Game Science’s upcoming Black Myth: Wukong is a game that seemingly came out of nowhere, took the internet by storm, and now has countless fans waiting for it with bated breath and gleeful anticipation. With this year’s Gamescom, the developer unveiled a new trailer for Black Myth: Wukong which revealed a ton of new information about this highly anticipated release. To that end, here are 10 details that you need to know.
Weapons
Unlike its FromSoftware counterparts, Black Myth: Wukong will primarily feature a single weapon that players will be using throughout their adventure. The weapon in question is the titular baton which we saw in previous trailers, and the game gives plenty of options to increase the versatility of this weapon. You can extend the length of the baton itself, change the grip, and even imbue it with elemental enchantments to unleash devastating damage to your enemies.
Stances
One of the new things that we got to know about Black Myth: Wukong is the stances system. Players get to choose between a total of 3 different stances – namely Smash Form, Pillar Form, and Thrust Form. Wukong changes the grip on the baton depending on the chosen stance, and each stance allows for a different kind of playstyle with distinct attack animations and combos. The Smash Form is all about well, smashing your enemies with the long end of the baton while the Pillar Form is geared more towards defensive play, and lastly, the Thrust Form is more about breaking defenses with charge attacks. Switching between different styles as and when needed will be an important strategy that players will have to master, and the stances system should help in making the combat a more dynamic experience.
Special Abilities
In addition to the Transformation abilities, Wukong has plenty of special skills that add a ton of flavour to the combat proceedings. You can have a total of 4 skills equipped at any given time, and they can be activated by pressing a combination of the right trigger and a face button. These skills are also on a cooldown timer, so you can’t just go around spamming them during boss encounters. There’s a Ring of Fire ability which creates a circle of protection around the player which might be good for creating distance from the enemy. You can also stun an enemy using another special ability, and we also saw one instance where you can essentially duplicate yourself to distract the enemy for a short while. The final game is said to feature a grand total of 72 different abilities as per Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad – so that’s pretty exciting to hear as well.
Bosses
We also got to see entire boss fights play out in the preview footage, which gives us a better understanding of what to expect when fighting these hulking beasts in the final release. Boss fights are obviously pretty hard, and each boss character has access to a wide variety of devastating moves that can make short work of a careless player. You need to look out for openings between combos and punish them accordingly to have a shot at victory.
Bosses can also transform mid-battle into a deadlier second phase, which gives them entirely new attacks that require you to change your strategy on the fly. We also saw one instance where the second phase of the fight replenished the entire health bar of the boss, and such fights are definitely going to be brutal tests of your endurance.
Enemy Types
The Gamescom trailer sheds more light on the impressive enemy designs of Black Myth: Wukong, where we get to see all sorts of beasts ranging from cannon fodder warriors to fierce beasts and much more – but the final release will most likely feature dozens of even more enemy types. Speaking in an interview with IGN, game producer Feng Ji stated that the team is aiming for over 100 unique monsters and enemies for the final release to retain a sense of excitement throughout the adventure. It all sounds pretty awesome, and hopefully, the developer will be able to stand on these lofty ambitions.
Level Structure
As for the level designs, Black Myth: Wukong will be a traditional RPG where players get to explore one carefully curated stage after another as opposed to a sprawling and seamless open world. While there will always be a single critical path to the objective, there are optional side paths that players can explore in order to get new side quests, additional rewards, or even new special abilities. The level design will be familiar to anyone who has played Dark Souls, and we’re all here for it.
Hidden Bosses
Venturing off the beaten will also reward you with optional boss fights, including but not limited to the one with the Poisonous King which we saw in the preview footage of the game. After a long detour from the main path and a cutscene, the player finally gets to fight against this gargantuan poison-spewing scorpion. It looks to be a pretty tough fight with swift attacks, long combos, and the constant looming threat of poison build-up – and players will have to make smart use of healing resources and special abilities to be able to defeat this boss. Optional bosses such as this one have a comparable level of quality to that of the main bosses, and we hope to see this trend continue with the final release as well.
Armor
One of the newer things that we got to know about Black Myth: Wukong is that players will have a few different options when it comes to choosing what armor to don. You can independently switch between different headgear, torso, gloves, and footwear to create the perfect armor for your character. In addition to the differences in standard defense ratings, some armor pieces will also give you small bonuses like 5% more attack power or 10% more defense against a certain kind of damage. We are not expecting Black Myth: Wukong to have Elden Ring levels of options when it comes to armor sets, but having an array of different options for clothing will surely help players express themselves in a much better fashion.
Shrines
Black Myth: Wukong is Soulslike at its core, and progress is only saved at select points on the map – which are called Shrines in this case. Resting at a Shrine replenishes your HP and healing supplies, and you can use your accumulated experience to level up your character. We got to see a small glimpse of the skill tree, where you have progression nodes for each of the aforementioned special abilities. Spending skill points and experience will obviously make each of these skills more powerful, and choosing different routes through the skill tree will obviously result in a much different character.
New Biome
The Gamescom trailer also showcased a new biome towards the end of the trailer. We see the Moon change its hue from normal to a bright red all while a parasite with large tentacles floats majestically in the sky. The terrain looks to resemble that of a desert with sparse grass and rocky structures all around, and it all comes together to create an image of a threatening biome that would most likely be home to some ferocious creatures. It definitely gives off the same vibes as areas that you would usually find in Soulslike games, and that could mean only good things for the fans of that genre.