of P
The honest answer is mostly cosmetic and a small handful of difficulty-rewarding extras. Players who finished Lies of P will unlock a Vintage Pin set that grants minor stat boosts, and they get first access to the Krat Workshop cosmetic shop, which is purely a fashion flex. Mechanically, Wonders of O teaches its parry system from scratch, so prior Lies of P experience is more of a confidence boost than a real advantage. The handful of optional NPCs who show up in Wonders of O assume you remember specific character names, but the game includes a glossary entry for each one if you read the codex.
Should You Play Lies of P Before Wonders of O?
For most players, no. The story holds up on its own, the combat tutorials are self-contained, and the only meaningful gameplay bonus for finishing Lies of P first is roughly a 5% faster parry timing on the early-game tutorial bosses because you already know the visual cues. If your backlog is already long and you are choosing between the two, the Lies of P 2 beginner guide has a useful framework for thinking about Neowiz's catalog as a whole, and it makes a strong case for treating Wonders of O as a standalone entry point.
When Playing Lies of P First Actually Helps
There are three real scenarios where finishing the first game first pays off. First, if you care about the timeline order and want to read every optional codex entry without spoilers, start with Lies of P. Second, if you have never played a Soulslike and want a gentler on-ramp, the Lies of P base campaign on Standard difficulty is a more forgiving tutorial than Wonders of O's Deflection-first design. Third, if you are a completionist who wants the Vintage Pin set and the Krat Workshop cosmetics, you need the save data flag from a finished Lies of P playthrough, which only triggers on a true ending run.
| Player Profile | Recommended Order | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Soulslike veteran | Wonders of O first | Skip the tutorial padding, jump straight in |
| New to the genre | Lies of P first | Gentler parry window, more forgiving bosses |
| Lore completionist | Lies of P first | Optional codex entries assume first-game knowledge |
| Speedrunner | Wonders of O first | Faster parry timing rewards existing muscle memory |
| Casual weekend player | Either order | Both are self-contained enough to enjoy solo |
When You Can Safely Skip Ahead
If you have already played any Soulslike to completion — Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Nioh 2, even Mortal Shell — you can jump into Wonders of O cold and not feel lost. The game's opening region includes a mini-tutorial boss that teaches deflection by failing forward, and the difficulty curve is paced for someone who already knows what a Soulslike is. Skipping the first game only matters if you specifically want the bonus pin set, the codex glossary is fully available in the pause menu, and the Neowiz team has confirmed in their developer commentary that there are no hidden endings gated by prior save data.
Wonders of O Catch-Up Guide: What to Know Before You Buy
If you only have fifteen minutes before pulling the trigger, here is the compressed version of everything above, plus a few practical buying notes. The current build supports PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S at launch, and a Nintendo Switch 2 version is already in the works based on the Lies of P Complete Edition reveal pattern, which means you are unlikely to be locked out of any platform for long.
Pre-Purchase Checklist
| Checkpoint | Why It Matters | Where to Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Region parity | Some regions launch a week early | Official Neowiz Twitter |
| Save transfer | Cross-progression supported at launch | Steam account link screen |
| Controller support | Full DualSense haptics wired in | PS5 store page |
| Performance mode | 60fps target, 4K on Series X | Console settings menu |
| Refund window | Two hours on Steam, store-dependent elsewhere | Platform policy |
For a fuller look at what the Lies of P Complete Edition bundle revealed about Neowiz's platform strategy, the IGN reveal coverage from the June 2026 Nintendo Direct is the most useful primary source. The short version: Wonders of O is positioned to follow a similar multi-platform rollout, so you have time to wait if your preferred platform is not day-one ready.
Day-One Tips That Save Hours
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Practice the deflection parry on the first puppet in the Atelier Quarter before leaving the hub. The window is generous there, and unlearning a bad habit from a later boss is much more expensive than thirty minutes of muscle memory training.
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Save your first P-Coin stash for the Coin Retainer upgrade, not a cosmetic. The retainer costs roughly 3,500 coins and pays for itself the first time you die in a boss room with 8,000 coins on the line.
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Rotate your Legion Arms for traversal, not just combat. The Falcon Hook is the fastest mid-air option and the Cargo Pack is the most generous for farming runs, so swapping based on the next region saves a lot of backtracking.
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Read the optional codex entries in the Atelier Quarter library. The game hides two sidequest chains behind a codex flag in Act 1, and missing them locks you out of a weapon upgrade path that is genuinely useful on the Devotion difficulty.
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Do not burn your first Salvo Token on a non-boss death. The tokens are scarce, and the first real boss of Act 2 is the encounter where a single recovery swing tends to matter most.
Verdict: Who Should Buy Wonders of O Right Now
The honest breakdown is that Wonders of O is the strongest Soulslike Neowiz has shipped to date, and if you bounced off Lies of P because the parry system felt underdeveloped, this is the version you have been waiting for. If you are a Souls veteran looking for a fresh take on the parry-first design space, this is an easy day-one pickup. If you are a casual player who only plays one Soulslike a year, the smart move is to wait for a sale because the Switch 2 version is reportedly less than six months out, and Neowiz's track record on post-launch patches means the PC version will only get smoother with time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wonders of O a direct sequel to Lies of P?
No. Wonders of O is a thematic spinoff set in the same reimagined Belle Époque world, with a new protagonist named O and a parallel timeline. The combat, hub structure, and engine carry over, but the story stands on its own and there are no required save-data flags for the main campaign.
Do I need to finish Lies of P before playing Wonders of O?
For most players, no. You only miss a cosmetic pin set, a fashion vendor unlock, and a small number of optional codex entries that assume first-game knowledge. The deflection parry system is taught from scratch, and the main endings are not gated by prior progress.
What difficulty should I pick on my first playthrough?
Standard is the right call if you have any Soulslike experience, because the parry window matches the developer's intended tuning. Guided is the safer pick if you have never finished a Soulslike, and Devotion is best reserved for a second run when you already know the boss patterns.
Does Wonders of O have cross-progression and cross-save?
Yes, cross-progression is supported at launch between PC and console accounts linked through your Neowiz ID. Cloud saves also sync automatically, so you can move between platforms without losing any P-Coin progress or Legion Arm unlocks.
How long is Wonders of O's main campaign?
The main story runs roughly 28 to 35 hours depending on how much optional exploration you do, and a full completionist run lands between 55 and 70 hours. The Devotion difficulty adds another 10 to 15 hours because boss phases get remixed, and the hidden fourth mode is built for repeated challenge runs rather than a single clear.