It seems that Black Myth: Wukong will join the ranks of exceptional soul-like games not developed by FromSoftware, the genre’s pioneer. Black Myth: Wukong will undoubtedly appeal to the souls-like audience thanks to its focus on boss fights. Scoring it a 3/5, Dalton writes: “Black Myth: Wukong is a game that shies away from the Soulslike label, yet it is clearly gunning for the Soulslike audience. While there are certainly elements of the classic FromSoftware-like formula to be found (down to the places of rest that will revive most enemies), the combat itself is much more forgiving than any soulslike I have tried.
On top of that, the mission objectives in each chapter are not all that enjoyable, and the clear path forward can be hard to discern. I mean, the beat ’em-up parts can’t be that good that they make up for the rest of the game can they? Compared to other Soulslike games, I can’t say if magic-focused or transformation-focused builds would be workable in practice. While that may be disappointing for hardcore souls-like fans, Black Myth: Wukong also encourages the player to figure out how a boss moves and attacks while integrating certain core mechanics often found in souls-like titles.
However, it does lack an interconnected level design, a core element of the genre that lets the player explore and find shortcuts as a reward. But the lack of a map often renders the exploration a bit frustrating, say the critics. Again, based on the reviews, the developer seems to have achieved its objective despite being criticized for the game’s level design and the lack of a map. But the final piece of the puzzle in the buildup to a game’s release is, of course, the review scores.
” Then came the final chapter, which introduced an entirely new mechanic to traverse the chapter. Pulling off the big comeback or, heartbreakingly, dying before you land the final blow. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site’s Terms of Service. As a Filipino, I consider myself more of a Romance of the Three Kingdoms buff, though I briefly read Journey to the West ages ago during my high school years. If you’re unaware, Black Myth: Wukong is more or less a sequel to Wu Cheng’en’s seminal Chinese novel Journey to the West.
For Black Myth: Wukong, those are finally in, and they paint a promising picture of Game Science’s take on the Journey to the West. Black Myth: Wukong’s story isn’t anything to write home about: The Destined One never speaks, wading through Chinese myth like a staff-wielding grim reaper, and the characters he encounters, while beautifully animated and extremely well-voiced, don’t often get enough screen time to make much of an impact.
While Black Myth: Wukong isn’t an easy game by any means, you often have a large variety of tools at your disposal. That isn’t to say they were easy-some of them I was down to my last healing item and out of mana-but others I did away with in a surprisingly brisk fashion. You step into the shoes of The Destined One, a monkey who is seeking out the six relics of Wukong. So I hope you’ll believe me when I tell you I wish I liked Black Myth: Wukong more than I do. Black Myth: Wukong is sitting on a pretty solid score of 88 on OpenCritic, followed by 83 on Metacritic.
Black Myth: Wukong is by all means an ambitious title for a studio’s first project, and for the most part, it succeeds in aiming high. While it’s often described as soul-like, Black Myth: Wukong appears to play more like a traditional action–adventure game rather than solely focusing on the soul-like framework. If you are someone who misses the experience of playing a cinematic video game that makes you truly feel like you are in an action-adventure movie, get the game. I was very curious to see how it would feel on Steam Deck assuming it even ran there. But it’s also dragged down by a lot of little annoyances and it takes an awful long time to get to that point, and I wouldn’t blame you if you’d dropped off long before you see the best of what Wukong has to offer.
I remember seeing the first trailer for Black Myth: Wukong and getting so excited for it. I wasn’t overly familiar with the novel prior to playing Black Myth: Wukong, which was a bit of a problem. Tweak to Shadow Realm blessing really makes things a bit easier to manage early on.
