Black Myth: Wukong surprised me. At first, I knew not to expect a Souls-like game, even though it seems to share many of the genre’s characteristics. The game’s Chinese developer, Game Science, categorically states that it is not a Souls-like, preferring to define it more generally as an action RPG. This is at least partially accurate, and Black Myth: Wukong is definitely not a Souls-like game. What I didn’t expect were what would essentially be long boss fights. It’s not uncommon to go from one boss fight to another, and it’s in these elaborate battles that Black Myth: Wukong shines. However, the moments in between are less strong and can sometimes slip into aimless boredom. But the variety of satisfying combat and unique boss fights mostly overcomes these shortcomings.
Black Myth: Wukong’s story is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. First published during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century, this epic saga has proven to be an incredibly enduring and influential work 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 interpretation of this timeless tale is set somewhere after the original story, but many characters remain intact. Names like Zhu Bajie, Kang Jinlong, and Bulk Demon King will be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Journey to the West, even if certain characters’ allegiances differ from the original.
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Currently playing: Black Myth: Wukong GameSpot review
You play as a mute monkey known as Destiny, who bears many similarities to a legendary ape named Son Goku (commonly known as Son Goku). As Son Goku is a major character in Journey to the West, your unexpected appearance is one of the central mysteries of the game. Is the player a reincarnation of Son Goku or one of his clones who said goodbye to his quest? The answer isn’t all that surprising, but it does make for a thrilling conclusion to the adventure.
But the rest of the game’s story didn’t really resonate with me. It’s clear that Game Science had the freedom to deviate from the source material, but I still found myself lost trying to follow every aspect of Black Myth: Wukong’s story. It helps that each of the game’s six chapters revolves around a relatively independent story that deals with universal human emotions like love, hate, and greed. But it feels like a story that’s better experienced by someone familiar with the source material. The references and concepts from Journey to the West and other Chinese mythology didn’t really sit well with me, making it hard to immerse myself in both the big picture and the more intimate story. This is a shame, because it’s inherently interesting that Chinese people are finally getting to see such a classic Chinese story. It’s clear that many have only experienced this story through stories adapted in other countries, and here it’s been treated with great attention to detail. There are some moments I loved, like the encounter with the headless monk who serenades you with the Three Immortals. The character designs are generally excellent, but the story is difficult to follow unless you’re familiar with Journey to the West, or Chinese folklore and mythology in general.
Fortunately, one of Black Myth: Wukong’s greatest strengths is that it incorporates the incredible abilities of Son Goku into its fast-paced combat framework. Son Goku is known for wielding the Ruyi Jingubao, a magical staff that can shrink and grow at will. He can also create clones of himself from a single hair, freeze opponents in place with his fingertips, and transform into various forms. All of these abilities are represented in the game and nicely showcase Son Goku’s incredible fighting abilities. When performing a combo with the staff, it will extend and hit the opponent even harder, then return to its original size. He can also use various spells that consume mana and work on a cooldown. These include the ability to generate clones of himself to help the enemy focus on one or more targets, and the use of a magic called Immobilize, which allows him to freeze opponents in place for a few seconds, allowing him to attack while they are trapped helpless, or take the opportunity to step back and recover.
Shapeshifting is also a key weapon, allowing you to transform into certain defeated enemies and access different moves and weapons. One of these transformations is called Red Tides, which you learn early on after defeating the giant wolf Guangzhi. Shapeshifting into this ferocious dog allows you to wield a flaming sword and deal burn damage to enemies while twirling and performing various combos. Additionally, each transformation has its own health bar, essentially giving you an extra life. Once this health bar is depleted or you’ve used up all your might by performing various attacks, you’ll revert to your normal self.
Transforming and using quick-to-use spells to freeze enemies or overwhelm them with clones is rewarding, but the core of Black Myth: Wukong’s combat lies in its unusual combo system.
While shapeshifting and using quick-to-use spells to freeze enemies and overwhelm them with clones are rewarding, the heart of Black Myth: Wukong’s combat lies in its unique combo system. Light attacks are essentially a way to build up focus points, which you then use to launch a variety of heavy attacks. With enough upgrades, you can eventually build up to three at a time. The game’s entire combat economy is based on building up focus and cashing it in as quickly as possible to deal big damage. As a result, light attacks feel pretty light, which is further emphasized by the small damage they do to chip away at each boss’ health bar. The impact of the game comes from executing full combos, especially when you can transition from a light combo into a heavy finisher. During these moments, your staff will start to glow bright red, fly through the air, and collide with a thumping bang. These attacks deal a ton of damage and regularly stagger your opponents in a satisfying way. Finding an opening to use Immobilize and buy time to pull off a combo is the bread and butter of Black Myth: Wukong’s combat. As you combine evasions with combos and learn to use a variety of techniques, boss battles become frenzied and exhilarating, almost like a fight to the death.
An elaborate boss rush, Black Myth: Wukong will make or break on the quality of its boss fights, but for the most part, they are excellent. In each of the game’s six chapters, you’ll battle thrilling foes. Known as Yaoguai, these mythical beasts range from giant Asiatic black bears to traditional Chinese dragons to bloodthirsty tigers, and a whole lot in between. Blocking isn’t part of the wider repertoire, and the only parrying methods are limited to magic spells with cooldown timers, so you’ll need to be good at dodging to survive each battle. This may sound intimidating to those who don’t normally play difficult action RPGs, but aside from a few boss fights in the later chapters, the game isn’t particularly difficult. This is the opinion of a soul-like veteran, so my standards for difficulty may be a bit biased, but I defeated many of the bosses in this game on the first try. But the toughest bosses still pose a considerable threat, and the lack of difficulty options means that Black Myth: Wukong is not easy to tackle. The stages up to the most difficult moments are more forgiving.
Whether you’re fighting on a frozen lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains or wading through shallow puddles of blood, your Yaoguai battles will almost always be victorious. The best boss fights have a balletic elegance to them, blending martial arts influences with a supernatural flair to create tense, awe-inspiring combat. You’ll often be forced to learn their attack patterns, time your dodges precisely, and find openings to pull off combos. But there are also opportunities to use your abilities strategically. Immobilize doesn’t work on certain bosses, so you can use a different spell or change your transformation to attack enemy elemental weaknesses. Sometimes the bosses felt relatively easy, but that didn’t take away from the thrill. On the other hand, the toughest bosses often had my heart racing and a palpable sense of elation when I finally achieved victory.
The game’s ability to create this feeling is where Black Myth: Wukong most resembles a Souls-like. There are more obvious similarities, such as a checkpoint system where enemies respawn when you rest, and healing flasks that have a limited number of charges and can be refilled at checkpoints. But aside from this, Game Science wasn’t lying when they said they didn’t make a Souls-like game. This is most obvious in the game’s level design. The path through each chapter is, for the most part, linear, with a few branches that lead to optional bosses or crafting materials used to brew potions or forge armor. Occasionally, more expansive areas with numerous branching paths open up, but progression is usually limited to a single route, so linearity is present even if it doesn’t seem like it at first. This isn’t inherently bad, but the level design is simple and unimaginative. Additionally, there are a lot of nasty invisible walls, and jumping is functionally useless for much of the game. Only a few non-threatening enemies appear, and the sections between boss fights are disappointingly sparse and plodding.
I should also mention a moment towards the end of the game that stumped me for a few hours because the solution was very specific, yet not at all obvious, especially when there was nothing else similar in the game. This killed my momentum in the final chapter and left me wondering if I’d encountered a game-breaking bug or was just ignorant.
Gallery
Every environment you explore looks great, at the very least. Whether you’re running through a bamboo forest dotted with fallen leaves and dense vegetation, entering a spider-infested mansion in the faint moonlight, or stepping onto the sunlit boulders of a rocky canyon, Black Myth: Wukong stands out for its beautiful scenes. Even on PC, it ran incredibly smooth, with shaders compiled first to prevent Unreal Engine 5’s dreaded stuttering.
Black Myth: Wukong is an unbalanced game where the highlights often outweigh the low lights. Its triumphant boss fights and fast-paced combat make up for the tedious moments in between, where mediocre level design and a paucity of enemies leave you yearning for your next showdown with the fearsome Yao Guai. I appreciate that this isn’t just another Souls-like in a now-crowded genre, and the choice to go with the boss gauntlet is unexpected and, frankly, pretty refreshing. It’s a shame to stumble through anything but cinematic clashes with powerful beasts, but designing so many exciting boss fights while avoiding fatigue is no mean feat and deserves praise.
