4 years after it was introduced, Black Fable: Wukong is lastly within the arms of critics who’ve reviewed the third-person motion RPG forward of its August 20 launch. The final consensus appears to be that whereas the upcoming sport appears to be like nice and has some cool boss designs, it’s buggy, too straightforward, and has repetitive fight.
Black Fable: Wukong was first introduced in 2020 through a brief however impressive-looking gameplay trailer. Since then, hype across the sport has steadily constructed due to its slick fight and lovely visuals. Nonetheless, an IGN report in 2023 alleged that some high people at Recreation Science, the studio behind the sport, had participated in terrible on-line discussions about girls and fostered a poisonous tradition on the studio.
That report hasn’t stopped Black Fable: Wukong from changing into probably the most anticipated PS5 video games of 2024. Oddly, no retailers (Kotaku included) obtained the console model of the sport, so all opinions are of the PC model. That looks as if a possible pink flag to me, however we’ll have to attend and see how the PS5 performs as soon as of us can get their arms on it.
For now, here’s what different critics and writers are saying about Black Fable: Wukong on PC:
Black Fable: Wukong is a incredible online game – and a staggering achievement from an indie studio. Like Lies of P final 12 months and Nioh 2 earlier than it, Black Fable: Wukong is a sterling instance of how you can take Soulslike parts and weave them into one thing that feels contemporary and authentic. It’s attractive to have a look at, has among the finest music in any sport this 12 months to this point, and presents itself with such confidence and panache that it’s onerous to choose fault with it.
Wukong is likely one of the most joyful motion RPGs I’ve performed merely for the way lovingly it treats its world and characters and, by extension, how a lot it clearly needs me to like them too. It labored: Punchy fight apart, I needed to maintain working via every space to satisfy one other bizarre little creature with a mysterious quest or to get jumped by one other animal who discovered MMA. In a pool of video games about fallen kings and unhappy dragons, it’s pleasant to play an motion sport that isn’t obsessive about being dour and the place the perfect answer to essentially the most grueling fights is to make use of as many enjoyable talents as you may.
In a 12 months with the large Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, I by no means thought I’d play a sport that veers in such a wildly completely different path however manages to succeed in related highs, even when it lacks the sheer scale and construct complexity as FromSoftware’s masterpiece.
Wukong is its personal beast and if it needs to be labeled a soulslike, then I feel we’re going to should provide you with a brand new definition. There’s nothing else fairly prefer it.
Do I really feel that the sport is unfinished? In massive items, sure, however at the very least with the story, no. I felt glad with how the story wrapped up…however I can’t shake the a number of, lingering frustrations I had all through the journey to the tip.
A sport with peaks and valleys like that is, as I’ve acknowledged all through the evaluate, irritating. I can see a ten/10 on this sport someplace, however a number of questionable-level design and sport design decisions mixed with a hefty quantity of efficiency points and bugs sadly drag it down. Black Fable: Wukong is a wonderful, somber, fascinating story to expertise — you simply should muddle your approach via a forest of issues to get pleasure from it.
Black Fable: Wukong is a shocking sport to have a look at, however the exploration is missing, and the preventing is simply kind of superb for essentially the most half. It’s only a bit uninspiring, and isn’t a sport that I’m anticipating to stay with me for any size of time now that I’m carried out with it.
As GameScience’s debut motion sport, Black Fable: Wukong is usually an excellent success, regardless of some main technical black marks and localization points which are more likely to trigger some frustrations at launch.
Fight is incredible due to an excellent stability of cautious useful resource administration and lightning-fast, twitch-reaction gameplay that examined my expertise as a lot as Elden Ring ever has, regardless of being a extra conventional motion sport than FromSoftware’s model. Not solely that, however there are a ton of thrilling boss battles, an excellent number of enemies, and the world they inhabit is an absolute deal with for the eyes and ears.
Its story has its moments however depends a bit an excessive amount of on having prior data of the occasions of Journey to the West, and it actually might have used a map to make its rewarding exploration measure as much as the energy of its fight. That mentioned, its strengths greater than carry it via, making Black Fable: Wukong an excellent motion sport that might be even higher if GameScience can squash the bugs.
I completely liked Black Fable: Wukong for the primary two chapters, however recurring annoyances and a few drawn-out sections started to put on me down across the midway level. Fight carries the expertise, the story is attention-grabbing albeit too fragmented to place me on the sting of my seat, and the world is a wondrous place to be.
It’s thrilling to see such a wealthy setting, which has gone largely untapped in video games, handled with clear love and care by an motion RPG of this scale. Regardless of some frustrations, Black Fable: Wukong feels nice and finishes robust – so robust that I’ve half a thoughts to provide New Recreation Plus a attempt, if solely to seek out but extra stuff I missed.
Black Fable: Wukong is certainly not a souls-like. What I wasn’t anticipating was for it to be basically a prolonged boss rush. It’s not unusual to go from one boss battle into one other after which one other, and it’s in these elaborate battles the place Black Fable: Wukong shines. The moments in between, nonetheless, aren’t fairly as robust, typically devolving into aimless tedium. However its satisfying fight and distinctive number of boss fights largely manages to beat these flaws.
Black Fable: Wukong is a sport that shies away from the Soulslike label, but it’s clearly gunning for the Soulslike viewers. It’s removed from the perfect within the style, however it’s additionally not the worst sport that has adopted in Darkish Souls’ footsteps.
In case you go into it anticipating a largely normal Soulslike expertise with some blood-boiling boss encounters blended in with primary stage design, you should have a greater time than should you have been going into it anticipating it to be like a standard character motion sport.
Black Fable: Wukong provides about 30 hours of gameplay for its first playthrough with a ton of aspect content material to take a look at as nicely, however many will tire of the restricted fight choices lengthy earlier than they attain its dazzling but equally aggravating ultimate boss battle.
