Black Fantasy: Wukong is, finally, a sport about boss fights. Tense, dynamic boss fights that’ll have you ever gawking in awe one minute, and probably spiking your controller the subsequent. This can be a difficult motion title — a relentless push in opposition to more and more advanced and lethal opponents, and there aren’t any issue settings to fall again on. That reality alone might be sufficient to place some folks off, however for those who can persist with the sport and turn into invested in its quite distinctive model of staff-based battling, you may be rewarded with a level of spectacle that is so not often seen exterior of bona fide blockbusters like Ultimate Fantasy 16 and God of Warfare Ragnarok.
Structurally, Wukong is a conventional Soulslike. There are shrines that you’re going to return to upon demise, there are devoted boss arenas, and the extent design is basically linear, at all times funnelling you in direction of the subsequent battlefield. Certainly, exploration is saved to a naked minimal. Whereas later environments are barely extra expansive total, it is not like there is a must-see secret down each useless finish, and frequent use of invisible partitions — a jarring alternative given the title’s graphical prowess — ensures that you just undergo the overwhelmed path.
Wukong is at its weakest while you’re trotting between boss encounters. We’re not saying that the sport wants exploration, that it might be higher if it copied Elden Ring’s homework — however past a bunch of fairly vistas and the occasional aspect quest (which is often accomplished simply down the street anyway), Wukong struggles to completely justify its personal design. At worst, the sport’s world finally ends up feeling synthetic — a walled-off collection of walkways that exist purely to fill area between the fights that really matter.
On a elementary degree, nonetheless, you would argue that downtime between bosses is a necessity. As alluded, key clashes are intense affairs that solely develop bolder and extra bombastic as the sport progresses. Boss battles are doubtless the beating coronary heart of the expertise; they’re each frequent and impressively diversified — a seemingly unending stream of immaculately crafted opponents so that you can wrestle in opposition to and ultimately conquer.
Wukong’s many, many foes are plucked from Chinese language mythology, and the sport itself is predicated upon Journey to the West — the timeless sixteenth century novel that is influenced numerous works of fiction. The titular Wukong — a monkey who ascended to close godhood — is struck down within the sport’s opening, and also you tackle the position of one other, anonymous ape who units off seeking Wukong’s scattered relics.
Admittedly, it is a plot that significantly better resonates for those who’re already aware of China’s most culturally impactful legends. With out prior data, the title’s storytelling comes throughout as disjointed and nearly ethereal — little greater than a barely coherent string of occasions that loosely tie every of the sport’s six chapters collectively. However even for those who’re firmly out of the loop, there is a fairy story whimsy to Wukong’s writing and dialogue that makes the whole lot appear… cohesive.
However Wukong does not need you to get slowed down in lore and narrative — it needs you to clobber demons along with your smacking stick, and in that regard, it is pretty laborious to fault. Fight exists in an area someplace between your traditional Soulslike blueprint of assault, retreat, repeat, and a extra action-oriented method, replete with combos and particular talents. It is an odd combine that, at instances, can really feel somewhat confused, prefer it’s making an attempt to have the very best of each worlds however by no means fairly manages to choose an id of its personal.
Nonetheless, the fight system solely will get higher as the sport goes on, due to a slew of unlockable perks, abilities, and magical feats that each one dovetail fairly spectacularly within the title’s extra demanding moments. Wukong will get brilliantly inventive with the skills that you just’re ultimately afforded, as our simian hero is able to reworking into beforehand defeated demons, and casting spells that may flip the tide of battle.
With all of this in thoughts, it is a bit of a disgrace that you just’re caught with such comparatively primary instruments for the title’s first 10 to fifteen hours of gameplay. Granted, there must be some form of development curve, however a number of of the protagonist’s later talents really feel borderline important in absolutely appreciating the fight system as a complete.
We’re hesitant to say that Wukong will get simpler as you unlock an increasing number of nodes throughout its shockingly massive talent bushes, however most gamers will hit a degree the place the sheer breadth of your arsenal allows you to bypass the cautious type of play that earlier chapters enforced. It really makes for a satisfying sense of progress; similar to Wukong himself, you are starting to embrace the inside monkey, taking your opponents for a experience with more and more devious techniques.
It takes some time to actually click on, however this is a wonderful motion sport at its core — and that makes its lack of PS5 optimisation tougher to abdomen. Particularly, it is the title’s ‘Efficiency’ mode that drops the most important metaphorical ball. It guarantees a smoother gameplay expertise concentrating on 60 frames-per-second — one thing that many would declare is essential for any hardcore motion sport. Nonetheless, Wukong’s 60fps is basically an phantasm — a product of clumsy body technology. In essence, you are taking part in at 30fps, however visually, it seems to be like 60.
Enter lag is a really unlucky byproduct of this system, and it might completely be felt once in a while, when your dodge does not come out in time, or when your heavy assault does not hyperlink up along with your customary combo. It is not a complete dealbreaker — Wukong’s fight is staggered sufficient to the place you are by no means hitting too many buttons in fast succession — however not realizing whether or not your demise was all the way down to an absence of talent, or the sport’s technical ineptitude, may be deeply irritating. We will solely hope that developer Sport Science cleans issues up post-launch.
We would not thoughts a lift in decision, both, if solely in order that we are able to higher respect the sport’s frankly unbelievable artwork route. Visuals clearly aren’t the whole lot, however Wukong’s eye-popping presentation is a motive to maintain taking part in, pure and easy. Each new enemy, each new boss, is a pleasure to find, and so they’re all fantastically animated. The artistry on show throughout your entire journey is excellent, even on the meagre 1080p decision of efficiency mode.
Conclusion
It takes time for Black Fantasy: Wukong’s fight to actually click on, however when it does, this is likely one of the most inventive motion titles on PS5. One after one other, its spectacular boss battles steal the present — a procession of memorable encounters that showcase the sport’s unbelievable artistry. As a complete, nonetheless, the expertise is held again by restricted degree design and irritating technical points on PS5 — a rattling disgrace, since Wukong is pure monkey magic at its peak.