Black Myth Wukong for PC and the Playstation 5 appears to be an enriching and challenging experience for gamers searching for a thrill. The game starts with a bombastic cinematic detailing Chinese folklore and the war between gods and the monkey king. The story slowly continues as we learn of the monkey king’s demise and resurrection into our protagonist, who is set to revive his original incarnation.
Combat is fast, impact-heavy and comparable to a beat-em-up style game at times. I have heard the term souls-like thrown about in the discourse revolving around this game, though in earnest, the game is more of a hybrid between something we would see in a title like Devil May Cry and Dark Souls. The combat is comprised of basic attacks and heavy attacks. Heavy attacks rely upon a meter’s build-up and a sphere’s expenditure. The types of heavy attacks you can do depend upon where you’ve spent skill points. Various skill points will earn you a defensive perch on your polearm, a smash attack or my personal favorite, an evasive pole thrust.
I’ve spent several hours traveling the Forest of Wolves and Black Wind Mountain, and now I’m into the desert bits of chapter two. Beginning the game, I was met with spikes of hard difficulty almost immediately. The game is not for those with low patience. You will die, again and again, until you’ve mastered some of the tougher fight patterns. I’ve seen the argument in gaming that a game with a high difficulty ceiling can only be as enjoyable as much as it is exciting and engaging. I find this to be the case with Wukong. The battles are extravagant in spectacle, from fighting anthropomorphic creatures wielding ancient Chinese weaponry to four-legged behemoths such as the final boss of Forest of Wolves.
Speaking of extravagant, graphically, the game looks phenomenal. I played in performance mode on my PS5. I have also tested quality and balanced mode, though I would consider them unplayable for a game of this style due to the reduced frames per second. Lastly, I would like to remark on the environments; while the game is not an adventure game, the emphasis on inhabited environments is clear, from lush forests to temples, pagodas and desolate desert cities. The details are impressive, and specific set pieces highlight the power of this unreal Engine Five title.
I want to detail the difficulty. Having completed the first chapter of the game, roughly 28%, it has proven to me that it is no slouch. The game becomes increasingly difficult with every boss encounter. One boss that tested my patience was the White Clad Nobel, a sharply dressed serpent deity not unlike Poseidon. This challenge took me multiple days to complete, and even after having beaten him, he revealed to have a second, more ferocious form. I thought the developers had been playing some joke.
Completing this particular challenge took level grinding, revisiting areas I’d visited before, crafting new equipment, challenging Yaoguai, defeating optional bosses and obtaining their abilities. All so that I could defeat this one foe. The moment of my victory was triumphant, though short-lived in this world of constant combat. While I had difficulties with the game in the first chapter, I learned that the community consensus surrounding Wukong is that the game is not considered exceedingly difficult. However, having little experience with this game style proves challenging for those willing to look within. I both dread and anticipate the thrill of the next battle.
