A New King of the Genre? – Barb reviews Black Myth: Wukong

Awesome, good to know.

So happy to see these reviews! Keep them coming!

It’s a good game definitely with flaws, however I just don’t understand why only polarized opinions are allowed to exist, especially from China’s posts. They either claim this is game of the year, you can’t say any flaws or complaints. Or they just beat this game to the ground, even pay other comments to say extremely bad things about it. I am Chinese but I doubt this studio can make better games with this kind of environment.

Always a good day when there is a new king review

i always took for granted just how big a map is during gameplay the lack of one is for real a major negative for all the massive open areas especially the wooded areas seriously need a map im thinking of one i just came across on accident and thats the melon field in chapter 3… all the way up to that point youre blocked by invisible walls when you come up to a ledge but all of a sudden you can jump down this one point for the field just terrible design… i wish they had just put more time into the actual terrain not visually because it looks amazing but just how the monkey interacts with everything a blind play of this youll just end up missing so much important things and even though i like the non hand holding aspect of wukong the lack of a map just was a wrong choice period

Here is a comment to boost engagement. Love your videos.

Right out the gate "It's a soulslike" after the countless thousands of people and himself saying several times it's not a soulslike.

Most of your takes, reasonings and arguments from this review and the comments you've made throughout the entire playthrough are completely contradicting each other. Everything you've said in this review, you said the polar opposite and argued the opposite vehemently and made fun of others in chat that said the same things you've said in this review during your playthrough.

This is why it's so hard to take you seriously when it comes to game reviews and takes and why you're having a constant battle with chat whenever you try to discuss something. This whole review and your entire playthrough has you painted as a walking contradiction.

I don't know if I should take your review or your playthrough as your actual opinion over the game.

A lot of clues are given in dialogues and journal entries. You just chose not to engage with them. If you want all quest objectives presented on a platter, Ubisoft is your dear friend.

I beg to differ ur comments on the combat system…. Judging from the clips u showed in this review video, I think u might fail to take advantage of or even discover several key combat mechanics works like a parry. I suggest watch some other players no damage show case of several hard boss fight. However, GS does need to do a better job to illustrate these mechanics to the players in the game. One hidden mechanic is like if you press heavy attach right after blocking enemy's attach using rock solid, you can perform a heavy attack instantly and break the boss's motion. I also platinumed the GOW4 and 5 with GOW difficulty, I believe the combat from BMW is not less to GOW, especially regarding the depth of the interactions.

Fantastic review

So more reviews, Barb, we trust your judgment.

Huge fan of the reviews!

Commenting because I want to see more review content. This game isn't one I'll play, but I've enjoyed watching your playthrough.

agree nice review Borb keep em coming. cant wait to play astrobot

While I absolutely agree with around 80% of what was said here in this review (level design, invisible walls, repetitiveness in combat, etc) I heavily struggled with the critique regarding the story. This game's story is based on a massively influential eastern novel made for a demographic that is incredibly familiar with the story already. Is it really the game's responsibility to let you know who or what is happening on screen at all times if the source material and mythology behind it all not only already exists but is well known by those who this project is for? Don't get me wrong, I understand how someone without any previous knowledge of the novel could feel confused and lost as to what is happening, but I dunno, this is the kind of story that asks you to dive deep into it for yourself if you truly cared and wanted to know more about it, instead of expecting the game to do all the heavy lifting for you and I don't really think that's a negative at all. There's also plenty of lore that the game offers you in terms of journal entries for you to read, so there's that as well. The game offers the players an alternative to put the pieces together and understand the messaging and images through their own volition, instead of constant literal exposure.

Regadless, great review all in all.

So I was recently gifted a 60.00 voucher for a work thing and was wondering whether to buy this or Astro Bot. You've answered that question 😂

I'm surprised that you think Lies of P has more combat variety tbh. Lies of P is great, but it felt like playing with 3 buttons for the whole game, while Wukong gives you way more combat options, imho.

Dooope. Barb review back in action, love it

I'm so happy that you take your time to post these reviews! They are always so clear and thorough, I really enjoy them. Thanks

Love your reviews Always a treat to see your thorough breakdown. This world needs more of your reviews!

Great review. I've been on the fence about getting this game and this video has helped a lot about what I needed to know. Thanks for the great video!

Great job Barb, balanced and nuanced as always! ❤

Thank you for the nuanced review without spoilers. I now know if i want to buy the game

Thanks for doing another review video. I really enjoy your quick hit review and would be happy to see more of them.

Best reviewer on YouTube by far! Thanks Barb

Barb is on a league of his own.

Thanks for the review! It’s very useful to have the opinion of someone like you, you have a very good grasp of what a good game is, imho.

P.S: any chance of uploading your Stellar Blade playthrough here on YouTube?

great review barbs. thanks for making it 🙂

I really love when you do these review videos. They're so detailed and very fair. I hope you are able to continue to do more down the road.

I would say one reason that this game does not utilize a mini-map/radar or a pop-up map is because it is trying to imitate real life in the ancient world, where you & most people of that old time are walking around without some kind of paper map in hand. You are basically exploring with only your wits about you because the areas are still unexplored. In other words, you are only using your noggin. And I could be wrong, but I believe the 16th century JTTW novel also did not say anything about the characters using any maps of some sort.
09/11/24

I didn't know Barb did reviews like this. Is this his first one? It's a natural fit. He's really good at critiquing games as he's playing them.

I don't know why people keep mentioning Nioh. It's absolutely nothing like Nioh.

Fantastic review, perfect balance of honesty and what's enjoyable. Thanks Barb

"Wait to get a better capture card" KEKW

Anyhow, from where I am right now in the game, I overall agree with the issues.
My biggest one, personally, is the amount of bosses. It feels like a quantity versus quality issue where sure there's a lot of visually cool bosses, but too many fall far too quickly and don't offer anything that more unique than a basic mob. Granted there's different tiers of bosses like in Elden Ring, but even the top tier ones don't always feel that way. The presentation will be up there, but then you fight it and it doesn't feel more challenging than lower end bosses. It feels weird to face so many bosses that can be easily vanquished in 2-3 tries.

Also slight criticism on the lore, but in Chapter 5 I got 2 lore entries almost back to back that were nearly identical. Yes some of the wording changed, but the story both told was exactly the same. Doesn't seem to happen often, but it is disappointing that it can even happen to begin with.

Thanks barb I liked the conversation thing you did. Made good sense

Watching you play this game, it definitely seemed like it would play better with a combat system similar to something like DMC. The combos and abilities are all really cool, but against some of those bosses they just didn't seem feasible to do without getting destroyed.

Really great review. Thanks for the content and please do more reviews 🔥

thank you reviewbrother

I didn't know Barb was really good at reviews! This is news to me. You should do more of this.

Very good review! I'm planning to buy the game later on, mostly cause I'm into Journey to the West and Chinese mythology, but I am not a big fan of soulslike games as I personally find them boring (I prefer story driven games or puzzle games like The Talos Principle), so I don't feel any rush. BTW iirc this year another Chinese studio drops an open world, but more story driven action RPG, this time set in the Song dynasty period and inspired by wuxia pian movies. Seems like a dream title for me, but I'll wait and see how it plays before I'll buy it.