A Mythical Action RPG That Delivers
Journey to the West is a Chinese mythological novel that has had a major influence both within the country and abroad. It tells the tale of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s pilgrimage to India in search of Buddhist scriptures, and includes the exploits of Sun Wukong.
Wukong has directly inspired many stories in media, including one of the most popular anime characters of all-time; Son Goku from Dragon Ball Z. So it’s almost more surprising it took this long for a high-profile game to directly cover the story.
Developed by Game Science, a small team with only a couple of games behind them, Black Myth: Wukong was initially met with great skepticism. Vaporware games, or games that look too good to be true and often disappear without any release, have been a growing issue in recent years and the spectacular visuals and incredible looking gameplay shown by Black Myth: Wukong looked like it may be more of the same.
However, in 2024 the game was released on Playstation and showed the world it is in fact a real game. Now a year later it has made its way to Xbox, which means we finally get our hands on the game too.
The Gameplay Loop
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG boss rush that has a beautifully crafted world, an immersive story, fun combat, and balanced difficulty. It can be very challenging, but it never feels unfair. Despite looking like it could be a bit of a Soulslike, it is not. There is no progress loss upon death and any respec of skills is free, so it’s possible to try different abilities without any penalties.
In the game, you play as the Destined One, a monkey that descended from Sun Wukong who embarks on a journey to collect six relics, each of which represents one of Wukong’s senses. He collects these to resurrect Wukong who is sealed at the beginning of the game after defying the celestial court.
Focus, Combos, and Special Abilities
Combat is a bit different from other similar games since it does not include a block or parry mechanic. Attacks naturally chain into combos, there are several different weapon stances that affect the Destined One’s combat style, and an array of special abilities that set the combat apart from other games in the genre.
The lack of block or parry certainly takes getting used to, especially with how many games in recent years have adopted a parry system. I’m actually a fan of omitting these features, as parry systems naturally encourage playing reactively. I do love a good parry system, but right now there is no shortage of games that heavily push them, and it’s refreshing to play a game that isn’t built around deflecting attacks.
In the absence of a parry system, combat focuses on various abilities and combos. There is the classic chained combo attack, but it’s also possible to gain focus points throughout combat. A gauge will accumulate as you land hits and perform perfect dodges, granting focus points when it fills up. These can then be used to perform heavy attacks without needing to charge, or perform special moves that can be unlocked as the game progresses.
Monkey Business
Further into the game, the Destined One will have multiple focus points that can be used together for high damage combo attacks that can take a chunk out of any enemy’s health.
There are also multiple special abilities that greatly expand the Destined One’s combat capabilities. Highlights of this include the ability to freeze time for any enemy (including bosses), summoning multiple clones of the Destined One, and the ability to transform into specific bosses that are defeated throughout the game.
More abilities are available, but these are incredibly satisfying to use. The ability to freeze time feels like something that would be limited to only weak enemies, and in most games wouldn’t work on an area’s final bosses, but it can be used in virtually every combat situation throughout Black Myth: Wukong.
The transformation ability also works differently than in other contemporary games. When transformed, the transformation has its own health bar and a “might” bar. The might bar represents the time, or more accurately the stamina, left in the transformation. Attacks will deplete it quickly, but when not in use it is actually incredibly generous with the amount of time it gives the player.
Making multiple copies of the Destined One to fight together is obviously awesome and does not need to be explained. After all, monkey together strong.
The abilities make the Destined One feel strong. It’s understandable why this character is able to defeat these mythical beings, because he himself is one too. Difficulty is on the easier side, especially when compared to full-fledged Soulslike games. That said, there are a couple of bosses that do stand out as incredibly challenging, but the fights that challenged me the most were either optional or had secret plot lines that made them easier to complete.
Presentation and World Design
Black Myth: Wukong’s world is also gorgeous. The developers actually used a method called photogrammetry to create 3D models of real environments and place them in the game, and it shows. The settings are beautiful and varied, from lush green forests, to barren deserts, and snow-capped mountains; each chapter of the game shows a different environment, with new enemies and boss designs.
There are brief interludes between chapters as well which use different animation styles to tell a fable which relates back to the themes of the overall game and characters present. These often focus on hierarchy and greed, which are both prevalent in all aspects of Wukong’s story. These cutscenes at first feel a bit jarring as they switch from 3D rendering to 2D, as well as stop-motion animation. It can’t be denied the amount of heart and effort that went into creating these scenes as they expand on the lore of the game in visually unique and interesting ways.
Performance was a concern going into Black Myth: Wukong and I spent my time playing on performance mode on the Series X. For the most part, gameplay was smooth and there was minimal stuttering. The only times my game seemed to struggle was when I was running around areas looking for secrets or collectibles after having progressed through them already. During fights, though, everything played smoothly, and I can’t recall dying because of dropped frames or delayed input.
A Beautiful Adventure
I was thrilled with my time playing Black Myth: Wukong. Besides some slight performance issues and the difficulty maybe being a bit easier than expected, Black Myth: Wukong is consistently fun.
Its arrival on Xbox is certainly a welcome one, and if you have been waiting for a chance to play for yourself, now is the time.
Important Links
The Wait is OVER – Critically Acclaimed Black Myth: Wukong Finally Arrives on Xbox Series X|S! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-wait-is-over-critically-acclaimed-black-myth-wukong-finally-arrives-on-xbox-series-xs/
Black Myth: Wukong Finally Gets an Xbox Release Date, Arriving This August – https://www.thexboxhub.com/black-myth-wukong-finally-gets-an-xbox-release-date-arriving-this-august/
Buy Black Myth: Wukong on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/black-myth-wukong/9NWQ1Q1FR0C9/0010
Consider the Deluxe Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/black-myth-wukong-digital-deluxe-edition/9MV90FHCV6LZ/0010
