Monkey see, monkey do, monkey downgrade his game before it gets to you? Something changed between the "Wukong" demo and its final release, and some fans aren't having it.
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00:00Monkey see, monkey do, monkey downgrade his game before it gets to you?
00:05Something changed between the Wukong demo and its final release, and some fans aren't
00:09having it.
00:10Yeah, the whole thing is just a teensy bit overdramatic.
00:13"...I am overwhelmed."
00:14Chinese developer GameScience made waves in 2020 when it released a 13-minute trailer
00:20for its first AAA game, Black Myth Wukong, which already boasted some of the most impressive
00:25graphics anyone had ever seen.
00:27Four years later, the studio finally released Black Myth Wukong, and it blew everyone away.
00:32The next-level graphics are a major part of the game's appeal, but once fans started comparing
00:36the release games to the demo GameScience showed off years ago, they noticed some pretty
00:41big differences.
00:42When GameScience first revealed Black Myth Wukong, the game was still in a pre-alpha
00:46stage, which only made the visuals even more impressive.
00:49The devs aimed to prove that they could design a game for next-gen consoles, and though the
00:53Xbox version of Black Myth Wukong has been delayed, that's exactly what they did.
00:57Black Myth Wukong is one of the few games that makes full use of the PlayStation 5's
01:01hardware, but according to some fans, that might actually be a problem.
01:05Videos showing a detailed comparison between the original demo and the retail version of
01:09the game have started a debate among fans.
01:12Did GameScience have to downgrade Black Myth Wukong in order to release it?
01:15"...Your true face, out with it!
01:18If a single lie slips, my rake shall strike true!"
01:22Of course, Black Myth Wukong was always going to change over the course of development,
01:26but fans have pointed out a few areas where the demo seems to look better than the final
01:30version of the game.
01:31In the earlier segments of the comparison video, the Destined One is transformed into
01:35a cicada and flies through the forest before encountering some enemies.
01:39Both versions look undeniably spectacular, but fans spotted a significant difference
01:43between the two.
01:44One YouTuber commenter pointed out,
01:46"...demo had wind blowing leaves everywhere.
01:48Looked cinematic.
01:49Retail has almost no wind on trees whatsoever.
01:52The trees and leaves in the release version of Black Myth Wukong definitely still move,
01:56but the wind effects have been noticeably toned down."
01:58That isn't going to ruin anyone's gameplay experience, but it does make the forest feel
02:02a little less… alive than in the demo.
02:05Fans also spotted a small change made to Ling Tsetse, a wolf boss in the first chapter of
02:09the game.
02:10One commenter noted that, quote, "...the wolf's fur looks much better in the demo."
02:14Another put the same observation a bit more artfully, writing,
02:17"'Tis a shabby dog now, not a glorious wolf as he was before."
02:21That's beautiful.
02:22Is that Shakespeare?
02:23It's true that there appears to be significantly less fur on the wolf in the final release,
02:26and all that hair blows around a little less majestically.
02:29Other fans have complained about the game's color palette being muddy and less vibrant,
02:33while others have praised the devs for veering into more realistic tones over the course
02:37of development.
02:38This all begs the question, though.
02:39If the devs had already perfected the graphics years ago, what happened?
02:43There's a good reason why many of the little graphical details that fans loved in the demo
02:46version of Black Myth Wukong aren't present in the final release.
02:50As many commenters on the aforementioned comparison video were quick to point out, the demo was
02:55almost certainly running on the best-performing PC that GameScience had available.
02:59But the retail version is built to run on a PlayStation 5.
03:02While some fans have complained about the apparent downgrade, others rushed to defend
03:06GameScience by pointing out that a high-end modern PC can still make Black Myth Wukong
03:11look much like the demo.
03:12Some fans also insist that the release version looks better than the original demo, with
03:16one fan specifically writing, quote,
03:18"...I like the retail wolf boss better.
03:20He looks rough, evil, wild."
03:22The PS5 version of the game might be missing some details, but the hard work that made
03:27Black Myth Wukong look so incredible is still evident.
03:30GameScience used motion-capture software and painstaking animation techniques to bring
03:34bosses like Tiger Vanguard to life.
03:36"...Bloody hell, what's the holdup this time?"
03:42And in the end, all the characters in the game look distinct and fascinating, regardless
03:46of your hardware.