Four years after the announcement, Black Myth: Wukong is finally in the hands of critics, who have reviewed the third-person action RPG ahead of its August 20 release. The general consensus seems to be that while the upcoming game looks great and has some cool boss designs, it is buggy, too easy, and the combat is repetitive.
Black Myth: Wukong was first announced in 2020 via a short but impressive looking gameplay trailer. Since then, the hype surrounding the game has grown thanks to its sophisticated combat and great graphics. However, a IGN Report in 2023 claimed that some high-ranking individuals at Game Science, the studio behind the game, had participated in horrific online discussions about women and fostered a toxic culture at the studio.
This report has not stopped Black Myth: Wukong from becoming one of the most highly anticipated PS5 games of 2024. Strangely, no sockets (My city contain) received the console version of the game, so all reviews are for the PC version. This seems like a potential red flag to me, but we’ll have to wait and see how the PS5 plays when people get their hands on it.
Here is what other critics and authors say aboutt Black Myth: Wukong on the PC:
Black Myth: Wukong is a fantastic video game – and an amazing achievement from an indie studio. How Lies by P. last year and Nioh2 before, Black Myth: Wukong is a great example of how to combine Soulslike elements into something that feels fresh and original. It looks beautiful, has the best music of any game this year, and is presented with so much confidence and verve that it’s hard to fault it.
Wukong is one of the most enjoyable action RPGs I’ve ever played, simply because it treats its world and characters so lovingly and, by extension, because it clearly wants me to love them too. It worked: Aside from the hard-hitting combat, I found myself wanting to work my way through each area to meet another strange little creature with a mysterious task, or be attacked by another beast that’s learned MMA. In a world full of games about fallen kings and sad dragons, it’s delightful to play an action game that isn’t obsessed with being gritty, and where the best solution to the most grueling fights is to use as many fun skills as possible.
In a year with the enormous Elden Ring: Shadow of the Earth Tree DLC, I never thought I’d be playing a game that goes in such a completely different direction and yet still manages to reach similar heights, even if it lacks the sheer scope and complexity of the build as FromSoftware’s masterpiece.
Wukong is a beast all its own and if it has to be called a Soulslike then I think we need to come up with a new definition. There is nothing else like it.
Do I feel like the game is unfinished? In large parts, yes, but at least as far as the story goes, no. I was happy with how the story ended…but I can’t shake the many lingering frustrations I had on the journey to the end.
A game with ups and downs like this is, as I have stated throughout the review, frustrating. I can see Somewhere this game deserves a 10/10, but numerous questionable level and game design decisions combined with a ton of performance issues and bugs unfortunately drag it down. Black Myth: Wukong is a beautiful, dark and fascinating story to witness – you just have to fight your way through a forest of problems to enjoy it.
Black Myth: Wukong is a stunning game, but it lacks exploration and the combat is mostly OK. It’s just a bit boring and I don’t expect the game to keep me engaged for long after I finish it.
As GameScience’s first action game Black Myth: Wukong is, for the most part, a huge success, despite some serious technical flaws and localization issues that will likely cause some frustration at launch.
The combat is fantastic thanks to a great balance of careful resource management and lightning-fast, responsive gameplay that tested my skills, Fire ring ever, although it is a more traditional action game than FromSoftware’s style. On top of that, there are plenty of exciting boss battles, a wide variety of enemies, and the world they inhabit is an absolute treat for the eyes and ears.
The story has its moments, but it relies a bit too much on prior knowledge of the events of Journey to the West, and it really could have used a map to make the rewarding exploration match the strength of the combat. Still, its strengths are more than compelling and make Black Myth: Wukong a great action game that could be even better if GameScience could iron out the bugs.
I loved Black Myth: Wukong for the first two chapters, but recurring annoyances and some tedious sections started to wear me down about halfway through. The combat adds to the experience, the story is interesting if too fragmented to keep me on the edge of my seat, and the world is a wonderful place.
It’s exciting to see such a rich setting, which has gone largely unused in games, treated with obvious love and care in an action RPG of this scale. Despite some frustrations, Black Myth: Wukong feels great and has a strong ending – so strong that I almost want to give New Game Plus a try, if only to find even more things I missed.
Black Myth: Wukong is definitely not a Souls-like. What I didn’t expect was that it is essentially a drawn-out boss rush. It’s not uncommon to go from one boss fight to the next and then the next, and in these elaborate fights Black Myth: Wukong shines. The moments in between are not quite as strong, however, and sometimes degenerate into aimless boredom. But its satisfying combat and unique variety of boss fights can largely make up for these shortcomings.
Black Myth: Wukong is a game that avoids the Soulslike label, but still clearly targets the Soulslike audience. It is far from the best of the genre, but it is also not the worst game released in Dark Souls‘ steps.
If you go into it expecting a mostly standard Soulslike experience with some bloodthirsty boss encounters and simple level design, you’ll have more fun than if you go into it expecting a traditional character action game.
Black Myth: Wukong offers around 30 hours of gameplay on the first playthrough and plenty of side content to discover. However, many will tire of the limited combat options long before they reach the dazzling and equally annoying final boss fight.
