Summary
Fans of Soulslike games should be more than familiar with the concept of backtracking, as it’s a gameplay mechanic that is often utilized in the genre. WhileBlack Myth: Wukongtechnically isn’t a Soulslike, it still follows many of the same rules, including the idea of backtracking to find previously locked areas that have now been unlocked and new bosses or NPCs that appeared in the world once a certain condition was met elsewhere in the game. However,Black Myth: Wukong’s backtracking is on an entirely different level than many other games, requiring players to revisit areas they’ve already completed multiple times, while simultaneously giving them very few clues as to why.
Backtracking inBlack Myth: Wukongcan be a highly rewarding venture, as it often causes new bosses to spawn or events to happen that might provide players with a new gear piece or a new item. It is a gameplay mechanic that is used frequently inBlack Myth: Wukongand, in some ways, it does improve the overall experience. Unfortunately, there is also a downside to such an extreme emphasis on backtracking that ultimately plays into when and how playersfinishBlack Myth: Wukong’s story.
Black Myth: Wukong’s Backtracking Makes the World Much Bigger Than It Initially Seems
The idea of backtracking in a game is, obviously, to encourage players to revisit areas they’ve already been to. However, from a game design standpoint, this concept often allows developers to makea much larger game worldwithout actually making it larger. In other words, an area in a game might initially feel too linear, small, or boxed in, but when players revisit it after acquiring a certain item or skill, that area may open up in a new way, giving players the feeling that they’ve just discovered an entirely different world within a world. It’s a feature thatBlack Myth: Wukongoften uses, and the rewarding feeling that comes with finding each of these new areas is almost worth the time it takes to backtrack.
While the sense of discovery alone is often worth the effort, one of the main reasons to backtrack inBlack Myth: Wukongis to obtain new items and gear that can help players on their journey. In fact, some of the armor and items players can craft and acquire through backtracking inBlack Myth: Wukongtend to be much better than those they can obtain through more straightforward methods — like defeating final bosses, for instance. The main issue with this, however, is that players may reach the latter portions ofBlack Myth: Wukong’s storyand obtain some of the best gear and items in the game, making any rewards available through backtracking obsolete.
What makes matters worse is that it’s hard to tell when a newly acquired item requires players to backtrack in order to benefit from it, andthe absence of a map inBlack Myth: Wukongmakes it difficult to determine when an area has been fully explored. The only way to remedy this issue without renovating the game would be to allow every piece of gear and item in the game to be upgradable to the point that almost anything is worth using as long as it matches a player’s playstyle.
This would make perfect sense inBlack Myth: Wukong, since each gear set provides unique bonuses that serve a different playstyle.
Backtracking in a game can certainly be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, butBlack Myth: Wukongmay rely on it too much for it to be worth the time. Unless an update is made to the game that makes every item andarmor piece inBlack Myth: Wukongobtainable through backtracking viable for the end of the game, it may continue to be an impractical endeavor.
