Everything we know about Black Myth: Wukong
Here's everything we know about this Journey to the West-inspired Soulslike
Want to know more about Black Myth: Wukong, the upcoming Soulslike heavily rooted in Chinese legend? Ever since it was first revealed in 2020, Black Myth: Wukong has turned heads with aggressive combat and grandiose mythological vibes inspired by Journey to the West, one of the classics of Chinese literature. Made by Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is perhaps the biggest Chinese AAA video game to court worldwide attention thus far - both for its impressive visuals and gameplay, but also for misogynistic comments made by its developers.
If you want the full run-down on all the details behind this extravagant Soulslike, you're in the right place. Let's dive into everything we know so far about Black Myth: Wukong, from the expected release date to story details to a brief rundown of the controversy embroiling it.
In this guide:
- Black Myth: Wukong expected release date
- Black Myth: Wukong platforms
- Black Myth: Wukong trailers
- Black Myth: Wukong story details
- Black Myth: Wukong gameplay
- Black Myth: Wukong controversy
Black Myth: Wukong expected release date
Black Myth: Wukong is expected to release on August 20, 2024. The game's release window was first announced last year in a cute stop-motion video pointing out that Black Myth: Wukong would release in the Year of the Dragon, often considered an auspicious year in the Chinese Zodiac. The exact release date was confirmed at the tail end of 2023.
Black Myth: Wukong platforms
Black Myth: Wukong will launch on PC via Steam and the Epic Store. It will also be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Black Myth: Wukong trailers
Black Myth: Wukong debuted in 2020 with a 13-minute gameplay trailer that hit the internet out of nowhere and instantly drew eyes for its polished appearance, despite the fact that the footage was recorded from a pre-alpha game build.
Since then, multiple trailers of similar length have appeared to promote the game. One of the most visually stunning is a 12-minute Unreal Engine 5 gameplay test released in mid-2021.
The most recent Black Myth: Wukong trailer, which hit YouTube on December 8, 2023, is shorter, clocking in at only three minutes and sixteen seconds. Nevertheless, this trailer revealed the game's final release date and featured English voice acting for the first time.
Black Myth: Wukong story details
Much of Black Myth: Wukong's story remains under tight wraps, but several hints can be gathered from the source material that inspired the game.
Journey to the West was published in the late 1500s in China's Ming dynasty and attributed to writer Wu Cheng'en. The novel tells the tale of a Buddhist monk named Tang Sanzang who travels from China to India to obtain religious texts. Along the way, he recruits a number of disciples - chief among which is Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Originally trapped under a mountain by Buddha for his mischievous doings, Sun Wukong grows during his time as Tang Sanzang's bodyguard, eventually reaching true enlightenment and becoming a god-like figure who exhibits incredible powers, including super strength and the ability to manifest clones of himself.
To those unfamiliar with Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong is the inspiration behind Son Goku of the Dragonball franchise, which originally began as a loose adaptation of Journey to the West. In the world of video games, Wukong is also known for his appearances in various MOBAs, including League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Smite. While there have been singleplayer games starring the Monkey King in the past, such as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Black Myth: Wukong marks the first time that players will be able to control this superheroic simian in a big-budget AAA Soulslike intended for both Chinese and international audiences.
That said, the monkey protagonist featured in Black Myth: Wukong may not be the legendary Sun Wukong himself. There are a number of clues that point to this, including the title of the game, which hints at a darker, "black" rendition of a well-known story. The official Black Myth: Wukong website also states the following:
"The story of Wukong tells more than Wukong himself. The monkey is the leading role for sure, but he still is a small part of the whole vivid world. There are plenty of intriguing characters and thought-provoking dialogues in Journey to the West, not to mention the darkness veiled. We applaud when Wukong defeats these so called 'villains,' but who are they indeed?"
In the game's trailers, other questions about the player's identity abound. An enemy in the first 13-minute gameplay video remarks in Chinese that the player is "another monkey," and after defeating a wolf demon named Lingxuzi, the monkey protagonist is stopped from delivering the killing blow by a grander version of himself who is dressed in the ornamental armour more associated with Sun Wukong in films and television shows. Furthermore, the 12-minute Unreal Engine 5 gameplay test shows the player fighting against Kang Jinlong, a dragon with a golden horn who was not depicted as an adversary of Wukong in the original story.
All of these unusual occurrences have caused Chinese players - as well as those familiar with Journey to the West - to theorise that the character controlled by the player is not Sun Wukong himself, but rather a stray clone of the Monkey King who has broken off on his own quest. Considering that Sun Wukong appears alongside his doppleganger in footage, Black Myth's plot may revolve around reuniting these two different aspects of the Monkey King.
Another fan theory revolves around the Six Eared Macaque, a villain in Journey to the West who disguises himself as Sun Wukong. The game may paint the original version of Journey to the West as a "black myth" where the Six Eared Macaque killed the real Monkey Kong and took his place, assuming all the glory for himself - which would possibly make the playable character the true Wukong out for revenge. While these possibilities are mere speculation at the moment, all would tie in with the title of the game, as well as Game Science's promises that Black Myth: Wukong tells a tale that goes beyond the typical legend of the Monkey King.
Black Myth: Wukong gameplay
Black Myth: Wukong appears to feature a solid helping of Soulslike gameplay, with parrying, dodging, collectible weapons, and challenging battles against gargantuan bosses all prevelant. While the true identity of the playable monkey may remain up in the air, many of the wonderous abilities of Sun Wukong as presented in Journey to the West seem to be present and accounted for. These abilities include the following:
An extending staff: In Journey to the West, Wukong wields the Ruyi Jingu Bang, a staff that can shrink and extend at will. The staff is fully featured in Black Myth's trailers, and the "true" Wukong who appears at the end of the 13-minute trailer has the Chinese characters for "Ruyi Jingu Bang" enscribed upon his weapon. In all of the released footage, Wukong can be seen using his staff to ascend to great heights, bludgeon foes, block arrows, and battle celestial enemies in heaven.
Clone creation: Sun Wukong was capable of generating clones of himself from a single strand of his hair in the novel. This ability - which anime fans might associate with Naruto's clone jutsu - appears when Wukong battles Lingxuzi in the 13-minute debut trailer. It appears to run on a timer, like many of the Monkey King's shapeshifting skills.
Cloud traversal: If you're a Dragonball fan, you probably know of Goku's cloud, the Flying Nimbus. This was based on Wukong's magical cloud somersault ability, which let the Monkey King travel thousands of miles in an instant. Black Myth: Wukong has shown cloud traversal in its trailers, though whether this will be used extensively in-game - possibly as a fast-travel system - remains to be seen.
Shapeshifting: When it comes to transformations, Wukong's skillset looks impressively varied. The Monkey King is capable of temporarily turning into a golden cicada, a bestial version of himself that deals excessive damage, and even former enemies when he wields their fallen weapons - as seen in gameplay footage where he turns into Huodaolang, a lupine enemy with a flaming polearm. Sun Wukong held a grand total of 72 different transformations in the book, and one can only wonder at whether Game Science has managed to recreate this vast repertoire in Black Myth.
Time freezing: Wukong boasts prodigeous combat capabilities in all of the trailers, but one of his most useful skills appears to be the ability to temporarily freeze enemies in place, allowing him to charge up his staff for critical blows or dodge away for a momentary breather. This ability works on both regular enemies and even bosses.
Black Myth: Wukong controversy
While Black Myth: Wukong has won acclaim and anticipation since it was revealed three years ago, the game has also garnered criticism due to sexist comments made by the founders of Game Science. While these comments were confined to the Chinese internet for years, reports by Eurogamer in 2022 and IGN in 2023 brought them to the attention of the English-speaking world. These posts ranged from crude sexual jokes to remarks that games made for women and men were innately different, and the game industry needn't cater to female players due to their penchant for liking "soft and effeminate things." These comments were made by a variety of people within the company, including Game Science founders Geng Ji and Yang Qi.
Game Science has not officially responded to the controversy, which has spurned larger discussions of casual sexism in the Chinese gaming industry, as well as the ongoing fight for feminist causes in China.
That's all we know for the moment regarding Black Myth: Wukong. Keep your eyes peeled on Rock Paper Shotgun for more on this big-budget rendition of Wukong's adventures as the release date draws closer, and if you're interested in learning more about the Monkey King in the meantime, it's always worth ordering a translated copy of Journey to the West for yourself. The 1983 Anthony C. Yu translation is widely regarded as a classic, but if you want a more modern version, check out the 2021 translation by Julia Lovell.