Black Myth: Zhong Kui's 15-Minute Gameplay Reveal Shows Game Science Isn't Slowing Down
Game Science dropped a 15-minute gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Zhong Kui today and it looks exactly like what you'd want from the studio that made Wukong. Same visual confidence, different mythology. If you spent time with the first game, the language here is immediately legible. If you didn't, the trailer will either sell you or it won't.
What You're Actually Playing
The player character is a swordsman. Not a staff-wielder. A swordsman who can imbue his blade with fire and lightning. That immediately sets up a different combat vocabulary than Wukong offered. The trailer shows pseudo-soulslike combat with deflections and parries built in, so this isn't Wukong reskinned with a sword. There's a specific rhythm being constructed around reading attacks and responding to them.
The thing that caught my attention most is the companion system. You can summon a spirit companion. A hulking tiger-man carrying a massive curved sword. And you can directly control it. That's not a passive buff or a cosmetic flourish. That's a second playable character, at least contextually. How that actually works in a soulslike structure I genuinely don't know yet. One possibility is that it functions like a cooldown ability you switch into for high-pressure moments. Could be something more involved. The game is early and the trailer doesn't fully explain the mechanic, so speculating too hard right now feels pointless.
Zhong Kui Himself
The title character is a ghost-slaying Taoist deity. He rides a tiger. Shows up in the trailer doing exactly what you'd expect from a ghost-slaying deity. The mythology is rich source material and Game Science clearly knows how to pull from it. Wukong proved they could take Journey to the West and turn it into something that felt faithful and playable at the same time. Zhong Kui is different folklore but from what the trailer shows, same studio sensibility.
The Timeline Reality Check
Zhong Kui was revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live in 2024, the same year Wukong launched. So they weren't hiding it. It was always coming. What's worth noting is that Wukong had four years between its first gameplay footage and release. Game Science has already confirmed Zhong Kui is still in early development. Do the math if you want to calibrate your expectations. This is not coming out soon. Probably not next year either.
Not a complaint. Wukong was worth the wait. But set expectations accordingly.
Should You Care?
If you played Black Myth: Wukong, yes. The combat looks like it builds on what came before, the companion system adds something genuinely new, and Zhong Kui as a subject is compelling material. If you bounced off Wukong's style or difficulty, nothing in this trailer suggests Zhong Kui is going to be an easier ride. Looks like the same studio making a more complex bet.
Fifteen minutes of gameplay in early development is a good sign. Game Science knows how to show their work. The assets look polished for where the project supposedly is, the combat idea is legible, and the trailer is confident without being a tech demo. Worth watching even if release is years out.
Source: Pcgamer