Black Myth: Wukong – Release window, story details, gameplay, platforms, trailers, more

Joseph Pascoulis
the monkey king facing a bear in black myth: wukong

Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong climbed to the top of many players’ wish lists following a series of impressive trailers. So, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming RPG, including the release window, story details, gameplay, and more.

An exciting souls-like is on the horizon, as Black Myth: Wukong is set to bring the famous Monkey King from the Chinese novel, Journey to the West, to life.

Developed by Chinese studio Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong takes inspiration from titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. For those interested in the game, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming RPG, including the release window, gameplay details, platforms, trailers, and more.

Black Myth: Wukong release date

Black Myth: Wukong is set to release on August 20, 2024. The release date was confirmed through a trailer shown off during The Game Awards 2023.

What platforms is Black Myth: Wukong available?

Black Myth: Wukong will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC at launch.

Players on the previous generation of consoles will miss out on the game as it will not be available on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. This is likely due to hardware constraints, but we’ll be sure to update this article if a last-gen release is announced in the future.

Black Myth: Wukong story & gameplay details

Story details

Black Myth: Wukong’s story follows the Monkey King Sun Wukong, also known as the Destined One. The game’s story is based on the 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West. As per the source material, Sun Wukong served as the chief disciple of the Buddhist Monk Tang Sanzang, and under the monk’s wing, he gained supreme power.

Nothing else is known about the game’s narrative besides what can be drawn from the novel. However, there is plenty of speculation surrounding the main character’s identity.

The novel establishes that Wukong can create clones of himself, leading players online to theorize that the game’s protagonist is actually a clone who has embarked on his own adventure. The theory emerged after players online pieced together some details, including the wolf boss from the first gameplay showcase referring to the player character as just “another monkey.”

Black Myth’s narrative looks to go beyond the original story and could instead be a retelling of the Monkey King’s tale from a different lens.

Gameplay details

Black Myth: Wukong features many gameplay elements that are considered souls-like staples. This includes checkpoints at different locations where the player can rest to recover their health, gourds, and mana but at the cost of repopulating the area with enemies.

The environments are open-ended and feature branching paths, although the game isn’t exactly open-world. Enemies lurk at every corner and so do challenging boss fights against all manner of mythical creatures. Following the beaten path advances the story, but straying away and combing through every inch of the region will see you earn hidden rewards.

The Monkey King is blessed with great strength and speed, as well as being very skilled in combat. These skills and powers translate into the gameplay, and trailers have shown Sun Wukong using various abilities such as Transformation, Immobilization, and Stone Skin.

His weapon of choice is a Staff and he can trigger multiple combat stances, each suited to different enemy types. Combat mechanics are similar in nature to FromSoftware’s Sekiro, as success against enemies hinges on precisely timed parries and dodges. The game plays out from a third-person perspective allowing you to see the Wukong in action.

The game even features a bit of character customization as you can outfit the Monkey King with various forms of armor, each providing stat boots.

Black Myth: Wukong trailers

In 2020, Game Science released its first official gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Wukong, which featured 13 minutes of action, showing off some of the level design and combat.

On August 22, 2023, fans were gifted 19 minutes of gameplay from Black Myth: Wukong, giving players a cinematic taste of the game’s combat and more.

The latest bit of footage from the game arrived in the form of a release date trailer, dropped on December 8.

That was everything to know about Black Myth: Wukong. For more on souls-likes, check out our Elden Ring guides:

Where to find Castle Sol in Elden Ring | All Elden Ring achievements & trophies | Elden Ring progression: Best route & recommended levels | Who is Vyke in Elden Ring? | How to get Zweihander in Elden Ring & best builds | Is Elden Ring harder than other soulsborne games?

Related Topics

About The Author

Joseph is a Senior Writer at CharlieIntel, specializing in shooters such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Overwatch. He also enjoys Souls-likes, the Resident Evil franchise, and Tekken. After writing for KeenGamer, he joined CharlieIntel in 2021. If Joseph isn't writing about games, he's most likely playing them. You can contact him at [email protected].