Image credit: Game Science.

Game Science has delivered a gift for anyone eager to see and hear more from Black Myth: Zhong Kui, the sequel to the incredibly successful Black Myth: Wukong. The developer released 15 chunky minutes of gameplay, giving us a first look at combat and a clearer picture of the protagonist, the Chinese mythological deity Zhong Kui.

What stands out to me in the footage - having played Wukong - is a larger focus on fighting non-boss enemies. Wukong had battles in between bosses, of course, but its world was sparsely populated, focusing almost entirely on boss fights. This may still be the case here, but from the footage, at least, there appears to be more going on in the world.

The game's animations are very detailed and involve a lot of weapon entanglement - we see blades bouncing off each other and clashing, as if in extended parries. It makes that part of Zhong Kui look closer to something like Phantom Blade Zero - another Chinese action game with a focus on martial arts.

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Speaking of bosses, we see one a little over halfway through the video, a large moth-like humanoid creature with shell-like wings covered in barnacles and scales. The protagonist fights a lengthy battle with them, eventually summoning a warrior companion to help, before directly taking control of them to deal major damage.

The gameplay looks a little different in the footage compared to Wukong, and that's intentional. Game Science has said before that it hopes to "preserve the many things players loved" about Wukong, but that the sequel will be "tailored to the new protagonist".

With that said, Game Science stressed that Zhong Kui remains work-in-progress and today's footage may differ from the final release. "Some of what we're exploring is still experimental," Game Science said.

Prior to the release of Wukong, Game Science senior staff were accused of sexism and other inappropriate remarks in an IGN report, with a number of women painting a negative picture about the studio's internal culture. Studio co-founder Féng Jì has also been linked with making misogynistic comments online.

Zhong Kui was announced almost precisely a year ago during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025, with a brief teaser that only really unveiled its existence to the world. The Chinese developer promised to return with an update the following year, which I suppose this is, though it's curious why it didn't wait until Gamescom next week to reveal it.

Black Myth: Zhong Kui is currently in development for PC and "major consoles" and does not yet have a release date.

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