Can You Change Difficulty in Black Myth: Wukong?

Black Myth: Wukong is a soulslike Action RPG inspired by Journey to the West. As is typical of the genre, the game is rather difficult and lacks any form of adjustable difficulty. This design choice, when used well, is intended to allow developers to focus on creating well balanced and interesting levels and combat encounters, without falling into the trap of increasing difficulty by simply adjusting health or damage numbers (which can often feel samey and boring on repeat playthroughs.)

Naturally, choosing to eschew difficulty options can potentially make a game much less accessible, which begs the question: How difficult is Black Myth: Wukong? This article will discuss the difficulty of the game and offer difficulty comparisons both within the soulslike genre and within the wider action and action RPG genres, to help you decide if the difficulty is right for you.

Featured image for Black Myth: Wukong showcasing the fighting and dead Monkey King.

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By Vincent Arogya

Are there Difficulty Settings in Black Myth: Wukong?

No. Black Myth: Wukong does not allow players to adjust the game's difficulty in any way.

How Difficult is Black Myth: Wukong?

Black Myth: Wukong features high-risk/high-reward combat that encourages precise dodging and well-timed counterattacks, with a combo system that encourages you to adjust your attack patterns based on the current situation. The Destined One (the Player Character) also has access to several spells to supplement his melee combat, notably including an immobilizing spell. This spell briefly freezes a target in place and works on almost all enemies (including bosses), allowing players to easily create a window to use their Healing Gourd as needed. The spell has a reasonably long cooldown, however, and can also be used to set up the enemy for a counterattack, requiring you to carefully decide when to make use of it.

Enemy encounters tend towards groups of 2–3 foes, or one large and powerful enemy, in much of the first area. Enemies deal a lot of damage if they hit you, but can be dodged with good timing and punished for a ton of damage once you get the hang of the combat.

With these factors in mind, Black Myth: Wukong, at least in the first few sections, feels a little easier than Dark Souls and Elden Ring. The difficulty might be better compared to Nioh or Nioh 2, though the combat leans more on dodging and combos over the slower and more considered combat of those games. Outside Soulslikes, another decent comparison in terms of difficulty would be Devil May Cry 5. Black Myth: Wukong feels similar in difficulty to DMC5's Devil Hunter difficulty, though certain encounters and bosses feel closer to "Son of Sparda."

Ultimately, Black Myth: Wukong is challenging but not overwhelming, and the skill trees allow you to upgrade the Destined One in whichever way best suits your playstyle. Since you can respec at any time, this makes it easy to try something new or attempt a different strategy if you are struggling with an encounter.

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