Black Myth: Wukong | Review

Developer: Game Science

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Mode: Single-player video game

License: proprietary license

Genres: Action role-playing game, Adventure game, Fighting game, Adventure

Publisher: Game Science

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!

Key Takeaways

• Chinese Mythology
• GOTY Contender
• Stuttering and a few crashes (Playstation 5)
• Linear story
• Lots of build and depth variety
• Huge list of varied bosses
• Plenty of important side quests
• Exploration rewarded
• Great music
• Performance mode was solid on Playstation 5
• Amazing gameplay
• Zhu Bajie is GOAT!
• Reminds me of old school and new school God of War
• Armor and weapon crafting
• Various and useful spells
• Buffs and debuffs mechanics
• Spirits are useful
• Loved my Spell Bind crit build
• Somersault Cloud is awesome
• Challenging Bosses as game progresses
• Loved Spell Bind
• NG+
• Thirty hour campaign with all side content
• Single player

Introduction

Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG that loosely tells the tale of the The Forbidden West which is steeped in Chinese Mythology. Think God of War and it’s take on Greek Mythology than you will have a grasp on Black Myth: Wukong.

Black Myth: Wukong is not a Souls-like and thank god for that as I like to play different kinds of video games. In my opinion Black Myth: Wukong is actually more like God of War 2018 and at times more challenging than many Souls-Like games I played.

After playing through Black Myth: Wukong on my Playstation 5 in my opinion we as gamers need more Chinese single player AAA video games to play if they are on par with Black Myth: Wukong’s presentation. It’s a side of gaming I after forty years in the hobby haven’t seen much of and would like to experience more.

Presentation

So I played Black Myth: Wukong on my Playstation 5 99% of the time in performance mode which for the most part was pretty good. At times, over my playthrough the game did crash three times. Other times during certain intense combat sequences the game stuttered using A Pluck of Many spell.

I disliked the Balance or Quality modes as they seem to have bad framerates. Granted I played this on day one without patches. Other than the few technical issues here and there the game was brilliant in it’s presentation.

Black Myth: Wukong is the Chinese mythological version of God of War is to Greek mythology if there ever was one. Black Myth features some insanely dazzling boss fights. Scratch that, not “some” but many dozens of brilliant boss encounters.

The presentation created by Game Science for their first triple AAA title rivals some of the best the west have put out recently which speaks volumes. Now granted Black Myth: Wukong isn’t perfect but it is as grandiose as any AAA game I played in 2024, just sayin.

Story

You play as The Destined One, a mute ape who must travel the treacherous mountains to reunite with yourself in Sun Wukong. Black Myth: Wukong is loosely told as the “Journey to the West” a 16th century novel written during the Ming Dynasty era in China.

The story has a linear vibe to it which is straight forward. Even with over hundreds of names of characters, enemies, NPCs and friends of the Destined One I was able to easily follow it’s story.

The story basically goes Sun Wukong attacks the Celestial Court at the game’s start. Erlang imprisons Sun Wukong in stone. Years into the future where you play as the mute Destined One who then must reach Sun Wukong’s birthstone.

There are no real surprises, twists or turns story-wise in Black Myth: Wukong. It’s linear and not much of a focus in my opinion. I loved The Destined one’s sidekick Zhy Bajie. I thought he fleshed out the story. After completing chapters you are treated to a lengthily cutscenes fleshing out story aspects which were nice.

Gameplay

Gameplay is basically hit, dodge use spells to build up focus to unleash a massive focus attack which stacks up to four levels. It’s the basic gameplay structure with many layers and builds featuring gameplay mechanics surrounding it.

Weapons and armors are upgraded through materials and at times accessible through completing specific questlines. For instance one of my favorite builds in Black Myth: Wukong is the Spell Bind critical build. You have to complete a Treasure Hunter’s questline to get Spell Bind during Chapter 3.

Another Side Quest is unlocking the Zodiac Village which acts as the main hub for all of Black Myth’s merchants where you guy medicine, upgrade armor and gourds which are essential.

Uncommon to legendary levels of gear and loot are in Black Myth. The action is fast paced where your only main are a staff, dodge and spells which gets very intense and challenging as the game’s story progresses.

This isn’t a boss rush mode game. The people who said this are full of shit or ignorant. You can easily put over thirty hours on your first playthrough doing all side content in Black Myth: Wukong. Exploring maps are rewarding and fast travel useful.

The greatest gameplay mechanic in this action RPG that you can respec all abilities/skills on the fly at Keeper Shrines as you will need to defeat every boss. I loved my Spell Bind crit build but would often have to use a Cloud Step build to beat certain bosses.

Defeating specific enemies nets you their “spirit” which uses Qi along with specific abilities while equipped but also does a one time attack on enemies. There are so many buffs and debuff gameplay mechanics in this game that you can figure out how to defeat any boss.

So, yea, gameplay is probably Black Myth: Wukong’s biggest strength. It’s dazzling, fun, layered and challenging in a fair way most of the time lol. Also, there really isn’t a true parry or block mechanic like in Souls-Likes so be warned.

In Chapter 6, you get the Somersault Cloud after defeating the Supreme Inspector which let’s you ride a cloud around all of Mount Auguo which was amazing and pissed me off a little.

Like why not build the game around this mechanic. Rhetorical. It would make the game super fast and easy to complete but an awesome travel mechanic nonetheless. If you’re a gameplay gamer you won’t be disappointed in Black Myth: Wukong other than with a few hit boxes in regard to certain bosses.

Visuals | Performance

Black Myth: Wukong is stunningly beautiful steeped in Chinese Lore. I played this in performance mode on my Playstation 5 and wasn’t disappointed by the visuals or art one bit. Great facial animation for Yagaui, mythical creatures and gods looked amazing.

Asides from the occasional stuttering when I used A Pluck of Many the game ran like butter at a solid framerate. Using Somersault Cloud did expose pop-in on occasion. Black Myth: Wukong is Game Science’s first AAA game and it’s one of the most visually impressive games to date.

Sound | Music

The music that stuck with me was the Headless Monk who would sing these Chinese folklore songs during cutscenes while playing on Chapter 2. The music during each end of chapter cutscenes was memorable. I’m shocked the music was so good in Black Myth: Wukong. Usually music doesn’t stick with me in video games.