Black Myth: Wukong Gameplay – Is it a Boss Rush? A Soulslike?

Ever since the reveal back in 2020, the gaming community has been alive with questions regarding the Black Myth: Wukong gameplay. Is it a boss rush? A Soulslike? What can we expect from Steam's most wish-listed game?

Indeed, as more information emerges from the demo and online gameplay previews, and critics praise the stunning graphics and epic boss fights, discussion boards are buzzing with opinions about how best to define this much-anticipated video game. A game loosely based on the 15th-century Chinese Journey to the West, in which you play as the monkey king and take on the world armed only with a magic staff.

Described by developers Game Science as an Action RPG, we explore how much the Souls genre inspires the gameplay, and to what extent the intense boss encounters constitute a boss rush. We hope you find it useful!

READ MORE: Black Myth: Wukong Previews are Now In! What do the Critics Say?

Black Myth: Wukong Gameplay - A Boss Rush?

First a proviso. It's obviously difficult to define a game in its entirety when we've only seen and played a demo. I mean, we literally don't know what the rest of the game will look like. Having said that, there's nothing stopping us (and everyone else!) from speculating, as we count down the days till the August 20th release!

OK, now we've got that out the way, let's define our terms. When we talk about boss rush video titles (or modes), we're referring to high difficulty games focussed on sequential boss battles, in which players face off against varied bosses in relatively quick succession, with limited resources. Examples include titles like Cuphead, Furi, and Titan Souls.

From what we've seen, the Black Myth: Wukong demo does seem to fit this description. The thrilling sequence of cinematic one-to-one boss battles, with opponents ranging from giant wolves, to fierce nobles, to magicians, to martial artists, is described by PC Gamer as 'a triumph'. Furthermore, in between bosses, the scenery is stunning thanks to the Unreal Engine 5, but the challenge of the enemies is minimal. Indeed, it's pretty fair to say that the bosses are the main event.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. That is to say, you'll never hear us complain about there being too many spectacular boss battles! And a soulslike game full of bosses sounds pretty awesome. However, it also doesn't necessarily mean there won't be more to the exploration and narrative aspects of the game once the full version is released. As we've said, we're only going off the demo so far.

Indeed, the idea that there is more to the gameplay than epic boss encounters fits with the statement from Game Science: "In this whole game, we are intentional to tell a complete story not only about the battles but also about the characters. We pour our heart into building characters with life and blood and after playing the game we wanted players to feel not how strong they are, but how related they are to the main character's experience." Sounds like there's more to come!

Black Myth: Wukong Gameplay - A Soulslike?

Again, the extent to which you categorise Black Myth: Wukong as a Soulslike will depend on your definition of the genre. I mean, Games Science themselves refer to the game as an Action RPG as opposed to Soulslike. This umbrella term is obviously more generic. Having said that, it does seem like the Soulslike hallmarks in the game are pretty evident.

From what we've seen so far, we're talking momentous boss battles that require skill, strategy, and timing; attack-focused combat with strikes, dodges, and counter attacks; a stamina bar to manage fights; a bonfire system with shrines that act as checkpoints to restore health; the respawning of enemies; deaths resulting in the loss of experience; a Sekiro leveling up system; spells and transformations; and an ambiguous narrative structure.

On the other hand, unlike with traditional Souls games, you can press pause, which comes as quite a relief! You are also armed only with your magic staff, as opposed to having the choice of over 30 different weapon types, like with Elden Ring.

To sum up, a number of critics have echoed the developers sentiment to say that, although Black Myth: Wukong certainly has boss rush and Soulslike elements, it really is its own game and shouldn't be defined by pre-defined genres.

I don't know about you, but hearing that makes me even more excited to see what the full game has in store!

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