The listing of spectacular trying soulslike video games on the horizon is lengthy, with video games like Phantom Blade Zero, Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak, and Wuchong: Fallen Feathers all having stable showings this summer season occasion season. However there’s at all times been one thing further particular about Black Fantasy: Wukong. It’s stunningly attractive, the animations are extremely fluid, it’s steeped in wealthy Chinese language tradition, and there’s simply one thing immensely satisfying about taking part in as a Monkey King and beating up all types of legendary creatures with a large extendable employees. Whereas this isn’t the primary time IGN has gone hands-on with the sport, it’s my very own private first time with it – and after two hours of playtime with the opening chapter, I in some way walked away much more excited for its August twentieth launch.
IGN China has already carried out an intensive preview on what Wukong performs like on a late recreation construct with many methods, stances, and transformations already unlocked, which is nice as a result of my two hours lined just about the very begin of the sport. The very first thing that I observed as I began taking part in was how fluid and quick Wukong feels to regulate. Many soulslikes are constructed on a basis of slower and extra methodical fight, however Wukong feels exceptionally fast and agile. From the start, there’s truly no block button. Wukong can twirl his employees to dam projectiles, however so far as melee assaults go, the whole lot should be dodged. To that finish, there’s a Bayonetta-style dodge system the place you’ll be able to dodge as much as thrice in a short time, however after the third one, you’re punished with a prolonged restoration time to try to curb individuals from simply mindlessly mashing the dodge button.
Completely timed dodges will reward you with further focus, and as soon as your focus bar has been crammed, you get a spotlight level that permits you to chain a powerful assault into your mild combo string for an enormous chunk of injury. In a while, these focus factors may also be spent on various kinds of particular strikes that you simply unlock within the ability tree, which we’ll get to later.
Wukong additionally has entry to various spells that eat his mana. I solely actually acquired to mess around with the immobilize spell, which as you’ll be able to think about, stops an enemy of their tracks and permits you to sneak in just a few free hits earlier than the spell’s impact wears off. Stronger enemies and particularly bosses are affected by the spell a lot much less, and typically they have been in a position to shrug it off totally.
Even at simply an early stage, fight was a enjoyable dance of actively searching for alternatives to keep away from enemy assaults and discover openings to assault, keeping track of my focus meter so I may use a dangerous heavy assault at any time when I had an opportunity, whereas additionally managing my mana and cooldown for my immobilize spell. Ultimately I acquired my first transformation, which turns Wukong into an absolute beast, with a lot stronger assaults, and a massively damaging tremendous assault that he can use out of a dodge if he manages to construct up a spotlight level. Considered one of his strikes on this transformation is a lightning quick sprint assault that made me really feel like I had principally become the boss that I acquired the transformation from.
In a while I added one other device to my repertoire: the tower stance, which swapped out my chargeable overhead sturdy assault for the flexibility to face on my employees and keep away from injury on the bottom so long as my stamina held out. If I managed to remain on the employees lengthy sufficient for a spotlight level to cost, I may spend it to leap off the employees, flip it round, and are available crashing down with a robust strike that felt extremely cool to tug off.
These stances, together with my normal fight talents, may all be upgraded via a level-up system that works loads like Sekiro’s. As you defeat enemies, you’ll acquire Will, which builds up a bar within the high proper of the display. When the bar is full, you acquire a Spark, which can be utilized to buy upgrades from certainly one of your varied ability bushes. When you fill the bar and financial institution some extent, you’ll be able to’t lose it. You possibly can even add that ability level everytime you need, not simply at a shrine, which serves as Wukong’s model of a bonfire-like checkpoint. Nevertheless, when you die earlier than you handle to fill the bar, a portion of that have shall be misplaced in typical soulslike vogue.
Don’t let that trick you into pondering that Wukong is a straightforward recreation although, as a result of it definitely will not be. Enemies are aggressive, bosses are relentless and much more so of their second phases, and also you solely have a scant few restorative potions to maintain your self alive. I additionally managed to discover a secret boss room behind a waterfall that took me to a dragon boss that simply completely wrecked me. Fortuitously, you’ll be able to teleport from shrine to shrine, so you’ll be able to come again to him a lot later down the highway when you’ve upgraded your gear and added some extra factors into your ability bushes. And talking of substances, I didn’t handle to search out all that a lot, however I did discover sufficient to at the very least know that there are units of armor that grant further bonuses for carrying a number of items of substances from that set.
The degrees themselves have been pretty linear with a few branching factors that led to some form of treasure or merchandise pickup. The actual star of the present, although, have been the boss battles. Even in simply two hours I fought in opposition to all kinds of bosses, from a speedy wolf boss that I snagged my first transformation from, to a mule-kicking frog in human garments, to an especially tough two-phased battle in opposition to a snake man.
All in all, I enormously loved my time with Black Fantasy: Wukong. Even in simply two hours of playtime, I felt like I acquired to expertise lots of fight development and am excited to see how issues proceed to evolve as the sport goes on. We gained’t have to attend for much longer to see how the total recreation shakes out, as Black Fantasy: Wukong releases on PC and PlayStation 5 on August 20.