Black Myth: Wukong Review (2025)

I was completely blown away by Black Myth: Wukong's first trailer in 2020. Boasting jaw-dropping visuals and flashy, action-packed combat, Black Myth: Wukong immediately drew me in with its gritty interpretation of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. It's been on my most-anticipated games list ever since. While the game has always looked like a Soulslike, there's been some confusion about whether it actually is or is something more akin to character action games like God of War or Devil May Cry. After spending 30 hours exploring Black Myth: Wukong's world and battling countless bosses, I can safely say that the game is something that will appeal to Soulslike fans, but may alienate those hoping for something else.

Anyone going into Black Myth: Wukong expecting it to be more God of War or Devil May Cry than Soulslike is in for a rude awakening. While there's been some insistence that Black Myth: Wukong is not a Soulslike, there's little differentiating it from other games in the genre, and it absolutely will not be fun for those who prefer traditional character action games. There are a handful of boss fights in Black Myth: Wukong that will test even seasoned Souls fans' skills and patience. On the flip side, many Black Myth: Wukong bosses are quite easy. The mini-bosses found in the world can all be beaten without too much trouble, and even some of the bigger bosses can be taken out fairly quickly. However, the hard bosses serve as giant roadblocks that can leave players stuck for hours, which is not typical of most character action games. Full stop: If you don't like Soulslikes and the stiff challenge associated with them, you will not like Black Myth: Wukong.

The desire to differentiate Black Myth: Wukong from Soulslikes is puzzling, as the game is very clearly trying to ape FromSoftware's formula. Players fight their way from shrine to shrine (Black Myth's equivalent to bonfires), killing enemies for XP and healing with a gourd that can only be used a limited number of times until it needs to be refilled. Gourds are refilled by resting at shrines/bonfires, an action that also refills the Destined One's health and mana and respawns all the enemies in the level. Levels are more linear than they are in FromSoftware's games, but there is still a maze-like quality to some of them, with branching paths and shortcuts to be found. The game has a major focus on difficult boss fights where players need to dodge as much as their stamina meter allows in order to avoid being hit. There are no difficulty options, so players are forced to master the game as it is if they hope to succeed. One of the few notable ways it differs from games that embrace the Soulslike label is that Black Myth doesn't have a gimmick where players can retrieve lost XP if they make it back to the spot where they died.

Another way Black Myth differs from most Soulslikes is that players are stuck with basically one weapon throughout the course of the game: the legendary staff from the Journey to the West novel that inspired the game. Even so, players are still tasked with putting together a "build" based on how they choose to level up the Destined One and what stances they place their skill points into. Different stances allow for different heavy attacks, performed by filling up the Focus meter. The lack of weapon variety does hurt the game in the long run, though switching between stances keeps things somewhat fresh for a while. Luckily, there's an interesting wrinkle that helps Black Myth's battles stay engaging for longer than they would have otherwise.

Spells play a huge part in Black Myth: Wukong's combat, with players unlocking a variety of fun spells over the course of the game. I won't give away all the different spells here, but one lets players immobilize their opponents, freezing them for a short period of time and leaving them wide open to attack. Another lets players summon forth clones of themselves, and another gives players the power to briefly transform into certain enemies, complete with their own move-sets and health bars. Each spell in Black Myth: Wukong uses mana and comes with a serious cooldown timer, so using them strategically is key to winning the game's tougher fights.

Besides spells and whacking enemies with the staff, Black Myth: Wukong also lets players briefly summon spirits of certain enemies to unleash a powerful attack. Black Myth has dozens of spirits to collect, with players building up a roster almost like it's Pokemon. Finding new spirits is always a thrill and testing them out in battle is fun. The spirits can be upgraded, so players should experiment with them all and find which ones fit with their playstyle the best.

Black Myth: Wukong Combat is a Mixed-Bag

When everything clicks, Black Myth: Wukong combat almost feels like a dance. Players will dodge out of the way of attacks at the last second, unleash a devastating heavy attack to interrupt their opponent's next strike, immobilize them, and then maybe unleash a spirit to finally take them out. It can be a lot of fun, but players should brace themselves for serious frustration as well. There is a certain button-mashy nature to the combat that is made apparent in the tankier boss fights, which makes dying and starting from scratch even more tedious than in similar games. While similar games provide a euphoric sense of accomplishment when defeating their toughest boss fights, I didn't get that feeling much from Black Myth: Wukong.

Using spirits in the heat of combat also shines a light on one of Black Myth's more unfortunate problems. While I didn't experience any severe, game-breaking bugs during my time with Black Myth: Wukong, there are still some technical issues that players will have to deal with. Using spirits occasionally made the game stutter and freeze for a brief second, which may not seem like a big deal, but can have serious consequences in tougher fights. Other times, activating spirits simply didn't work because the game read the input as a different action. Players have to hit both triggers to use a spirit, but sometimes the Destined One would spin their staff instead. Any action assigned to the bumpers seemed to be slightly unresponsive from time to time, which can lead to a lot of headache in a game like this. The game also occasionally mixed-up the audio and subtitles. Despite having English audio and subtitles selected, a couple of scenes switched to Chinese audio and subtitles before correcting itself a few minutes later. Even then, that was better than the rare instances where audio cut out completely with no subtitles to read at all.

If the story was anything to care about, this would be an even more annoying problem, but Black Myth's story is largely inconsequential. It takes players from one level to the next, introducing them to various characters pulled from Journey to the West, and while there is an overarching story, each chapter also has its own individual tale to tell as well. The dialogue is clunky and the voice acting is unimpressive. But few people play these types of games for the story anyway. Again, Soulslike diehards coming into this likely won't be bothered by Black Myth's lackluster story, but those expecting something like more traditional character action games are going to be disappointed.

Black Myth's story didn't leave any impression on me, but that's not to say there isn't some spectacle to it. Black Myth features all kinds of downright bizarre scenes and characters that are a treat to see, brought to life by the game's mostly-impressive graphics. Certain areas in Black Myth: Wukong look incredible, and the game boasts some awesome animations and eye-catching characters as well. The game is packed with all kinds of memorable boss designs, though there are also many that are underwhelming and feel samey. In fact, there was one secret boss I found in Black Myth: Wukong that was literally a re-skin of a mini-boss found elsewhere in the chapter, which was a shame, and while many of the game's bosses are visually distinct, a lot of the actual fights feel the same. This may be due to the Destined One being limited to their staff, but I felt like I had seen everything the combat had to offer by the halfway point. Perhaps a shorter runtime or more freedom when selecting spells would have staved off the repetition, but as it stands, players can only equip certain spells in certain slots, which seems like an unnecessary limitation that stifles combat possibilities.

Combat starts to get tedious around the same time that the level design becomes more engaging. The first couple chapters of Black Myth: Wukong are bland and lifeless. They are a collection of mini-boss fights separated by sparsely populated areas with invisible walls that keep players from venturing off or jumping on platforms that they should otherwise clearly be able to reach. The level design in these early stages does not leave a good first impression. Later chapters have significantly increased scope and are more interesting, with more to see and do between the boss fights, though they perhaps suffer from going on a little too long.

An invisible wall blocks you from jumping on this ledge.

Completing a chapter in Black Myth: Wukong rewards players with access to a brand-new area, though they are still free to return to previous chapters using the shrines, which double as fast-travel points. Players will want to return to previously explored areas to interact with special NPCs that, like in other Soulslike games, often require players to talk to them multiple times to trigger certain events and reveal all the information they have to offer. There are completely optional merchants that are easily missed yet vitally important, so people who don't have patience for that Soulslike trope will likely be annoyed by how Black Myth: Wukong handles its NPCs.

Black Myth: Wukong Has Some Needless Frustrations

Black Myth: Wukong's lack of objective markers and a map will also annoy some players, but again, these are things that are expected by Soulslike veterans. Black Myth: Wukong would have greatly benefited from a map, though, so it's a shame that it doesn't seem to have one. Objective markers would have been helpful in a couple of specific situations in the game that I can't get into, but I will say that it's highly likely that a lot of players are going to find themselves completely stumped with no idea how to progress the story once they reach a certain point in the game.

Frustration comes from a lack of direction late in the game, but players will also get annoyed at the game's more unforgiving boss battles. Part of the problem with Black Myth: Wukong's boss fights is that the leveling system doesn't always allow them to directly upgrade their base stats like they can in most other Soulslike games. It instead uses skill trees, which means sometimes dumping points into pointless abilities and attributes to get to what you really want. A certain merchant will take a limited quantity item that lets players level up their character in a more traditional way, but these upgrades never feel particularly substantial.

Black Myth: Wukong is a game that shies away from the Soulslike label, yet it is clearly gunning for the Soulslike audience. It is far from the best in the genre, but it's also not the worst game that has followed in Dark Souls' footsteps. If you go into it expecting a mostly standard Soulslike experience with some blood-boiling boss encounters mixed in with basic level design, you will have a better time than if you were going into it expecting it to be like a traditional character action game. Black Myth: Wukong offers about 30 hours of gameplay for its first playthrough with a ton of side content to check out as well, but many will tire of the limited combat options long before they reach its dazzling yet equally aggravating final boss fight.

6/10

Black Myth: Wukong

Action RPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Pros

• Some incredible boss fights with impressive designs
• When combat clicks, it can be a lot of fun
• Absolutely stuffed with content for those willing to look for it
• Delivers on spectacle and has some eye-popping areas to explore

Cons

• Combat starts to feel restrictive and gets dull well before the credits roll
• Lack of a map and objective markers makes later stages needlessly tedious
• A few agonizingly difficult bosses that are more annoying than they are fun to fight
• Unfortunate technical hiccups
• Lackluster level design, especially in the early chapters

Black Myth: Wukong launches August 20 for PC and PS5 with an Xbox Series X/S version also in development. Game Rant was provided with a PC code for this review.