Game Science just dropped 15 minutes of Black Myth: Zhong Kui gameplay, and the Wukong follow-up looks nothing like its predecessor: your hero this time is a ghost-catching deity who can possess his own allies mid-fight. The reveal ended a year of near-silence since the game’s announcement, and it confirms a studio swinging for something stranger and more supernatural than the Monkey King epic that sold over 30 million copies.
Who Zhong Kui actually is
Forget Journey to the West. The new mythological anchor is Zhong Kui, the vanquisher of ghosts and evil spirits in Chinese folklore, historically depicted as a fierce-faced scholar-warrior who commands demons rather than fights them one by one. That lore explains the trailer’s most talked-about mechanic: in one boss encounter, the protagonist calls in an allied spirit, then possesses it to continue the fight from inside another body. Wukong’s staff transformations were the hook last time; commanding and becoming spirits looks like the hook now.
What the 15-minute trailer shows
The footage is raw gameplay rather than a CGI teaser, and outlets parsing every frame converged on the same highlights:
- A new protagonist with his own moveset, replacing Wukong’s entire combat identity
- Spirit summons and possession, letting players fight alongside or as allied entities during boss battles
- Grotesque boss design, with GameSpot highlighting one monstrous encounter and the tactile, almost ASMR-like parry sound design
- A supernatural Chinese world that leans into horror-adjacent atmosphere instead of Wukong’s pilgrimage grandeur
How it compares to Black Myth: Wukong
| Black Myth: Wukong (2024) | Black Myth: Zhong Kui (TBA) |
|---|---|
| Protagonist: Sun Wukong lineage | Zhong Kui, the demon-queller |
| Staff-focused combat, transformations | Spirit summons plus possession mechanic |
| Journey to the West mythology | Ghost-and-demon folklore, darker register |
| 30+ million copies sold worldwide | No release window announced yet |
Per the game’s development history, production started in June 2025, one day after the reveal trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live, where host Geoff Keighley introduced Zhong Kui as the ghost-catching god who wanders between Hell and Earth. Platforms are confirmed as PC and consoles, but no release date exists yet; the studio has a tradition of updating players every August 20, so that is the date to watch.
Why Game Science is not rushing
The studio’s debut turned a niche Chinese myth into a global phenomenon, breaking records as one of the fastest-selling action RPGs ever and putting an indie-scale Chinese AAA production on the industry map. With that track record, the year-long silence followed by a meaty gameplay drop reads as confidence: show the mechanic shift early, let the possession system do the talking, and skip the cinematic fluff.
Quick answers
When does Black Myth: Zhong Kui release? No date announced; Game Science revealed first gameplay on August 20 but kept the launch window under wraps.
Is Zhong Kui connected to Wukong? Same studio and universe branding, different protagonist and mythology; expect a fresh story rather than a direct sequel.
What is the possession ability? In the boss fight shown, the hero summons an allied spirit and can take it over mid-combat, fighting from within the ally’s body.
The bottom line for action RPG fans
If Wukong proved Chinese studios could deliver spectacle at scale, Zhong Kui’s first gameplay argues they can also get weird in the best way: a ghost-judge protagonist, body-swapping summons, and bosses designed to unsettle. Wishlist it, watch the 15 minutes yourself, and keep expectations patient; based on this studio’s history, the next reveal will be worth the wait.
