Chimp off the old block.
Ever since its reveal in 2020, fans have wondered ifBlack Myth: Wukongis truly a Soulslike.
Black Myth: Wukong
That does, of course, depend on your definition of a Soulslike.
It certainly has many of the hallmarks.
Combat is all strikes and dodges managed with a stamina bar.
Shrines are checkpoints to restore your health.
And if you die you lose some experience, with enemies magically respawning too.
Then again, you might also pause the game.
“This is a level of freedom we want to give to our players.”
That said, I wouldn’t expect the variety of character builds the Souls games offer.
There are two other key elements, the developer cites, that differ from Soulslikes: narrative and difficulty.
Still, Game Science isn’t necessarily aiming for Black Myth: Wukong to be ultra hard.
Over the course of the game, players will acquire a number of transformations to use during battle.
I acquired this by defeating an optional boss, named Guangzhi, meaning fully exploring should prove fruitful.
The immobilise spell, however, proved most useful.
Cheesing a boss fight?
I’ll let you decide if that counts, but at least some Soulslike strategies work!
Wukong is neither of these.
“It’s a linear game propelled by the storyline,” confirmed a Game Science spokesperson.
Between boss fights, then, Wukong feels a little empty.
Game Science has transformed itself from predominantly mobile developers to Unreal Engine 5 wizards.
And then come the bosses, or Yaoguai.
Here Wukong is a triumph: one-on-one fights with elegance and style, mixing Wuxia and martial arts influences.
It’s as balletic as it is tense and I left each battle with sweaty palms and heart pounding.
It may not be a true Soulslike, but it certainly offers familiar thrills.
Rest assured I have followed up and will report once we have a response.
There’s another shadow looming over Wukong too, that ofElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Its recent release is set to dominate over the summer, ahead of Wukong’s August release.
Then again, Wukong is currently Steam’s most wishlisted game.
Game Science is far from worried.
“In our company, a lot of our colleagues love Elden ring.
A lot of them love a lot of ARPG games.
“However, we believe that the RPG market is very inclusive, and it’s huge.
And it can accommodate more games.
We believe this kind of competition is healthy and we are confident with this competition.”
These impressions are based on a demo build and do not reflect final game features.
