Black Myth: Wukong Review

Above all, Sun Wukong’s adventures were highly anticipated, to say the least. In the gaming industry, very few titles have had the ambition to tackle Chinese mythology. But for Game Science, it was the perfect choice! So, to honor one of the classic tales of Chinese mythology, the developers decided to create a fresh and highly spectacular adaptation of ” The Journey to the West ” novel.

After teasing us at the end of June, Game Science invited us to tell us their Black Myth Wukong tale, a bit like telling stories by the campfire. If you’ve been eagerly awaiting its release, it’s now available on PC and PlayStation 5. After four long years of anticipation, our simian hero has finally made his way to the market ( only in the digital version ) and now we can inform you about this narrative, single-player video game that is already exploding the player counters on Steam.

Wukong’s Wrath

From the moment of its reveal, Black Myth Wukong exerted a real power of fascination due to its aesthetics. Visually stunning, Game Science’s game caught the eye of many players, who quickly identified it as one of the most beautiful narrative games in the industry. Even then, they were right about it, and this was clear from the game’s opening scene. In terms of staging, the Chinese development studio’s “first big game” has nothing to be ashamed of when compared to the giants of the video game industry.

You’re immediately hooked by the story, and you have only one desire: to experience this adventure as you would listen to an ancient fantasy tale. As we’ve said, Chinese mythology has been little exploited in the video game world, and that’s what makes Black Myth Wukong stand out from the crowd. Divided into several chapters, Game Science’s title takes us through several biomes that, while classic, take on a whole new dimension thanks to the folklore infused by the developers. Architecture, creatures, religious relics… When you start Black Myth Wukong, you’re in for a complete change of scenery!

Beyond the dream-like setting of the story, it’s the careful attention paid to these “mini-worlds” (i.e., the chapters) that contributes to this total immersion: a mysterious, verdant mountain, a desert both arid and rocky, the snowy peaks you travel through, a haunting prison… Whatever the setting, Black Myth Wukong makes your eyes glaze over at the beauty of its environments.

According to your hardware’s performance, you’ll be amazed, especially as the studio – before the release and shortly after our “blocking” adventures – deployed an update that cleared the title from the annoying bugs and technical issues. Despite some elements that still tend to appear at the last moment, like invisible walls that break immersion a little, and framerate drops in certain areas, we admire each chapter section, and we’re amazed by what this independent studio has achieved with Black Myth Wukong.

In terms of artistic direction, Game Science has clearly demonstrated that it has developed a formula for success, and the development teams are well aware of this, particularly when the game invites us to meditate for a while to appreciate the game’s atmosphere and the beauty of its scenery.

As for understanding the universe, it’s true that it’s not particularly easy to find your way around at first. As we said, it’s a rich folklore that’s, to say the least, unfamiliar in our parts of the world. To compensate for this, Game Science has created a “Journal” tab, which provides a wealth of information and context on the enemies and bosses you encounter throughout the game. Rather than drowning us in the mysticism of this mythology, Black Myth Wukong gives us the keys to comprehension, and it’s a great asset.

To make things even better, the studio also provides the game’s original soundtrack on the title screen highlighting the great attention paid to the universe. The developers have also considered making the transitions between chapters in various forms rarely seen in video games, such as a stop-motion sequence with a beautiful effect. On paper, it’s not much, but it’s a nice touch that’s much appreciated because, as we’ll see, Black Myth Wukong is quite hesitant in its structure, which leads to certain defects.

The Western Trail

When we first discovered Black Myth Wukong, we didn’t necessarily expect Game Science to divide its narrative into a series of distinct chapters. In fact, it’s almost like a loose retelling of the novel “ Journey to the West ”, but we were a little disappointed to discover that the narrative flow is a little abrupt, with no context between the passage from one region to another.

Having said that, the game’s objective has always been very clear: to offer an adventure that emphasizes narrative and offers an immense portal to Chinese mythology. In its current state, Black Myth Wukong easily achieves this goal, but we were expecting a more dedicated approach to storytelling, i.e. a game that would tell us a story from A to Z without losing us too much. The problem is that the game gives us the feeling that Game Science didn’t really know what it was doing, because the linearity we’ve often been told is not so obvious due to the decisions made by the teams in terms of exploration.

When we first experienced Black Myth Wukong, we clearly had the impression that the overall adventure was going to be a sort of journey, with a series of titanic battles. It has to be said that completing Chapter 1 played a big part in developing this impression, but once we’d pushed back the limits of our progress, we realized that the game gives us more freedom than it first appeared.

Remember, we’re not talking about an open world, but rather a structure in which each region, each biome is built on the scale of a level on its own, which can seem a little maze-like. In the end, each chapter takes us from point A to point B along paths filled with outgrowths or sections that are far too large for their intended purpose. Of course, there are things to pick up, like chests to open, resources to feed the crafting system, “little” boss fights, or a few characters who punctuate the narrative of each chapter with a quest of sorts. The problem is that you often feel lost because the game tries to overdo things in terms of level design.

In fact, we wouldn’t have minded a map system to help us find our way around, as we often find ourselves wandering off the familiar path that leads us to the final battle of each chapter, the one that allows us to retrieve one of the famous relics that the Predestined seeks to collect. So, most of the time, we try to map and memorize the places where our curiosity leads us. It’s at moments like these that we realize that Game Science may have made a mistake: overwhelmed by expansive environments that lack density, we feel like we’re spending more time exploring rather empty places, which, if we decide to explore at all, lead to a sense of weariness that makes us lose interest in the adventure. As a result, the game’s lifespan is artificially inflated, whereas Black Myth Wukong would have been more enjoyable if it had offered a more compact experience, with a clear focus on narrative and a more subtle challenge.

Combat Masterclass

In addition to its visual appeal, Black Myth Wukong’s gameplay also impressed gamers with the flexibility and madness of its hero in combat. Black Myth Wukong’s gameplay was one of its major selling points: fluid, nervous, and particularly enjoyable. It’s true that the idea of experiencing a linear, single-player adventure while benefiting from a highly refined combat system was enough to make some people want to put Game Science’s title at the top of their wish list.

With the controller in hand, we were already very convinced by Black Myth Wukong’s proposition, and the revelation of previously unknown mechanics and the progressive mastery of the gameplay only confirmed our good impressions of it. In this area, the developers have multiplied their efforts to deliver a gameplay system that is certainly classic, yet generous and, above all, exhilarating.

There’s a skill tree for basic combat skills, another for different types of stances, a third for spells, and a final one for transformations. Starting from a simple base, Game Science has injected originality by relying on the flexibility and agility of its hero, his weapon of choice, and the fantastic and dark aspects of folklore. Given this generosity, there are plenty of ways to explore the gameplay and multiply your approaches, by choosing a stance rather than another, or a combination of spells, not to mention the fact that you can easily come back to these to experiment with other options, thanks to a points redistribution system.

Comparisons are not overused, but we could consider Black Myth Wukong to be an original formula based on a handful of influences, such as God of War, Stellar Blade, or Nioh. Instead of simply imitating its models, Black Myth Wukong tries to link each of its mechanics to its own universe. We rely on a limited choice of equipment and sets rather than giving in to the siren song of loot, relics bring additional comfort to combat and increase the customization of the Predestined tenfold, capturing Spirits expands the range of abilities available, transformations infuse variations into the combat style, and the gourd and add-ons system lets us manage the way our character regains health and protects himself.

On top of this, there are plenty of ways to boost certain stats, by favoring certain items or exchanging specific resources for a little boost (which can also be redistributed). As you’ll see, most of the time, face-to-face encounters with basic enemies pose no problem, but you shouldn’t take these mythological minions lightly, nor should you skimp on improving your Predestined. While you can use these moments to perfect your technique, boss battles are where you can really test your skills, with the developers going to great lengths to include a rich and varied bestiary, despite some bosses being re-used.

The most important point to remember is that each of them has its own style, and that it’s essential to identify their patterns and master the timing of their dodges if you want to get away without taking too many blows! Given the absence of any difficulty settings, Game Science has built the entire challenge of Black Myth Wukong around this principle. Overall, we can say that the difficulty is well-balanced, although we did occasionally find ourselves confronted with a few aberrant peaks and boss sequences where we faced a real challenge.

Having said that, it’s rare to find an attempt dragging on for too long, even when it comes to the major bosses. Most of the time, victory is within our grasp, so we keep moving forward despite the numerous obstacles along the way. At the end of the day, you’ll end up having experienced some powerful moments, enhanced by a staging that makes the whole thing even more epic. For the rest of us, especially those who like a challenge, you’ll often have to stray off the main path to discover what’s hidden in each chapter’s scenery.

And to wrap things up, for ultimate challenge fans, there are many secret zones containing special bosses. Once defeated, they offer artifacts, i.e. highly useful pieces of equipment that complete a gameplay that remains solid from A to Z, and for which we cannot really make any major criticisms.

Conclusion

must say we’d have been disappointed to miss out on this adventure. Featuring one of the most exhilarating gameplays of the last few years, Game Science’s title offers a well-balanced challenge that leaves us wanting more every time. Not so linear after all, the Predestined One’s journey would have been better served if it had been more concise, eliminating the more extensive sections and concentrating on the essentials. However, for this debut, the game lives up to its promises in terms of immersion, gameplay and entertainment, even if we found a lack of rhythm, redundant level design, and a few minor flaws to be a little disappointing. Black Myth Wukong’s creators have done their best: the formula isn’t perfect, but the chemistry works!