You're standing in the Abbey, staring at a mechanical heart, and realizing you just wasted forty hours. It happens. Lies of P is a brilliant, punishing soulslike that thrives on ambiguity, but that ambiguity is exactly what kills most trophy runs. If you're looking for a Lies of P platinum guide that actually respects your time, you have to accept one cold truth right now: you cannot do this in one sitting. Not even with cloud save scumming, usually.
The game is built on a binary choice system—Lies versus Truth—but it's not a simple moral slider. It’s about "Humanity." Your "Humanity" score determines which endings are even accessible, and if you mess up a single side quest like Arlecchino’s riddles or Antonia’s cure, you're looking at an entire New Game Plus run just to fix it. Most people think they can just lie every time and get the "best" ending. They’re wrong. Sometimes telling the truth is the only way to get a specific record, and records are mandatory for the Golden Melody trophy.
The Three Ending Problem
There are three main endings: Real Boy: They All Lived Happily Ever After, Rise of P, and Free from the Puppet String.
You'd think "Real Boy" is the good one based on the name. Nope. It’s the "bad" ending, and it’s the easiest to get because it doesn't require any specific Humanity level. You just give Geppetto what he wants at the end. But here is the kicker: if you do this on your first run, you miss the chance to fight the Nameless Puppet. That means you miss a boss soul, which means you miss a special weapon, which means you just locked yourself out of the Special Weapon Collector trophy.
The "Rise of P" ending is the "true" ending, and it’s a massive pain. You need high Humanity. You get Humanity by lying, listening to records (the whole way through, no skipping), and interacting with certain world objects like the piano in Hotel Krat. You also must give Sophia peace when you find her in the Abbey. If you let her live, you’re locked into the "Free from the Puppet String" ending instead.
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Why New Game Plus (NG+) is Mandatory
Don't try to be a hero and do it all at once. You literally can't.
There are two specific trophies that conflict: Special Weapon Collector and Normal Weapon Collector. While you can get most in one go, the Golden Lie weapon only spawns if your nose is long enough on the portrait in Geppetto’s office. That requires nearly perfect Lie choices throughout the game.
Then there are the Boss Souls. Every boss soul can be traded for either a weapon or an amulet through Alidoro. To get the platinum, you need all special weapons. This means you can’t spend those souls on amulets until you’ve secured the weapons. In NG+, the game actually gets a bit easier because you unlock Phase 6 and Phase 7 of the P-Organ, which give you insane abilities like blocking "Fury Attacks" (the red ones) or significantly increasing your stagger damage.
Crucial Side Quests You'll Definitely Mess Up
Let's talk about Eugénie. Her trophy, The Story of a Stranger Girl, is the most common point of failure for a Lies of P platinum guide follower. To get it, you have to complete Alidoro's questline, kill him, decrypt his vessel, and then talk to her. But there’s a choice. You have to tell her the truth about who he really was. If you lie to her in a "Lie Run," you get a different reward but miss the trophy.
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Then there’s Antonia. To get The Story of the Refined Old Lady, you have to tell Polendina to use the cure on her. If you don't, she dies miserably and you get nothing.
- Venigni and Arlecchino: You have to answer all the phone riddles correctly. If you fail one, you need a Trinity Key from a different source. At the very end, in the final Trinity Room, you have to talk to Arlecchino about the truth of the incident.
- The Red Fox and Black Cat: Just be nice to them. Give them gold coin fruit when they ask. It saves you two boss fights and helps with their specific dialogue trophies.
Collecting the Records (The Real Grind)
The Golden Melody trophy is the final boss for most players. Records are the primary way to gain Humanity, but several are locked behind specific choices. For example, the record "Feel" is given by the Weeping Woman if you tell her her "baby" (a puppet) is cute. If you tell her the truth—that it’s a doll—you lose the record.
You also have to buy records from wandering merchants. There's one in the Abandoned Apartment in Collapsed Krat and another near the Cerasani Alley stargazer. If you progress the world state too far, sometimes these NPCs move or become inaccessible. Check the merchants every time the sky change color. Seriously.
Combat Trophies and Hidden Bosses
The Nameless Puppet is the real final boss. He is not optional if you want the platinum. He is fast, he breaks your guard, and he has a second phase that feels like a fever dream. Most players use the Aegis Shield or the Two Dragons Sword to parry him, but if your parry timing is trash, you’re going to have a bad time.
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You also need to find all the Legion Plugs and Quartz. You don't need every single one for a trophy, but maximizing the P-Organ is the only way to survive NG++ where enemies hit like freight trains.
Honestly, the hardest part isn't the bosses. It's the "End of Riddles" quest. Missing a telephone call in Malum District is much more devastating than dying to Laxasia fifty times. You can always retry a boss. You can't always retry a quest without restarting the whole game.
Practical Steps to Efficiency
If you want to be efficient, follow this roadmap. It’s the least painful path to that 100% completion mark.
- First Playthrough (The Lie/Humanity Run): Lie at every opportunity. Complete all NPC side quests (Antonia, Eugénie, Venigni). Give Sophia peace. High humanity will let you pick up the Golden Lie weapon from the portrait. Beat the Nameless Puppet. Get the Rise of P ending.
- Clean Up Before NG+: Before you click "Restart" at the Stargazer, go to Geppetto’s desk and read the letter left there. This pops a trophy. Go to the piano and play it. If your humanity is high enough, you'll get another achievement.
- Second Playthrough (The Truth Run): Tell the truth as much as possible. This is where you get the "Free from the Puppet String" ending. You still need to fight the bosses to get the remaining souls for weapons you skipped.
- The "Real Boy" Save Scum: In either run, you can back up your save to the cloud right before talking to Geppetto at the end. Give him the heart, get the Real Boy trophy, then download your save and refuse to give the heart to fight the Nameless Puppet for the other endings. This saves you an entire third playthrough.
The game is masterpiece of clockwork design. It’s tight, it’s responsive, and the lore is actually coherent if you read the item descriptions. Just remember that your nose—or rather, your puppet's nose—doesn't lie, even when you do. If you see the message "The gears are turning" or "You feel warmth," you’re on the right track for humanity. If you don't see those messages by the time you reach the Opera House, you've probably missed too many opportunities and might need to pivot your strategy.
Check your bag for "Vessels" constantly. Venigni is the only one who can decrypt them, and they often lead to the Quartz or Outfits needed for the Extreme Potential or individual character trophies. Don't leave Krat until you've double-checked every alleyway; this game loves hiding quest items in plain sight behind breakable crates.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Start your first run focusing entirely on Humanity. Listen to every record the moment you get it at the Hotel Krat gramophone to ensure you don't forget later.
- Back up your save data before entering the Abbey Outer Wall; this is the point of no return for several NPC endings.
- Prioritize the Aegis Legion Arm and upgrade it fully—it is an absolute "cheese" for some of the harder boss trophies if you're struggling with the parry windows.
- Ensure you trade Boss Souls only with Alidoro (or Hugo later) for weapons first, as those are required for the Collector trophies, whereas amulets are just "nice to have."