Black Myth: Wukong Preview – A Journey To The Unknown

Black Myth: Wukong has been on my radar ever since I first saw the jaw-dropping first trailer. As a fan of challenging action games and a sucker for visuals, it was checking all the boxes for me. Developed by Chinese studio Game Science , Black Myth: Wukong is a retelling of the classic 16th-century novel Journey to the West . You play Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King, on an epic quest filled with gods, demons, and fantastical creatures, and it is absolutely breathtaking.

For those unfamiliar with the story of Journey to the West , it is considered one of the most influential works of Chinese literature, and Sun Wukong is an iconic character. Born from a magic stone, he gains incredible powers and even challenges Heaven itself. After being imprisoned by the Buddha, he joins the monk Xuanzang on a quest for sacred scriptures, battling demons and gods along the way. I have read some of the stories and enjoyed a lot of media based on the core fable (looking at you, Dragon Ball ), but what Game Science does here is a much more faithful and loving telling.

To put it bluntly, Black Myth: Wukong is one of the best-looking games I’ve ever played. Built on Unreal Engine 5 , the environments are lush and detailed, from misty forests to snow-capped mountains to ancient temples. The character models, especially the various beasts and demons that Wukong battles, are intricately designed and beautifully animated, bringing the many creatures to life in a way I have never seen before. Running the game on a high-rez display with ray tracing is a visual feast, one that, from the first scene involving a peace, I could not believe I was playing a game and not just watching the latest big-budget CGI movie.

It is clear that the creators love the source material and are making the game with care in every aspect they bring to the game. From the way you experience the world to the many bosses and creatures you encounter, Black Myth: Wukong wears its inspiration on its sleeve, helping to bring the mythical and wondrous world to life in amazing ways.

“To put it bluntly, Black Myth: Wukong is one of the best-looking games I’ve ever played.”

While Black Myth: Wukong may have captured my attention with its visuals and story, I stayed for the gameplay, which is simply fantastic. Wukong primarily fights with his iconic magic staff that can extend and shrink at will. He can quickly chain together light and heavy attacks in different stances—Smash, Thrust, and Pillar. Having only unlocked one additional stance during my two-hour play session, I am intrigued to see how these all play into the overall gameplay, but more on that in a bit.

The Smash stance is where you start the game and is all about combining light and heavy attacks to take down your enemies quickly. It is incredibly fluid, and if you have played any Souls-like games in the past, you will feel right at home in Sun Wukong’s shoes. Now, this is not to say that the game is easy; while you can make short work of the many basic enemies you will encounter, many stronger enemies will require much more work and actual skill to make a dent.

“From the way you experience the world to the many bosses and creatures you encounter, Black Myth: Wukong wears its inspiration on its sleeve…”

I cannot stress enough how important each skill in your arsenal is to the game. While you can mash your way through the first few creatures, once you get to a boss, you need to know how the game works and master dogging, attacking and learning the patterns to have any hope of winning. I will admit I got cocky early on in the demo, but once I fought a boss, that level of confidence quickly drained, and I was forced to learn the timing and skills and work on my experience level to have any hope of taking anything down.

Much like Dark Souls or Elden Ring , Black Myth: Wukong is a game that rewards persistence and patience and feels incredibly rewarding as you learn the many entireties of the game. Even though the game can be incredibly challenging, it is never unfair, and you will have all the tools you need to take down any enemy when you first walk in; they can seem impossible. I can not describe how excited I was when the game finally clicked, and I managed to take on the bigger bosses and actually win without using all my healing items or getting frustrated halfway through.

The sense of accomplishment translates into learning more skills and stances and being able to combine them. I liked how it worked when I finally unlocked the Pillar Stance. It was incredibly useful in some fights and added a new level of challenge as I progressed in the game. It allows you to sit on the staff and bring it down on enemies. As I mentioned before, dodging is also a key part of combat. Perfect timing can be the difference between winning and losing, but the Pillar Stance adds a new challenge to the mix and gives you more options when you find yourself in more challenging fights.

Based on my hands-on preview, the combat feels as good as it looks, with a responsive, weighty, and satisfying feel that I immediately found myself comparing to Sekiro and Bloodborne , though it felt different in many notable ways. It all comes down to how the game approaches challenges and the degree to which it punishes the player.

And while it is difficult, Black Myth: Wukong feels more balanced than some other Soulslikes. This is not to say that it is easy by any means, but it scaffolds the player in a way that no boss or enemy ever feels impossible. It may be difficult, but if you take the time, you will be able to take on anything. As someone who loves a good challenge but doesn’t want to spend hours banging my head against a boss, that’s music to my ears.

Wukong has a lot more up his furry sleeve than just melee combat. He can wield elemental magic and even shape-shift into various creatures like a cicada or a hulking beast. One really cool ability allows you to take the form of enemies you defeat and use their weapons. This may sound like a minor new ability on paper, but in practice, it can be a game changer. Not only does it allow you to take on the role of one of the enemies you have defeated, but it also gives you a whole new health bar, which adds to the challenge and proves invaluable in later fights.

I could see people comparing Black Myth: Wukong to the Souls series, and while that is fair in some respects, the open world is not one of them. This game is a much more linear affair, and while it will not feature fully open-world environments, it will feature large, visually distinct areas to explore, such as forests filled with fallen Buddha statues, ruined temples, and cliffs, all of which have a unique feel to them that feels lifelike and rich in story. As you explore the world, you will find Shrines. These points on the map act as checkpoints and places to equip spells and abilities, adding some light RPG customization to your play style.

As with anything like this, I’m tempering my expectations a bit since Black Myth: Wukong is the studio’s first game. But everything I’ve seen so far, from the jaw-dropping visuals to the stylish combat to the rich world based on Journey to the West , has me counting down the days until it’s released. If Game Science can deliver on the potential shown so far, Black Myth: Wukong could be a legendary action RPG that provides a refreshing take on the Soulslike genre.