Black Myth: Wukong – Should Bloodborne Fans Play it?

As someone who has revisited the Dark Souls series multiple times over the years, either for a new playthrough or to check out mods, I have a confession regarding Bloodborne. No, not that it’s a boss rush title and you’re all nuts for thinking otherwise, or that it’s not one of the best games ever made. The truth is I’ve only beaten it once. There was that one time I returned to try The Old Hunters, but that run ended prematurely because I couldn’t take it anymore. Not because it’s a bad game, but because of the PS4.

Despite becoming one of Sony’s more beloved first-party IPs, Bloodborne hasn’t received a PS5 upgrade, much less a PC port, a remaster or even an enhanced edition. Whatever hope there was of a remake after Bluepoint’s excellent adaptation of Demon’s Souls in 2020 has pretty much died. As a result, the only option is to try and tolerate its 30 FPS and frame pacing issues, while other modern action titles offer 60 frames per second.

And it’s a shame because it offers some of FromSoftware’s best work. Creepy yet incredibly in-depth lore that holds a mirror up to the ugly visage of humanity? Check. Cosmic horror and entities beyond our understanding? Check. Excellent combat that rewards skill and playing aggressively? Check and check.

Even the aesthetic and environmental design are top-tier, whether you’re trudging through the streets of Yharnam or happening upon the mysterious Cainhurst Castle. As dreary and depressing as it can be, Bloodborne has a certain macabre beauty to it. Yharnam, such as it is, is a unique entity with a life of its own.

There are some titles which have eased the pain over the years – NEOWIZ’s Lies of P is a great example, thanks to its take on gothic scenery and fast-paced combat (not to mention the dark fantasy twist on the tale of Pinocchio). However, it’s possible that Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong could be even better when it launches on August 20th for PS5 and PC.

It’s not to say that Game Science’s hack-and-slash action-adventure title is a Souls-like game. There are certainly elements of the same, whether it’s the checkpoints that serve as respawn points while also reviving enemies or the stamina meter. When comparing it to Bloodborne in terms of features, there isn’t any parrying (or firearms that we know of), much less any transforming weapons, though you could argue that the extendable staff qualifies.

Instead, it boasts transformations where the Destined One takes on the form of a defeated boss or enemy and uses their moveset. Bloodborne doesn’t have spells, while Wukong boasts several of them, from a ring of fire that closes off enemies to a counter skill.

The setting is also a pretty big difference-maker. Yharnam is inspired by Victorian-era London, and you could argue that the plague going around is based on the Black Death that afflicted Europe during the Middle Ages. On the other hand, Black Myth: Wukong is based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West and sees the player embarking on an epic journey that spans multiple regions.

There are vibrant forests, snow-covered mountain ranges, extensive ruins with massive statues, and other fantastical environments, though it’s not an open-world title by any means. If Bloodborne is more Gothic medieval fantasy meets Lovecraftian horrors, Wukong is closer to a mythological journey with fantastical beings and larger-than-life occurrences.

However, it’s hard to deny the focus on fast-paced action with limits. Bloodborne offers faster-paced combat than the Dark Souls series, with players relying more on split-second dodges and parrying enemies instead of blocking their attacks. Knowing a boss’s patterns and reacting accordingly is a tenet of FromSoftware’s titles, but that can also describe how Black Myth: Wukong handles its combat.

Since there’s no parrying or blocking – countering is a skill with a cooldown – dodging is pretty much the only means of survival. Unlike a Souls-like title, it can’t be spammed continuously – previews have indicated that you can dodge three times consecutively before it enters a short cooldown. It’s not just a question of reacting to attacks but also spacing and saving those dodges for when you really need them.

This isn’t to imply that Black Myth: Wukong will be more challenging than Bloodborne, but it’s not quite a walk in the park either. Various previews have discussed the difficulty of boss fights, with the optional ones like Loong requiring a significant amount of focus and mastery over the Destined One’s skills.

Remember that these are only the preliminary battles – as the amount of transformations and spells grows over time for the player, subsequent bosses could be even tougher. Truly the natural route of progression for any hack-and-slash action RPG. As it stands, measuring the difficulty between both is difficult due to their fundamental gameplay and boss design.

However, it’s not about whether Bloodborne and Black Myth: Wukong are the same types of games. The question is whether someone well-versed in the former and who has wasted desperately for a sequel or some kind of a revival should even bother stepping into the Destined One’s shoes. While it definitely won’t offer the exact same experience, I think it’s well worth checking out. Based on the gameplay thus far, Game Science has demonstrated more than just a visual flair, delivering gorgeous environments and effects while maintaining a steady 60 FPS (which hopefully holds up at launch).

It showcased combat where mixing and matching different tactics, from light attacks and dodging to Focus-fueled heavy attacks that vary based on the stance to incredible transformations, are the key to success in battle. The boss fights have also looked incredibly unique all around, and considering about 46, perhaps more, have been revealed till now, that’s saying something. We haven’t even the full scale of loot that can be obtained or the sheer build variety possible for those who truly min-max.

You could say that it’s an experience that may suit other types of players as well as those who enjoy character-driven action games or even action-adventure games. If anything, this is perhaps one of the strengths of Black Myth: Wukong – that it contains elements which all kinds of hack-and-slash fans will enjoy, that too on multiple platforms (well, except for Xbox Series X/S at launch, but them’s the breaks).

After multiple years in development – slowly but surely providing everyone who thought it looked unreal in its first gameplay showing – Black Myth: Wukong is only a few days away from release. Whether it’s a massive success or not and allows Game Science to further expand on its tentative Black Myth universe is unknown, and it’s wrong to say that it doesn’t completely matter.

However, even if it doesn’t serve as a new benchmark for the genre, or its campaign doesn’t suit everyone who indulges in it, or even if some other elements turn out to be lackluster, it’s looking like a worthwhile experience to get lost in. And if you’re someone who has waited seemingly forever to receive the call back to Yharnam, it may just be the frame-pacing-less vacation you need.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.