Black Myth: Wukong Wears Its God of War Influences on Its…

Summary

Black Myth: Wukong draws heavy inspiration from God of War in its combat animations and gear system.
The game's exploration mechanics closely resemble those seen in God of War, including breaking pots for rewards and opening chests.
Black Myth: Wukong is unapologetic in showing its God of War influences in combat, exploration, and animations.

While Game Science's Black Myth: Wukong is technically an action RPG, it is a bit of a mixed bag of influences, with many onlookers even calling it a "Soulslike" ahead of its release. However, although Black Myth: Wukong does offer the level of challenge associated with the Soulslike genre, it has a tendency to lean more toward the action RPG genre as a whole in many of its other features. Within that space, it pulls much of its inspiration from Santa Monica's rebooted God of War series, to the point that the two look nearly identical in some areas.

Black Myth: Wukong is not ashamed of its God of War roots, and it arguably shouldn't be. Since its reboot in 2018, God of War has established itself as one of the more excellent franchises in its narrative, characters, combat, and visuals, so no game should be afraid to wear any God of War influences on its sleeve. In full acceptance of that challenge is Black Myth: Wukong, an action RPG adapted from Journey to the West which unabashedly expresses its fondness for God of War. In its combat, exploration, and even subtle animations, Black Myth: Wukong pays clear homage to Santa Monica's award-winning reimagining of the original action-adventure hack-and-slash series that began in 2005.

Black Myth Wukong Destined One and Shadow of the Erdtree

How Black Myth: Wukong's Difficulty Compares to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Black Myth: Wukong and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree are fairly comparable in terms of difficulty, only on entirely different levels.

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By Josh Cotts

How Black Myth: Wukong Draws Inspiration From God of War

Black Myth: Wukong's Combat Animations and Gear System Resemble God of War's

Black Myth: Wukong was originally touted as a more difficult God of War, and even though it is in all actuality much harder than God of War, its combat is nonetheless similar in a lot of ways. Most notable are Black Myth: Wukong's combat animations, which are strikingly similar to the animations used for Kratos' Leviathan Axe movements. While it is far less brutal when the Destined One makes contact with an enemy than when Kratos does, each swing of the Destined One's staff shows a movement style similar to Kratos when he uses the Leviathan Axe, even down to when a full combo is executed.

Additionally, although Black Myth: Wukong has commonly been called a Soulslike, the speed of its combat is much more similar to God of War than any Souls game. The biggest difference here is that there is no parry function in Black Myth: Wukong like there is in God of War. Black Myth: Wukong's gear system also resembles God of War's, in that there are armor sets for the Destined One to wear that can give him helpful bonuses for equipping a certain number of each set's pieces. Gear upgrades in Black Myth: Wukong also function similarly to God of War, in that players can upgrade each weapon through various tiers by fronting the materials and currency necessary to do so.

Black Myth: Wukong's Exploration Adopts Even More God of War Animations and Follows Similar Rules

Any seasoned God of War player knows it's wise to break any pots they see, as they'll receive Hacksilver, the series' currency, for doing so. The same rule applies in Black Myth: Wukong, and it's endearing how similar it is. There are pots scattered throughout each region of Black Myth: Wukong's world that players can break to earn more Will, which, like God of War's Hacksilver, functions as the game's currency for purchasing and upgrading items. There are also several different types of chests to find while exploring Black Myth: Wukong's world and the animation of the Destined One opening these chests is almost identical to Kratos opening a chest in God of War.

There's no shame in Black Myth: Wukong wearing its God of War influences on its sleeve, even if those influences are largely found in the Destined One's animations both in and out of combat. It just goes to show how worth imitating Santa Monica's reboot of the God of War series is, and more games should follow suit.

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