The boss fights in any Souls-like are often the star of the show, with Neowiz's recent Lies of P dutifully following this formula with a stellar showcase of giant enemies to challenge. However, while there are more than two dozen boss encounters with a health bar that follow the Souls-like formula diligently, the question of how these all stack up against each other still remains.

It should be noted that there are a handful of other mini-boss encounters in Lies of P that might be better classified as "major" or "powerful" enemies that are somewhat repetitive and shouldn't really be counted with other major bosses. Otherwise, the following are almost entirely incredible showcases of the Souls-like formula, with even some lower-tiered bosses still standing against bona fide FromSoftware designs.

RELATED: Lies of P Can Achieve Something Bloodborne Fans Have Wanted for Nearly a Decade

S-Tier

Laxasia - Putting Neowiz's best foot forward from the start, Laxasia is like Lies of P's response to Malenia, complete with multiple phases and faster-than-light combos. However, Laxasia doesn't stand out because of how similar she is to other Souls-like bosses, but rather her presentation and ultimate showdown she represents while heading up through Arche Abbey. Additionally, each phase of the fight comes with an interesting quirk that plays off of the perfect guard mechanic, with the first phase being beatable by just breaking Laxasia's weapon and the second phase offering a Ganondorf-style light-ball reflect for landing proper parries.

Nameless Puppet - The final boss of the game, sometimes referred to as the secret ending boss, Nameless Puppet is everything great about Bloodborne's Lady Maria and Dark Souls 3's Pontiff Sulyvahn fused together. Starting with an initial phase that keeps the pace slow and parry windows wide, Nameless Puppet eases players into what will soon become one of the most difficult fights across the entire game. Of course, it's the second phase that poses the real threat, as Nameless Puppet's attacks become infused with blood and come at a much faster pace than they had before. If any boss in Lies of P pushes more towards the Sekiro inspiration than Bloodborne, it is easily the fast-paced Nameless Puppet.

Black Rabbit Brotherhood Redux - Likely a controversial top pick among Lies of P fans, the return of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood in Relic of Trismegistus is a classic spin on the multi-enemy boss fight with an extra touch of strategy available. Seeming to have learned from what the community has dubbed "Gank Fights" from across the Souls-like genre, the Black Rabbit Brotherhood makes the wise decision to have the group essentially attack one at a time.

However, getting too close to any of the ones that are standing back can trigger them to join in on the fight out of turn, and even from a distance, they will occasionally use throwables or other distance attacks in order to force players to always keep them in sight. The final twist in the fight comes when the main enemy in the initial encounter, Eldest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood, returns to be the finale of this fight to assist whichever is the last member to still be alive. Of course, this also adds an element of strategy, where wearing the initial three down at equally instead of rushing individuals down means an easier one-on-one fight against Eldest when he finally joins.

Romeo, King of Puppets - During a mid-point that almost feels like endgame, Romeo, King of Puppets is an encounter that perfectly caps off the segments of Lies of P that revolves around the Puppet Frenzy before moving full-force into the narrative of the Alchemists. However, this boss isn't just a nice set piece or a great design for a thumbnail, as beating the first phase breaks Romeo free from his sultan-inspired facade to reveal the humanoid puppet inside. At this point, the humanoid fight elevates the combat with combos that can lend themselves to falling into a flow state with Lies of P's perfect guards, similar to the best fights Sekiro has to offer.

RELATED: FromSoftware Soulsborne Game Tier List

A-Tier

Eldest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood - While similar to the second encounter, the initial fight against the Eldest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood feels like a first draft at what will eventually be edited into a better edition down the line. That being said, Eldest still has a number of pros to bring to the ordinary "Gank Fight" formula, as the multiple bosses are more than willing to once again take turns to go one-on-one against the player. The major difference comes from the way that the other Brotherhood members all join at different points as Eldest's health is slowly chipped away at. This does make the fight a little less intense, though, as it is rare for there to be more than two enemies in the arena at once.

Parade Master - The first boss of any Souls-like has to strike a tough balance when it comes to properly teaching players the mechanics that will become the key to success moving forward, while also offering a challenge to prepare players for the trial-and-error to come. In that case, the Parade Master certainly succeeds as a teaching moment early on, with a series of punches and a jump attack that all have obvious telegraphs in the first phase and the first breakable boss weapon in the second phase. There is little that is unique about Parade Master in comparison to other Lies of P bosses and mini-bosses, but he does everything that the game needs him to do in order to prepare players for what is to come later.

Champion Victor - Sometimes the "Rule of Cool" just works, and Champion Victor is the best example that Lies of P has to offer when it comes to making a boss so cool that it hardly matters if he's actually fun. Fortunately for Champion Victor, he's also a fairly well-balanced fight, taking the wrestling inspiration straight into his combat style with fairly paced punches, kicks, and grapples to crush players with. Additionally, Victor is a rare example of a late-game boss that has two phases over a single health bar, which makes getting through both phases feel a lot cleaner that some of the harder fights that come before and after. That being said, Victor is also the start of the sneaky stagger attack that late-game Lies of P bosses use to catch players off-guard after being successfully staggered and before the chance for the Fatal Attack appears.

Scrapped Watchman - Coming not long after the Parade Master, the Scrapped Watchman has the benefit of being just deep enough into Lies of P to warrant being a touch more difficult. This gives the Scrapped Watchman two unique opportunities by Krat City Hall, starting with being the first boss to introduce Lies of P's Specter mechanic, as well as upping the speed and aggression from the previous boss. While there are a handful of telegraphs that require more memorization than more fluid reactions, most attacks follow a steady rhythm that can be avoided with either perfect guards or some healthy dodging.

RELATED: Lies of P: What a Wizard of Oz Soulslike Game Could Look Like

B-Tier

Puppet of the Future - As far as the complexity of design or the rhythm of the moveset is concerned, Puppet of the Future is honestly one of the more boring enemies to fight. However, this specific class of boss, of which there are three across the game, is more notable for the rewards given as a result of taking the time to kill them. Each of the Puppets of the Future drops one of Lies of P's 28 Quartz, used to upgrade the P-Organ and unlock skills for The Puppet, making them one of the most important enemies to kill in any given playthrough. Given these rewards, and the initial fun of puzzling through the simple moveset, the Puppet of the Future still manages to stand above some other bosses.

King's Flame, Fuoco - A relatively early boss, coming in right after where the Lies of P demo ends, King's Flame, Fuoco isn't the most complex boss in the bunch but does offer some unique obstacles to overcome. First is the way that Fuoco attacks with his swinging hammer-like fist, with some telegraphs being difficult to properly perfect guard, thanks in part to the entire arm being a hitbox and not just the block on the end. Second is the fire puke that Fuoco can spit out in the second phase that will stretch across the entire floor and can burn player health bars down in a matter of seconds. Fortunately for this flaming floor attack, though, it can be mitigated by hiding behind the pillars that Fuoco can also destroy. So, there is some strategy and rising stakes that can be employed throughout the fight to keep things interesting even this early on.

Corrupted Parade Master - Including several iterations of the same boss is nothing new for the Souls-like formula, and Lies of P does it well with Black Rabbit Brotherhood. The Corrupted Parade Master, however, is a revisit of a boss that doesn't necessarily add enough to make it stand out against the original. That being said, it still lands at an impactful moment in the narrative and does at least offer a certain amount of twist to the overall combat experience to make it feel like more than just a cheap reskin of a previous boss.

Fallen Archbishop Andreus - From being the first major boss to have two health bars to a design that leans the hardest into the horror of the Alchemist's carcass monsters, Fallen Archbishop Andreus could be elevated to a top-tier Souls-like boss. However, one complaint that players have had since Lies of P launched is how difficult it can be at times to wrangle the camera, especially during boss fights and when backed into a corner.

Unfortunately, there is no boss where this shortcoming is more emphasized than in the second phase of Fallen Archbishop Andreus, where the swinging humanoid side of the fight sometimes can't be consistently attacked or even seen. Thankfully, the second phase gives players the option to fight the face on the boss' back from phase one, which still makes for an interesting fight with only one downside that highlights the limitations of the game's systems.

Puppet-Devouring Green Monster - A much better reuse of a previous boss than the Corrupted Parade Master, Puppet-Devouring Green Monster is a one-two punch with unique mechanics and a first phase that is an entirely original creation. However, it is the reuse of the Scrapped Watchman in the second phase that drops the Green Monster out of rank with the likes of the original variant of this boss. This is mostly because of the way that the Green Monster iterates on earlier attacks from the Scrapped Watchman, adding tentacle swipes that are difficult to see in the chaos of the fight after the slams that are otherwise telegraphed very well.

C-Tier

Stalkers - There isn't really much of a point in separating the individual Stalkers that can be fought throughout Lies of P, many of which are actually optional. These enemies fight more fluidly and quickly than any standard puppet or carcass-type enemy, but even though they are given health bars, they do very little to separate from each other. In most cases, they simply become a showcase for some of the best weapons Lies of P has available, without really having much in the way of unique combat features outside of being pseudo-PVP.

Door Guardian - The Door Guardian is the most gimmicky that Lies of P's gimmick fights get from start to finish. Right from the start, Door Guardian fails to impress with poor conveyance being compounded on with one of the worst status effects in the game, shock. To beat Door Guardian, all players really need to do is deal the correct amount of damage to their unarmored leg until the boss falls to the ground and becomes vulnerable to a Fatal Attack, which will deal between a third and half the enemy's health bar at once.

However, the addition of shock lowers stamina recovery to the point that it becomes impossible to actually attack while in effect, which happens every time the Door Guardian lands an attack that isn't perfectly guarded. As a result, Door Guardian becomes a slog that clearly has some sort of puzzle attached to it but hides the puzzle behind committing to dealing minimal damage long enough to actually get the Fatal Attack opportunity.

Walker of Illusions - One of the minor bosses later into Lies of P, Walker of Illusions is a seemingly random obstacle that has little bearing on the overall narrative and doesn't offer an interesting enough fight to excuse being shoved in right before Corrupted Parade Master. As far as difficulty goes, Walker isn't quite like Laxasia or Nameless Puppet with a difficulty spike that rewards mastering the rhythm of perfect guards. Instead, the position of the camera and the boss makes reading the way Walker waggles her cleaver in front of her impossible. While this does incentivize dodging over guarding, it is a rare case for Lies of P's combat to lean in this direction to avoid damage, and doesn't fit well with the rest of the game.

Mad Clown Puppet - A fine boss fight in concept, the Mad Clown Puppet falls apart as Lies of P piles way too many additional obstacles on top of the initial encounter with this enemy. The arena offers several different opportunities to fight the Mad Clown Puppet, either in the midst of several other puppets that throw firebombs and blast flamethrowers, down at the bottom of the street, or up in the garden before the Opera House.

These then run the gambit from risky to tedious, especially given how often players will have to retry the fight since the Mad Clown Puppet is pretty hard. Combine this frustrating arena design with a belly thrust that has almost no telegraph and an arm-extending punch from a distance that retains its hitbox even when not in motion, and this comes off as something that might have wanted fewer bells and whistles added instead of more.

Simon Manus - Depending on the ending players choose in Lies of P, Simon Manus could be the final boss they face off against. As a result, there is a lot of narrative and gameplay weight resting on Simon's shoulders. As such, it is unfortunate that Simon highlights the worst parts of every boss that came before him, from camera struggles to attacks that don't properly telegraph the rhythm or hitbox.

Many of the attacks with his hammer are all modular parts of an extended combo, which can be mixed and matched for as long as Simon chooses. This means that players can never trust if a counter opportunity is going to remain consistent from one combo to the next. Even worse is in the second phase when Simon starts adding some ranged combat with the instant-kill disruption status attached that can instantly reset the run with attacks that strike from off-screen.

Lies of P is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Lies of P’s Shared Fairy Tale Universe Needs a Dark Take on Little Red Riding Hood