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Black Myth: Wukong hands on: Dark Souls if your hero was a stick wielding monkey

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Laura Kate Dale
Aug 23, 2023
Let’s get this out of the way: Black Myth: Wukong is a bit of a Dark Souls. (You might even call it a "soulslike.") In it, you fight tough bosses, dodge their most powerful attacks, and try not to lose your resources; you know, that sort of thing.

However, having now played 45 minutes of the game at Gamescom 2023—splitting my time across four distinct missions—I can confirm that Black Myth: Wukong is more than just another Dark Souls. It’s a Dark Souls where you play as a mythical Chinese monkey man with a big stick—who really likes bouncing around the battlefield and using magic to become as hard to hit as possible.

At its core, Black Myth: Wukong plays much as you might expect. You’ve got a light attack, heavy attack, dodge, and limited number of heals. Where things start to differ is the stance system, which allows players to switch on the fly between three different gameplay styles— which are smash, pillar, and thrust, respectively. Each of these styles have unique light and heavy attacks, combos, and attack timings.
Black Myth Wukong Hands On Dark Souls If Your Hero Was A Stick Wielding Monkey Lion
In one stance, for example, your moves might favor vaulting into the air and hovering above the fray safely for a moment, all before crashing down onto a nearby enemy. Another might focus on planting your staff firmly in place and spinning around, causing a barrage of damage on the spot.

On top of those, you’ve also got access to a number of magical abilities that can be used mid-fight. These include a counter ability that that turns the player into stone, a paralyzing spell that grants a safe window to charge up heavy attacks, and a flaming circle of fire. However, my personal favorite is a full body transformation that overrides your other abilities for a limited time, changing up your moveset in the process.

All of your combat options are fairly close range, meaning that you’ll often have to stay pinned to enemies during boss fights. You’ve got plenty of tricks available to mitigate this lack of range—including the fact that perfectly-timed dodges slow down time a la Bayonetta—but that doesn't mean the game is easy. Overall, I'd say that Black Myth: Wukong is fairly unforgiving on a first play session, with the game asking you to commit to learning its systems quickly.
Black Myth Wukong Hands On Dark Souls If Your Hero Was A Stick Wielding Monkey Slash
The most memorable boss fight of the demo was undoubtedly the Tiger Vanguard, a cockney-accented tiger man that drinks from a swimming pool of blood with a sword. He then proceeds to challenge the player to hand-to-hand combat in said blood-filled pool. It’s chaotic and violent, but the presentation is light hearted enough to keep it from getting as serious in tone as Dark Souls. Of course, that's all based on what the demo seemed to show.

While it’s a little cliche these days to compare games to Dark Souls, sometimes it's unavoidable. Black Myth: Wukong may deserve to be discussed along with the greats of the punishing action-RPG genre, as the first little slice we played is looking very promising so far. It features more vertical level design than most comparable titles, it’s bouncy and energetic, and there are hints of a wacky sense of humor peeking through its veneer of death and desperation.

You can find Black Myth: Wukong on the Epic Games Store here.