Neowiz’s 2023 soulslike hit Lies of P is getting a sequel with a rather intriguing name. According to the EU’s IP office, Lies developer Neowiz filed a trademark for “Wonders of O” as a piece of “video game software,” indicating that the title is in reference to a full-blown release rather than another Lies of P expansion.
Minor spoilers ahead for Lies of P
Unsurprisingly, this prospective title has been widely interpreted as a successor to Lies of P thanks to its familiar sentence structure, and The Wizard of Oz has been clocked as the most obvious next story to adapt. Of course, one might arrive at this conclusion simply through the Wonders of O moniker which, especially within the context of the first game’s Pinocchio origins, seems to indicate a focus on The Land of Oz. But there’s also the very end of the Lies of P base game, which sees the mysterious Giango (AKA Paracelsus) referencing a character called Dorothy; this scene concludes with a shot of two feminine-looking, red-slipper-clad heels clicking together, echoing the famous finale of The Wizard of Oz.
How Neowiz Could Benefit from an Anthology Approach
This apparent confirmation of something Lies of P fans have long speculated—that the sequel will somehow follow The Wizard of Oz—bodes well for the franchise’s future. Whether in the realm of gaming, film, television, or literature, we’ve all probably seen a breakout hit succeeded by lesser, derivative projects, the IP’s creative well running more and more dry with each passing entry.
It’s not too hard to understand why this happens so often. When an entertainment product is successful, there’s a natural desire to prolong and replicate that success. For many producers and creatives, this can mean mining a concept and stretching it far beyond its initial scope. The games industry has gotten some wonderfully complex and bizarre gaming franchises out of this approach, such as Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid, but the same approach has led to just as many floundering, hollowed-out gaming IP, if not more.
This is why the anthology formula can be a godsend. Anthologies and quasi-anthologies like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, are able to explore broader ideas and themes with minimal restriction. Take characters as an example. A traditional franchise needs to keep conjuring excuses for its protagonist(s) to go on new adventures, whereas an anthology can introduce a new main character and central premise every entry or two. In the case of Lies of P, a game that is already derivative of a pre-established work, a pivot to a new hero, setting, and cast of supporting characters makes a lot of sense.
The only downside of Wonders of O is that it makes Neowiz’s burgeoning franchise hard to name. “The Of series” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
For one thing, P’s story can be safely considered resolved by the end of Lies of P: regardless of which ending one considers canon, we can safely say that, on the whole, Lies of P was a successful narrative exploration of the Pinocchio character and themes. Neowiz runs the risk of beating a dead horse, were it to keep milking this admittedly unique concept. But the qualities that make this pseudo-adaptation of Pinocchio could theoretically be recreated with different source material. In other words, Neowiz could catch lightning in a bottle twice.
Fairy Tale Anthology Could Serve as the Perfect Industry Niche for Neowiz
As someone who has loved everything FromSoftware since Bloodborne, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Lies of P. There are so many soulslikes out there, but most of them feel like cheap imitations. Even Lies of P can be a bit too emulative of Miyazaki’s classics at times, but despite this, it still manages to be remarkably original overall. Indeed, Lies of P is arguably the best non-FromSoft soulslike ever, and certainly the last great soulslike, at the time of writing.
Neowiz could catch lightning in a bottle twice.
Neowiz managed to prove itself within the soulslike niche, but as that space becomes increasingly crowded, the developer will have to pivot with new ideas, ideally becoming inimitable in the same way that FromSoft itself is. Through a Wizard of Oz sequel, Neowiz could establish itself as the purveyor of dark, soulslike adaptations of classic children’s fantasy novels. This is a powerful differentiating factor, sure, but adhering to the loose-fit adaptation style seen in Lies of P could also give Neowiz a font of inspiration to draw from for future entries. Here are just a few other works the franchise could incorporate in the future:
- Peter Pan
- Alice in Wonderland
- Snow White
- Beauty and the Beast
- Hansel & Gretel
- Jack and the Beanstalk
Aside from being similar to Pinocchio in terms of tone and style, the above properties are all open domain, meaning that they have no private copyright owner: anyone can adapt them, with or without permission. Naturally, Pinocchio is open-domain itself, which allowed Neowiz to leverage the narrative and branding strengths of Collodi’s classic novel at no extra cost. This tactic worked for the developer once, and if it works again with Wonders of O, then there’s no reason to believe it won’t work a third time too.
I don’t want to be reductive about this theoretical franchise strategy. There are plenty of ways that the children’s novel formula could have bad, confusing, or underwhelming results, especially if Neowiz insists on forcing the soulslike combat model on every entry. And besides, even the best on-paper ideas can unfold into something completely different in practice. Maybe Oz and Dorothy simply won’t be as compelling than Krat and P—it’s impossible to tell just yet.
Lies of P thoroughly impressed the action-RPG crowd, and with any luck, Wonders of O will do the same. Maybe it’s too early to anticipate a full-blown anthology series down the road, but a man can certainly dream.
- Released
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September 19, 2023
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Round8 Studio, Neowiz
