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.
Gameplay
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG with Soulslike elements. It is a single-player game played from a third-person perspective. The player controls a monkey protagonist known as the Destined One, based on Sun Wukong from the novel. The protagonist's weapon is a staff based on the Ruyi Jingu Bang from the novel.
The staff can extend and shrink in size during combat. The staff's three stances, which are the crushing stance, the pillar stance, and the thrusting stance, provide versatility in combat. Combat mechanics involve resource management. Focus can be accumulated by launching light attacks, executing well-timed dodges, and other means.
A focus point is gained when the focus gauge is filled. These points can be used to initiate a ranged combo, chained together with light attacks, or to charge up a heavy attack on its own. Stamina is depleted by sprinting, dodging, and attacking. Spells have a cooldown and consume mana. They are categorized into mysticism, alteration, thread, and transformations.
The protagonist uses transformations to transform into a different creature. One example is the Red Tides transformation, which takes the form of Guangzhi, a wolfman who wields a flaming glaive. Transformations come with their own movement and health. They are available on cooldown but do not cost mana, and last until their power, which is depleted by attacking, or their health runs out.
Spirits provide an ability and passive effect if equipped. Defeated yaoguai bosses may leave behind their spirits, which can be acquired by absorbing them into a gourd. Spirit abilities function like transformations to perform a unique attack. Qi is used to activate spirit abilities. An example of a spirit is the Wandering Wight, which performs a headbutt attack.
The game follows a mostly linear progression interspersed with explorable areas. There are guardian shrines, which act as checkpoints for the player, along the way. Throughout the world, the protagonist encounters various yaoguai as enemies. The game's difficulty cannot be changed by players, but it does not remain the same throughout the game.
Development history
The decision by Chinese company Game Science to make a single-player game was made in 2018. The development team moved from Shenzhen to Hangzhou in December of that year. They considered the cost of research and development high from the beginning of the project, so they did not have high expectations of profitability initially. However, they wanted to create a single-player game in their own style, focusing on traditional cultural themes. They discussed themes such as xianxia and wuxia, but were most excited about Journey to the West. Black Myth: Wukong was announced with a trailer showing gameplay in its pre-alpha version on August 20, 2020. The trailer demonstrated the game built on Unreal Engine 4, with the protagonist exploring the environment and fighting various enemies in a location known as Black Wind Mountain. Within a day, the trailer had almost two million views on YouTube and ten million views on the Chinese website Bilibili. Since Game Science's development team was small, the trailer was released to attract people to the studio to help produce the game. The team started with seven people and had thirty people at the time of the announcement. In the past, they had recruited from within their own personal network, but they realized that this would not be enough for the project. The popularity of the trailer far exceeded their expectations and resulted in over 10,000 applicants, but they stuck to their plan of hiring between ten and fifteen people so as not to expand too quickly and lose their original vision.
The project has migrated to Unreal Engine 5, a fact revealed via a trailer on August 20, 2021. Game Science explained that the change would help in their quest for realism.
When designing the environment, the team conducted on-site studies of various locations. They took scans of buildings and statues to recreate them or use them as a basis for the design. Several actors provided motion capture, which was used for different characters. Actor Yin Kai provided motion capture for the Destined One, among other characters. A martial artist, he noted that most of his actions were for the protagonist during combat.
The sound, including music and voices, was co-produced by 8082 Audio. The game features an adaptation of the theme song "Yungong Xunyin," composed by Xu Jingqing, from the 1986 television series Journey to the West. The end credits list over 140 people on the development team.
Black Myth: Wukong had a budget of $70 million over six years of development, as reported by Bloomberg. This was contributed in part by investor Hero Games. Producer Feng Ji revealed that they planned Wukong to be the first installment in a Black Myth series, which would explore different stories from Chinese mythology. The game has been internally called B1, which stands for Black Myth One, in reference to its status as the first in the series. They already have ideas for two more titles in the series. Hero Games' Daniel Wu confirmed that an expansion for the game is in the works.
Release
Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024. An Xbox Series X/S version is planned, with a release date yet to be announced.
In January 2023, Game Science released a promotional short film celebrating the upcoming Year of the Rabbit, which revealed that the game would be released in summer 2024. During The Game Awards in December 2023, a trailer announced the release date as August 20, 2024.
Black Myth: Wukong received four editions:
Digital Standard Edition: contains the base game.
Digital Deluxe Edition: additionally provides bonus in-game content and a selected digital soundtrack. The content consists of the Bronzecloud Staff weapon; the Folk Opera Mask, Folk Opera Almsgiving Armor, Folk Opera Leather Bracers, and Folk Opera Buskins equipment; and the curious Wind Chimes.
Deluxe Edition: Physical edition, comes with the collectible items Steel Case, The Constricting Headband, Chaos at the Peach Banquet (color print on silk parchment), Wind Chime (necklace), Thunderstone (ring), Gold Sun Crow (brooch), Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate.
Collector's Edition: Physical edition with Steel Case, Confront Destiny (protagonist figurine), Teaching of the Heart Sutra (color print on silk parchment), Wind Chime, Thunderstone, Gold Sun Crow, Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate.
Both physical versions include an activation code for the Digital Deluxe Edition on WeGame for purchases on JD.com, or on Steam for purchases overseas. A physical disc is not included with either edition. Game Science has stated that it is exploring options to offer physical discs, but limitations in offline resources have made it difficult to offer physical discs simultaneously with the release.
Black Myth: Wukong was the most wanted game on Steam in May 2024. Pre-orders for the game went live on June 8, 2024. This came with the in-game content Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd, which can also be earned through in-game progression.
As reported in early August, the game topped Steam's global best-seller chart. When pre-loads for the game went live shortly before launch, download bandwidth usage on Steam reached an all-time high of 70 terabytes per second, surpassing the previous record set by Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020.
Marketing partner Hero Games reportedly sent some content creators an email with an activation code and instructions not to discuss politics, "feminist agendas," COVID-19, and other topics in their coverage of the game at launch.
Xbox delay
In June 2024, it was revealed that the Xbox Series X/S version of the game was delayed to meet their quality standards. Reports suggested that this may be due to the technical limitations of the Xbox Series S; some sources suggested a memory leak on the Xbox as the possible issue.
IGN, however, reported that the delay was, according to an unnamed source, due to an exclusivity agreement with Sony and not due to technical issues. Microsoft responded that the delay was not due to the limitations of the Xbox, and Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb stated, after speaking with his sources, that Sony did not have any marketing agreements in place to keep the game exclusive.
Reception and legacy
Black Myth: Wukong received generally favorable reviews on PC and PlayStation 5 from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Nikkei Asia reported that Black Myth: Wukong marked a notable shift toward premium games and international audiences in the Chinese video game industry. During the pre-release, Soulframe Liang, director of Phantom Blade Zero, commented that if Black Myth: Wukong succeeds in both domestic and international markets, people would be confident about other games in his industry and that he thought it would indeed be a big hit.
The game’s popularity has managed to boost sales of the PlayStation 5, which has reached the top spot in video game hardware and had double the sales of the same period last year on Alibaba’s Tmall in the week leading up to the game’s release, for example, in the Chinese market. The game has led to a substantial increase in tourism to real-world locations of the game’s scenes. The character Fourth Sister has become a popular subject for cosplay on Bilibili, Douyin and other platforms.
The game won the "Best Visuals" award and was nominated for "Most Epic" at Gamescom 2023.
Plot
Após escoltar seu mestre Tang Sanzang e recuperar as escrituras budistas em uma perigosa peregrinação ao Ocidente, Sun Wukong ascende ao estado de Buda. No entanto, ele acaba por rejeitar a vida na Corte Celestial e escolhe se deleitar com as alegrias simples da vida no Monte Huaguo.
A Corte fica desconfiada de sua escolha de renunciar à vida superior e envia um exército liderado por Erlang para forçá-lo a se submeter à Corte. Sun Wukong duela com Erlang, mas é incapacitado pelo diadema que o prende à Corte e é selado em pedra. Antes de ser selado, Sun Wukong é separado de seus seis sentidos, cada um correspondendo a uma das seis relíquias espalhadas por toda a China.
Ao longo dos próximos séculos, os macacos do Monte Huaguo enviariam jovens guerreiros para recuperar as relíquias para reviver Sun Wukong. Um desses macacos, conhecido como O Predestinado, parte em sua busca para encontrar as relíquias.
Images
X-ray
- Development
- Game Science
- Production
- Feng Ji
- Players
- 1 (single-player)
- Genre
- Action RPG
- Characters
- Sun Wokong
Releases
PlayStation 5
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| Art | Title | Region | Date | Class. | UPC/EAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Myth: Wukong1 |  | 20th Aug, 2024 | - | |
| 1 Physical version is a case that includes a code to redeem a digital copy of the game. | |||||
