Back in 2024, Black Myth: Wukong took the gaming world by storm and showed that mythology and legends could be brought to life in a truly authentic and epic manner, and it wasn’t until recently that we got our first glimpse at the gameplay of the next game in the series, Black Myth: Zhong Kui. For Wukong, though, the grandeur and the scale of the experience were really something, and the game quickly became a frontrunner for game of the year, shooting to the top of many players’ lists for one of the best ARPGs in recent memory. However, there was one issue that the game failed to solve, and that was to do with boss readability and clarity. Often, you would go into a fight and be pitted against dozens of particle effects and attacks that, even after several attempts, it was still hard to know where to begin.
That’s where Black Myth: Zhong Kui may be taking a step in the right direction, as judging from the most recent gameplay trailer, it already seems as though the manic combos and absurd variety have been toned down for a more satisfying dance of blades that looks and should feel a lot better to play. Also, as fun as the gameplay was in Wukong, this time around, the player appears to have a lot more physically powerful and commanding moves, rather than having a barrage of spells and endless attack chains in their pocket, which means that when the game finally launches, we may very well be in for a far more rewarding experience in the combat and gameplay department.
Black Myth: Wukong’s Bosses Often Choose Spectacle Over Substance
For an ARPG to be successful and fun, it has to nail a lot of different elements all at once, but I would argue that gameplay is almost always the most important. A good combat system and an enjoyable fighting style can more than make up for lackluster stories and graphics, and we have seen many examples of exactly that kind of philosophy over the past decade or so. When it comes to Black Myth Wukong, it has exceptional worldbuilding, stunning visuals, and an engaging combat loop, yet it all seems to come crashing down when you step into one of the dozens of boss arenas.
Whether you’re in the desert, snow, forest, or somewhere in between, many of the bosses fall into the trap of spectacle over substance, and thus, the actual gameplay of the encounter falls short of expectations. It’s a shame too, as the designs of the enemies and the variety provided is pretty insane, with everything from giant beetles to dual-wielding assassins being scattered across the world, but when the intro cutscene ends, it is a mad dash to try and chunk the health bar as low as possible, before the flurry of madness starts to fill the screen. While it is hard to pin down a single reason why the game didn’t take home as many awards as many people thought it would, I think the issue related to the bosses was among the largest of the bunch.
Black Myth: Zhong Kui Already Looks Like It’s Learning From Wukong’s Boss Fights
Now that we have seen a decent chunk of Zhong Kui’s gameplay, it is fair to start drawing comparisons between the two games. The visuals are the most obvious standout, and despite only being shown a couple of years after Wukong, Game Science’s next game already looks like a dramatic step up on the graphical side of things, with improvements being made to the facial features, weapon effects, and the overall art direction of the world. It is crazy to think that it was only two years ago that we were running around lush jungles and storming ancient castles, but judging by how fleshed out the gameplay of this new game is, we may be seeing it much sooner rather than later.
As fun as the gameplay was in Wukong, this time around, the player appears to have a lot more physically powerful and commanding moves, rather than having a barrage of spells and endless attack chains in their pocket…
Further into the trailer, we get to see some actual in-game fighting, and the contrast between the boss and the regular foes is almost night and day. Immediately, you can see what is happening as the player moves fluidly aside from the various blows heading their way and reliably observes each telegraphed hit as it comes out. There is obviously still a learning curve, judging by the delayed attacks and various AoE moves, but those are still far more intuitive to master than a sequence of full-screen explosions that seem to hit you no matter what. All of these things put together make for a much more visually pleasing series of events, as while it is fun to see a movie character dodge and avoid hundreds of explosions and shots all at once, when you’re the one doing the dodging, it becomes borderline impossible to make it through unscathed.
That is the essence of where Black Myth: Zhong Kui can really stand apart from many other ARPGs, Wukong included. As the genre has evolved from the early days of basic knight-on-knight combat, it feels as though there is a greater emphasis on epic visuals and flashy attacks, even if it comes at a cost to the gameplay. We have seen this across the board from Elden Ring to The First Berzerker: Khazan, where in a lot of cases, the moves the boss is throwing out appear almost like a sequence from a bullet hell game, only you have far fewer ways to dodge and you best hope you hit the timing right or it’s likely game over.
None of this means to say that Black Myth: Wukong is a bad game with universally terrible bosses. There are still a good number in the game that provide a sizable challenge without feeling too extravagant to handle with anything other than luck, and I think that the whole point of the game is to feel as though you are wielding the power of a god, not to necessarily take on an equal in an even 1-on-1 encounter. The criticism is fair and a widespread issue that so many players cited as a major complaint with the game, but there is obviously still so much to love from the rest of the experience.
Still, it is important that Zhong Kui learns from the mistakes of the previous Black Myth game and leans heavily into a power fantasy that doesn’t feel overpowered or silly but genuinely rewarding to achieve. This first look only shows a short section of what’s to come, and it took a full four years last time between the initial gameplay reveal to the actual launch, which means there is plenty of room to keep refining the game, so we will have to wait and see if Game Science can maintain a solid streak of fight clarity throughout the story, or if they will chase cinema instead of satisfaction.
