Black Myth: Zhong Kui
About this game
Black Myth: Zhong Kui is Game Science's next project after Black Myth: Wukong sold over 10 million copies in three days. It's set in the same world, but built around a completely different figure from Chinese folklore. Wukong pulled from Journey to the West, one of Chinese literature's most famous stories. Zhong Kui draws from something looser and older. He's the King of Ghosts, a deity who moves between Earth and Hell hunting down evil spirits. Unlike Sun Wukong, his story doesn't trace back to one book. It's been assembled over centuries across religion, art, theatre, and oral tradition, which gives Game Science more room to shape the character than a single canonical source would. What the Trailer Actually Shows Game Science released a 15-minute gameplay trailer exactly one year after Zhong Kui's original reveal at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025. That timing wasn't an accident, and neither was releasing it on the same date Wukong launched back in 2024. This is the first real gameplay footage, not another cinematic teaser built to hide how early the game actually is. The footage moves through open wilderness, a cave, and a river crossing before settling into extended combat against humanoid enemies. It closes on a boss fight against something with huge, clamshell-like wings. Fifteen minutes is enough to actually judge how this plays, not just how it looks. The Combat Is a Real Departure From Wukong Wukong built its entire identity around Sun Wukong's staff and nonstop acrobatic movement. You dodged, transformed, repositioned constantly. Standing still got you killed. Zhong Kui throws that structure out. This protagonist fights with a sword, and the trailer leans hard into blocking and parrying instead of evasion. He can set his blade on fire mid-fight and use paper talismans as part of his moveset. There's also a stance or charge bar tied to landing hits, parries, and dodges, a system Wukong never had at all. I finished Wukong recently. Its acrobatic, always-moving combat wore me down more than most soulslikes I've played, and I loved every hour of it. Watching Zhong Kui trade that speed and mobility for a heavier, parry-focused rhythm has me genuinely curious how this is going to feel once a controller's actually in my hands. Soulslike parry timing has humbled me plenty of times before. I'm not walking in assuming this will be easier just because it looks slower on screen. What I do know: this isn't Wukong with a new coat of paint. It's a different combat identity wearing the same mythological universe, and that's exactly what makes it worth watching closely. Release Timeline No release date yet, and that's expected this early. Game Science has only confirmed the game is targeting PC and "all mainstream console platforms," the same rollout path Wukong took before eventually landing on every major system. Given how Wukong performed, Game Science has every reason to take its time and get this right rather than rush a follow-up while the mythology, combat identity, and world still need room to develop.
