This time it's quite objective! IGN headquarters issued a document for Western players to popularize "Journey to the West"

The Chinese classic "Journey to the West" behind "Black Myth: Wukong"

"Black Myth: Wukong" is based on "Journey to the West", a Chinese mythological novel created during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, which was also the inspiration for the famous Japanese comic "Dragon Ball". "Journey to the West" may be unfamiliar to Western players, but Chinese players are almost household names and part of traditional culture.

"Journey to the West" tells the story of Monkey King, Pigsy, and Sand Monk's disciples who protect Tang Sanzang from the West. They go through 991 difficulties and finally obtain Buddhist scriptures. The plot in the novel can almost be seen as multiple levels in a video game.

As the novel's protagonist, Sun Wukong is highly skilled in martial arts and has the magical ability to transform into any creature, including insects and animals. His signature weapon, Ruyi's golden hoop, weighs 13,500 catties and can change in size at will, from tiny enough to fit into the ear to huge enough to pierce directly into the heavens.

Surprisingly, the protagonist of "Black Myth: Wukong" is not Sun Wukong, but a man of destiny who will revisit the journey of Sun Wukong. The monsters and ghosts of the novel's westward journey of Sun Wukong will also appear in the game. For example, the four gods who appear at the end of the game's final trailer are the four heavenly kings in Buddhist legend, the most powerful warriors around the Jade Emperor.

Many of the original Chinese terms of "Journey to the West" have been added to "Black Myth: Wukong" and later translated into English. These unfamiliar words may seem obscure to Western players. For example, "YaoGuai" is the transliteration of the monster, "Loong" is the transliteration of the dragon. Classic items such as the golden hoop in the game are also directly in the form of pinyin.

As China's first AAA game, these unfamiliar words may seem strange. But when Western gamers first encountered Japanese games, Japanese words such as ninja and samurai quickly became common terms in English. In the future, when Western gamers and Chinese gamers discuss key terms in Dark Myth: Goku, they may also be able to find familiar terms in them.