Review – Black Myth: Wukong

Released on August 19, 2024, by the Chinese developer Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is one of the finest explorations of the mythology from the 1592 Chinese novel Journey to the West. Many other references and adaptations of the story have been seen in the entertainment industry. Cartoons, movies, and other games have adapted characters and events from the novel, but few have reached the level presented by the Chinese company.

Gameplay

To start, I need to praise: Black Myth: Wukong has refined gameplay. Initially, I was worried it might become tedious, but it proved otherwise as I played, increasingly eager to face the bosses, which are one of the game's highlights. It features sensational battles that often had me completely immersed and focused, feeling like I was in the character’s shoes facing various opponents. The standout moments are the final fights, which, besides being extremely challenging, impress you with every new attack a boss uses.

Don’t get me wrong; the game has many bosses. This means that not all of them are of the same quality, which is true. Some do end up feeling repetitive (though not to the extent seen in Elden Ring, for example), and at times, you'll face bosses in quick succession.

A good number of these many bosses, especially the non-main ones, turn out to be fights you can win on your first attempt. This helps maintain the flow of the game, though they are still not easy and will require concentration. However, it’s important to note that there are bosses with extremely high difficulty levels that will demand several attempts.

And for these many battles, the combat is precise and fluid, initially seeming a bit lacking in impact. But as you learn and level up, it gains depth and a very interesting variety of ways to approach an enemy, even The Fated One, having access to only one weapon and its various skins.

Graphics and optimization

As if the excellent gameplay weren't enough, the game also gets the visuals right. With beautiful graphics, Black Myth: Wukong uses the best of Unreal Engine 5 to achieve great visual fidelity, maintaining the engine's tradition of raising the bar in terms of graphics.

What doesn't come cheap is that the game is very heavy. I ran it with the optimized settings of Digital Foundry, in full HD with DLSS Quality (resolution at 68%). The overall experience was smooth, staying above 90fps most of the time with frame generation enabled. For your information, my setup has an RTX 4060ti, Ryzen 5600 and 32GB of RAM.

Another thing besides the weight that comes from the legacy of UE5, are the traversal stutter, small stutters that occur when moving from one area to another in the scenario, which unfortunately will happen to some degree on all hardware that runs this game... Some may say that the game is poorly optimized because of this, but I wouldn't go that far. The minimum graphics configuration covers a huge range of simpler parts, which are also well helped by the frame generation present for all hardware.

This doesn't mean it will be impossible to run if you have a simpler PC. It's worth testing because there's a good chance that by giving up graphic quality and resolution, you'll be able to run it too. The game has a free benchmark tool that you can download from Steam and test on your PC.

Chinese art and culture stand out

But the technical aspect of the visuals, in the modeling of characters, enemies and scenarios, would be useless if the artistic part does not have a good source of inspiration. And my friends, this game draws from a very rich source, Chinese folklore and all the mythology involved in the Journey to the West.

The soundtrack is exciting, it is not active 100% of the time, which ends up enhancing the moments that it does have. Using oriental instruments that vary from the simplest songs to large-scale orchestras in the most epic moments. The settings are very beautiful, with some murals and battles with a stunning look, which surprises especially those who are not familiar with this story.

A story that would be enough on its own, with curious and charismatic characters, and that still grows a lot if the player is interested in reading the descriptions and stories of the characters and enemies available in the diary. It is possible to take a deep dive into this mythology with the game.

But here's an observation: during my gameplay, I came across some texts that hadn't yet been translated into Portuguese, and even at the time I'm publishing this review, with the game's latest update, they're still untranslated, written only in English.

Not everything is a bed of roses

The lowest point of the game is certainly the invisible walls, which are numerous, and in every chapter, some are not at all obvious, in which it is impossible to tell that they are not a path but a wall, until you go up against them and cannot advance. There have been creative solutions in the industry for a long time to avoid this type of thing.

At times it seems as if the geography of the level design was done procedurally and then the developers came along and "closed" the scenario and added points of interest, architecture, etc. These walls, in addition to causing frustration by making you imagine that there is a path where there is none, can make things worse at times and increase the level of this frustration by throwing you back to the nearest sanctuary, with an unpleasant "You died" screen.

Invisible walls are present from the beginning, even on cliffs, which consistently prevent you from falling into them. However, in certain places the game decides that there will no longer be these walls preventing you from falling... And believe me, you will end up discovering where they do not exist in the abysses, and frustration will be certain.

Where the game slips

Apart from that, the exploration is confusing. At times, paths in different places are similar, which, at least for me, caused confusion when I tried to return to a place I had already been (and this happens quite often). I think the solution would not be a map, as I have seen some people point out, but rather a greater distinction between some locations in the same scenario. These negative points are present and will accompany you throughout the course of the story.

But none of this is enough to dull the shine of Black Myth: Wukong, which quickly grows again with its incredible combat, visuals and soundtrack.

Part of the best

Black Myth: Wukong is an excellent action-adventure title, and depending on who you ask, in the soulslike genre, although I personally don't think it's as close to souls as some say. It's one of the biggest releases of the year, and has already left its mark on the history of video games, being the single player with the highest number of simultaneous players ever seen on Steam, and overall only behind PUBG. It's certainly a recommendation for fans of the genre.

It's extensive, with a great replayability factor, but it's also capable of satisfying more casual players, with a tight and very satisfying adventure. With attention to detail, it has differences that you won't find anywhere else at this level, and it definitely makes it stand out in the current industry. It's made with a lot of love by its developers, which is reflected in the players' experience.

And well, it's my kind of game, it speaks to my personal tastes, although it doesn't surpass the best I've played in this style. At various times, it felt like it was made for me. Black Myth: Wukong has made me very happy for two playthroughs already, and it will probably do so for a few more.

Games mentioned

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Black Myth: Wukong

PS5, WIN

Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game, developed and published by Game Science in 2024. The game is inspired by the Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West, following the plot of the anthropomorphic monkey based on the character Sun Wukong from the story.