Although until that moment it had only made games for mobile platforms, the Chinese company Game Science announced in 2020 that it was developing a major AAA title for “serious” platforms based on a famous novel from their culture called Journey to the West. As is usually the case with the first kitten thrown into the water, expectations were not high, however, with more than four years of work invested in this title, the hype among the audience continued to grow even before its release and the question began to arise: What if this game is actually a hidden gem that will put China on the stage of the gaming industry?
Ladies and gentlemen, today on the menu is a game that has been talked about a lot lately because it has broken all possible sales records on Steam, the Chinese monkey Black Myth: Wukong! From the moment it was released, Wukong literally stormed Steam and thanks to the great interest of the Chinese market it broke sales records for hours on the first day itself, however, we are not here to talk about the financial success of this studio that has sailed into some new, very deep waters, but about the game itself and everything it offers us.
To be clear, Black Myth: Wukong is undoubtedly a Souls-like game. Although it reminds me of the famous God of War from the very first moment, it is impossible not to feel the influence of the title from the studio From Software and not to draw similarities with Elden Ring or any other Souls game. Yes, Black Myth Wukong is very easy to play, but there are still many challenges waiting for you and not everyone will be able to overcome it. Unlike the Souls games, the story in Wukong is much more straightforward and we can understand a lot by focusing on the main plot. Although in the first chapters I struggled to understand everything presented and understand all the details, from the third part the story becomes much clearer and it is a pleasure to listen to the wild boar named Zhu Baji as he informs us of his past. And many details about Wukong himself. By the way, the main character of this game is not the famous monkey Sun Wukong, it is another primate named “The Destined One” who dared to embark on a journey in search of the soul of the legend of his race. To retrieve it and discover many answers, the mute monkey must find six sacred relics and a journey from hot deserts to snowy mountains awaits him, which is a huge step towards the monkey’s highest goal.
Note: The game has multiple endings and you need to pay attention to the side quests to get the “better” ending! Besides the story, another fantastic thing in Black Myth: Wukong is the absolutely beautiful setting that evokes everything that Chinese mythology and culture represent. While I can’t say that the gameplay is anything we haven’t seen before, the atmosphere, music, mythical creatures and a bunch of Buddhist temples make this game special and players can easily immerse themselves as if they are really there where the story takes them. They, and all of them have to be added and perfect graphics! Black Moth: Wukong is the first real AAA game built on the Unreal Engine 5 platform and the visual part of the title turned out to be absolutely perfect, whether it’s a forest with lots of shadows, a mountain peak or a dungeon lit by a weak lantern. Most importantly, the game is not gaudy, but the color gradation is very natural!
As for the gameplay, the game reminds me the most of God of War because the character development system is almost identical, however it also includes the absence of a map and, above all, elements similar to Souls. Lack of difficulty settings. A story like Elden Ring, if the game is too difficult for you, get better!
Now, an even bigger problem is that the bosses are not consistently difficult, so over time they become more difficult as the player develops. Well, in Black Myth: Wukong, you get to a minor boss and there are two hours of life left, while you kill the main boss in the chapter within 10 minutes. Also, there are a lot of bosses in the game. I assume that the author’s desire was to penetrate all possible creatures of Chinese mythology, so the game eventually turned into a difficult boss rush. Although this increases the challenge of the game and therefore the number of hours it takes to complete it, such a large number weakened the story and significantly spoiled my impression of the first two parts, however, the game improves over time. Anyone who passes the first third and continues to play will have a good time until the end!
As for the lack of a map, the game is quite linear so it is often not needed, however in some parts it is very confusing where to go and a better guide than a firecracker that flies in all directions would be useful. Yes, there are checkpoints where we can rest and make the necessary upgrades, but we only get navigation to them when we are very close and when there are no living enemies nearby.
The main part of Black Maw: Wukong is the combat, and I must admit that it is very good. Although we only have a famous pole as a weapon and no scope for any type of attack and we have to jump like young monkeys and dodge everything, there are also a lot of magic and spirits of different types and purposes: from purely defensive. Such as scaring ourselves and a ring of fire that is used for healing, to freezing enemies, to doing complete transformations and creating 5 more simulated monkeys to beat us with sticks, nothing is richer. The best thing is that we can choose which combination of magic suits us, we have four types and we can use one of each, and according to this choice we can choose what we will prepare.
When it comes to progression, the character progresses by earning skill points called Sparks that we spend on the item we want to improve, but also by crafting armor, a pole, and potions that we drink from a flask to heal ourselves. Overall, the character development is excellent compared to the God of War series because we have built Kratos’ skills in the same way. The only thing I miss is the multiple combos we have now, but in Wukong I find the healing and potion system much more interesting.
Apart from the lack of a map, the only major complaint I have about the game are the invisible walls. In order to follow the path indicated by the authors, any attempt to change the path will end with a block that says “You will not be able to go any further”, which makes life much more difficult in some sections, especially when it comes to climbing. There are no rules to climbing, we jump and try to climb, and if we succeed, we succeed.