Since Black Myth: Wukong released its first trailer three years ago, every August 20th developer Game Science has shown something new about the game’s development progress. But what’s different this year is that I finally got to play. Game Science held a massive Black Myth: Wukong hands-on event in Hangzhou, China, where he invited over 1,000 players from across the country to personally play the latest demo of this highly anticipated action-RPG. I got it.
This 45 minute demo offered three different boss fights and a relatively complete chapter experience. It’s worth noting that the development team made some adjustments to the trial after the event based on the feedback and suggestions received during the private evaluation I attended. As a result, my experience may differ slightly from what others have in Hangzhou. And at Gamescom in Cologne.
Due to time constraints, this trial version does not include a level-up system. However, it provided players with a set of skills and gear that could be acquired mid-game in the final version. The hero’s attack stance can be switched at any time to three types: basic light attack, strong attack, smash form, pillar form, and thrust form. Additionally, you can use spells such as Immobileize, Stone Solid, Ring of Fire, and The Pluck of Many. It also has two transformation abilities. One we saw before, he turns into a Fireblade Wolf, and the other he becomes a creature with poisonous attacks. Additionally, players find and collect certain potions to use in-game. Note that these configurations may vary slightly between stages.
The first boss, named Centipede Guai, appeared in the first 13-minute gameplay trailer released in 2020. This time, it waits for the player in a terrifying cave. Attack methods include rolling punches and strong punches, and it also has the ability to release poison gas. This gas gives the hero a slow-acting poison effect that gradually reduces his health, which can only be cured by consuming an antidote. However, this boss falls into a relatively easy category as a whole for the difficulty of this trial version. Most players should be easy to kill once you get used to the attack pattern.
The second boss is the Macaque Chief, seen in the snowy mountains of the 2021 trailer. This time, players will be able to experience that sequence as it is. You can observe how the hero’s movements and battles in snowy terrain dynamically affect the snow cover in real time. There are also secrets in this battle. When Chief Macaque’s health halves within a certain amount of time, the second phase will begin. To encounter the winged monkey, the protagonist must step further into the scene. In this state, the monkey’s aggressiveness, attack range, and attack pattern are all greatly increased. Gain the ability to launch aerial attacks against the player, resulting in thrilling and intense encounters.
The third boss is the Tiger Vanguard from the 2022 trailer. This time, Tiger his Vanguard awaits the player’s challenge in the Bloodpool of the Temple. According to the developers, this boss will play a role in the storyline as an NPC that gives the protagonist the Stone Solid skill. Therefore, you will witness him using this skill during battle. One of his highlights of this scene is how the water reacts and dynamically changes depending on the action and battle. Tiger Vanguard has the highest attack speed and attack power of the three bosses. Not only does he have both physical and spell-based offensive abilities, but his combo attacks also do a lot of damage, making him an easy victim to attacks.
The Chapter Experience offered during the Hangzhou event is called “Purple Cloud Mountain”. The overall scenery is somewhat reminiscent of the in-game footage shown in the 2022 trailer. This is a relatively complete level experience, featuring different environments such as forests, villages and temples. There are 4 or 5 types of enemies waiting for the player along the way. Don’t underestimate these minions. They also have the ability to inflict fatal blows on the hero with a single blow.
This level features a semi-open map with multiple paths for players to explore. This includes a short cutscene for him, an optional quest to acquire new transformation abilities, and a final boss encounter with his two-stage transformation Blood His Moon His General . This boss is huge in size, and the hero must stand at its feet to participate in battle. It has the ability to unleash attacks in a wide range, and these attacks are difficult to dodge. Furthermore, during the second stage transformation, the entire scene is wrapped in Blood Moon, and the attack pattern changes partially.
Hard-to-find levels also have detours that encounter the hidden boss, the Poison King. This creature has a monstrous appearance similar to a scorpion. After the player has a conversation, they must break the wine barrel next to it to start the battle. This is the hidden boss with the highest difficulty level in this trial version. He has a very fast attack, deals a lot of damage, and boasts skills that poison the protagonist. I fought for nearly an hour to take it down, and on several occasions I fell to poison before the cure was available.
From my experience with this demo, Black Myth: Wukong appears to be a classic action RPG game with both physical and spell attacks, as well as equipment and advancement systems. The hero’s weapon “Golden Club” changes its attack range according to the attack rhythm. Light attacks can accumulate focus points that appear in the bottom right corner of the screen, while heavy attacks consume these points. Combining light and heavy attacks can create combos. During a combo, if you press the strong attack button just before the enemy’s attack hits the hero, you can use a special point to perform a combo that deals more damage to the enemy while invincible.
You can also dodge by jumping. Instant Evasion allows the protagonist to create a phantom to evade attacks and immediately counterattack. With no recovery time, you can dodge enemy combo attacks in quick succession, but you have to focus on depleting your energy bar. According to the developer, the skill tree will include the ability to detonate phantoms and damage enemies.
Black Myth encourages players to combine physical and spell attacks. For example, freezing enemies with Immobilization before attacking allows them to deal more damage in a safer manner. Additionally, the timing at which you use the spell also affects its effect. Drinking a gourd after using the Ring of Fire restores more health than using it outside of the Fire Ring. “The Pluck of Many” allows you to summon a group of clones to aid and temporarily break out of combat. Additionally, after transforming, the protagonist can wield certain transformation-related weapons, such as Fireblade Wolf’s flaming blades and Wormman’s poison attribute for attacks.
And while Black Myth shares some similarities with the Dark Souls series in its mechanics, the feel of combat here is quite different from other similar games. In my opinion, this distinction stems from the fact that in other Soullike games, players typically wield weapons such as swords and axes with a grip on the end of the weapon during combat. However, in Black Myth: Wukong, your primary weapon is primarily a staff held in the middle. Depending on various movements, the grip of the staff changes, creating various rhythms and actions, and the length of the staff changes during battle. The impact feedback of the staff attacking the enemy is also very distinctive. Coupled with the in-combat spell system support, Black Myth: Wukong stands out as his ARPG with a unique feel that sets it apart from his other ARPGs and action games to date.
After all, even though Game Science has provided a fair amount of gameplay content in this trial, there are still many questions to be answered. For example, if the hero owns other weapons, how the leveling system works, what his skill tree looks like, how many transformations and spells are available, all of this The question will be answered only after the game is officially released.
Speaking of which, Black Myth: Wukong is currently scheduled for release in Summer 2024. Game Science says the game is targeting a day one release on both his PC and next-gen console platforms.
Meanwhile, Game Science has also announced that they will be attending Gamescom this year, and will be bringing the playable version to players around the world at the event. Additionally, the Gamescom playable version may feature different content than the Hangzhou event. Stay tuned to IGN’s Gamescom coverage for more details on this new gameplay content.
Charles Young is Editor in Chief of IGN China.