Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game that closely follows the events of Wu Cheng’en’s seminal novel Journey to the West. The work, based on Chinese mythology and Buddhist folklore, follows a monk who encounters a spirit called Sun Wukong, often referred to as the Monkey King, during his search for sacred religious texts. Although its main narrative is still unknown, Game Science’s upcoming Soulslike chronicles Wukong’s encounters with the Yaoguai, various creatures and demons in Chinese myth, set among stunning Eastern landscapes.
My hands-on begins at the foot of the summit of Black Wind Mountain, in a place called the Forest of the Wolves, populated by rich greenery, alpine trees, and all manner of weathered stones and shrines. The path to the top is guarded by scattered groups of foxes and wolf-like humanoids who use axes, shields and bows. While these enemies aren’t challenging, they serve as great punching bags for learning combat fundamentals like dodging, charged staff techniques, and early spells like Immobilize, which freezes enemies in place for a rush attack opportunity.
Black Myth: Wukong Release Date Trailer:
Wukong’s primary weapon is the bō staff, referred to as the Ruyi Jingu Bang in the inspirational literature, which he can shrink to the size of a needle to keep in his ear. The Monkey King commands an arsenal of weapon combinations, including the ability to charge Jingu Bang to merge focus points, allowing him to unleash bright heavy blows. While you can’t store the focus points you gain by charging his weapon—Wukong automatically attacks when you release the button—you i can store focus points to use later in the battle by dealing enough light attacks to the enemy. Learning the bloom times of these weapons and how to use them alongside your growing library of mystical spells is critical to success against large opponents such as the game’s many bosses.
Although Wolf Forest has at least half a dozen optional and mandatory bosses, I spend my time challenging two of its more difficult opponents. The first is a fire spear wolf named Guangzhi who throws me down and overwhelms me with flamebending punches and kicks. After defeating him on my fourth try, which I managed to do by relying on waiting for my immobilize spell, Guangzhi drops his twin-tipped spear called Red Tides, which goes into one of Wukong’s empty spell slots instead of replaced his magic staff. Upon activating the ability, Wukong instantly transforms into the wolf I just defeated, allowing me to use the boss’ fire powers to inflict Scorch Bane, a status effect that sets enemies on fire and deals damage over time. It should be noted that Wukong’s health pool is separate from the Yaoguai he embodies, making this new ability a great tactic to use at low health against the voracious bosses of Black Wind Mountain.
I run past another optional boss—a giant humanoid with a disproportionate golden head—and maneuver up a bamboo-strewn mountain ridge, finally arriving at my destination: Guanyin Temple, home to Lingxuzi, a dog the size of a building assigned by a mysterious a character known as the Black Wind King. The towering white wolf leaps into the air, prowling the entire arena in a few seconds, and tastes my blood after a swift strike. As Lingxuzi licks his lips, I freeze him in place and launch a flurry of light attacks and focused heavy strikes. Of course, this is Soulslike, so I end up dying a few times, slowly memorizing Yaoguai’s moves and tactics over about five tries. When I finally triumph, I equip a rare wolf mask that I loot from Lingxuzi’s corpse, giving me a damage boost against critically wounded enemies.
Black Myth: Wukong looks to present a fascinating world of striking character design, skill-intensive boss battles, and gorgeous environments. I’m looking forward to the game’s release, not only for its excellent combat and promising character building, but also to experience its take on the famous Chinese folk tale.
