Lies of P And It’s Soundtrack Proves Subtle Is the New Epic September 14, 2025

The Unlikely Musical Transformation Behind Lies of P

Here’s where things get weird (in the best possible way). The team behind Lies of P didn’t just slap together some generic orchestral pieces and call it a day. Instead, they took inspiration from an unexpected source—rhythm games with their pulsing hip hop beats and synthetic electronica—and somehow transformed that energy into something that perfectly captures the game’s haunting, mechanical fairy tale atmosphere.

Composer Yeakun Yoo wasn’t messing around when he crafted this soundtrack. The man understood something that many game composers seem to forget: sometimes the best music is the stuff you don’t consciously notice while you’re getting your ass handed to you by a mechanical puppet for the fifteenth time.

Why This Musical Approach Actually Works (Unlike Most Game Soundtracks)

The Anti-Flashy Philosophy

Yoo made a conscious decision to avoid what he calls “overly flashy” musical elements. Translation? No bombastic orchestral swells every time you pick up a crafting material. No dramatic crescendos when you’re just trying to figure out which way leads to the next checkpoint. Instead, he focused on creating what he describes as “subtle emotional nuances”—basically, music that enhances your emotional state without screaming “HEY, LISTEN TO HOW EPIC THIS MOMENT IS!”

It’s refreshing, honestly. How many times have we played games where the music feels like it’s competing with the gameplay for attention? Lies of P’s soundtrack knows its place and stays there, supporting the experience rather than demanding center stage.

The Secret Sauce: Minimal Melodies, Maximum Impact

How Lies of P Turned a Rhythm Game’s Hip Hop and Electronica Songs Into a Gothic, Melancholic Soundtrack Through Restraint

Here’s where Yoo’s approach gets genuinely clever. Rather than cramming every track full of complex melodies and intricate arrangements, he took a page from classical masters like Beethoven and Mozart (yeah, really) and focused on doing more with less. The technique involves taking simple thematic elements and varying them throughout the piece, creating cohesion without repetition.

This method works particularly well for a game like Lies of P, where players are often stuck in the same areas for extended periods. Nobody wants to hear the same four-minute epic loop for the twentieth time while they’re learning enemy patterns. Instead, the music evolves subtly, providing just enough variation to keep things interesting without becoming distracting.

The Communication Game: How to Actually Work With Developers

What Sets Lies of P Apart in Game Audio Development

Something that struck me about Yoo’s approach was his emphasis on communication with the development team. The man asked questions—lots of them. He wanted reference images, gameplay videos, similar games for inspiration, and specific musical examples that resonated with the team’s vision.

This might sound basic, but you’d be surprised how many game composers just assume they know what’s needed and dive straight into composition. The result? Usually several rounds of revisions and a final product that feels disconnected from the game’s core identity.

For Lies of P, this thorough communication process paid off big time. Yoo’s first delivery was approved without any modification requests—a feat that’s about as rare in game development as finding a bug-free launch day.

The Emotional Journey: From Electronica to Gothic Atmosphere

Transforming Modern Beats Into Timeless Melancholy

The real magic happens in how Yoo managed to channel the energy and rhythm sensibilities of modern electronic music into something that feels authentically gothic and melancholic. It’s not like he just threw some synthesizers over a minor key progression and called it innovative.

Instead, he extracted the underlying rhythmic DNA from hip hop and electronica—the way these genres build tension, release it, and keep listeners engaged—and applied those principles to instrumentation and harmonic progressions that better suited Lies of P’s dark fairy tale aesthetic.

The result is a soundtrack that feels both contemporary and timeless, pulsing with electronic sensibilities while maintaining the gothic atmosphere that the game’s visual design demands.

Why This Matters for Game Music Moving Forward

Lessons Other Composers Should Actually Learn

Lies of P‘s soundtrack success isn’t just about one composer getting lucky or having a particularly good day. It represents a fundamental shift in thinking about how game music should function. Instead of treating the soundtrack as a separate entity that happens to play during gameplay, Yoo approached it as an integral part of the player’s emotional journey.

The fact that he drew inspiration from rhythm games—titles that live or die based on how well their music integrates with player actions—shows a level of genre awareness that’s often missing from traditional game scoring approaches. Rhythm games understand that music isn’t just background noise; it’s a gameplay mechanic in itself.

The Bottom Line: Sometimes Less Really Is More

In an industry where “bigger and more epic” seems to be the default approach to everything, Lies of P’s musical restraint feels almost revolutionary. Yoo’s willingness to step back and let the game breathe, while still providing the emotional support that players need during challenging encounters, demonstrates a maturity that’s often lacking in game audio design.

The transformation from rhythm game energy to gothic melancholy isn’t just a clever technical achievement—it’s proof that understanding your source material and your target experience can lead to genuinely innovative solutions. Now if only more game composers would figure out that sometimes the best way to support an epic moment is to not try quite so hard to make it feel epic.

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