Black Myth: Wukong is not a Soulslike.
It is first and foremost an adventure, more inviting than punishing.
A full half of the game is in the margins.
That said, most of what I found was good, often great.
One benefit to this approach is that the world feels lived-in.
This is just how this world of Yaoguai, deities, and immortals operates.
The sheer irreverence is hammered home by a cast that’s almost universally larger than life.
This made me wish the Destined One wasn’t a passive mute.
The English VO seemed mostly fine with a few standout performances, but less memorable overall.
And even when the experience seems to be on a tangent, it is always eye-poppingly gorgeous.
Every area is dripping with detail lively forests and quiet snowfields, intricate temples and rough-hewn crags.
“What comes next” becomes a powerful lure.
There is so much to see and explore arguably too much to see and too little to explore.
Where you’ve got the option to and can’t go feels bafflingly arbitrary and limiting.
This turns those gorgeous environments into minefields of disappointment.
Will I find a cool secret, or an inexplicable dead end?
Over time, this blunts the joy of exploration.
Similarly, many levels are so visually cluttered that it can be hard to make out key items.
Black Myth: Wukong is crying out for a map and clearer indicators like light beacons.
A shared light attack combo connects three staff styles that have unique heavy hits.
The default smash style spends Focus points on overhead slams.
It’s as good as it sounds.
I changed my build frequently to experiment with different moves and lean into specific armor or staff effects.
The final area occasionally tanked my FPS into the 40s for reasons I won’t spoil.
Load times seemed long given I have a good M.2 NVMe SSD, but nothing deal-breaking.
Combat would benefit from more interplay between the three styles.
There was no need to use anything other than thrusting style once I unlocked it.
Pillar style felt clunky and smash seemed like a worse thrust.
Sound design puts in a lot of work.
Black Myth: Wukong is at its best in boss fights.
There are dozens and dozens of bosses, back-to-back at times, and most of them are real spectacles.
Some are rehashed, but the audio-visual feast is delightful.
Levels sometimes feel like mere appetizers before the next boss.
I did notably beat most bosses on my first try.
To put the difficulty in perspective, the final boss took me two attempts.
The hardest optional boss I found took me seven or eight tries.
Staffs can be upgraded almost Monster Hunter-style using parts from bosses.
Equippable accessories called curios bring boosted stats, conditional attack buffs, and more.
Gathered materials are used to craft medicine to temporarily boost your stats or cure statuses.
And we still haven’t gotten to the magic.
Immobilize does work on bosses, by the way, and it’s even stronger than you think.
It’s also the first spell you unlock, which sets the bar high.
You get a few options for your spell slots, with quite a few spells tied to optional content.
The most varied spells are the transformations.
Lesser, equipable spirits provide passive stat bonuses and function as special attacks tied to a Qi meter.
Black Myth: Wukong was reviewed on PC, with a code provided by the publisher.
