Black Myth: Wu Kong - a.k.a. "Sekiro 2: now YOU are the monkey"

[Ryzer]

Sounds like by buying the game I can simultaneously support communism, brainwashing, genocide, racism and sexism all at once. And get a decent game?

What a deal!

It's finally happening Nutmeg, people are beginning to support communism thanks to a videogame from China. Even your hardest effort didn't pay, but a videogame will finally achieve it.

 

[duskvile]

This broke record of the most popular single-player game by peak concurrent users in Steam history.

 

[AwesomeButton]

This broke record of the most popular single-player game by peak concurrent users in Steam history.

I watched somewhere that 80% of the player base is Chinese, the rest is split into 8% USA, 5% Europe and "Other" or something in those lines.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

This broke record of the most popular single-player game by peak concurrent users in Steam history.

I watched somewhere that 80% of the player base is Chinese, the rest is split into 8% USA, 5% Europe and "Other" or something in those lines.

It's one tweet by one random guy without clear method to get the number, during the 1st day of sale.

What we can easily filter by way of scrapping is review language which might one of the indicators. Simplified Chinese is in general just used by Mainland Chinese while SEA Chinese usually use Traditional (SG, MY).

That being said that tweet was also posted during afternoon Chinese time, morning EU time, midnight of previous day American time so it's not surprising by that time most review will be in Asia including China. But even now most reviews are still Chinese I assume.

Another parameter people checked after several days are Top Seller rank of all Steam Region. Wukong is Top Seller in basically all major region during its launch week and continuing even this week.

Chinese in general definitely have sort of drive to see the game being good, the game is The Witcher 3 of China. That being said before you "TROLOLOL BUGMEN" westoid argument, Chinese has never shied away of review bombing the shit of bad game made by Chinese dev either. Wukong basically just pass the "this game is mainstream decent/good", hence the enthusiasm as well. If the game is dogshit you will 100% see Chinese shitting on the dev for being embarassment for China

 

[AwesomeButton]

I meant this in the sense that the 10+ million sales are mostly attributed to China. I've never cared about how other big sellers have done in China percentage-wise but the ratio is likely not as skewed towards China as it is with Wukong.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I think this is a moot point. You guys are playing it, you should know if it's good or not Chyna boosting this game shouldn't change anything.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

I meant this in the sense that the 10+ million sales are mostly attributed to China. I've never cared about how other big sellers have done in China percentage-wise but the ratio is likely not as skewed towards China as it is with Wukong.

Yeah, game is basically national sensation in China. I've watched some Tiktok/Douyin clips of people even community streaming (as in using projector/screen to play and have people watch together in public space) the game. PS5 is also sold out in lot of stores there as people want to buy it to play the game. If you ask why not PC: 90% of China Gaming industry is either mobile gaming or MMO that can run on potato. Most normies in China probably doesn't have big ass gaming PC.

I think this is a moot point. You guys are playing it, you should know if it's good or not Chyna boosting this game shouldn't change anything about whether the game is good or not.

That's not how some people think about it tho. Lot of bullshit argument that "game is bad, is being bought by CCP to shit on greatness of USA", hence my post.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I think this is a moot point. You guys are playing it, you should know if it's good or not Chyna boosting this game shouldn't change anything.

My point is that it's not much of a global hit if the overwhelming majority of copies are sold in China.

I'm not playing it btw, and because of Denuvo. I'll wait until it's either cracked or at least Denuvo is removed (if ever), but knowing myself by that time I'll have lost interest in playing it. That's the path I went through with Ghost of Tsushima. It was PS exclusive for a couple of years before they put it out for PC

 

[jaekl]

Where are all the damned autists? I need you here analysing this skill tree and all the abilities and equipment, then arguing with each other for 30 pages so I can get all the best shit without any work. They're never around when you want them, but every time you don't want something explained to you, they pop out of the woodwork like termites.

 

[MasPingon]

There is nothing to analize, it's very simple. Character progression is artificial, some of skills you acquire should be available from the beginning, like stances. Those hipsters praising this game like it's a second coming of Christ need to chill out. It's funny, simple action game that you should buy when it's available for 20$.

 

[cruel]

I like extended paralysis, increased damage on paralysis and those skills that allow you to continue the combo while dodging. I don't switch stances that much, but the trust one seems to be pretty useful due to its range. No idea which spirits are the best, the LT + RT as a trigger makes them very unreliable for me.

 

[AlwaysBrotoMen]

Boring PS5 and their tactics

 

[True Ukrainian]

My point is that it's not much of a global hit if the overwhelming majority of copies are sold in China.

Even excluding players from china, steam shows the game as a best seller in all regions.

 

[cruel]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Where are all the damned autists? I need you here analysing this skill tree and all the abilities and equipment, then arguing with each other for 30 pages so I can get all the best shit without any work. They're never around when you want them, but every time you don't want something explained to you, they pop out of the woodwork like termites.

I was just about to say there is nothing to analyze when...

There is nothing to analize, it's very simple. Character progression is artificial, some of skills you acquire should be available from the beginning, like stances. Those hipsters praising this game like it's a second coming of Christ need to chill out. It's funny, simple action game that you should buy when it's available for 20$.

I've watched two playthroughs up to the same point, the early parts of the second chapter. Youtubers MKIceandfire and FightinCowboy. The former one's playthrough is 18 hours, as he kills bosses from the first attempt, but it has to be taken into account that he (or however many people are behind this account) is a good player. The first fighting stance, the one which concentrates on bonking enemies on the head, seems to offer the best damage output so far, and in general the stances don't seem anywhere near balanced.

MasPingon , for me the game's reception confirms my latest, and pessimistic, observation, that a AAA game's success is based on the fulfillment of only two requirements - graphics and "feels". While graphics is achieved via good old money (engine license, paying those 3d artists and level designers), feels are a bit more subtle. The player is button-awesoming around the levels, but you have to come up with the right animations, sound effects, camera shakes, input feedback, ragdoll physics settings, so that you give him the feels of whatever he is doing - driving a car, riding a horse, filling a magazine, bonking people on the head with a bo (bonus points if it's called bo ingame).

If you cover these two bases, your game will inescapably become a hit, and the 5% of the audience who care about the game systems and balance will be drowned in the herd's noise.

Wukong is the latest case in point, and you can easily see others if you go back 4-5 years. Only very rarely you get a game which also offers balance and developed game mechanics in addition to production values (I'm not citing examples to avoid provoking arguments).

So maybe the right typologisation now is:
- actual games
- wukong-level AAA games
- interactive movies disguising as games

I suspect that the best way to enjoy Wukong is to play at the minimum difficulty level which still gives you the feels, after having watched a solid summary of the 16th century novel's plot, because the game seems to count on the player being familiar with it.

 

[jaekl]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

 

[cruel]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

Oh, no, I did not. Thanks for that, let me look it up. Trying to play carefully and explore everything, but it seems I missed it somehow.

Edit: it seems I completely missed Mother of Stones boss fight, interesting.
Edit 2: I also missed a weapon upgrade from 50 to 60. This explains why I felt that the damage is too low.

 

[jaekl]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

Oh, no, I did not. Thanks for that, let me look it up. Trying to play carefully and explore everything, but it seems I missed it somehow.

Edit: it seems I completely missed Mother of Stones boss fight, interesting.
Edit 2: I also missed a weapon upgrade from 50 to 60. This explains why I felt that the damage is too low.

Did you find the guy that makes pills for you that increase your stats? I put everything into +mana since I usually only die when I run out of it.

 

[cruel]

Yes, found him and did exactly the same thing - pumped everything I could into mana, to maximize the amount of paralyze I can use. But it seems Pluck of Many is also amazing, need to do some more testing on which one provides more DPS in boss fights.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Nazi guy reviewed it:



Can't watch the video as i have no internet right now and i don't want to waste the meager megabytes i have with my phone, but from what i can gather his verdit is that the game is pretty good, but has problems. Basically what i actually expected. Worth playing, but probably not at full price unless you have cash to burn.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

Oh, no, I did not. Thanks for that, let me look it up. Trying to play carefully and explore everything, but it seems I missed it somehow.

Edit: it seems I completely missed Mother of Stones boss fight, interesting.
Edit 2: I also missed a weapon upgrade from 50 to 60. This explains why I felt that the damage is too low.

Save that wind vessel for the last phase of the fight, completely shuts down all his side effects and it just return to first phase with extra moves.
Use stone form when he try to use stepping on you. And always roll when he tries to kick you. That bloody grab attack is the worst. Also "bettle throw is a bit hard to dodge at first but you'll get the timing. Even dodging like mad works there.
Try to converse your mana and skills in first phase and burn him down in second phase but no point try to attack him while in sand spirit form.

 

[cruel]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

Oh, no, I did not. Thanks for that, let me look it up. Trying to play carefully and explore everything, but it seems I missed it somehow.

Edit: it seems I completely missed Mother of Stones boss fight, interesting.
Edit 2: I also missed a weapon upgrade from 50 to 60. This explains why I felt that the damage is too low.

Save that wind vessel for the last phase of the fight, completely shuts down all his side effects and it just return to first phase with extra moves.
Use stone form when he try to use stepping on you. And always roll when he tries to kick you. That bloody grab attack is the worst. Also "bettle throw is a bit hard to dodge at first but you'll get the timing. Even dodging like mad works there.
Try to converse your mana and skills in first phase and burn him down in second phase but no point try to attack him while in sand spirit form.

Thanks, it seems this wind vessel is almost mandatory for this fight. First part of the fight is manageable, but with all the sand and disappearing bullshit in phase 2, it's a little bit annoying. I'm frequently dying at the phase transition moment, when he is attacking you 3x with his shadow and follows up with a grab. One mistake here can be very costly, no time to heal. Very happy to hear you can disable most of it with the vessel.

I'm actually looking forward to complete chapter 2 and move the fuck out from this desert area, it was such a slog. Ranged enemies galore, annoying mobs, everything is bright as fuck, no atmosphere at all. Wasteland level was clearly not a highlight of Stellar Blade, and the same happened here.

 

[jaekl]

Tiger was easy, 2 tries, but the Sage is pretty hard - hardest boss so far. It feels like his HP is double what it used to be for previous bosses. You can't drink before fighting him, too much focus is required - will try again tomorrow.

Did you get the special anti wind vessel?

Oh, no, I did not. Thanks for that, let me look it up. Trying to play carefully and explore everything, but it seems I missed it somehow.

Edit: it seems I completely missed Mother of Stones boss fight, interesting.
Edit 2: I also missed a weapon upgrade from 50 to 60. This explains why I felt that the damage is too low.

Save that wind vessel for the last phase of the fight, completely shuts down all his side effects and it just return to first phase with extra moves.
Use stone form when he try to use stepping on you. And always roll when he tries to kick you. That bloody grab attack is the worst. Also "bettle throw is a bit hard to dodge at first but you'll get the timing. Even dodging like mad works there.
Try to converse your mana and skills in first phase and burn him down in second phase but no point try to attack him while in sand spirit form.

Thanks, it seems this wind vessel is almost mandatory for this fight. First part of the fight is manageable, but with all the sand and disappearing bullshit in phase 2, it's a little bit annoying. I'm frequently dying at the phase transition moment, when he is attacking you 3x with his shadow and follows up with a grab. One mistake here can be very costly, no time to heal. Very happy to hear you can disable most of it with the vessel.

I'm actually looking forward to complete chapter 2 and move the fuck out from this dessert area, it was such a slog. Ranged enemies galore, annoying mobs, everything is bright as fuck, no atmosphere at all. Wasteland level was clearly not a highlight of Stellar Blade, and the same happened here.

Wait until you see the next area

 

[Lyre Mors]

I'm actually looking forward to complete chapter 2 and move the fuck out from this dessert area, it was such a slog.

Weird. I generally hate desert environments in games, but really ended up enjoying this one much more than I thought I would. I think a lot of it had to do with its mountainous terrain, coupled with all the inlaid carvings and sculptures littered throughout. Beyond that, this is the area where the exploration in the game really started to shine, with a lot of branching paths and hidden areas. Thought the normal enemy encounter design became much more interesting as a whole too. Definitely think the Yellow Wind Sage is doable without the wind vessel. Dodging just becomes key in that fight, moreso than anyone before it. Especially if you're using equipment and skills that strengthen you after perfect dodging. What I would have done without the vessel is try getting him to half health without using any MP, then start throwing everything I have at him in the second half.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Yeah I liked chapter 2 a lot too but 3rd one is something else Budhist hell was really... hell...