Black Myth: Wukong is the latest action RPG sparking a buzz. Game Science creates an alternate ending inspired by the ancient novel Journey to the West. This game is great for fans of Chinese Folklore, boss rushes, and exploration. However, the game is full of bugs that stifle battle. 

The Premise

After achieving Buddhahood, Sun Wukong rejects the offer to join the Celestial Court. In a rage, the Celestial Court traps Sun Wukong in stone. Before they succeed, Wukong splits himself into six and scatters his pieces across China. As years pass, countless monkeys have tried and failed to find the six pieces of Sun Wukong. Things change when the player character sets off on the same journey as those before him to become the Destined One. 

The Gameplay

Gameplay is your standard action fighter with two dedicated buttons for attacking and an additional menu for abilities that players can mix and match for their preferred playstyles. These abilities can be leveled and rearranged without using resources via an easily adjustable skill tree. 

The Good

In between chapters, beautifully animated cutscenes tell the stories of the chapters we explore. Instead of putting the cutscenes before starting a new chapter, they come at the end to inform the player as to how things resulted in the events we played through. 

The game has a total of 97 bosses. Many bosses are easily missable if you don’t explore or do quests. The great part about having this many bosses is that it’s easy to get through areas because the required bosses will make themselves known.

Exploration also rewards players with power-ups, rare items, and hidden content. On paper, finding all of this stuff sounds like a chore. However, exploring the areas is a treat for the eyes. Seeing all of the gorgeous hidden spots makes getting lost worth it. However, we would benefit from having a map. 

The Infuriating

The unfortunate parts of Black Myth: Wukong are the clunky hitboxes, a particular command, and the camera. 

The clunky hitboxes are rage-inducing. I’ve had one too many moments where I am a literal pixel from an enemy and my attacks miss because the enemy clips into a wall or because the hitbox doesn’t register on that particular body part.

Using abilities in battle is pretty simple, except for one. On PS5, the command R2 + L2 activates a summon. However, it triggers the R2 menu to open which has caused a couple of rage-inducing deaths. I realized the trick was to press R2, open the menu, and then press L2 to activate the ability. Oddly enough, this is the same way to activate the other abilities. For the UI team to list that specific ability with a different input is an oversight that has cost me a few fights. 

Weird cameras aren’t new to action games. This extends to Black Myth Wukong as the camera zooms in too much when you’re backed into a wall fighting for your life. Sometimes, during a boss battle, the camera also zooms to a point where it makes it annoying to get a grasp on what you and the enemy are doing. 

Overall

Black Myth Wukong is a fun game if you’re into action RPGs. The battle system is easy to understand and use. The enemies are fun to fight. The environment is gorgeous. It makes spending time looking around a fun time. Unfortunately, it does have its issues with commands and cameras. However, it’s one of those issues that players have to work around to avoid these situations.