The checklist of spectacular wanting 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 strong showings this summer time 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 enjoying as a Monkey King and beating up all kinds of legendary creatures with a large extendable workers. 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 finished an in depth preview on what Wukong performs like on a late recreation construct with many strategies, 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 seen as I began enjoying was how fluid and quick Wukong feels to manage. 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 workers to dam projectiles, however so far as melee assaults go, every thing should be dodged. To that finish, there’s a Bayonetta-style dodge system the place you’ll be able to dodge as much as 3 times in a short time, however after the third one, you’re punished with a prolonged restoration time to attempt to curb folks from simply mindlessly mashing the dodge button.
(*2*)Wukong feels exceptionally fast and agile.
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 robust assault into your mild combo string for an enormous chunk of injury. Afterward, these focus factors can be spent on various kinds of particular strikes that you just unlock within the ability tree, which we’ll get to later.
Wukong additionally has entry to quite a few spells that devour 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 a couple of 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 had been in a position to shrug it off solely.
Even at simply an early stage, fight was a enjoyable dance of actively on the lookout for alternatives to keep away from enemy assaults and discover openings to assault, maintaining an eye on my focus meter so I might use a harmful heavy assault each time I had an opportunity, whereas additionally managing my mana and cooldown for my immobilize spell. Finally I acquired my first transformation, which turns Wukong into an absolute beast, with a lot stronger assaults, and a vastly damaging tremendous assault that he can use out of a dodge if he manages to construct up a spotlight level. One in all his strikes on this transformation is a lightning quick sprint assault that made me really feel like I had mainly changed into the boss that I acquired the transformation from.
Afterward I added one other instrument to my repertoire: the tower stance, which swapped out my chargeable overhead robust assault for the flexibility to face on my workers and keep away from harm on the bottom so long as my stamina held out. If I managed to remain on the workers lengthy sufficient for a spotlight level to cost, I might spend it to leap off the workers, flip it round, and are available crashing down with a strong strike that felt extremely cool to drag off.
These stances, together with my normal fight skills, might 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 prime proper of the display screen. When the bar is full, you acquire a Spark, which can be utilized to buy upgrades from one among your varied ability timber. When you fill the bar and financial institution a degree, 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, in case you die earlier than you handle to fill the bar, a portion of that have will probably be misplaced in typical soulslike vogue.
Don’t let that trick you into considering that Wukong is an straightforward recreation although, as a result of it actually isn’t. 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 timber. And talking of substances, I didn’t handle to seek out all that a lot, however I did discover sufficient to a minimum of know that there are units of armor that grant further bonuses for carrying a number of items of substances from that set.
(*2*)Enemies are aggressive, bosses are relentless, and also you solely have a scant few restorative potions to maintain you alive.