Black Myth: Wukong PC Review

Summary

In the review of 'Black Myth: Wukong,' Mitchell Saltzman expresses a mix of awe and frustration. The game impresses with its ambitious action, stunning visuals, and challenging yet satisfying combat, rooted in rich Chinese culture. However, technical issues like crashes, audio mishaps, and localization problems mar the experience. Despite these, the game's strengths, including its unique setting and engaging boss fights, make it a remarkable debut from Game Science, with the potential to be even greater once bugs are addressed.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Black Myth: Wukong is an ambitious action game with stunning visuals and challenging combat.
• 🐒 The game features a unique setting rooted in Chinese culture, following the journey of Sun Wukong.
• 🛠️ Despite high-quality graphics, the game suffers from technical issues like crashes and audio problems.
• 🔧 The reviewer experienced several crashes, including one after defeating a tough boss, requiring a redo.
• 🎭 The game's story is rich but assumes prior knowledge of 'Journey to the West', which may leave some players confused.
• 🤺 Combat is a blend of fast reflexes and resource management, with a focus meter and various spells adding depth.
• 🧙‍♂️ Transformations into powerful creatures and the use of Spirit skills add variety to combat and character progression.
• 🏞️ The game world is detailed and beautiful, but the lack of a map can make exploration cumbersome.
• 🔍 Exploration is rewarded with rare items, secret boss fights, and environmental secrets, encouraging thorough play.
• 🌐 Localization issues include dialogue switching between English and Chinese, and untranslated journal entries.

Q & A

What is the main issue the reviewer faced with the game 'Black Myth Wukong'?

The reviewer faced numerous technical issues such as game crashes, falling through the ground, and dialogue audio dropping out, which affected the overall experience.

What is the reviewer's opinion on the game's graphics and animations?

The reviewer is highly impressed with the game's graphics and animations, describing them as stunningly gorgeous and impeccable.

How does the reviewer describe the combat system in 'Black Myth Wukong'?

The reviewer finds the combat system to be fantastic, with a great balance of careful resource management and lightning-fast twitch reaction gameplay.

What are the unique features of the boss fights in the game?

The boss fights are unique due to the stunningly gorgeous animated vignettes that tell short stories about each chapter's main antagonist, each done in a different art style.

What is the game's setting and how does it relate to Chinese culture?

The game's setting is refreshingly unique and steeped in rich Chinese culture, with the story being somewhat of a follow-up to the classic novel 'Journey to the West' by Wu Cheng'en.

What are the reviewer's thoughts on the game's difficulty level?

The reviewer finds the game to be challenging but satisfying to overcome, with difficulty levels comparable to 'Elden Ring' and 'Shadow of the Colossus'.

What are the 'Spirit skills' mentioned in the review and how do they work?

Spirit skills are abilities earned by defeating certain powerful enemies and absorbing their essence. They are effectively one-time use transformations with their own cooldowns and can be leveled up for increased effectiveness.

How does the reviewer feel about the game's localization and language switching?

The reviewer experienced issues with localization, such as characters switching languages unexpectedly and journal entries not being fully translated into English.

What are the exploration elements in 'Black Myth Wukong'?

The game offers a wide linear level design with opportunities to explore for optional goodies, including rare crafting materials, special enemies, curio items, and treasure chests that can permanently increase player stats.

What is the reviewer's suggestion for improving the exploration experience?

The reviewer suggests that the game would benefit from a map to help with navigation, as the lands are large and filled with secrets.