Published : 2024-08-22
The much-anticipated Chinese first 3A game masterpiece, "Black Myth: Wukong" (黑神話：悟空), was officially released on August 20. In just a few days, it has sold over 4.5 million copies and the number of online players once exceeded 2 million, setting a new historical record.
Based on Chinese traditional literature "Journey to the West"(西遊記), the domestically produced game "Black Myth: Wukong" is a single-player action role-playing game developed by "GameScience" (遊戲科學).
The amazing graphics and scenarios that people have been talking about are the work of Yang Qi (楊奇), one of the main founders and the art director of the game.
Black Myth: Wukong｜First Chinese 3A game
"3A game", also known as "AAA game", has no precise definition, but being called a "3A game" basically indicates that the game is of an extremely high standard, like the recently famous "Elden Ring" and "Baldur's Gate 3" which won the "Game of the Year" award in 2023.
"Black Myth: Wukong" recounts the story that after the successful scripture retrieval by the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang and his disciples, Sun Wukong, one of the disciples, was proclaimed the Buddha of Victory in Combat but then gradually disappeared.
And the player shall set out as the ''Destined One'' to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past.
In addition to the innovative plot and gameplay that rivals other big-budget games, another major selling point of "Black Myth: Wukong" is its beautifully detailed scenes, which is an indispensable part of becoming a "3A game".
In order to achieve the best effect, Yang Qi and his production team thoroughly studied many scenes and ancient buildings in various places across the country, and then highly restored them in the game. Nearly every scene and shot is on a photo level.
At least 36 real-world locations were minutely selected to serve as the game's backdrop, including Dule Temple (獨樂寺) in Jixian, Tianjin, Jade Emperor Temple (玉皇廟) in Jincheng, Shanxi, and Dazu Rock Carvings (大足石刻) in Chongqing.
Black Myth: Wukong｜ Yang Qi is confident despite the clichéd theme
Yang Qi has been studying traditional Chinese painting since he was a child, and he studied in the Department of Oil Painting at the China Academy of Art during his university career, exploring the use of traditional painting in the creation of large-scale historical and cultural themes.
In his sophomore year in university, Yang, who was keen to enter the game industry, focused entirely on digital painting.
Yang Qi once served as character designer for the large-scale online game "The Romance of Mountain and Ocean" with eastern elements as its theme. His work at the time was eye-catching.
Yang Qi has a particular fondness for the theme of "history", which is why he chose Journey to the West as the story background.
On the one hand, although Journey to the West is a musty subject, Yang Qi is confident in the culture and in his own abilities.
On the other hand, during his in-person investigations, Yang Qi found that time was mercilessly eroding the ancient buildings. In order to "preserve" them, he decided to incorporate these into the game, so people can experience the beauty of ancient architecture in multiple ways.
When Yang Qi was visiting those ancient buildings, he would not touch the relics, and even tried to preserve the dust when digitally restoring them later.
Yang Qi believes that, of course, people can visit and appreciate the ancient buildings in reality at any time, but no one today can actually see their original state back then with their own eyes, no matter how much effort has been put into the restoration work.
So it's better to present it in a virtual scene.
Black Myth: Wukong｜Yang Qi persists for over 6 years without giving up
From project initiation in 2018 to its eventual release, "Black Myth: Wukong" took more than 6 years to come to fruition. There were inevitably rumours of "difficulties in production" during the process.
Yang Qi constantly emphasises that interest is a very important premise for being in the gaming industry. Having interest and loving what you do will prompt you to rise to the challenge when problems come.
Besides that, he believes that creating games requires a certain spirit of adventure, a willingness to try new things, and the theme he chooses has nothing to do with his identity but entirely depends on what he is interested in.
"If you are not interested, you will not do it well. Similarly, if you are really interested, no matter what difficulties you encounter in the future, you will be better equipped to overcome them.”
