Game Analysis: Black Myth: Wukong

Overview

Black Myth: Wukong is a game created by Game Science Interactive Technology Co.,

Ltd. from China. Black Myth: Wukong, subsequently replaced by BMW, is an Action Role-Play

Game, which also is known as ARPG, based on the Chinese ancient novel “Journey to the

West.” It is the first Triple A game designed completely by a Chinese company. It was released

on 20th, August, 2024. By October 1st, it had sold twenty one million copies only on Steam.

BMW is a soulslike game too. Many BMW players have never played any action game before,

many bosses in this game have brought players so much trouble and very strong cultural and

emotional resonance. BMW has 6 chapters, the destined one (the player) is trying to find Sun

Wukong’s six relics to resurrect Wukong by fighting over the places that Wukong used to fight

in Journey to the West. The 6 chapters include different landforms and climates in China, the

stories and spirits of both novel and the game are inspired by Buddhism and Taoism.

MDA FrameWork Analysis

BMW’s mechanics are just like other action games or soulslike games. In the player's

journey, we eliminate all the demon creatures and finish our hidden mission to collect Will, then

upgrade our system of fight and body, just like Cyberpunk 2077, players can add will to any

style of fight, hp, defense, or critical hit. There are three kinds of stances to use the staff to attack

enemies. It takes stamina to combine light attack and heavy attack so the player can reach the

maximization of every stance. Just like other soulslike games, players can use spells, such as

immobilization and decoy. Players can transform to the ten bosses they used to fight with, and

use all of their skills. Players drink different types of alcohol from different types of Gourd to
instantly recover their health. BMW’s mechanics are very similar to Nioh 2 or Sekiro: Shadows

die twice. Compared to those games, BMW is easier and more friendly to newcomers, the way

Game science designed all the bosses is very creative, so the players can never get tired of

playing that. There are many fancy looking creatures in every chapter, like Tiger Vanguard who

has a samurai blade and Kang-jin Loong who is a silver dragon. In mechanics, players are

obsessed with those well-designed bosses. Although the players would die a lot of times, they are

still very motivated by the desire of adventuring. And just because they have different styles of

boss, players can have very different experiences of each boss with the other players.

Dynamics of BMW can be a good point if we want to criticize the game. They have some

really good parts to interact with players, some bosses are long-range attacking mode. How hard

the boss is somehow depends on the style of the players. Players can be fast or patient, pillar-

stance lover or thrust-stance lover, so the difficulty of every boss is not the same for every

player. The fighting effect of BMW is very attractive, it is one of the best visual effects games

because it is a new game. However, some parts are worth discussing. When the players want to

drink from the gourd to recover, the game sometimes would miss the instruction, or drink twice.

Because the game has no input buffer, players would be confused when they are stunned by

enemies. The dodges and perfect dodges are really cool, and one of the most popular dynamics

of BMW Wukong is “See through.” If the players are using smash stance, when enemies are just

about to attack, players can perform heavy attacks during light attack combos to counter

enemies’ attack. It means that players see through the attacking of enemies. This is the best

interacting skill that every new player wants to learn. One of the biggest reasons why the

dynamics of BMW is very attractive is that the designer encourages players to customize their

fighting styles. They encourage the players to customize your ability, you can restudy the skill
using the current will anytime. For example, if the boss has a really high damage one, you can

add all your wills to defense. Players can also use different kinds of staff, armor and

transformation. They can match your subconscious fighting style, so you can defeat a boss in a

limitless way, you can play conservative or aggressive, and there are always the weapons and

skills you want to learn. Bosses are very dynamic, as is the player's system. This is the reason

why people stick with it till the end. There are over 35% percent of people who finish the game

and the hidden story in every chapter now. Soulslike games are all about the players dying many

many times and finally conquering some places and defeating some bosses.

Aesthetics is a very basic way to attract people. Even when you have bad mechanics and

dynamics, aesthetics can always be a good point for players. There are a few games that we can

never ignore when talking about aesthetics. Two games I played that I really enjoyed in an

aesthetic way are RDR2 and Death Stranding. Both of them have their own themes and

complicated storyline of every character. Compared to them, BMW is more linear, so there are

not many overlaps in all the characters. However, Journey to the West and Sun Wukong is

originally an exciting story. Before BMW, there were a lot of games on Chinese fairy tales and

histories, such as many Three Kingdom theme games made by Japanese companies. BMW is the

first game that I feel like it has told the story we want to share to the world. Like Sekiro: Shadow

died twice and Ghost of Tsushima, BMW can be another masterpiece that proudly represents

East Asian culture. As I mentioned before, Taoism and Buddhism are both involved in this game.

When the players were playing the game, there were a lot of meaningful lines and quotes to

express the spirit of “cut the unnecessary or evil desire”or “Reverse causation would confuse

people.” Also, you will find a creature is actually a good and helpful character after you kill it.
All of those elements in the game make it more aesthetic and artistic, just like RDR2 and Detroit:

Become Human. They all have a deep and inspiring plot to make the game itself even better.

Magic Circle

About how Magic Circle was created, the genre of BMW— Action Role Play Game

immediately offered an answer. It is very easy to put ourselves in the role of a RPG game,

especially the triple A games, because the visual effects of these games are so real and you

would pay your undivided attention to play this game. In the two years after Covid ended, we

have played a lot of games. As an international student alone in another country, I play a lot of

games. Unlike people who are in their own country, almost all international students see video

games as a good way to kill time. It is very easy for us and the game creator to reach a consensus

to create the Magic Circle together. People are easy to tell whether they are in a game or not. As

long as we put both of our hands on the keyboard and mouse or controller, we clearly know that

we are playing a game in a fake world. We don’t have to be responsible for anything. You can

try whatever you want. However, what really matters is how to break the Magic Circle, so that

games are not only a time killer, but also a book, a movie or a piece of music. How we break the

magic circle and get a better understanding of ourselves through the game matters. Nothing is

better than learning something serious and having some fun at the same time. As I mentioned in

the Aesthetics part, BMW planted a lot of religious quotes and spirits. The story of BMW is also

referring to the authoritarian system in China for thousands of years, and some people like

Wukong were trying to break the celeste court just like some revolutions. Also, we can learn the

relationship and purpose of every character, just like the real world, there is no good or bad. It

depends on what side they are on. Playing BMW is just like reading a book, there are many
critical elements in the game so that you will remember them and think of them when you are in

your real life.

Personal Review

My personal favorite part of this game is the boss fight. Some of the bosses are very good

looking, though I died fifty times on one of them, I would still love to challenge them as soon as

I die. There are also many hidden quotes and lines after you use some specific spells or

transformations on specific bosses. With this special set, the boss fight would be very funny, you

can try a lot of transformations on one boss, and find the best way for yourself against them. My

favorite part of the aesthetics of this game is post game video and Compendium of Creatures.

When the player gets to play the game, they would find that after every chapters’ boss fight,

there will always be a video to introduce the history of that boss in different styles. For example

the post game video of chapter 1 and 3 is comic style, chapter 2 is stop motion animation. It

shows that Game Science really cares about the game and the origin of those fairy tales. The

compendium of creatures is the one of the biggest motivations for me to play. The compendium

of creatures records every creatures’ background story in it, even the weakest small enemies

have an emotional story to show why it is here to stop you. The creator even wrote a poem for

every creature, no matter if they are enemies or friendly. They are just like some nicely made

Chinese ancient poem, respectably expressing and delivering the spirit of every character in this

game. They also hand draw ancient Chinese paintings for every character and creatures in the

compendium of creatures. Overall, in Mechanics, it is a good game to play. In Dynamics, it is

creative enough to win an award. In Aesthetics, it is full of surprises and it will definitely shock

every player.