Black Myth: Wukong's Mapless Exploration Is a Double-Edged…

Summary

Exploration in Black Myth: Wukong is meaningful but hindered by the lack of a map.
The absence of a map enhances immersion but reveals design flaws and therefore challenges navigation.
Despite the value of player-led discovery, a potential future map addition could benefit the game.

Black Myth: Wukong is far from the largest game ever made, but it is surprisingly extensive, especially considering its linear structure. There are plenty of opportunities for optional exploration in the Journey to the West-inspired world of Black Myth: Wukong, despite it being an overall linear game in its structure. Unfortunately, the lack of a map complicates things a bit for the game's exploration.

It's not always a bad thing for games to lack a map of some kind to assist players in exploration, but it might be a different story for Black Myth: Wukong. There are some advantages, no doubt, but some major disadvantages nearly trivialize those benefits.

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

The Ups and Downs of Black Myth: Wukong's Mapless Exploration

Black Myth: Wukong's Mapless Exploration Produces Immersion and Player-Led Discovery

The most obvious benefit to not having a map in Black Myth: Wukong is that it requires the player to explore for themselves, rather than relying on a map to lead the way. This makes every discovery much more meaningful, and since there are plenty of unique things to find in the world of Black Myth: Wukong, that sentiment is all the more true. As players venture off the beaten path in Black Myth: Wukong, they might find valuable treasures or secret bosses they would have missed otherwise. In fact, some of Black Myth: Wukong's best boss encounters can only be experienced by exploring each region from border to border.

The lack of a map also serves to enhance immersion to a certain degree in Black Myth: Wukong. While a map would certainly help players see the areas they have yet to explore, it would also subtract from the time they could have been spending admiring Black Myth: Wukong's breathtaking design. Of course, the immersion provided by Black Myth: Wukong's mapless state can only take it so far, as the game runs into other immersion-breaking issues that might actually benefit from a map.

Black Myth: Wukong's Mapless Exploration Reveals the Flaws in the World's Design

Invisible walls in games are almost always looked down upon by the gaming community, as they are not only associated with an antiquated form of level design but also serve to instantly break immersion. Unfortunately, Black Myth: Wukong seems to have more invisible walls than any game in the last couple of decades, and they make the missing map that could have been a great feature a much more necessary one. Exploring every corner of Black Myth: Wukong's world often proves advantageous to players, but it's also difficult to tell which areas are accessible and which are blocked by invisible walls. As such, players might spend more time leaping into an invisible wall than they will venturing into a hidden area.

It's also nearly impossible at times to reach certain areas in Black Myth: Wukong without a map, as some of its regions are so maze-like in their design that keeping track of where one has been and where one is going is a tall order. Black Myth: Wukong's first area, Black Wind Mountain, is fairly easy to navigate, as it is both small and linear. Once players progress into the more open regions of Black Myth: Wukong, however, especially in the game's second half, exploration becomes a bit more complicated. Eventually, players will discover that they are only running in circles, certain that they have combed every area up and down, and a map would help with that.

While the lack of a map in Black Myth: Wukong helps make discovery more meaningful for players, the bad might outweigh the good here. With so many invisible walls and several larger areas that are difficult to navigate, a map would have been a useful tool. Hopefully, Game Science will consider adding a map in a future patch, especially if it turns out that players haven't been able to 100% the game after a certain amount of time.

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