Black Myth: Wukong should be your first soulslike if Elden Ring scared you away

GamesRPGBlack Myth: WukongBlack Myth: Wukong should be your first soulslike if Elden Ring scared you awayWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Tyler C. / Game Science)

Black Myth Wukong main character on a bright background

In the opening forest, there’s a big-headed boss who is 10 times as hard as any enemy you’ve fought before. His attacks are quick, painful, and cover the size of his arena. When I first ran into him, he crunched me like a soda can and flung me back to the last checkpoint. Just to the left of him, however, is another boss who is much, much easier to defeat. The wolf warrior has some quick dash attacks but isn’t much harder than the weak little enemies before him. Defeating him grants you Red Tides, a spell that transforms you into him for several seconds and gives you a set of new attacks. And crucially, any damage you take won’t affect your regular health bar, effectively giving you a second life.

Nothing’s worse than playing a soulslike where you can’t live long enough to even understand how the boss works.

It also rewards patient play if Wukong’s combat doesn’t immediately click with you. Red Tides, along with the rest of Wukong’s magic abilities, recharge over time, and many early bosses take long breaks in between attacks. There were several times where I went into a fight expecting to lose only to realize halfway that I could actually close it out with the spells that came back online. In the second chapter, I eked out a victory with a sliver of health against a boulder boss because I could freeze him with the immobilize spell just long enough to pull off a second transformation.

Steady progress

(Image credit: Tyler C. / Game Science)

Black Myth Wukong screenshot of a horse man npc sitting on a rock in a forest

Besides the spells, Wukong is also surprisingly forgiving when it comes to the areas in between its boss fights. Compared to all the long stretches of time in Elden Ring where you’re searching for hidden items and new areas, Wukong keeps it straightforward and launches you into the next boss fight within minutes.

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(Image credit: Game Science)

black myth: wukong

I don’t think Wukong could top a game as cerebral as Elden Ring but it does a phenomenal job at emulating the experience that hooked so many people who hadn’t touched a FromSoft or soulslike game before it. If you’re willing to use all of its tools, you’ll see why it’s so satisfying to climb the mountain of mastering a boss fight—especially because that exercise is consistently shorter than in Elden Ring. Wukong is a relatively gentle first step into a genre that’s become oversaturated with games made for soulslike diehards desperate for punishment. For years I’ve been asked where to start with games like Dark Souls and it’s been hard to pick one that doesn’t demand way more patience than most people are used to. Wukong strikes a compelling balance between the two and it’s the game I’ll be pointing people toward from now on.

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Steady progress#

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