No game has ever shocked me to such an extent like "Black Myth: Wukong" did, nor made me feel such incredible frustration. There is no doubt that it is one of the most ambitious and impressive action games I have ever played. Its graphics are stunning; its combat is spectacular; its challenge is extreme, but the satisfaction of overcoming the challenge is worth all your efforts; its unique setting rooted in rich Chinese culture is refreshing … This is just a part of its many strengths.

But despite that, it often feels like it’s barely holding together. Even though I have a top-tier PC setup with a GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, I have encountered several game crashes on PC (the PS5 version was not available for this review); there were several instances when I was about to defeat a powerful boss, only to suddenly clip through the ground and die in the void; sometimes NPCs switch from English to Chinese in the middle of dialogue, and sometimes voice audio would disappear entirely, leaving me confused during important cutscenes. It is indeed a bumpy ride with some frustrating moments, but overall, it is definitely a thrilling adventure worth enduring the bumps.

"Black Myth: Wukong" is roughly a sequel to Wu Cheng'en’s classic novel "Journey to the West," and my understanding of this book is limited to "Dragon Ball" and "Enslaved: Journey to the West," which are "magic-modified" works. This superficial understanding didn’t help much, as the story told in the game is full of tributes and references to the novel’s characters and plot, but it doesn’t explain who Sun Wukong is or what he experienced in the journey. I had to look up information online to understand who Zhu Bajie is, his relationship with Wukong, and the meaning of certain encounters, otherwise, I would be completely lost at times.

You play as the "Destined One," a monkey who, upon waking up one morning, decides to embark on a journey of about 40 hours to find six relics of Wukong. Although the regular narrative is rather uneventful — mainly because the protagonist is mute and the supporting characters don’t have enough screen time to be developed — each of the six independent chapters ends with an exquisitely crafted animated short that tells the backstory of the chapter’s main antagonist. Each short adopts a completely different artistic style, one like a picture book, one using stop-motion animation, and another in anime style. Each one is beautiful and poignant, making me wish that the main storyline could also move me in a similar way.

At first, I thought "Black Myth: Wukong" was a "Souls-like" game, due to its save point system, energy bar that determines how many actions you can perform, and dodge-focused combat style. But in fact, "Black Myth: Wukong" is closer to traditional action games, like those developed by PlatinumGames, rather than FromSoftware’s games.

Most "Souls-like" conventions are absent — apart from having to respawn at the nearest save point, there are no other penalties for death, no need to run back to retrieve dropped items; you don’t use the same currency to upgrade attributes, buy items, and enhance equipment; although you need to consider equipment and attributes, most of the time, you just need to replace old equipment with new ones, rather than deciding which piece of armor or weapon to keep and enhance.

Although I am a loyal "Souls-like" enthusiast, abandoning these mechanisms seems to be the right choice for what "Black Myth: Wukong" aims to achieve. This is a more forgiving game that focuses on immersing players in combat rather than meticulously managing menus or running around collecting dropped currency after respawning, and as a result, "Black Myth: Wukong" becomes a better and more distinctive game.

But to be clear, saying it is more "forgiving" doesn’t mean it is easier than Souls games. In fact, compared to "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree," I encountered more difficulty in the toughest challenges in "Black Myth: Wukong" (yes, this game has no difficulty options). But at the same time, these challenges never feel unfair, and overcoming those tough bosses is always satisfying as it combines learning the boss’s attack patterns, finding the best opportunities to strike, and adjusting equipment to maximize the use of my chosen skills.

The combat in "Black Myth: Wukong" is simple and elegant, thanks in part to the various fun items. To achieve victory in combat, you need not only to respond quickly but also to manage resources carefully, with "Stick Momentum" being your primary resource in combat. Stick Momentum can be accumulated by hitting enemies or perfect dodges, and once a stick momentum bar is filled, you gain a Stick Momentum point.

Stick Momentum points have two uses: you can spend them mid-combo for "Cutting Hand Techniques," which are special derived attacks, or use them alone for powerful heavy attacks. If you spend two, three, or even four Stick Momentum points at once, you can further enhance the attack.

You can also use a small amount of magic, which consumes mana. These spells are quite diverse and useful in many situations. For example, "Binding Spell" can immobilize enemies for a period, creating opportunities for attacks, and if you take advantage of this to cause stun, you can output damage for a longer time; "Shape Convergence" can make you disappear and leave a decoy, allowing you to escape combat, recover health, and then surprise the enemy, with the breaking invisibility attack also having a critical hit.

"Bronze Head Iron Arm" allows you to become a statue for a short time, during which you can deflect enemy attacks and get a chance to counterattack; "Safe Spell" creates a barrier around you that repels enemies and restores some health, and the barrier also enhances the effect of Gourd Wine (which can heal and provide extra buffs); my favorite "Body Double Spell" can create a group of clones, allowing you and your clones to surround and beat the enemy together.

In addition, you have a "Transformation" ability, allowing you to become powerful creatures you have defeated. These transformations are particularly cool because they don’t consume mana (but have a long cooldown), and they turn you into a completely different character, giving you a new move set and special techniques that consume Stick Momentum, along with other abilities.

For example, one of the first bosses you encounter in the game is a wolf wielding a flaming double-headed blade, which has a lightning-fast dash attack. After defeating him, you can gain his transformation ability, allowing you to use his dash attack, and when you have accumulated enough Stick Momentum, you can even use a powerful jumping attack that ignites enemies, causing them to take continuous damage.

Finally, there are "Avatar Skills," which you can obtain after defeating certain elite enemies and absorbing their essence into a gourd. Avatar Skills are temporary transformations that can only be used once per battle and have a relatively long cooldown, but they have quite useful effects, such as additional armor-piercing damage with the "Ghost" headbutt attack after immobilizing an enemy. Avatar Skills can be upgraded, making even early-game avatars still valuable later on.

"Black Myth: Wukong" offers a fantastic skill pool, especially when combined with those stunning boss battles, and the frequency of these skills appearing is clearly well thought out; I have never felt at a loss because of suddenly having a bunch of new things to master. Don’t get me wrong, the performance of the Destined One is very outstanding, and controlling him will definitely make you feel incredibly powerful — even without using numerous spells or transformations, just swinging a 50-foot-long staff at enemies is immensely satisfying — but since mana is hard to restore, spells still need to be used sparingly.

This is where the resource management element in combat comes into play: I must carefully consider which spells are worth spending mana on, whether I should save them for more difficult boss fights in the second phase, and if I use a spell, whether I can seize the opportunities it creates.

For example, although "Body Double Spell" is my strongest spell, its high mana cost often means I need to time its use carefully, so that the clones aren’t cleared by AOE effects before they have a chance to act. Sometimes, when I get stuck on a boss, the adjustment I need to make is just to change how I use my skills; finding a new effective strategy always feels very satisfying.

While boss battles are the standout feature of "Black Myth: Wukong," the variety of enemies in regular combat is also quite rich.

The level structure is "broadly linear," usually with a clear main path guiding players to each save point, but there are also many hidden paths with good loot.

The rewards for exploration are quite generous; I have found rare materials for crafting new weapons or armor; elite monsters that provide new "Avatar Skills"; "Treasured" equipment that can further enhance builds; and chests that might permanently increase health, mana, or stamina, making each exploration feel worthwhile.

In addition, there are hidden bosses, important items whose purposes I haven’t yet figured out, and many other interesting things for players to discover, so exploring side paths and paying attention to the environment is definitely worthwhile. One important reason is that "Black Myth: Wukong" is one of the most visually stunning games I have played, with each scene full of details, from the cracked bark on trees in the forest to the snow deforming in real-time as the Destined One runs with his staff, all of which are impressive.

Not only that, but the body animations are also superb, with many amazing small details, such as the Destined One making a small hop to adjust his body direction when locking onto an enemy, with footsteps shifting sideways around the enemy rather than just turning his head while continuing to run forward. The music and sound effects are also excellent, with a heroic drum battle theme full of epicness, and melodious flute and bell sounds adding wonder and mystery to exploration.

That said, it would be even better if the game had a map. The locations you explore in "Black Myth: Wukong" are undoubtedly beautiful, but they are so large and contain so many secrets that the lack of some kind of navigation function is quite unreasonable, especially in Chapters Two and Three. Added to that, it’s difficult to determine which obstacles can be climbed and where there are invisible walls, making exploration rather cumbersome. Fortunately, the rewards for exploration are quite substantial.

However, it’s hard not to feel that the game’s exquisite graphics and rich details come at a significant cost. I experienced several game crashes, with the most painful one occurring right after defeating a very difficult boss, which forced me to replay it. Other crashes weren’t as severe, mostly occurring when entering a new chapter or teleporting to another level, but the frequent crashes still accumulated a lot of frustration.

Additionally, there were times when all the voice and subtitles suddenly disappeared during important cutscenes, leaving me completely clueless about what was happening, and there was no way to rewatch the cutscenes; despite setting the voice to English, sometimes NPCs would suddenly speak in Chinese; English voice acting was completely mismatched with lip movements; and most of the journal entries found along the way weren’t even localized into English.

But the worst issue was during one boss fight, where in the transition animation before the final phase, the boss would slam me to the ground, but when I regained control, I had already clipped through the floor and fallen into the void. This situation happened repeatedly, leading me to suspect that my game had a fatal bug and I might never be able to complete it. But after "repeating the same thing and expecting different results" like a madman, I eventually achieved a different result, though I never figured out how I did it.

I hope Game Science will resolve these technical issues with future patches — this is definitely possible, as even the bug-ridden "Cyberpunk 2077" at launch was eventually fixed (by the way, that game also didn’t have a console version available for review). I hope the fix patches will come soon because, while I genuinely believe "Black Myth: Wukong" is excellent enough to be worth enduring these issues, I still hope to recommend it without needing to point out these flaws.

Summary As Game Science’s first action game, "Black Myth: Wukong" has largely achieved great success, though it faced some serious technical and localization issues at launch, which might cause some frustration. Thanks to the clever balance between "careful resource management" and "lightning-fast, need-to-react gameplay," the combat is excellent. Although it is closer to traditional action games compared to FromSoftware’s titles, its challenge is on par with "Elden Ring." Furthermore, the game features many thrilling boss battles and a diverse range of enemies, and the world they inhabit is a dual sensory pleasure for the eyes and ears. The plot has its highlights but relies heavily on the player’s knowledge of "Journey to the West," and it desperately needs a map to match the exploration process with its excellent combat experience. Nevertheless, its strengths outweigh these issues, making "Black Myth: Wukong" ultimately an excellent action game, and it could become even better if Game Science resolves those bugs.

Pros

• Top-notch environmental art effects

• Excellent traditional-style action system design and thrilling combat experience

• Variety of enemies

Cons

• Review version had too many bugs and technical issues

• Some story content lacks context, which might confuse those unfamiliar with "Journey to the West"

• Lack of a map makes it difficult to find hidden items and story elements

Review Score As Game Science’s first action game, "Black Myth: Wukong" has largely achieved great success, though it faced some serious technical and localization issues at launch, which might cause some frustration. Thanks to the clever balance between "careful resource management" and "lightning-fast, need-to-react gameplay," the combat is excellent. Although it is closer to traditional action games compared to FromSoftware’s titles, its challenge is on par with "Elden Ring." Furthermore, the game features many thrilling boss battles and a diverse range of enemies, and the world they inhabit is a dual sensory pleasure for the eyes and ears.