Black Myth: WuKong, the preview of the soulslike inspired by Chinese legends
Black Myth
The Journey to the West, the classic Chinese novel written in the late sixteenth century, has inspired an enormous amount of works and authors. Remaining only in the context of Japanese anime culture, just think of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, Leiji Matsumoto's Starzinger, Osamu Tezuka's The Monkey.Well, Black Myth: WuKong draws on the same imagery and probably does it even more faithfully, showing us in the very first sequences of the Game Science title the awakening of the protagonist, Sun WuKong, who comes to life from a statue and begins to move, apparently already aware of what his mission will be.
Follow us in our new preview of the soulslike that comes from the East.
Gameplay
Black Myth: WuKong, one of the final sequences of the trailer Still a long way away from the game's release , set in 2023 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X | S, but according to the gameplay trailer a couple of days ago, it seems that the development of Black Myth: WuKong is proceeding rapidly, giving the project an increasingly convincing shape. of to its nature of independent production.It is not the first time that Chinese indie developers have worked miracles, let's be clear: we know how much talent and how much ability to commit (often even more than necessary) there are in those parts , but observing the action sequences in which WuKong wakes up and begins to explore the world, bumping into the first opponents, it seems that the various pieces are already in place.
Let's start by saying that the experience proposed by Game Science is that of a soulslike-style action RPG, although characterized by a minimal interface that does not show the numerical value of the damage inflicted and that, for several minutes, does not appear on the screen at all, leaving us at the mercy of the pure and simple sensations deriving from the movements that the protagonist and his opponents draw on the snow.
The Unreal Engine 5, the graphic engine that moves the game, has already given proof of his extraordinary abilities and here he only confirms them, giving some moments an extremely realistic rendering. Only a few very short episodes of stuttering succeed in distracting us from the excellent quality of the staging, which already only in the very first sequences introduces us to the charm of the oriental scenario.
The setting
Black Myth : WuKong, the character approaches an opponent A mysterious temple, full of statues that express various moods, and one in particular that comes to life and begins to move: this is the incipit of Black Myth: WuKong, at least in the intentions of the trailer. We see bizarre creatures that contribute to the construction of a disturbing imaginary, but it is above all the dense snow that characterizes the setting.WuKong moves in the snow holding his iconic stick, leaving obvious traces and crossing the mountains looking for something we still don't understand. There are enemies lurking that are eliminated with a single touch and made to fall to the ground: hints to the aforementioned soulslike formula, which however we do not yet know how it will materialize from a structural point of view.
Black Myth: WuKong, the protagonist moves among the "frozen" enemies The most tense phases are those that see the protagonist moving in the midst of human figures trapped in the ice, somewhat similar to the statue from which he himself came to life, reduced to that condition perhaps from a curse. However, a mysterious enemy that moves on the roofs manages to awaken them to face us, and this is how we witness the first fights of the video.
WuKong's movements are limited by a stamina bar that becomes visible only later on , and although these improvised duels are relatively easy to complete successfully, the movements of the enemies hide insidious traps that can cause us unexpected damage, perhaps when the battle is over.
Boss fight
Black Myth: WuKong, the fire barrier during the first boss fight After passing the "guards" awakened by the mysterious enemy with ape-like traits similar to those of our character, it is time to face this opponent directly, giving life to a first boss fight and revealing, as mentioned, the minimal style interface that occupies the lower part of the screen, indicating among other things our health and that of the boss , the stamina and a probable indicator of the fighting stance.Even during these sequences it is the snow that reigns supreme and reaffirms the technical capabilities of the Unreal Engine 5, while the blows of the boss trace deep furrows and lift particles at every impact on the ground: the result is spectacular and is further enhanced by an effects applied to the trails, which instantly deform the air to give an idea of the speed and power of each single attack.
Combat System
Black Myth: WuKong, a spectacular moment during a boss fight Can't WuKong parry? It seems unlikely, yet during the duel the character limits himself, where possible, to avoiding the blows of his enemy, sometimes scoring perfect dodges that leave a residual shadow and create a short bullet time to take advantage of to inflict damage on the opponent. without it being able to react.There are also special moves, represented in this case by four icons on the left side of the screen, all characterized by a cooldown period. One of them creates a fire barrier that acts as a counter and must therefore be activated the moment the enemy is about to come into contact with us.
The final outcome of the clash is not revealed, but also in in this case the boss is able to set hateful traps, pretending to beg our mercy and then execute a portentous treacherous blow.
Bestiary
Black Myth: WuKong, the clash with the dragon Birds with a human face? There are also those in the curious bestiary of Black Myth: WuKong, which at a certain point will see us take control of one of these creatures and complete a spectacular section in flight among the snow-capped mountains, until we reach a lake of ice that will make background to another boss fight.The opponent this time appears much more mangy than the monkey of the initial sequences: we are talking about a real Chinese dragon that flies and emits electric attacks, forcing us to keep a certain distance to avoid its attacks and to take advantage of the rare situations in which it is possible to approach it to score combos with the stick.
Black Myth: WuKong, the leaves move in the wind following the attacks The final sequences of the videos represent a sort of overview in which numerous other enemies that we will face during the campaign are shown, and which inevitably draw on the same imaginary: from statue-faced birds to huge armless monks, from beasts armed with long swords to gigantic bears that charge with all the fury of the world.
The quantity and quality of the things shown in these sequences is intermittent shocking. If in some moments it is the gusts of snow that embellish the visual rendering of the battles, in others it is the many leaves fallen from the trees that follow the trail of our attacks. The really incredible thing, however, is the quality of every single representation, which for the moment does not seem to know any uncertainties.
Black Myth: WuKong seems an absolutely extraordinary title, and it is incredible that a project with such technical depth , artistic and of an apparently rich structure (judging by the number of enemies shown so far) is the result of the work of an independent development team. The features of the Unreal Engine 5 certainly make the difference, but here we are talking about talent, vision, aesthetic taste and a great awareness of the mechanisms of the soulslike genre.
