{"id":1075843,"date":"2026-01-22T20:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3UPb62renM2DAaKZTFsAud"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:19:05","slug":"black-myth-wukongs-care-and-attention-to-its-setting-made-it-one-of-my-favorite-gaming-experiences-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/black-myth-wukongs-care-and-attention-to-its-setting-made-it-one-of-my-favorite-gaming-experiences-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Myth: Wukong’s care and attention to its setting made it one of my favorite gaming experiences of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Personal Pick<\/div>\n
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\"GOTY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to our main Game of the Year Awards 2024<\/a>, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We’ll post new personal picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I’m going to level with you, dear reader\u2014I know very little about Chinese mythology. Beyond my interest in the Three Kingdoms period, mainly brought about through strategy games, it’s not something I’ve ever really been exposed to. However, year after year, I bang on about the exciting versatility of the soulslike genre<\/u><\/a> and how it’s the perfect vehicle for exploring new settings and mythologies.<\/p>\n

With Enotria: The Last Song channeling Italian folklore and Black Myth: Wukong inspired by Journey to the West, it’s been a decent year for soulslike fans looking for settings more grounded in real-world mythology than last year’s Lies of P and Lords of the Fallen. While I personally found Enotria to be a bit too clunky<\/u><\/a>, I think Black Myth: Wukong is the perfect poster child for what this genre can be.<\/p>\n

Many accuse Black Myth of being too easy, but I agree with Tyler that it’s a fantastic first soulslike<\/u><\/a> if you’ve struggled with harder games\u2014this isn’t just a genre for those who crave difficulty or want the challenge of overcoming a nightmarish boss. If anything, I applaud Black Myth as a linear soulslike with bosses you don’t have to endlessly bash your head against.<\/p>\n

Post-Elden Ring, it’s hard not having the option to seek out something else in the open world and come back later, and in a game with as many bosses as Black Myth, making them too tough would kill all momentum.<\/p>\n

Black Myth’s absurd production values also help realise its world. With little knowledge of the mythology, I was able to just drink in the pure magic of the setting\u2014that opening cutscene is the perfect example. You’ve got this instantly likeable monkey king making wisecracks as he defends his mountain against the assembled armies of heaven, and the result is the most cinematic soulslike intro I’ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

With each chapter, Black Myth presents areas filled with spectacle and stories. Some you have to seek out\u2014as with each region’s secret areas and quests\u2014while others are told through the characters you meet, and shown in the gorgeous animations at the end of each chapter:<\/p>\n

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