In the early morning of August 20th, Beijing time, on the stage of the opening night of the Cologne Games Show in Germany, China Game Science Studio brought a grand finale surprise that shocked the audience - the first CG pilot trailer of the new work "Black Myth: Zhong Kui" was officially released. This nearly 2-minute video reached a record of 400,000 views on Station B in just half an hour. The Weibo topic #黑Myth Zhongkui# quickly climbed to the top of the hot search list, and the number of views exceeded 5 Billion, the global gaming circle instantly set off a craze for Chinese gods and ghosts aesthetics.
On the main stage of Gamescom, host Geoff Keighley used "the ghost-hunting god who wanders between hell and earth" to set the tone for Zhong Kui's image, accurately capturing the core characteristics of this character. The trailer unfolds the narrative from the perspective of two little ghosts: In the dark land shrouded by clouds, the Yaksha ghost carries a giant ghost-slaying sword to clear the way, followed closely by Zhong Kui riding a colorful tiger out of the fog, with red hair, red robes and armor hunting in the thunder, and a majestic aura blowing towards his face. This design, which combines traditional monster elements with dark aesthetics, made the audience marvel from time to time. Overseas players discussed it on the Reddit forum, "This is the most anticipated oriental mythology game after "Wukong"" and "Zhong Kui's tiger-riding image has an oriental mystery and is comparable to the classic aura of "Castlevania"." Germany's "GameStar" magazine commented: "Game science has proved with Zhong Kui that the Chinese team can not only reproduce classics, but also create new cultural symbols."
Surprisingly, what was announced this time was not the DLC of "Black Myth: Wukong", but a new IP. This decision stems from the team's deep reflection on the creative direction. Feng Ji, the founder of Game Science, revealed in a 10,000-word long article that the huge success of "Wukong" with global sales of more than 30 million copies has caused the team to fall into "confusion and panic." "While players expect us to continue polishing the golden cudgel, we want to try Zhong Kui's sword." A WeChat message from co-founder Yang Qi became the turning point: "Don't you want to make DLC, but something new?" The two hit it off and decided to jump out of their comfort zone and build Zhong Kui's "Yin and Yang Judgment" world from scratch. The Q&A on the official website clearly stated that the new game will "reflect deeply on the shortcomings of "Wukong"", plan to optimize issues such as map reuse and boss design duplication, and try to create a "dynamic Yin and Yang Realm" open world - a human market during the day, and a foreign land where monsters are rampant at night. Players need to switch combat modes through spells.
The cultural origin of Zhong Kui's image has become a hot topic among players. The appearance of the "Red Judge" in the trailer is directly based on the "Drunken Ghost" scene in "The Legend of Ghost Slayer" of the Ming Dynasty, and the setting of riding a tiger is derived from the image of Taoist gods in the murals of Shanxi Yongle Palace. The development team also reconstructed Zhong Kui from the traditional one-sided image of "blessing the house" to the dual identities of "god-killer" and "law enforcer" - he is both a ghost hunter sent by the gods and a rebel exiled by the conspiracy of power. This in-depth deconstruction is reflected in the gameplay design: players can not only conquer demons through the "ghost capture" system, but also face the "karma trial" mechanism - when executing evil ghosts, their sins during their lifetime will be presented in the form of flashbacks, and the decision to forgive or not will affect the character's good and evil values and the plot direction. The addition of Taoist rune decryption and Feng Shui metaphysics elements makes the game an interactive vehicle for exploring Chinese folk beliefs.
Although the project is still in the "new folder" stage, the technical details disclosed on the official website are enough to be exciting. "Black Myth: Zhong Kui" will use Unreal Engine 5.2, focusing on optimizing the highly acclaimed hair rendering technology in "Wukong" - Zhong Kui's tiger stripe dynamics and beard trembling have reached movie-level accuracy. The dynamic light and shadow of the netherworld scene is realized through Nanite virtual geometry technology, presenting an eerie atmosphere of "swaying will-o'-the-wisps and fluttering soul flags". The AI dynamic narrative system is another highlight. The "Hundred Ghosts Illustrated Book" in the game will generate a unique plot based on player behavior: if violence is frequently used, the ghosts will learn to escape and lure enemies; if the tendency is to influence, the hidden "Zhong Kui marries his sister" branch line will be triggered. This "behavior-driven narrative" mode may redefine the narrative boundaries of action games.
Community discussions are clearly polarized: on the one hand, players cheered for the ambition of the "Black Myth Universe" and believed that "Zhong Kui's sword is more interesting than the golden hoop", and even spontaneously examined the relationship between the Nuo dance steps in the trailer and the Yu Bu; on the other hand, some players expressed disappointment at the failure of the DLC, joking that they "stayed up late to watch the German Spring Festival Gala for two hours, only to wait for a judge." But more rational voices pointed out that this kind of controversy just proves the courage of game science. "Game Industry Observer" commented: "While most manufacturers are obsessed with the safe path of IP derivation, Youke chose to use Zhong Kui to bet on the future of an Eastern mythological universe - this is what China's 3A should be like." It is worth noting that the team promised that "Journey to the West will not end here." In the future, the stories of Wukong and Zhong Kui may be intertwined in the same universe through a multi-protagonist parallel strategy.
With the official launch of the official website of "Black Myth: Zhong Kui", the brand strategy upgrade has been launched simultaneously - the original "Wukong" social media account has been renamed "Black Myth", implying that the series will form a "multi-IP linkage" pattern. Industry insiders speculate that there may be foreshadowing of "Wukong" buried in Zhong Kui's plot. For example, the "Judge's Pen" flashed in the promotional video of "Wukong" may become a key prop to unlock the underworld. Feng Ji said in an interview backstage at the Cologne Show: "We want to use Zhong Kui to prove that the imagination of Chinese mythology is far more than just learning. From Sun Wukong to Zhong Kui, to the possible Xiaoqian and Jiang Ziya in the future, what the Black Myth Universe needs to do is to make each character a key to opening up Eastern culture." These words may reveal the ultimate goal of this cultural adventure - when Zhong Kui's sword splits the gate of the netherworld, the starry sea of the Chinese game industry will truly begin.
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