Black Myth: Wukong – 10 New Gameplay Details You Might Want to Know

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent traversing the digital landscapes of various realms, I must say that Black Myth: Wukong has truly captured my attention and imagination. The depth of customization offered by this game is simply astounding!

The long-awaited review embargo for “Black Myth: Wukong” has been lifted, and overall reactions are favorable. Our evaluation awarded it a perfect score of 10 out of 10. While it’s likely that many gamers will purchase it upon release, there are several important aspects to consider beforehand. For instance, what exactly are Spirits, and how do they differ from Transformations? How intricate are the three Stances? Is the world design open-ended or linear? To answer these questions and more, let’s dive in… (Introducing a series of articles providing insights into various aspects of Black Myth: Wukong)

Crafting Armor

In the game, it’s established that the Chosen One always wields a sole weapon, which can be enhanced. However, you might wonder about the crafting process. Interestingly, there are no traditional loot drops in the game. Instead, as you advance, you’ll automatically unlock recipes for various armor pieces. You can then create these items using scarce resources, and the new armor set will provide enhanced stats and additional benefits. While it’s not a complex crafting system, the simplicity of weapon and armor customization ensures that the emphasis remains on the storyline, the challenging bosses, and the engaging combat.

World Design

Initial glimpses of Black Myth: Wukong’s world design gave an initial impression that it might be limited in exploration. However, after immersing ourselves in the game, we’ve found that the environmental scale is more diverse than initially thought. The first level is designed to be linear as a means of familiarizing players with the game, which was highlighted during last month’s hands-on previews.

Moving on, what follows is significantly larger, transitioning into another sequential part. There are also optional areas to unearth along the way. Although this game doesn’t qualify as an open world, Wukong manages to offer impressive environmental diversity, ranging from trekking through snowy landscapes to exploring scorching deserts. Everything looks stunningly beautiful.

No In-Game Map

In summary, while the game isn’t an open-world title, there are plenty of discoveries within each environment. However, as our review points out, there is no map available. This means if you encounter an optional boss that you wish to fight later, once you’re stronger, you’ll have to remember its location or spend time searching for it. Navigational challenges can also arise when getting lost in the game. It’s not a major issue, but something worth keeping in mind during gameplay.

Stances Trees

As noted over the years, the Destined One can employ three different Stances – Smash, Pillar, and Thrust. While they’re each beneficial in different situations, you can also unlock upgrades to improve them. For instance, Force Unbound will allow for sprinting while charging an attack in Smash Stance, while Resolute Counterflow grants Resolute Strike, nullifying incoming damage and making enemies easier to stagger. You can unlock further upgrades for the latter, like Skyfall Strike, to inflict more damage.

Pillar Stance is a more defensive maneuver which can transition into a powerful attack but requires Stamina to maintain balance on the staff. Its upgrades can reduce the Stamina needed, enable the use of the Gourd when balancing (if you have enough Focus, of course), and much more. Meanwhile, Thrust Stance can be upgraded to perform a backward hop after a heavy thrust attack. You can then transition into Whirling Thrusts by holding Light Attack for a quick barrage of strikes (which can also be upgraded for up to 15 percent increased critical chance).

Foundations

In the context of your character, “Foundations” signifies inherent traits, categorized into three branches: Endurance, Combat Skills, and Survival Skills. By investing in the Endurance branch, you’ll gain advantages such as lowering the Energy expenditure for evading and leaping, no longer disrupting a Light Attack sequence during evasion, and boosting Focus earned from Perfect Evasions.

1. The practice of Martial Arts enhances both your Light and Heavy Attacks: It extends the range for initiating a Light Attack combo, offers damage reduction when employing a finisher, and allows you to learn Mobile Spin as a defensive move to dodge projectiles while on the move.

Transformations

In this game, the thrilling aspect lies in The Chosen One’s Ability to Morph, which mimics the powers of bosses or enemies and lets you use their special moves. Throughout the promotional materials for the game, we’ve witnessed numerous such transformations, each with distinct attack patterns. For instance, Red Tides, acquired from Guangzhi, boasts a one-of-a-kind Light and Heavy Assault, capable of inflicting burn damage.

Azure Dust possesses not only its own distinctive attack called Rockfall, capable of launching a potent area of effect, but also Transformations that come with individual upgrades such as enhanced defense for Red Tides. Moreover, it offers the option to invest in passive nodes that can slow down Might decay while transformed, or boost Might recovery, damage, and maximum health upon transformation.

Spells

Similar to Foundations and Stances, Spells are categorized into three groups: Alteration, Weaving, and Mysticism. Game Design offers numerous possibilities, and while we’ve unlocked some, they also come with exclusive enhancements. You could modify Cloud Step, a handy evasion spell that generates a decoy, to boost the user’s movement speed and enhance the health of the decoy as well.

Rock Solid, a defensive spell, could be adjusted so it can be cancelled at any point instead of requiring an opponent to attack first and regenerating mana. On the other hand, A Pluck of Many lets you dispatch several replicas of the Chosen One toward an adversary, with enhancements raising their quantity and damage inflicted. Lastly, Immobilize offers the opportunity to unlock nodes that extend the duration enemies remain immobile and the harm they sustain.

Cultivate Spirits

Besides Transformations, there are also Spirit abilities obtainable from defeated foes. These empower you to temporarily transform into the enemy for the purpose of executing a unique skill. For instance, Baw-Li-Gunh-Lang’s Tongue Whip lets you lash out at enemies, or the Gore-Eye Daoist enables you to create a radiant area with his staff that amplifies your attack when standing inside it. These abilities can be enhanced using Will and other resources, thus lowering their energy consumption.

Buffs and Medicines

Crafting isn’t just used for making new armor pieces – it’s also employed to create Mortal Medicines, which provide different buffs in battle. The Tonifying Decoction will increase max Stamina significantly for a long duration while the Ginseng Pellets slowly provide Focus over a comparatively shorter period. You also have medicines for removing bane states like poisoned, chilled, shocked, and burned while briefly raising resistance to their damage sources. Though fairly straightforward, they should still provide an edge in certain fights.

Curios

Collectibles known as Curios subtly influence your character’s build. Although we have only discovered a few so far, they come with unique abilities such as the Wind Chime slightly boosting speed, Cat Eye Beads increasing critical hit chance slightly, and Back Scratcher significantly raising max Stamina. Some curios, like the Glazed Reliquary, also offer additional benefits, such as recovering a small amount of Stamina after executing a Perfect Dodge. It’s likely that more effective options can be found to enhance your build with further investigation.

2024-08-20 15:11

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