The words “Black Myth: Wukong” and “death” go together like peas in a pod. Death is more inevitable than Thanos, but we know half the characters don’t suddenly disappear from the Chinese world, so let’s find out what happens.
Developer Game Science has repeatedly distanced itself from suggestions Black Myth: Wukong is a Souls game, Soulslike, or any other associated verbiage. In our time with Wukong, though, it’s clear similarities exist, and difficulty is an obvious parallel with the action title.
Make no mistake, Black Myth: Wukong is a hard game. It doesn’t get close to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC—although certain bosses test this notion—but Wukong can be tricky, and dying is inescapable.
Does anything happen when you die in Black Myth Wukong?
If you die in Black Myth: Wukong, you respawn back at the nearest Shrine with all your meters fully recharged, and you don’t lose any progress toward your next Spark.
This is why the developer doesn’t consider Black Myth: Wukong to be a Souls game: It’s quite generous and kind when it comes to killing you! In a typical Souls game, dying results in you dropping your accumulated Souls, Blood Echoes, Runes, and so on, and you need to go back to the spot where you died to reclaim them.
In Wukong, killing enemies increases your progression meter toward your next Spark upgrade, and dying doesn’t reset it—making death less taxing on your character advancement. As this is the case, you’d think other penalties exist to compensate for this act of kindness—wrong.
Death zaps you back to the nearest Shrine, and your Health, Mana, and Stamina are all restored to their maximum capacity; and you also don’t lose any Will either!
In essence, your only punishment for dying is that minor enemies respawn, plus, if you were in the middle of a boss battle, their health bar returns to full and you need to redo the fight—the same way you would with any boss in any game, ever.
For more Wukong explainers, check out how to get past the sand wall, if you can free the Horse Guai at Sandgate Village, and how to get the Loong Scales.
