Why is this game so hyped?

[Yuki]

Hey everyone

I wanted to take a moment to share my thoughts on Black Myth: Wukong.
Honestly, I’m baffled by the hype surrounding this game. It feels like it's been blown way out of proportion, and I can't help but wonder why so many are jumping on the bandwagon.

From my perspective, the gameplay is pretty mediocre at best. The graphics might look nice, but visuals alone don’t make a game great. The mechanics feel clunky, and the storyline lacks depth. It seems like a lot of the praise is coming from the Chinese gaming community, which makes me question the overall appeal to the wider audience.

It’s disappointing to see so many players flocking to this title when there are so many other games out there that offer a far more engaging experience. I really think we should be more critical and demand better from the games we choose to support.

Let’s not settle for mediocrity just because of flashy trailers and marketing hype. We deserve games that truly push boundaries and provide a fulfilling experience.

What do you all think? am I alone in feeling this way?

[英语徐坤李华]

the storyline lacks depth? Bro you must be joking, maybe you don't understand many stories hiding in the words.

[Bilbo Tha Donk]

The only people who hype it are chinese ultranationalists. Everyone else (besides the gullible people who they convince) can see its a crap pile.

[spectre199]

Publicado originalmente por Yuki:

Hey everyone

I wanted to take a moment to share my thoughts on Black Myth: Wukong.
Honestly, I’m baffled by the hype surrounding this game. It feels like it's been blown way out of proportion, and I can't help but wonder why so many are jumping on the bandwagon.

From my perspective, the gameplay is pretty mediocre at best. The graphics might look nice, but visuals alone don’t make a game great. The mechanics feel clunky, and the storyline lacks depth. It seems like a lot of the praise is coming from the Chinese gaming community, which makes me question the overall appeal to the wider audience.

It’s disappointing to see so many players flocking to this title when there are so many other games out there that offer a far more engaging experience. I really think we should be more critical and demand better from the games we choose to support.

Let’s not settle for mediocrity just because of flashy trailers and marketing hype. We deserve games that truly push boundaries and provide a fulfilling experience.

What do you all think? am I alone in feeling this way?

because this game is not woke, because this game is based on chinese mythology and doesn't have politics in it, more specificially it doesn't have western nonsense in it.
because the gameplay isn't wonky and tells a story that majority of people want without having politics propaganda showed down our throats like the western devs have been doing. Non of that nonsense.

[Remo WIlliams]

Yeah I bought this game and my 1080ti strix rog couldn't even run the main menu which tells me this game was extremely poorly optimized. I bought a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER $800~ and its a pretty mediocre game. I needed a new video card I guess anyway, but the story is pretty bland, the characters are meh. The gameplay is fairly generic. I definitely wont be falling for any chinese hype in the future.

I do appreciate the lack of western woke garbage though. So....idk maybe if the asian market can make more compelling stories in the future without the garbage western woke ideology, they might have something worth while

[Panzerfaust2020]

Publicado originalmente por Bilbo Tha Donk:

The only people who hype it are chinese ultranationalists. Everyone else (besides the gullible people who they convince) can see its a crap pile.

The only people keep saying this disingenuous nasty crap are either Wokie or Anti-Chinese troll. Including you and OP. I've seen this too many times.
Everyone else (especially the ones with functional brain and eyes) can easily see this game is not only widely praised by Chinese but also by foreign gamers, this simple fact can be easily checked just by observing Steam reviews, over 95% of positive rating overall, and even if filter out all Chinese reviews, it still remains as Very Positive, and it still remains as very positive after two months later since release day, after 20+ million copies sold worldwide. So it's already a done deal. Doesn't matter how upset you are or how hard you try to deny and distort it, you people still have to deal with this fact eventually.

[Panzerfaust2020]

Btw, not just Steam reviews, almost every trailer of this game on Western or foreign platforms (such as Youtube) for past 3 years all have millions of views and very well-received by foreign audiences. This is not done by Chinese viewers since mainland Chinese don't or can't use these Western platforms. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of Western streamers had also played this game, many of them also gave positive feedback, including famous ones with millions subcribers. These are all achieved under the heavy slanders from Western woke media (such as IGN and SBI,...etc) and Anti-China trolls.

But even after 2 months have passed, OP and some of you seem to still desperately, endlessly try to smear this game for whatever reason, and you people think you can do this just by creating another circlejerk echochamber on forum for haters, unfortunately, this old trick still can't change the bigger picture nor the fact, the fact is BMW is not only sold well worldwide but also widely praised by both Chinese and foreign gamers, and vast majority like this game, you haters are the vocal minority and irrelevant.

[ModWorld]

Publicado originalmente por Yuki:

Hey everyone

I wanted to take a moment to share my thoughts on Black Myth: Wukong.
Honestly, I’m baffled by the hype surrounding this game. It feels like it's been blown way out of proportion, and I can't help but wonder why so many are jumping on the bandwagon.

From my perspective, the gameplay is pretty mediocre at best. The graphics might look nice, but visuals alone don’t make a game great. The mechanics feel clunky, and the storyline lacks depth. It seems like a lot of the praise is coming from the Chinese gaming community, which makes me question the overall appeal to the wider audience.

It’s disappointing to see so many players flocking to this title when there are so many other games out there that offer a far more engaging experience. I really think we should be more critical and demand better from the games we choose to support.

Let’s not settle for mediocrity just because of flashy trailers and marketing hype. We deserve games that truly push boundaries and provide a fulfilling experience.

What do you all think? am I alone in feeling this way?

Its not. Simply has its target audience.

[Xengre]

Publicado originalmente por Remo Williams:

Yeah I bought this game and my 1080ti strix rog couldn't even run the main menu which tells me this game was extremely poorly optimized. I bought a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER $800~ and its a pretty mediocre game. I needed a new video card I guess anyway, but the story is pretty bland, the characters are meh. The gameplay is fairly generic. I definitely wont be falling for any chinese hype in the future.

I do appreciate the lack of western woke garbage though. So....idk maybe if the asian market can make more compelling stories in the future without the garbage western woke ideology, they might have something worth while

1. Issue on your end. GTX 1080 Ti is higher than minimum spec. You needed to upgrade, frankly, anyways but there was something else on your end causing issues.

2. Stating that the story and cast of Journey to the West and related tales are "pretty bland and meh" is quite a special take, even among bad takes. They're quite famous for a good reason. Perhaps your bigger issue is with the games pacing and the fact the story is spaced out and not something of a bigger focus like a JRPG?

3. The gameplay is pretty good imo. The reviews from all languages (which you can see, not just some Chinese bias) indicate the overwhelming majority of players agree. It has nothing to do with Chinese hype. If you think the gameplay here is "generic" then you would hate even more bland and generic gameplay from games like Elden Ring, God of War, etc. which are also very popular.

Sorry, just being frank though.

[Cha0zb0rn]

Don't care if the game is woke or not. I care if a game trys to force a political view on me, yes, but I don't like a game because it doesnt.

The gameplay is very solid. The difficulty in en par with Dark Souls 1 which is the most fair title in the series. There is a lot to explore, there are secrets to find and plenty of unique bosses to fight. The story is a bit weak unless you know the original story of journey to the west, true, but I bet very few people went through the souls games and checked all the item descriptions as well.
I understand the hype around Wukong actually more than I understand the hype around elden ring in retrospective. The open world didnt add too much to the game. A lot of it is fairly empty. Imho soulslike games work best in a rather linear world with sidepathes to explore. The last soulslike was lies of P which has clearly stronger weaknesses. The asians value quality a lot more than western publishers.

[Yuki]

I wanted to address some of the concerns and criticisms that have been raised in response to my previous comments about Wukong.

1. I've seen some comments questioning whether I've played the game. I've played the game on PS5.

2. Regarding the narrative and plot, I stand by my opinion that the game's story is not easily accessible to those unfamiliar with Chinese culture and 'Journey to the West'. While the source material may be rich and compelling, I believe the developers didn't fully succeed in making the narrative engaging for a global audience.
The storytelling often feels disjointed and assumes a level of cultural knowledge that many non-Chinese players may not possess. The game introduces many characters without much depth, making it difficult to appreciate the story fully.
I've found that without a background in Chinese mythology, Buddhism, and Daoism, much of the narrative's nuance and significance is lost. This isn't about the quality of the original story, but rather about how it's presented in the game.
For players unfamiliar with 'Journey to the West', the plot can become confusing and hard to follow, potentially leading to a loss of interest in the narrative aspects of the game. While I respect the cultural significance of the story, I believe a game at this price point and with global distribution should strive for a more universally accessible narrative.

3. I've also seen comments about the game not being "woke". Honestly, I'm not familiar with the term "woke" in this context, and I have a negative view of any agenda-driven content in games. My criticism of the game is based purely on its merits as a piece of entertainment.

4. I want to explain why I criticize Wukong. As an owner of the game, I have every right to express my opinion about it. My criticism is based on two key factors:
Price: The game is sold for $50-60 in most regions, putting it in the same league as major AAA projects. At this price point, expectations for the game naturally increase.
Sales scale: The developers claim 20 million copies sold. Such success automatically elevates the game from the category of 'little-known indie projects' and makes it a significant phenomenon in the gaming industry.

If the game cost $15-25 and sold 100-300 thousand copies, I probably wouldn't pay it so much attention. But given its price and claimed success, we should evaluate it by higher standards.
It's important to note that in China, the game is significantly cheaper, and on some Chinese sites, keys can be found at very low prices. This partially explains its popularity but doesn't justify the high price in other regions.
When a game claims AAA status through its price and sales scale, it should meet a certain level of quality in all aspects, including story, gameplay, and technical execution. That's why I consider it important to critically evaluate Wukong and point out its shortcomings.

5. Comparison with Elden Ring and other games:
Since Wukong costs $60 and positions itself as a triple A game, we should compare it to similar titles. Against its 'competitors', this game is completely outclassed. Many here claimed the game is better than Elden Ring. Come on, ER never tried to be the best game in the universe (as some people say about Wukong) and wasn't initially sold for $60. Many of my friends pre-ordered it for $15-20 in 2021 and early 2022, before the greedy Bandai Namco raised ER's price several times. FromSoftware knows their games' value, and without Bandai Namco, their games would be even cheaper.
In conclusion: In 70% of regions, Wukong costs $50-65 (ON PC), which I find absolutely unacceptable for a game that's the developers' first major project.
The game has been compared to GOW, ER, Baldur's Gate 3, Dark Souls, RDR2, and so on. But this game absolutely doesn't deserve comparison with these masterpieces.
And those who think this game is better than these games or that it's GOTY - there's clearly something wrong with your taste...

[Engels78]

Publicado originalmente por Yuki:

I wanted to address some of the concerns and criticisms that have been raised in response to my previous comments about Wukong.

1. I've seen some comments questioning whether I've played the game. I've played the game on PS5.

2. Regarding the narrative and plot, I stand by my opinion that the game's story is not easily accessible to those unfamiliar with Chinese culture and 'Journey to the West'. While the source material may be rich and compelling, I believe the developers didn't fully succeed in making the narrative engaging for a global audience.
The storytelling often feels disjointed and assumes a level of cultural knowledge that many non-Chinese players may not possess. The game introduces many characters without much depth, making it difficult to appreciate the story fully.
I've found that without a background in Chinese mythology, Buddhism, and Daoism, much of the narrative's nuance and significance is lost. This isn't about the quality of the original story, but rather about how it's presented in the game.
For players unfamiliar with 'Journey to the West', the plot can become confusing and hard to follow, potentially leading to a loss of interest in the narrative aspects of the game. While I respect the cultural significance of the story, I believe a game at this price point and with global distribution should strive for a more universally accessible narrative.

3. I've also seen comments about the game not being "woke". Honestly, I'm not familiar with the term "woke" in this context, and I have a negative view of any agenda-driven content in games. My criticism of the game is based purely on its merits as a piece of entertainment.

4. I want to explain why I criticize Wukong. As an owner of the game, I have every right to express my opinion about it. My criticism is based on two key factors:
Price: The game is sold for $50-60 in most regions, putting it in the same league as major AAA projects. At this price point, expectations for the game naturally increase.
Sales scale: The developers claim 20 million copies sold. Such success automatically elevates the game from the category of 'little-known indie projects' and makes it a significant phenomenon in the gaming industry.

If the game cost $15-25 and sold 100-300 thousand copies, I probably wouldn't pay it so much attention. But given its price and claimed success, we should evaluate it by higher standards.
It's important to note that in China, the game is significantly cheaper, and on some Chinese sites, keys can be found at very low prices. This partially explains its popularity but doesn't justify the high price in other regions.
When a game claims AAA status through its price and sales scale, it should meet a certain level of quality in all aspects, including story, gameplay, and technical execution. That's why I consider it important to critically evaluate Wukong and point out its shortcomings.

5. Comparison with Elden Ring and other games:
Since Wukong costs $60 and positions itself as a triple A game, we should compare it to similar titles. Against its 'competitors', this game is completely outclassed. Many here claimed the game is better than Elden Ring. Come on, ER never tried to be the best game in the universe (as some people say about Wukong) and wasn't initially sold for $60. Many of my friends pre-ordered it for $15-20 in 2021 and early 2022, before the greedy Bandai Namco raised ER's price several times. FromSoftware knows their games' value, and without Bandai Namco, their games would be even cheaper.
In conclusion: In 70% of regions, Wukong costs $50-65 (ON PC), which I find absolutely unacceptable for a game that's the developers' first major project.
The game has been compared to GOW, ER, Baldur's Gate 3, Dark Souls, RDR2, and so on. But this game absolutely doesn't deserve comparison with these masterpieces.
And those who think this game is better than these games or that it's GOTY - there's clearly something wrong with your taste...

2. I agree that story could be served better, but it is engaging enough for most of people, despite being hard to follow. But it is action game not RPG like Baldorus Gate 3, so story is not needed to enjoy game.

3. Not being woke is very positive.

4. Nowdays AAA games cost 85$ (here in Poland after changing to $$$) so 60$ is not so huge price, especially that it took me 109h to finish 1st walkthrough and kill ALL Bosses.

5. Elden Ring is different game... Bigger IMO and Platinum took me there 220h... But over 100h in Wukong make 60$ price reasonable for me.

[End_Wokeness]

I just made it to "Cyan Loong" (Dragon) in Chapter 3. After waiting for, and I'm not exaggerating, 3 minutes for the game to start and the save to load (7800x3D, RTX 4090, Samsung 990 Pro) I am literally dead within 2 hits (level 45) that I saw coming but because of the vagueness of timing your window and the long attack animation wind-ups (followed by lightning fast attacks) I didn't time this correctly. So now I am sitting there staring at a loading screen for 30-40 seconds, then I'm asked to run back the same uninteresting jaunt I just traversed to said boss, then get hit 2 more times and die, and then rinse and repeat. On my 4th attempt I hit this boss enough times to fill up all 3 power nodes (assuming 300x) and I'm not exaggerating, it took out 1/20th of the bosses health. I'm hit twice again and am dead and am asked with a straight face to sit through another 30-40 second loading screen "to ponder the error of my ways" and do it again. No thanks, I have better things to do with my F'ing life than stare at 20+ 30-40 consecutive loading screens followed by another 30-60 seconds of pointlessly running back to said boss while I try to learn their attack patterns.

Serious question, who thinks this is fun? I don't think they have the gameplay balance quite right here, add in an uninteresting story that I honestly can't even follow because of the language barrier, don't care about, have zero emotional investment in, the technical problems, and honestly, when I am ready for a gaming session this game just keeps slipping further and further down in terms of what I am eager to play. I don't even want to play this anymore. I restarted another game of Marvel's Spider Man and that game is light years ahead of this in terms of gameplay, traversal, difficulty balance, narrative and cinematics, technical aspects (5 second load times), the game conveys to you what must be done with each boss not ("oh you must dodge this attack followed up by a flurry of 5 more attacks with 20ms dodge windows and if you make 2 mistakes it's back to the 40 second loading screen and 60 seconds of pointlessly running with you!)

Seriously, F this game. Done and done, truly uninstalled, I don't play games that waste my time or make me angry.

[End_Wokeness]

I should have prefaced my sentiment with the fact that I don't enjoy Souls games, Sekiro is somewhat of an outlier, but only because the sword combat is extremely polished is that game enjoyable.

This game needs a few changes to be more accessible:

1. Boss health pool like Yellow Wind Sage and Cyan Loong literally halved.

2. Addressing the unacceptably long load times, essentially halving them from 30-40 seconds to 15 seconds.

3. Placement of boss shrines directly by bosses where it is anticipated that you will die repeatedly. Punishing the player with pointless 30-60 seconds of SPRINTING over uninteresting territory already viewed with no enemies or nothing to justify said distal placement of said respawn point on top of a 30-40 second load time and additional 5 second unskippable respawn animation is seriously not acceptable.

In other games, learning a bosses movement is effectively conveyed with "ok youve been hit with this move 3-4x now one more and youre dead" with more forgiving and balanced damage figures and respawn points that put you right back at the start of the boss fight within 10 seconds, i.e. Marvel's Spiderman. This allows the player to learn more quickly. Getting hit twice and then having to sit through 2-3 minutes of loading screen and pointlessly running back to said boss doesn't facilitate learning.

Also, the game is straight up broken in many areas, I experienced the same issues with the same bosses as shown below:

https://youtu.be/j1nU_mV3gWs

[Engels78]

Publicado originalmente por End_Wokeness:

I just made it to "Cyan Loong" (Dragon) in Chapter 3. After waiting for, and I'm not exaggerating, 3 minutes for the game to start and the save to load (7800x3D, RTX 4090, Samsung 990 Pro) I am literally dead within 2 hits (level 45) that I saw coming but because of the vagueness of timing your window and the long attack animation wind-ups (followed by lightning fast attacks) I didn't time this correctly. So now I am sitting there staring at a loading screen for 30-40 seconds, then I'm asked to run back the same uninteresting jaunt I just traversed to said boss, then get hit 2 more times and die, and then rinse and repeat. On my 4th attempt I hit this boss enough times to fill up all 3 power nodes (assuming 300x) and I'm not exaggerating, it took out 1/20th of the bosses health. I'm hit twice again and am dead and am asked with a straight face to sit through another 30-40 second loading screen "to ponder the error of my ways" and do it again. No thanks, I have better things to do with my F'ing life than stare at 20+ 30-40 consecutive loading screens followed by another 30-60 seconds of pointlessly running back to said boss while I try to learn their attack patterns.

Serious question, who thinks this is fun? I don't think they have the gameplay balance quite right here, add in an uninteresting story that I honestly can't even follow because of the language barrier, don't care about, have zero emotional investment in, the technical problems, and honestly, when I am ready for a gaming session this game just keeps slipping further and further down in terms of what I am eager to play. I don't even want to play this anymore. I restarted another game of Marvel's Spider Man and that game is light years ahead of this in terms of gameplay, traversal, difficulty balance, narrative and cinematics, technical aspects (5 second load times), the game conveys to you what must be done with each boss not ("oh you must dodge this attack followed up by a flurry of 5 more attacks with 20ms dodge windows and if you make 2 mistakes it's back to the 40 second loading screen and 60 seconds of pointlessly running with you!)

Seriously, F this game. Done and done, truly uninstalled, I don't play games that waste my time or make me angry.

I have cheap SATA SSD with not so big transfer and loading after Yellow Long was maybe 20 seconds or faster.

Yellow Long itself was hard, but I managed to kill him in few tryings. As all Bosses in game! As I've just finished it before weekend and I've killed all Boses including secret ones, in a game!

[King_Wallis]

clunky is crazy, i think you just exposed your skill issue lil bro