Wukong's LA concert is the best way to return to his mythical journey

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Black Myth: Wukong is the kind of game players will probably remember first for its boss battles, and understandably so, as getting knocked to the ground for the fiftieth time by some mythological nightmare tends to leave an impression. But the more distance it is from the challenge it presents to its players, the easier it is to realize how much of the game's staying power actually came from the music. Black Myth: Wukong's music doesn't just sit behind its combat and world-building as something that merely supports the overall experience. Rather, it makes these boss fights, beautiful landscapes, and epic stories even more memorable than they would have been without them.

With Black Myth: Wukong Global Concert now set to take place in Los Angeles on July 7th at the Peacock Theatre, the game's soundtrack is finally getting the stage and spotlight it always deserved. The show will feature selected in-game music performed through symphonic orchestration and Chinese folk music, with the Hollywood Film Music Orchestra listed for the event, and it feels especially fitting for a game where the sound is as much a part of the experience as its feel. More than anything, however, the Global Concert is a chance to return to Black Myth: Wukong through that part of the journey that made every battle feel so much bigger, every quiet moment feel so very foreign, and its world felt like something much older, much older than any player walking through it.

Black Myth: Wukong's music gives his world a sense of history

Again, the easiest way to talk about Black Myth: Wukong is to talk about their boss fights, and that's fair enough. A game this demanding naturally pushes players to measure their experience through the fights that humbled them and almost forced them to stop playing the way every other action RPG had trained them to play. When a boss hits too hard, delays its attack just long enough to punish a panicked escape, or turns a second phase into a completely different problem, the soundtrack probably isn't the first thing players think of.

Give the game some distance, though, and its music starts to feel a lot more important than it might have seemed in the midst of actually playing it. A chief theme in Black Myth: Wukong rarely heard once and then filed away as another cool piece of battle music. Players hear it when they get flattened, while misreading a pattern, while running out of healing too early, while trying to sneak in an extra hit, and then when they finally realize the fight has shifted from impossible to comprehensible.

When one of these bosses finally goes down, the music has already become part of the memory of beating it. It was there when the boss fight felt unfair, and it was there when it all finally clicked. In that sense, Black Myth: Wukong uses music to make the player feel like they've stepped into something truly larger than life. The mechanics of each fight would still be strong on their own, but it's almost like the music gives them a ceremony.

The quieter parts of Black Myth: Wukongwhen they come, benefit from the same approach, even if they don't always get the same attention. The game is filled with places that are beautiful in a very unsettling way that evoke fear – not fear and dread, but a deep sense of respect and awe. A mountain path, ruined temple, forest, cave or shrine can look stunning while reminding players that beauty often hides the toughest enemies, and Black Myth: Wukongs music, or lack thereof, does a lot of work to communicate that message.

It gives the world a sense of age, sadness and worry that only pictures could only carry so far. Without it, Black Myth: Wukong may still have been a great action RPG with remarkable production value, but it would have been much easier to remember it as a chain of boss fights instead of a long, strange journey through myth. And since there are tons of great action games out there that are naturally reduced to their fighting, that's one way Black Myth: Wukong stands out from the rest.

And the soundtrack's historical roots play a big part in that, too. Its use of Chinese folk music, song, percussion and orchestral arrangements provides Black Myth: Wukong a distinct sound that can't easily be swapped out for another fantasy, action, or soul-style game without feeling completely out of place. Instruments like the dizi, xiao, guzheng, pipa, and xun help give character to the game's music, and these sounds give its world a texture that feels inseparable from its version of Journey to the West.

So the upcoming concert isn't just about just putting a popular game's soundtrack on stage. It has been done many times before and will continue to be done by high scoring games from now on. Black Myth: WukongThe music had already earned that stage by doing so much of the emotional work while the players were inside the game. The LA concert just gives fans the space to hear what may have been carrying the experience all along, even if they haven't realized it yet.

Black Myth: Wukong's LA concert lets fans hear the game without fighting through it

One of the strange things about video game music is that players often hear its best moments while they're far too busy to fully digest them. Black Myth: Wukong is a perfect example of that, as some of its strongest music is played while players try to survive in its abundant chaotic boss fights. At this point, all they might know is that the music is part of the press.

But a concert removes that pressure without removing the memory itself. No stamina management. No mistimed dodge. No sudden phase change to ruin a perfect run. No health bar sitting there with just enough left to entice players to do something stupid. All that remains is the music and what each fan took away from the game.

What can happen, however, when hearing the soundtrack performed live, separate from the sticks, is that the game actually becomes background noise while the music takes center stage. In that environment, players can understand every instrument and every note played, all while the game replays in their memories like a highlight reel. It's the ultimate loot, and it's especially necessary for a game like Black Myth: Wukong.

There's an obvious trade-off there, of course, since some video game music gets some of its power from the fact that players are actively fighting their way through it. A boss theme can feel different when a player is one hit away from losing a fight that's already taken an hour, and no theater can quite recreate that feeling. But that doesn't hurt the thought of one Black Myth: Wukong concert as much as it can seem. Fans have already experienced the stress, the frustration, the multiple attempts, and the final, sweet version of conquering a boss fight. The concert gives them a chance to hear the music without having to earn every second of it again.

It also turns a mostly private experience into a shared one. Playing Black Myth: Wukong can be lonely in the way that difficult games often are, especially when a boss becomes the wall between the player and the rest of the game. Players get stuck alone, learn alone, fail alone, and eventually win alone. The music becomes attached to the private version of the journey, which is part of why hearing it in a room full of fans can be so effective.

Black Myth: Wukongs LA concert has value because its soundtrack already did that for so many gamers. It gave its bosses' presence, its landscape history and its more emotional moments the space they needed to land. The game may be remembered most for its difficulty and spectacle, but its music is one of the main reasons these things had any staying power after the fight was over.

So yes, fans can always return to Black Myth: Wukong by starting a new playthrough. They can learn about the boss battles, go after any secrets they may have missed, test themselves against old barriers and see if the game feels easier the second time around. The LA concert, on the other hand, offers a different kind of return, and perhaps even a more revealing one. For one night, players can go back to Black Myth: Wukong without raising the staff, looking at the health bar or gearing up for the next attack. They can simply hear the journey again.

Released

August 20, 2024

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence