My First-Person Journey Through Black Myth: Wukong's Final Trailer

As a professional gamer, I still remember the summer night in 2024 when Game Science dropped the final trailer for Black Myth: Wukong. I had followed the project since its first viral prototype, but this final look felt different. It was no longer just a tech showcase. It was a story, a world, and a challenge I was about to enter.

The trailer gave me an extended look at the game's world, the combat, and the transformational abilities of the monkey protagonist. I could see smaller enemies darting between temple ruins and colossal beasts that made my controller hand twitch. The boss design looked magnificent, but also punishing. It was exactly the kind of spectacle that makes a player pause the video and rewatch a frame just to admire the production.

I won't pretend I was spoiler-free. Game Science's trailer did carry that implied warning: if you want a completely clean first run, skip this. But I watched anyway. I needed to know what I was preparing for.

The final trailer hit me in several ways. Here is what I jotted down after my fifth rewatch:

• ⚔️ Combat flow: fast, deliberate, and full of animalistic movement.

• 🐵 Transformations: the protagonist can shift forms to match the situation.

• 🏯 World design: towering shrines, misty forests, and ancient battlefields.

• 👹 Boss scale: everything from swift humanoids to mountain-sized demons.

By the time the trailer ended, my hype had reached a dangerous level. The game was set for release on 20th August across PC and PS5. Its foundation in the classic novel Journey to the West meant every arena, every enemy, and every transformation carried layers of Chinese folklore. This was not just an action game; it felt like a cultural passage.

Then came the long wait. I had been hands-on with Black Myth: Wukong twice before launch: once at Gamescom in 2023 and again at a more recent preview session. I walked away impressed by the visuals and the boss battles. The art direction was stunning, and the encounters had real weight. But I also noticed something in the spaces between battles. The world could feel a little empty, as if the stage was waiting for a few more actors to fill it.

That emptiness did not ruin my excitement. It made me curious about how the full map would breathe.

One recurring question around the game was simple: is it a Soulslike? Game Science calls it an action-RPG, and the studio has been keen to separate itself from FromSoftware's work. Yet some trappings are undeniable. There are punishing bosses, rest points, and a deliberate combat rhythm. But Wukong also gives you transformations and mobility that feel more acrobatic and heroic than the methodical crawl of a typical Soulslike. I stopped worrying about labels after my second hands-on. The game simply wanted to be itself.

As I write this in 2026, the memory of that final trailer still lingers. The game has had time to grow, patch, and solidify its place in the action-RPG conversation. But I still think about those early moments: the mist, the stone monkeys, the towering demons. They were my invitation into a story that had been waiting centuries.

Here is how the platform picture looked when that final trailer dropped back in 2024:

Platform	Status in August 2024
PC	🟢 Launching August 20
PS5	🟢 Launching August 20
Xbox Series X/S	🔴 Delayed, no release date

The Xbox delay was a real disappointment for many. Game Science said the version needed more time for optimisation. That made sense to me. Wukong is a demanding game, and nobody wants a compromised console port.

There was, however, a shadow over the excitement. Reports of misogyny at the studio surfaced, and when Eurogamer asked Game Science for comment, the developer declined. I will not pretend that did not bother me. It is possible to love a game's world and still hold its creators accountable. That tension stayed with me through launch and still does now.

In the end, Black Myth: Wukong became one of the most striking action-RPG experiences of the decade. Its boss battles are still some of my favorite moments in recent gaming. The emptiness between encounters never fully vanished in some areas, but the sheer visual poetry often filled the silence.

If you ask me now whether it is a Soulslike, I will smile and say it does not matter. What matters is the monkey, the staff, the transformations, and the feeling of stepping into a legend. Watching that final trailer in 2024 felt like standing at the edge of a myth. Playing the game afterwards felt like falling into it.