How Black Myth: Wukong puts its own spin on the action-RPG genre

Black Myth Wukong screenshots.

I'm a simple man. In the past couple of years, whenever the YouTube algorithms would serve me up another glossy Black Myth: Wukong trailer, I'd watch it, then not spend too much time wondering whether the game could really be as good as those trailers were teasing, or even thinking about what kind of game it really was. But now, with the code finally in my hands, I can't hide behind not knowing any more. Is Black Myth: Wukong a Soulslike? Is it an ARPG? What even is an ARPG when you have games as diverse as Diablo, Elden Ring, and Borderlands in that big bracket? Now that I'm three chapters and some 16 hours deep into the game, I have some answers.

First up, let's address the Soulslike thing. At first glance, there's obvious Souls DNA in Black Myth, though I felt those DNA markers lessening the deeper I got into it. The UI, the Buddhist shrines acting as checkpoints and healing stations (at the cost of respawning enemies), the bullish boss fights, and a combat system heavily reliant on timing, dodging, and counters, with punishment awaiting those who end up resorting to panic-rolling – it's all here, and yet somehow Black Myth steps out from that looming soulslike shadow in a way that many other games don't.