Black Myth: Wukong

So far, Black Myth: Wukong is a game that I'm really wanting to like, but sometimes it feels like it's fighting against me. I'm loving its visuals, which make exploring each environment feel somewhat magical, and I'm mostly enjoying its combat until I come up against an enemy or situation that feels somewhat unfair. Elsewhere there are other issues. And so, while I'm keen to continue playing and see the Destined One's journey to an end, I'm prepared for bumps in the road along the way. [Review in Progress]

Black Myth: Wukong is a game trying to please two very specific crowds. Both will end up doing extra homework to get to the goods in Black Myth: Wukong at every turn, and the game is doing itself no favors by leaving pages out of the textbook. It’s left being big and ostentatious for bigness and ostentatiousness’ sake, when the most exquisite things in it are small, quiet, thoughtful and dream-like. It’s a game whose art is at war with itself, which is awful ironic since Sun Wukong’s whole arc in Journey to the West involves letting go of delusions of grandeur beyond his reach, and living a life of service, meaning, and ego-less contemplation. But, again, there’s not much we can say about how the game handles that. It’s a damn shame. There’s not nearly as much worth saying otherwise. But, so be it. Black Myth: Wukong can just be another forgettable also-ran in a crowded genre. There is nothing else gamers need to hear.

All in all, Black Myth: Wukong is an astounding triumph, one that blends a story celebrating Chinese and other East Asian cultures with an original retelling that has resonant themes, all complemented by spectacular design and exhilarating combat. While the narrative is confusing at first — as I can personally attest to — it nonetheless encourages you to embrace that sense of strangeness and wonder as you venture into distant lands, much like a certain journey written centuries ago that has stood the test of time.

Black Myth: Wukong is a triumph. A surprising triumph in the sense that I can't quite believe it's as good as its drip feed of screens and trailers looked over the last few years. It's a generous Soulsy adventure hybrid that works within its limitations and delivers a beautiful challenge to be unpicked with a magical toolbox. Arguably, I'd say Black Myth's world sucked me in more than Elden Ring and Lies Of P, probably more so than anything I've played in ages! This is Game Science bursting onto the scene and saying: "You've got competition". And hey, I'm listening. You should be, too.

Playing Wukong felt like those middle episodes of a Chinese drama when the plot is spinning its wheels on the same conflict between the heroine and her evil stepmother / empress / sister / concubine. Nothing’s happening, but it’s still too damn pretty to put down.