Black Myth: Wukong delights with a gauntlet of thrilling boss battles against a menagerie of Chinese mythology’s greatest creatures, but the moments in between are disappointing
By Richard Wakeling on August 16, 2024 at 7:00AM PDT
Black Myth: Wukong surprised me. Going in, I knew not to expect a souls-like, despite it seemingly sharing many of the genre’s hallmarks. The game’s Chinese developer, Game Science, has been adamant that it’s not a souls-like, preferring to define it more generically as an action-RPG. This is at least partially accurate, as Black Myth: Wukong is definitely not a souls-like. What I wasn’t expecting was for it to be essentially a lengthy boss rush. It’s not uncommon to go from one boss fight into another and then another, and it’s in these elaborate battles where Black Myth: Wukong shines. The moments in between, however, aren’t quite as strong, sometimes devolving into aimless tedium. But its satisfying combat and unique variety of boss fights mostly manages to overcome these flaws.
Black Myth: Wukong’s story is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Originally published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty, the epic saga has proven to be incredibly long-lasting and influential since its release, inspiring everything from Ninja Theory’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West to Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga. Black Myth: Wukong’s take on the enduring tale is set sometime after the original story while still retaining many of its characters. Names like Zhu Bajie, Kang Jinlong, and the Bull Demon King will be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Journey to the West, even if certain characters’ allegiances sometimes differ from the source material.
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You assume the role of a speechless monkey, dubbed the Destined One, bearing a strong resemblance to the iconic Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King, a figure steeped in the legends of Journey to the West. The enigma of your identity—whether a reincarnation of the Monkey King or merely one of his offshoots on an independent mission—is a core element of the plot. The revelation may not be groundbreaking, but it provides a satisfying wrap-up to the saga.
The broader narrative of the game did not quite strike a chord with me, though. Despite the creative liberties taken by Game Science, I often found myself bewildered by the complex layers of the story in Black Myth: Wukong. The structure of the game into six distinct chapters, each centered around a standalone story encapsulating common human emotions like love, hatred, and avarice, is a welcome design. However, the plot seems most accessible to those well-versed with its foundational epic, Journey to the West, and other elements of Chinese mythology. As an individual not deeply familiar with these stories, it was challenging to fully engage with both the overarching narrative and its finer details. It’s disheartening because witnessing a Chinese reinterpretation of a culturally significant Chinese tale offers intrinsic appeal. Many have experienced the story through adaptations by other nations, and this version has evidently been crafted with a lot of reverence and meticulousness. There are captivating segments, such as each interaction with a headless monk playing a Sanxian, and the character designs are consistently impressive. However, grasping the storyline proves difficult if you lack prior knowledge of Journey to the West or Chinese mythologies.
One of the highlights of Black Myth: Wukong is the integration of the Monkey King’s enchanting abilities into its dynamic combat system. Famous for his weapon, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, a versatile staff that can expand or contract, Sun Wukong’s prowess also includes duplicating himself using his hair, casting immobilizing spells with a finger point, and morphing into various creatures. These powers are dynamically showcased in the gameplay, enhancing Sun Wukong’s legendary fighting skills. As players engage in combat, they will observe the staff extend to strike foes powerfully before swiftly returning to its normal size. Additionally, players can deploy a range of spells that utilize mana and have cooldown periods, like creating clones to distract adversaries or employing a spell named Immobilize to temporarily disable enemies, allowing players either to attack or retreat and recuperate.
Transforming into adversaries is another crucial tactic, enabling players to adopt the forms and abilities of defeated foes. An early gainable transformation, known as Red Tides, allows players to turn into the formidable wolf Guangzhi, who wields a fiery glaive that delivers burn effects through an assortment of attacks. Each transformation also offers a separate health pool, providing essentially a second chance in battle. However, once this additional health depletes or if all Might from attacks is consumed, players revert to their original form.
The essence of combat in Black Myth: Wukong is its distinctive combo system. Light attacks are designed to accumulate Focus points, which can be spent on more powerful heavy attacks. As players progress, they can store up to three Focus points, and strategically managing these points becomes crucial for maximizing damage output. Although light attacks may seem superficial, they are critical for chipping away at bosses’ health and setting up impactful combos. Heavier attacks not only cause significant damage but also have the potential to stagger enemies effectively. Leveraging spells like Immobilize to execute these heavier, more destructive combinations is key to mastering the game’s combat dynamics. Skillfully blending these attacks with dodges and other strategic maneuvers turns every boss encounter into a gripping and thrilling battle for survival.
Black Myth: Wukong primarily thrives on its boss battles, which are generally superb. The game is structured into six chapters, each presenting a unique array of formidable enemies known as Yaoguai. These include a variety of mythic creatures such as a massive black bear, a classical Chinese dragon, and a tiger covered in blood splatters, among others. The game’s combat system excludes blocking and only allows for a limited use of parrying through a magical spell that has a cooldown. Consequently, mastering the art of dodging is crucial for survival. Although intimidating for players not accustomed to challenging action-RPGs, the game overall isn’t excessively demanding—though this might be from the perspective of a seasoned souls-like player. Despite this, some of the tougher bosses present significant challenges, without any adjustable difficulty settings to ease the pressure, but they do provide a more lenient buildup to the harder encounters.
The boss battles occur in visually captivating environments—whether it’s a fight on a frosty lake encircled by snowy peaks or within a shallow blood pool. These encounters blend martial arts with supernatural elements, delivering a series of both elegant and electrifying moments. The game often pushes you to decode the bosses’ attack patterns and discover the opportune moments to strike. While some bosses may seem less difficult and can be handled with straightforward strategies, the more challenging ones bring about intense excitement and a genuine sense of achievement upon defeating them.
Similar to other games in the souls-like genre, Black Myth: Wukong features a checkpoint system that respawns enemies, and a healing flask that recharges at these points. Aside from these similarities, the creators have affirmed that they did not intend to make a typical souls-like game, which is particularly evident in the game’s level design. The paths within each chapter are mostly linear, though they occasionally branch off, leading players to optional bosses or resources for crafting. Sometimes the game opens up to wider areas with multiple pathways, but progression predominantly follows a set route. This linearity, coupled with an abundance of invisible barriers and limited utility of the jump function, somewhat detracts from the game’s exploration aspect. Furthermore, the sparsity of challenging enemies between boss fights makes these interludes feel rather uninspired and tedious.
Towards the game’s conclusion, there is one notably challenging puzzle that held me back for hours due to its very specific and non-intuitive solution. This part of the game caused a significant break in momentum, leaving me to ponder whether it was a glitch or a misunderstanding on my part.
Every landscape in the game is visually striking. Venture through the vibrant scenes of a bamboo forest adorned with drifting leaves and lush plants, a creepy, spider-filled manor under the subtle light of the moon, or set foot on the warm, rugged stones of a stark canyon, and you’ll find that Black Myth: Wukong consistently delivers breathtaking visuals. On a technical note, it performed exceptionally on my PC, pre-compiling shaders to avoid the common stutter issues associated with Unreal Engine 5.
Black Myth: Wukong presents a somewhat inconsistent experience, yet the game’s highs tend to outshine its lows. The thrilling boss encounters and dynamic combat sequences do well to balance the occasionally uninspiring level layouts and infrequent enemy interactions that might leave players eager for more action-packed confrontations with the formidable Yaoguai. It’s commendable that the game diverges from the typical souls-like formula prevalent in the genre, opting instead for a series of boss fights that feel both novel and invigorating. Although the game sometimes stumbles in non-battle segments, the effort to craft numerous engaging boss fights without inducing repetitiveness is noteworthy and laudable.
