Author: 孤筝(lvbowen040427@163.com)

“Awakening of the Wukong”

No sight of Ling Mountain, winter greys my hair,
Ninefold mists veil the sea of clouds low-hung.

Chain the heart’s ape, rein in the mind’s wild steed,
Shatter stubborn void to awaken Wukong.

Taoist trinity reforges the primal spirit,
One scripture loosens the circlet’s binding might.

Ask not how many springs lie down the road—
Ling Mountain now dwells within your sight.

(Written sleeplessly at dawn on 8.20. Revisiting it now, it’s actually quite decent.)

Objectively speaking, Black Myth: Wukong still has many bugs and optimization issues. A friend of mine with a 4060 Ti couldn’t even launch the game and was locked out for a long time.

Personally, I haven’t encountered any bugs, with only occasional stutters or frame drops (running on a 12400F + 7700XT).

About Invisible Walls

The issue of invisible walls exists, likely due to Game Science’s lack of development experience or deliberate trade-offs. Many paths that seem passable turn out to be blocked by invisible barriers. While some are marked with broken logs or small rocks, in a 3D game with jumping mechanics, it’s hard to suppress the player’s urge to explore. Given that the game is packed with hidden content, I often find myself wandering off the beaten path—only to have my enthusiasm dampened when what appears to be a traversable bamboo grove turns out to be an invisible wall.

The game is essentially a series of interconnected “box garden” levels with multiple branching paths, elevation changes, and no map. Occasionally, two paths may converge. This isn’t an open-world game, and using invisible walls instead of physical barriers to block routes can easily mislead newcomers.

About Guidance

Near Land Temple (checkpoints), there are clear light trails guiding the way. For mainline bosses, torches are placed along the path as markers. In fact, the Land God hints early on to “follow the torches,” but this tip is easily overlooked, leading to confusion.

Without a map, it’s easy to get lost, especially in the first forested area where everything looks the same, and cave entrances are poorly lit. After defeating Guangzhi, I spent half an hour searching before finding Lingxuzi.

About the Map

Sometimes I wonder if a map would solve these frustrations. But for this kind of interconnected level design, knowing the layout in advance might spoil the surprises (every path leads to a boss, treasure, or other rewards). Perhaps a blank map that fills in as you explore could work—it doesn’t need to be permanently displayed in the corner but could be accessed via settings or the Land Temple.

About Lock-On

The current lock-on system is already well-implemented. One area for improvement is when bosses perform fast, wide-ranging attacks that pull the camera too abruptly. Some boss moves break the lock-on, forcing you to re-lock manually—a potentially fatal distraction in high-stakes combat. For example, Tiger Vanguard’s feint into a heavy punch often breaks lock-on. While the punch is easy to dodge, reacquiring the target is mentally taxing, and a follow-up slash from off-screen can cost you half your health.

I’m currently stuck on Tiger Vanguard, having lost dozens of monkey heads to his liquor (Git gud).

Final Thoughts

This is a flawed masterpiece, but based on what I’ve experienced so far, it easily deserves a score above 90—even without accounting for cultural or nostalgic bonuses.

I’d give it 100 points because it’s a unique source of pride and romance for the Chinese people. Foreign players will understand it—or they’ll learn to.

I believe the more national it is, the more universal it becomes.

Game Science has delivered a satisfying answer to players and themselves—Black Myth: Wukong isn’t perfect, but it stands as China’s first true AAA title and lives up to the four years of anticipation.

Keep moving forward. The journey itself matters more than reaching Ling Mountain.

Published on 2024-08-20 at 孤筝の温暖小家, last modified on 2024-08-20

All articles on this blog are licensed under the BY-NC-SA license agreement unless otherwise stated. Please indicate the source when reprinting!

Author: 孤筝(lvbowen040427@163.com)

Better to see once than hear a hundred times.

In 2021, I watched a full playthrough livestream by a content creator on Bilibili and was immediately captivated by its ethereal art style. Two years later, when I finally played it myself, the visual splendor struck me just as profoundly, while the emotional resonance felt freshly poignant.

On January 12, 2023, I embarked on this journey with two anonymous travelers. The first accompanied me through the desert, the second through the snow-capped mountains—neither left their names, mirroring how we meet, connect, and part ways like ships passing in the vast sea of humanity. Together we raced across dunes, climbed through blizzards, and soared above clouds, only to separate at the summit. Perhaps they tried to share contact details through Morse-coded chirps, but alas, I couldn’t decipher them.

Perhaps an encounter without full connection is the perfect ending—
My heart brims with regret, yet overflows with tenderness and love.

Though predating Sky: Children of the Light (2019), the 2012 Journey achieves superior visual artistry through platform advantages—every grain of sand, snowflake, dune, gust of wind, and wisp of cloud beckons beauty-seeking eyes. Its level design maintains remarkable freshness throughout.

In short: If you haven’t bought it yet, do so now. I paid full price (¥55 on Steam) with zero regrets.

Over its 11-year lifespan, Journey has garnered constellations of praise, so I’ll refrain from adding clumsy strokes. Below is an excerpt from user Baiyewlaef’s review on HEYBOX:

“What’s truly astonishing is its multiplayer system and unique player interaction—no text communication, only ambiguous concepts conveyed through chirps of varying length and pitch. This strips away all externalities, leaving only the essence of human connection. Completing the journey mirrors life itself: meeting strangers in solitary travels, walking together, then parting. Though brief in playtime, its afterglow lingers.

Having played ABZU and Sky beforehand, Journey clearly operates on a higher plane. ABZU falters narratively and mechanically, while Sky—constrained by free-to-play mechanics—expands communication systems and emphasizes cosmetic differentiation to boost social engagement, daily activity, and monetization. But these very mechanics introduce comparison metrics: ‘My hairstyle is exclusive,’ ‘My instrument is rare,’ ‘This veteran has epic gear—I must cling to them.’ Such competitive mindsets inevitably proliferate, shifting focus from spiritual fulfillment to vanity metrics.

Journey eliminates all such reference points. Your companion has no unique appearance or special colors—their gender, age, or skill level remain unknown. Each player becomes a pure human symbol. This intentional obscurity purifies motivations: You may abandon this stranger or selflessly collaborate. Your warmth may go unreciprocated; your indifference won’t be judged. Everything becomes fleeting moments preserved only in memory.

Playing Journey, I felt that beneath all exteriors, people are inherently kind. A single chirp exchanged in circles could fill me with contentment. Yet most modern games increasingly emphasize differentiation, opposition, and competition. When designers incentivize hierarchy and combat, how can players cultivate kindness within such frameworks? Over time, these adversarial systems became the norm, making Journey’s approach feel revolutionary—a marvel that praises the game while lamenting industry trends. Competitive games have merit, but when they dominate the landscape, it feels like a waste of gaming’s artistic potential.”

Published on 2023-01-12 at 孤筝の温暖小家, last modified on 2023-01-12

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Author: 孤筝(lvbowen040427@163.com)

If you’re a player primarily interested in the art style and have lower expectations for other aspects, I’d currently still recommend this game.

The biggest draw is undoubtedly the art style by the talented artist Cici. Personally, I’m not a fan of overly dark aesthetics in similar games.

As for the story… it’s quite confusing, especially in the first two chapters. Many events feel “convenient” – you fight monsters inexplicably, experience sudden emotional moments and reconciliations, yet even after two chapters, the background story remains unclear. The opening narrative needs significant improvement to properly introduce the world-building and the anomalies in the Mirror World.

The transitions are just black screens with white text or static images with text overlays, which feels embarrassingly low-budget. Even without comparing it to Ori, this falls short. Considering it’s a three-person studio with Cici still working at miHoYo, production capacity is clearly strained, so I’ll cut them some slack for now. Hopefully, after TT Games secures funding from the game’s release, they can hire more talent to boost production and refine the early chapters.

Regarding the combat system, TT mentioned they prioritized a smaller scope, so the combat isn’t overly complex. However, the Mirror Element Spirits mechanic gives off strong “4399 mini-game” vibes (laughs). I hope they can reduce the player character’s hit reactions while enhancing enemy feedback. Currently, enemies don’t even budge when hit, whereas attacks on the player cause stun locks and knockbacks – it feels frustrating.

Map design is decent in terms of guidance, preventing players from getting lost. But this is mainly because the maps lack depth, with very few explorable areas. For a deliberately small-scale game, this is forgivable. Judging by the TAB map design, TT doesn’t seem to be aiming for the intricate maps of Ori or Hollow Knight, opting instead for discrete room-based levels rather than maze-like structures. If they want to justify the price point without deepening map complexity, I’d hope they compensate with length – longer storylines, more varied scenes, and additional levels.

Overall, recommended for players who love the art style. Others might want to wait and see.
Five years in the making – here’s hoping Glimmer in the Mirror continues to improve and that we see more great indie games in the future.

Published on 2023-01-11 at 孤筝の温暖小家, last modified on 2023-01-11

All articles on this blog are licensed under the BY-NC-SA license agreement unless otherwise stated. Please indicate the source when reprinting!