One of the most anticipated games of the year retells an ancient legend with state-of-the-art graphics and a lot of boss fights.
When discussing console games there are traditionally two common points of origin: the West and Japan. It can be that specific because no other country in Asia has ever produced console games in any volume, with the markets in China and South Korea exclusively organised around PC gaming and, latterly, mobiles.
Given the general rise in in prominence of PC gaming over the last decade you wouldn’t have expected that to ever change and yet only a few months ago we had the Korean developed Stellar Blade, which is one of the best action exclusives on PlayStation 5. And now we have the Chinese made Black Myth: Wukong, which makes it clear that Genshin Impact and the other free-to-play HoYoverse games were not merely an exception to the rule.
There’s been some debate over whether Black Myth counts as a Soulslike or not, since while several elements are taken directly from Dark Souls et al. the overall game is too different to count as part of the genre. Third person action games such as Devli May Cry and Bayonetta have clearly been an influence too, but Black Myth walks its own path. And while it does stumble along the way it’s always interesting, whether it succeeds or fails.
Black Myth’s story is inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, whose influence can be seen in many Japanese games and even the odd Western title, such as Ninja Theory’s Enslaved: Odyssey To The West – even if many older British gamers will recognise the story best from the 70s live action show Monkey.
If you are familiar with the story already that is a great help in enjoying the game, since it does a terrible job of explaining anything to newcomers. It feels very much like an old school movie tie-in, that assumes you already know the story, which is extra confusing here because the game is a pseudo-sequel where you play as a mute version of someone who may or may not be the real Monkey King, known instead as the Destined One.
Rather than being a Soulslike, Black Myth’s structure is closest to that of a boss rush mode. There are plenty of cut scenes in between each boss encounter, and a faint attempt at offering meaningful exploration and side activities, but 80% of the game is just taking on one boss after another.
There are areas to walk through between each boss, and minor enemies to battle along the way, but it’s not only a small percentage of the game but it’s easily the worst part too. The level design is awful, filled with irritating dead end and invisible walls, while the Destined One’s jumping abilities are severely downgraded from how they work in combat.
To add insult to injury, since this is technically an action role-player you occasionally need to level grind too, in order to beat some bosses (the not-bonfires work exactly like Dark Souls by respawning minor enemies when you use them).
As unwelcome as these section are, being linear and single-minded is absolutely not a criticism, not when acknowledged classics such as Shadow Of The Colossus and Cuphead work in a very similar manner, and especially not when the bosses are as interesting and varied as they are here. Black Myth’s bosses are often animal themed, with a whole range of rats, wolves, bears, tigers, and dragons, none of which fight in quite the same way.
The combat in Black Myth is designed around the Monkey Kong’s traditional abilities, starting with his magically enlarging staff and also including the ability to immobilise enemies, create clones of himself, and change physical form. The latter allows you to transform into a number of different enemies, which is a very welcome reward for defeating them.
The Destined One also has a full range of more traditional attacks but with a neat twist in that light attacks do almost no damage and are instead used to build up a stock of focus, which enables more powerful attacks. These can be combined with the magical powers to create some very satisfying combos, without ever seemingly like a clone of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, or any of the other more complex third person action games.
What’s also interesting is that you can’t block or parry (well, technically you can parry but only via one specific spell that works on a countdown timer). Dodging is the way to avoid taking damage in Black Myth, but while that’s fairly unique it does rob the combat of some of its potential depth. Some of the other moves also seem more for show than anything else, such as the various different stances you can take – which make only a trivial difference.
The combat is good but it’s not great and, like a lot of other things in the games, feels very much like a rough draft of what could’ve been a much more satisfying experience. In terms of difficultly, Black Myth isn’t that hard overall but there are some nasty difficulty spikes – that require level grinding – and the last few bosses are certainly encroaching on Dark Souls territory, especially given there’s no difficulty level options.
Black Myth has already been a runaway hit on PC, primarily, it seems, because of the graphics, which are extremely good. The overall colour palette can be a bit dour but the variety of locations and the artistic way in which they’re presented is frequently stunning, from bamboo forests to freezing mountain tops, giant castles, and rocky canyons.
There is the question of performance though. There’re three different graphics modes on PlayStation 5 – quality, balance and performance – with quality mode keeping its head above 30fps, but suffering from a lot of juddering. All the modes do, to some degree, with not even performance mode escaping the problem.
The performance issues are indicative of the game’s problems as a whole, as it often tetters on the edge of greatness but never quite gets there. Instead, Black Myth is the sort of game that demands a sequel, in the hope that the developer can refine the original’s rough edges. If they manage to do so then the next game could be something very special indeed.
Black Myth: Wukong PS5 review summary
In Short: An ambitious but uneven action role-player, with impressive visuals and excellent boss battles, that are held back by an inherent shallowness – particularly in the lack of meaningful exploration.
Pros: Excellent visual design and great boss battles, in terms of both graphics and gameplay design. Combat is fun and original, albeit somewhat shallow.
Cons: Level exploration is boring and badly designed, with uninteresting minor enemies. Weak storytelling, especially if you don’t know the original story. Some performance issues.
Score: 6/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £54.99
Publisher: Game Science
Developer: Game Science
Release Date: 20th August 2024 (Xbox TBA)
Age Rating: 16
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