Black Myth: Wukong Review

by Cody Otto on September 11, 2025

15 views

We are seeing more developers from the mobile space breaking out into the AAA market as of late. Just this year we had the Korean Shift Up bringing the spectacular Stellar Blade , a studio well known for the titillating Goddess of Victory: Nikke . Now we have Game Science, a Chinese developer best known for the Art of War: Red Tides from nearly a decade ago, taking a swing at a single-player, story-based release. And what a way to introduce themselves to the market, <a href="https://www.Blackmythwukongtalk.com">Www.Blackmythwukongtalk.Com</a>; as Black Myth: Wukong has all the potential to be one of the best games of the year. They take elements from titles such as Dark Souls and Sekiro to create a rich and unique world that’s filled to the brim with adventure and mystery. Utilizing Unreal Engine 5, Game Science has crafted a visually-spectacular experience, but is the gameplay deep enough to keep the player’s attention?

Legend Brought to Life

Black Myth: Wukong takes place in mythological China, with it being loosely based on Journey to the West. This isn’t really about Wukong himself, or the trickster’s actions through the ancient writings, but instead you take up the mantle of his successor of sorts. You play as a young, voiceless monkey many years after the fall of the god. You basically go along a similar path, trekking through a long and treacherous journey to recover many of Wukong’s relics and restore realms to their former glory. Well, more or less. The world is in less of an appealing state, with leaders being driven mad and there’s a struggle for power. Aiding these areas isn’t your main objective, but it just happens to be the side effect of following in Wukong’s footsteps.

The story is one of the more compelling parts, meeting characters that you may be familiar with in the lore, but how it’s told isn’t always particularly well done. While we’ll get to the amazing aesthetics and presentation later, most of the chapters generally start in a rather confusing manner. Our little monkey friend will end up in these new lands by methods unknown to the viewer. Whether it’s sneaking in a chest, waking up with a hundred arrows in you, or just teleporting through an ancient warrior statue, there’s never a good linear path for the storytelling, with what seems like portions of it left out.

With that said, the events that occur in each chapter, even though still vague, are cinematic and will have you on the edge of your seat. They are borderline God of War epic in scope with some cinematic moments that will leave you in awe. Seeing the legends from China being brought to life is an absolute feast for the eyes, so if you’re someone who enjoys ancient Chinese aesthetics, from temples to mythological beings, this is a rare experience that’s hard to replicate.

Button Mashing <img src="https://burst.shopifycdn.com/photos/black-friday-cinemagraph-light-2.mp4"; style="max-width:410px;float:left;padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px;" alt="" />

Combat is arguably the weakest component to Black Myth: Wukong , but that’s still not saying much considering the package as a whole is woven together so nicely. Because you are playing essentially as a young Sun Wukong, the only weapon you’re given is a staff. This can be upgraded into various types of staff, such as ones that focus on critical hits or others that lean towards defense, but it’s still a single weapon that doesn’t have too much variety in how it’s used.

This has elements of Souls games, but it’s closer to a traditional action game. You won’t be managing attributes, but instead be given skill points that can be spent to level up specific abilities within the protagonist’s arsenal. This includes mystical arts, martial arts and transformations, just to name a few. This is where Combat really shines as, while the majority of the time you will be slamming the light attack button until your Focus meter is charged up, allowing you to unleash a devastating heavy attack, it’s splicing in different unique abilities in-between that make it more compelling.

It's also all about bringing the right loadout to a fight. Most of the time, you'll gravitate towards specific skills in the open world, but there are bosses that will benefit from understanding their strengths and weaknesses. For example, one of the most powerful skills you have is the ability to freeze enemies in place for a couple of seconds, allowing you to unleash a flurry of strikes uninterrupted. Later on in the campaign, there will be bosses, main or side quests, that will not be affected by this, in fact benefiting from you using it on them. There’s even a skill that allows you to create clones of yourself for a period of time, but there’s a boss that will turn them against you. It’s these little insights into each encounter that create a unique experience.

Comparison to Souls

With that said, while we make the comparison to Souls games, <a href="https://www.Blackmythwukongtalk.com">Black Myth Wukong skills</a> Myth: Wukong is much easier than what you might expect. There were only a handful of bosses that we ran into any sort of trouble, namely taking five or more attempts, with the majority of the encounters taking one or two tries. The normal enemies do get progressively more advanced as the campaign progresses, and there are the staple traps that will send you over the edge of a cliff, but for the most part, Black Myth: Wukong rarely puts you up against more than one or two enemies at a given time. We found the balance of difficulty good, though, as learning patterns is enjoyable and never feels like they punish too harshly. You can die from a couple of hits, but most of the time it’s easy to recover.

Black Myth: Wukong doesn’t have an open world like Dark Souls or Elden Ring , but instead has segmented chapters. Each chapter has its own theme and enemy types, be it traversing spooky villages filled with bug people or battling the heat of the desert and rat warriors. This keeps the encounters and environments fresh because as soon as you might get bored with one area and its inhabitants, it will shift to something completely new and original. The areas themselves are immense. While you can critical path through the main story, there are numerous branching paths you can go down, unraveling side quests and unlocking abilities and side-bosses.

Speaking of which, Black Myth: Wukong doesn’t hold your hand by any means. There isn’t a quest journal that neatly shows you exactly where to go or what you have picked up. Every item you find and NPC you interact with, you will have to uncover their progression on your own. Most of the time, NPCs will give you hints or descriptions of where you need to go, but because these locations are so large, you can easily forget as it could be across the entire map before things move onto the next stage of the quest. You’ll stumble across the numerous secrets in the world, and not having a neatly guided journal makes the mystery and journey all the better for it.

Creative Visual Treat

The presentation in Black Myth: Wukong is out of this world. Game Science utilized the Unreal Engine 5, and it shows as there’s nothing quite like what they’ve been able to create. Whether it’s the volumetric clouds interacting with every swing of the staff or the atmospheric lighting effects, the Chinese studio has finely crafted one of the most beautiful games ever created. With that said, there are still flaws that seem to come with Unreal Engine and non-linear releases. Namely, some of the rock geometry and their textures can be low quality. Looking at this high-quality environment only for you to turn your camera and see a low resolution chunk of rock sticking out like a sore thumb takes you out of the experience. It’s far less prevalent than something like Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth , but it’s still present.

The videos in-between chapters are some of the most creative entries we’ve seen in a video game. They act as short stories, told in an anthology, not necessarily being connected to one another, and animated differently each time. These take the form of ancient Chinese artwork animated beautifully or stop-motion similar to something like the 1964 iteration of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. We couldn’t wait to get to the end of each chapter purely because of these shorts. Their relevance to the story can be directly involving one of the antagonists you faced or side quests that tell a darker or thought-provoking encounter.

Oddly enough, the localization into English has been done with mixed results. On one hand, the voice work is surprisingly good, even though there’s no lip-syncing. That we can forgive, but there are huge chunks of the game, at least pre-launch, where full journal entries and even button prompts in the world that weren’t translated. Obviously, since this is text, these can be patched in, but these are issues we noticed.

_Closing Comments: _

<a href="https://www.Blackmythwukongtalk.com">Black Myth Wukong guide</a> Myth: Wukong took us by surprise. It had a lot of potential from its initial reveal, but what Game Science has been able to create is nothing short of greatness. This is a visual treat that brings ancient China and Chinese mythology to life like never before, crafting a story that, while somewhat vague, will have you compelled to progress further thanks to its creative presentation values. On top of that, the world design and quest design are monumental, as each area has a ton of exploratory value and will always keep the campaign fresh. The combat can get repetitive, even with the numerous abilities and skills you’re able to earn, but the boss encounters are satisfying, with most requiring a lot more thought and care while approaching. Black Myth: Wukong is a phenomenal, enthralling and imaginative experience that’s a must-play for anyone who enjoys Chinese mythology.

Topics: black myth wukong money guide, black myth wukong beginner guide, black myth wukong collectibles

Be the first person to like this.