We have now some actual souls sport freaks right here at PC Gamer, a number of of whom are deep in Shadow of the Erdtree preparation mode, however I am not one in all them. I like From’s model of motion RPG, however I wish to consider I signify the everyman’s expertise with them—bumbling via the opening hours, simply barely beating bosses on a good ninth try, typically quitting within the closing act the place issues get actually robust and promising myself I am going to get again to it (I do not get again to it). Perhaps that is cope speaking and I am simply not constructed for the souls life, however I do know that Black Fantasy: Wukong is far more my velocity than Elden Ring.
In the event you’re not one of many many soulslike followers who’ve rocketed Black Fantasy: Wukong to the highest of Steam’s most-wishlisted video games, then you definitely’ve most likely seen it in passing. It is an motion RPG loosely adapting the Fifteenth-century novel Journey to the West (the most recent of many variations, together with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West). You play because the monkey king himself, Solar Wukong, taking over the world together with his magic employees. It is solely the second sport by indie outfit Sport Science, based in 2014 by ex-Tencent devs. You may bear in mind Sport Science as the topic of a 2023 IGN report detailing a historical past of sexism from one in all its founders in addition to a wider firm tradition of misogyny.
My two hour demo at Summer season Sport Fest, which was the primary time Black Fantasy: Wukong has been playable, centered across the Black Wind Mountain, an early space within the sport tailored from a chapter of the identical title. I am not conversant in writer Wu Chen’en’s authentic imaginative and prescient of Black Wind Mountain, however Sport Science’s rendering is filled with wolflike henchmen, big-headed golem infants, and a gauntlet of difficult bosses.
Whilst I steered Wukong towards a dozen early deaths, not one of the handful of boss fights I discovered made me wish to chuck the controller throughout Los Angeles—perhaps as a result of it was simple to mud myself off and check out once more once I by no means wakened greater than 15 or 20 seconds away from the place I died. Wukong’s streamlined moveset strengthened my endurance, too. Fight is narrowly targeted on a single weapon, the monkey king’s magical employees, a dodge button, and quick-use spells with cooldowns. It is closest to Sekiro and Bloodborne on this approach, and but there is not any block or parry (a minimum of not early on).
Two hours is not sufficient time to get a full learn on what looks like a reasonably large sport, however some key info souls likers will wish to know:
- Wukong’s employees is his sole weapon
- Boss fights are many of the sport (a minimum of up to now)
- The areas between bosses are small, and never notably thrilling
- Wukong heals with a single flask restricted by makes use of
- Black Fantasy has a conventional combo system, with later strikes executed by linking heavy assaults into gentle combos
That combo system might show to be the standout characteristic of Wukong’s fight. It is not so simple as mixing gentle and heavy assaults. Touchdown gentle assaults builds up Focus factors (title topic to alter, in line with Sport Science)—I might financial institution as much as two at a time within the demo, however I think about it is upgradeable. Utilizing heavy assaults consumes Focus, however when you’re out of factors, heavy assaults can nonetheless be triggered in a pinch by charging them up first.
Boss rush
I rushed into the primary main boss struggle of the demo, a wolfman named Guangzhi with a double-tipped flame spear, hoping my improvised technique of “spam charged heavy assaults” would carry me via. Guangzhi instantly sized up my freshman techniques and minimize me all the way down to dimension with arena-crossing slash-dashes.
I would died a handful of instances earlier than the affected person Sport Science dev to my proper steered I give attention to gentle assaults, and unlock an early transfer on the ability tree that introduces heavy assaults into Wukong’s gentle combo. It was an evening and day enchancment. Mild assaults whittled Guangzhi’s well being bar down pathetically slowly, however I used to be lastly getting constant hits in and, crucially, by no means committing to an assault with a protracted animation I could not cancel right into a dodge. Each different gentle combo generated a Focus level that I might instantly flip right into a heavy hit with a long-range (due to the extendo-staff) overhead slam that by no means did not stagger its goal.
Guangzhi instantly sized up my freshman techniques and minimize me all the way down to dimension with arena-crossing slash-dashes.
Guangzhi nonetheless dropped me a number of extra instances after that earlier than I put him away for good, however I walked away from the struggle with an understanding of what is going to and will not work in Black Fantasy, and which Souls sequence habits I would have to depart on the door. I discovered gentle assaults have been only a means to farm Focus, and that Black Fantasy’s fight economic system is all about banking Focus factors and cashing them in as quickly as potential. I additionally walked away with Guangzhi himself, or slightly, the facility to remodel into the wolf beast and swing his fireplace spear.
Shapeshifting and spellcasting completes Wukong’s bag of methods. Shapeshift kinds are tremendous highly effective, however Wukong can solely maintain a kind for a minute or two, and even much less if he takes too many hits. In Guangzhi mode, I inherited his long-reaching sprint assault in addition to an final finisher that solely unlocks after connecting a handful of blows. I bought the sensation shapeshifting is supposed as a boss struggle device—whipping out Guangzhi on a bunch of fodder goons was like squaring up a squadron of snails with a tank. Plus, the cooldown on the Guangzhi kind was lengthy sufficient that it made sense to deal with it extra like a “break glass in case of significant beatdown” panic button.
Dimension up
And I did panic, quite a bit. I do not know if that is Sport Science’s intention, however I used to be always on the backfoot in Black Fantasy. Past the one transformation afforded per struggle, I did not have many offensive choices past what I might do with my employees. My sole spell for many of the demo was one other type of “oh crap” button—an “Immobilize” spell that locks targets in place for a number of treasured seconds. Generally I spent these seconds pounding mercilessly away at an additional inch of well being bar, however extra typically I wanted the reprieve to soundly sip Wukong’s restorative booze.
Greater than motion RPGs prefer it, Black Fantasy is a sport about operating away. After I’d exhausted my mana, the one factor between me and a visit again to the respawn shrine was the B button—dodge, dodge, roll, dodge, roll. A wonderfully timed dodge (signaled by Wukong shifting so quick he leaves an afterimage) creates openings for combos, however even Black Fantasy’s early bosses beloved to alter up their timing simply as I would tuned my thumb to their rhythm. Bosses additionally do that “enjoyable” factor the place they barely telegraph their strongest assaults, all however guaranteeing studying assault patterns comes with a blood value.
The areas between boss fights would be the lowlights of Black Fantasy.
I anticipated Black Fantasy’s strict doding coverage to trouble me extra. I used Sekiro’s block button as a crutch all through the entire sport. My FromSoftware resume is padded with ranged wizards and sword-and-board bros who suppose dodging is for cowards. After a number of notably low-cost deaths, I questioned if Black Fantasy is not lacking one thing additional to assist with protection—a block, teleport, even that joke protect from Bloodborne.
These video games are arduous sufficient with out chopping out blocking totally, however Black Fantasy makes its case nicely for an agility-only strategy. You may form of block within the sense that some assaults interrupt enemy combos, and I feel the window for dodging is commonly bigger than it appears. I haven’t got the footage to look again on, however I swear one time, I efficiently rolled out of an assault after it’d already linked.
A brief hike
I have not stated as a lot in regards to the world surrounding Black Fantasy’s boss fights as a result of there’s not a lot to say. Black Wind Mountain is a beautiful house—convincingly dense with vegetation and tree cowl—however you possibly can look a lot farther than you possibly can truly go. Black Fantasy’s world, or a minimum of this early space, is finest described as a community of mountaineering trails, slender and deliberate, flanked on all sides by invisible partitions. Even locations I believed for positive I might attain, like behind a low barrier of rocks and bushes, have been partitions in disguise. I did not really feel pushed down one explicit path, however each route was basically a funnel of fodder that led to a prize—a treasure chest, improve materials, or generally an non-obligatory miniboss.
Sport Science is clearly working at a a lot smaller scale than Elden Ring, however I used to be stunned to not discover any indicators of an interconnected world begging to be picked aside. Wukong can leap, however I did not discover a single use for it outdoors fight. The Black Wind Forest is pretty flat, and the areas I scoured have been easy and sparse.
I think meaning the areas between boss fights would be the lowlights of Black Fantasy—a bummer for individuals who have been hoping for a “correct” soulslike out of Wukong—however that has its benefits, too. Once more, these sparse funnels of enemies are very easy to run previous in your solution to a boss struggle. So far as I can inform, Black Fantasy is one lengthy boss rush. No fuss, all struggle. I can get behind that.
