I am at chapter 5. One not mentioned is that at the end of each chapter rewards the player with an animation sequence that provides context. The game is fun but it’s these little artistic elements that just adds to the overall experience. The boss designs are phenomenal and, I find, very creative. The graphics is so beautiful that, sometimes, I just slow down the action and sight see.
Thank you for this piece, it really helps me appreciate why Chinese gamers are so excited for this game.
Obviously, China has a deep pool of creative and skilled creators, and Black Myth will hopefully be the first of many spectacular big budget games. But I'm something of a hipster when it comes to video games. So I'm more exciting that lower barriers to translation have made smaller indie games from China and other non-Western countries more accessible to people like me, who don't speak the creators' home languages.
The one I'm most excited about is NINE SOLS, from Taiwanese developers at Red Candle Studios. In a lot of ways, it's release and success feels analogous to Black Myth's. Like Black Myth it is informed by Daoism, and Chinese folklore (in this case the myth of Hou Yi and the 10 suns). And both games feature difficult, Souls-like combat. But most importantly, it also feels like an arrival, or a vindication that has been long-coming.
NINE SOLS is Red Candle's third game. Their previous two games, DETENTION and DEVOTION, were both horror games set in dark periods of Taiwan's recent history. Both games were very well received - until a joke about Xi Jinping was found hidden in the second game. As a result, the game was review bombed, banned in the PRC, and delisted from storefronts.
After the unfairness of that whole situation, seeing the developers return with an even more ambitious game, and achieving well-earned success, is heartening. I'm looking forward to more ambitious titles like NINE SOLS from creative developers in East Asia - assuming nationalistic protests and CCP censors don't stifle them.
Fantastic piece, and would love more non-western perspectives on games like this. The industry would benefit greatly from it.
Nicely written! Kudos!
I am at chapter 5. One not mentioned is that at the end of each chapter rewards the player with an animation sequence that provides context. The game is fun but it’s these little artistic elements that just adds to the overall experience. The boss designs are phenomenal and, I find, very creative. The graphics is so beautiful that, sometimes, I just slow down the action and sight see.
Great piece!
That’s the article I wanted to read about the game. Well done!
FYI: Disney didn't make Kung Fu Panda - Dream Works did
Corrected! Thank you
Great! Minor correction though: you don't actually play as Sun Wukong in the game. You play as a member of his village sent to recover his power.
Thank you for this piece, it really helps me appreciate why Chinese gamers are so excited for this game.
Obviously, China has a deep pool of creative and skilled creators, and Black Myth will hopefully be the first of many spectacular big budget games. But I'm something of a hipster when it comes to video games. So I'm more exciting that lower barriers to translation have made smaller indie games from China and other non-Western countries more accessible to people like me, who don't speak the creators' home languages.
The one I'm most excited about is NINE SOLS, from Taiwanese developers at Red Candle Studios. In a lot of ways, it's release and success feels analogous to Black Myth's. Like Black Myth it is informed by Daoism, and Chinese folklore (in this case the myth of Hou Yi and the 10 suns). And both games feature difficult, Souls-like combat. But most importantly, it also feels like an arrival, or a vindication that has been long-coming.
NINE SOLS is Red Candle's third game. Their previous two games, DETENTION and DEVOTION, were both horror games set in dark periods of Taiwan's recent history. Both games were very well received - until a joke about Xi Jinping was found hidden in the second game. As a result, the game was review bombed, banned in the PRC, and delisted from storefronts.
After the unfairness of that whole situation, seeing the developers return with an even more ambitious game, and achieving well-earned success, is heartening. I'm looking forward to more ambitious titles like NINE SOLS from creative developers in East Asia - assuming nationalistic protests and CCP censors don't stifle them.