New gameplay revealed for Black Myth: Wukong

I’m a big fan of classic mythology. Something about ancient stories passed down through centuries has always struck a chord for me. Like thousands of others, I was extremely impressed and excited by the ambitious pre-alpha gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Wukong when it was first revealed back in 2020.

The game is an action RPG developed by indie Chinese studio Game Science and takes heavy inspiration from Journey to the West, a classic Chinese novel published in the 16th century. The novel is famous for its epic scale, being 100 chapters in length. The first seven chapters provide general background knowledge and chronicle the exploits of the legendary character of Sun Wukong, the Monkey king. So far Black Myth looks to be a retelling of this first section of the novel, but appears to have a lot of foreshadowing of future events.

This newest gameplay trailer showcases more combat. Wukong himself taking on a variety of foes from a Stone Golem to a Thunder Dragon. I’m continually amazed every time by the sheer amount of abilities and combat options Wukong has, it truly captures his enormous power present in the novel. The Souls-like staff combat is still the main focus, but Wukong also summons multiple clones of himself and transforms again into another unique form, which appears to be a rock with legs. It’s still a little unclear how long each transformation can be maintained, but this one looks to only have a limited use.

This time around, the gameplay is beginning to appear more finalized as the HUD is more clearly visible. We also get a glimpse into some of the in-game menus and a bit of exploration gameplay as Wukong travels the beautiful landscapes, picking up items and materials.

In addition to the newest gameplay trailer, a new in-game cutscene was also revealed. It was unusual to say the least with the main focus being a group of female spider demons rather than Wukong. The perspective is also first-person which is strange given the rest of the game is third-person. Generally, it didn’t provide too much insight into the overall narrative but still conveyed a ton of personality and characterization to this gorgeous world that Game Science has crafted.

Overall, I am still incredibly excited for Black Myth: Wukong. As we near the planned 2023 release date, it’s encouraging to see gameplay taking shape towards the final product.