Ever since its reveal in 2020, fans have wondered if Black Myth: Wukong is truly a Soulslike. In part that’s due to the Soulsborne games overshadowing any and all action games these days, but the precise combat, elaborate bosses, and seemingly high difficulty of Wukong certainly looked to be aping FromSoftware.
Now I’ve had a proper hands-on preview of the game, beyond a relatively brief time at Gamescom last year, and I can tell you Wukong is not (really) a Soulslike.
That does, of course, depend on your definition of a Soulslike. It certainly has many of the hallmarks. Combat is all strikes and dodges managed with a stamina bar. Shrines are checkpoints to restore your health. And if you die you lose some experience, with enemies magically respawning too. Then again, you can also pause the game.
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