Last time I spoke about Black Myth: Wukong, I did so mostly to rant a bit about boss de- sign and how a couple of bosses in particular really went against the game’s combat system. At the time, I was a bit fearful that I was going into more and more janky bosses, but, thankfully, that wasn’t really the case.

There absolutely is still jank to be had, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as in the two bosses I talked about before. Now that I’ve reached the end of Black Myth: Wukong at last, I can say that it was a very worthwhile experience in the end despite the intense bouts of frustration and even anger some of its bosses prompted.

If I started with the positives, I think it’d be very easy to get carried away and make Black Myth: Wukong better than it actually is. It is a great game, but it’s not the perfect masterpiece that many are making it out to be. So let’s do things a little differently and talk about the negatives first, though not in any particular order.

The first potential issue I want to talk about is the difficulty. I won’t beat around the bush here; Black Myth: Wukong is a very difficult game in the same way that Bloodborne is. It’s very fast-paced, requiring players to react very quickly to even faster attacks. There are no shields here, nor is there any blocking.

You can either dodge the hit or nullify it, otherwise you’re eating that strike and paying for it with half your health. Nullification (called Resolute Counterflow) is highly situational and only works for one hit as it’s landing. In other words, it is by no means a reliable option unless you’ve practiced extensively on most enemy types.

There is a parry (Rock Solid), but it’s a mana-requiring spell that has a cooldown period after use (yes, that cooldown can be drastically shortened). Certain attacks from certain enemies will ignore it without anything common between them, making it unreliable. In other words, using either of the game’s counters is almost always a gamble, one that doesn’t even yield a decent payoff.

This is a problem, one that was very frustrating to discover and come to terms with. Some bosses are too big or too fast for the camera to handle, and there are also several with strange hitboxes that don’t jive with the lock-on system, which can (and often does) cause you to miss crucial hits and lose fights. 

Airborne enemies might as well be invisible as far as the camera is concerned too, making aerial attacks difficult to deal with in general. All this aside, it’s just a difficult game. The bosses would be a lot more doable without these issues, but it’d still be hard. So yeah, probably a pass if you’re not into lots of lightning fast boss fights.

The other issues are more minor, but still irksome. Lots of stuff either isn’t explained at all or only subtly hinted at. It’s not even minor stuff either; there are several important items, pieces of story or even weapons I would have missed out on if a friend hadn’t told me and I wasn’t already set on doing everything possible in each chapter.

Game Science is also oddly confident that most players will do at least one new game plus run too, because they make it impossible to fully upgrade most things in your initial playthrough and even hide some character logs until the second run. So that’s annoying too, just like the invisible walls that are literally everywhere.

Okay, that’s all the bad. So here’s the good.

The combat feels very good. The controls are very responsive; the Destined One’s hits have real weight to them, and you can do some legitimately cool-looking things. The boss fights that do work for the most part are very satisfying to learn as well. You really do feel like you’re getting better with each one, and the actual moves themselves have a cinematic quality to them that I haven’t really seen in other games. Truly, when the system isn’t fighting you, it’s one of the most butter-smooth systems you’ll ever use!

Additionally, Black Myth: Wukong does something I’ve been wanting in so many games like this for so very long: free respecing! You can, at any time, completely change your build! Abilities, talents, stats, resistances, bonuses and more can all be tweaked as much as you want and it’s all completely free! No hoarding special respec items or dedicating entire playthroughs to certain styles. You can do anything you want and give yourself whatever kind of edge you think you need. It’s a fantastic system and I hope to see it in more games in the future.

The game also really feels like a great journey! Each area is distinct from the rest, looks fantastic and is populated with scores of very cool-looking enemies. The art, music and sound effects are generally on point, but it’s all absolutely fantastic in the chapter-end videos. Seriously, this is some of the most beautiful and even moving stuff you’ll ever see in a video game! It just puts everything else coming out of AAA to shame!

Okay, I suppose that’s all I’ve really got on Black Myth: Wukong. It’s not a 10/10 master- piece thanks to some odd design decisions and jankiness, but it’s still an overall fantas- tic game for those who enjoy adventures filled with truly challenging fights. If you’re one of those people, then I can heartily recommend it, issues aside. If you’re not, then perhaps look it up on YouTube at least, since it’s still fun to watch.

Have you played through Black Myth: Wukong? What did you think? What do you think about high difficulty games in general?

Images from the Black Myth: Wukong Steam page