One of the most anticipated games of 2024 was Black Myth: Wukong. The game has been steadily gaining in popularity ever since it was first announced in February 2020.
The hype behind the game was due in part to being the first of its kind to be based on the character Sun Wukong and his story Journey to the West.
This combined with the fact that the game was supposedly similar to already massive games such as the Dark Souls games and Elden Ring from the company From Software made fans patiently awaiting its release.
However there were major doubts as the Chinese company behind the release, Game Science was its first time creating an AAA game.
In addition to this, the game only had 30 members in the development before it expanded which is unheard of for other AAA games.
When the game eventually released, however, on August 20, the response was clear. It shattered expectations. Within three days of release, the game already sold ten million copies, while becoming the top-selling game globally on Steam in ten days. Some Chinese companies even allowed time off for their employees to go and play the game.
It’s clear why the game was so successful, the inspiration from ancient Chinese mythology and folk tales is apparent. For one, the story follows the Monkey King Sun Wukong, who’s been a character adored in China for the longest time.
The character has even been a major inspiration for other brave, cunning, and fun-loving characters, such as Goku from the anime Dragon Ball Z.
Although the story Journey to the West and the character Sun Wukong have been adapted multiple times in shows, movies, and novels, never before has there been a game allowing us to follow his journey, letting us embody him as a character.
Aside from just Sun Wukong, other parts of Chinese culture and mythology are shown in the game, it’s practically overflowing with it.
The game contains over 100 different bosses each based on a different character from Chinese culture. For example, one of the first bosses shown in the opening scene of the game is Erlang Shen, an antagonist in Journey to the West and a god in Chinese mythology.
Each boss is expertly crafted with a unique design and move set. The game itself also has incredible graphics since it uses Unreal Engine 5, which makes it incredible to look at whether or not you’re watching one of the many cutscenes or just exploring the map.
As a game, the scale behind it is just massive, most players report the game spanning anywhere from 30 to 50 hours long, possibly even longer. Great lengths have also been taken to make sure the game is fully voice-acted in both English and Chinese.
The game also has 6 different chapters with multiple endings that change depending on the actions you take in the game. This allows for lots of replayability.
Reviews of the game have been overwhelmingly positive. On Steam, the game has over 550 thousand reviews, most being positive. It has also garnered great critical acclaim being rated a 10/10 by IGN China and an 8/10 by IGN in America.
As a game Black Myth: Wukong has been a groundbreaking release that put Chinese games on the map.