Black Myth: Wukong

Chinese developer Game Science’s upcoming Black Myth: Wukong is based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West, and players embark on a grand quest to fight all sorts of monsters scattered throughout the kingdom. The combat is extremely fast-paced yet methodical, with boss fights obviously being a highlight of the experience. You can also turn into an insect or a giant monster to overcome difficult situations, and it looks absolutely gorgeous thanks to great use of Unreal Engine 5. Black Myth: Wukong will release for PC sometime in the near future.

Indie developers and AA studios are doing a wonderful job of quenching that thirst for hack and slash games, and ENENRA is one of those games that you have to check out. Currently in development by a single developer by the name of Zahid Ali Jeelani, this game punches far above its weight in many key aspects. With this feature, we will be taking a thorough look at ENENRA and deciphering what exactly makes it tick, and why this could end up being one of the biggest surprise hits in the near future.

One of the biggest fears in the case of impressive looking solo developer projects like this one is the entire affair being a vaporware i.e. a false case of advertising a product that doesn’t actually exist. But that’s certainly not the case with ENENRA, thanks to a recent demo that the developer put out for fans to try and get excited about this game. Furthermore, the game also has a legitimate Steam page, and with updates on the game being consistent across the developer’s social media handle – we are convinced that it is a real product that will hopefully see the light of day in the near future.

ENENRA puts players in the shoes of a cybernetically enhanced ninja who can wipe out entire squadrons of enemies in absolute style. You get branded as a traitor for some reason, and everyone from your mentors to family and friends are on a quest to hunt you down and you must do everything in your will to survive and hopefully, prove your innocence. It’s a pretty simplistic narrative setup, and we don’t really have a lot of expectations for the story – though it would be a pleasant surprise if the game puts forth an engaging narrative that’s worth caring for.

But of course, we all know that the star of the show is the combat and that’s what we are here for. Suffice to say, it looks nothing short of extraordinary. As mentioned previously, ENENRA is a hack and slash game – so the moment to moment gameplay revolves around obliterating any and all opposition while showing off a buffet of impressive gravity defying moves. The developer has done a fantastic job of creating a brutal combat system that looks really fun to engage with, but the most impressive part is definitely how ENENRA nails the game feel of a high octane action experience.

To reiterate, this is a game made by a single developer. It’s commonplace to see teams of dozens of developers missing the mark when it comes to the game feel or game juice, and ENENRA has style oozing out of every side. Smooth and swift animations accompany each swift swipe from your weapon, and chaining different moves doesn’t result in any awkward jank. Blocks of woodboard and similar environmental props also break after a couple of hits from a weapon, which adds to the chaotic nature of this game. All in all, the combat has a beautiful sense of flow and brutality to the proceedings which definitely puts it in the upper echelon of games of this ilk.

ENENRA also continues to impress with its somewhat unique brand of gameplay, where you get a wide buffet of options to wreak havoc upon your enemies. The player character has the ability to manipulate time itself, which is reflected beautifully in the assortment of special attacks at your disposal. You can use stasis swords to damage enemies from a distance, close huge gaps and flank enemies using the teleport ability, or slow down the flow of time itself to rain a flurry of attacks on your enemies. Furthermore, dealing enough damage to any enemy also unlocks an special move that unleashes a brutal execution animation which not only dispatches an enemy in an instant, but also gives you a precious breather between the high intensity fighting.

In addition to this, you also get to choose from a total of three different stances namely Jack of All Trades, Ranged, and Iron Wall. This enables a ton of flexibility within the moves, and the game makes good use of this by meshing it all with a dynamic combat system that seamlessly switches from a multi enemy target system to a lock on for one on one fights. As such, you only need to focus on pulling the right moves at the right time – and the game will take care of prioritizing and focusing your efforts on the right enemy.

Much like any good hack and slash, ENENRA’s combat scenarios aren’t about completing white knuckle challenges against hordes of powerful enemies – but are more of an open playground where you are required to make the most out of the moves and stances at your disposal to wreck those enemies in the most stylish manner possible. We also get a ranking system like other action games which gauges your performance in any given fight, which further motivates you to push for better ranks in repeat playthroughs.

Taking a break from the gameplay, let’s also take a moment to talk about ENENRA’s visuals. Made using Epic’s Unreal Engine, the game looks nothing short of spectacular from a technical standpoint. The character models might not match the raw fidelity levels of AAA releases, but the game certainly impresses in the case of environments. The reflections here are a particular highlight thanks to their high resolution and accuracy, but other effects like alpha particles for combat effects and motion blur are also equally impressive as well. It’s rather surprising to see this level of visual fidelity being reached in a solo project, and it really speaks to the strengths of Unreal Engine and how it enables teams of varying sizes to realize their ambitions.

All in all, ENENRA is looking like a promising project that has a ton of potential. There are obviously some rough edges here and there, like the UI which looks pretty boring – but that doesn’t detract from the otherwise bevy of merits on offer. The biggest burning question here is how the developer will take this insanely satisfying combat loop, and craft a bunch of varied scenarios around it that will keep the player interested right through to the end. As of now, we haven’t seen any boss fights or different set-piece sequences that offer a stark contrast to the general fighting – and the developer will have to address these criticisms as the game moves towards its completion.

ENENRA is slated to release for PC, and as of now there hasn’t been any announcements on the release date front. As such, it’s safe to assume that the game is still some ways from release – but that does very little to dim the excitement that we have for this one hell of a looker. We will definitely be checking ENENRA out when it releases, and hopefully it stands true on all of its promises and then some more.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.