![Black Myth Wukong PS5 Performance](https://images.pushsquare.com/a1b6efcdb6ecc/black-myth-wukong-ps5-performance.900x.jpg)
We've finally got our grubby hands on the PS5 version of Black Myth: Wukong. And while it'll still take us some time to construct a review, we can at least report on the game's PS5 performance, which has become a bit of a concern for potential buyers over the last few days or so.
Just to reiterate, PS5 review code was not distributed to press or influencers, which inevitably led to speculation regarding the console version's technical prowess. After all, Wukong has long looked like a graphically demanding project, and aside from a very small sample of PS5 footage (which was released just last week), the title has always been shown running on a high-end PC. It's hard not to be at least a little cynical, given the circumstances.
Thankfully, having now spent a good five or six hours with Wukong, we're happy to state that the PS5 version seems to run rather well. A relief for all involved.
All of the images included in this article were taken directly from our PS5, via the share button.
Wukong offers three settings right from the main menu — but they can also be changed in-game without having to reload anything. These three settings are Quality, Balance, and Performance — and they're pretty much exactly what you think they are.
First up, Quality offers a noticeable boost in resolution, with the trade-off being a capped 30 frames-per-second. Visually, Wukong's a downright stunning game — and the Quality mode allows its artistry to truly shine thanks to that focus on crystal clear resolution. We're not totally sure if it's a native 4K, but it's up there.
Quality mode also gives you better draw distance, when rendering object details, textures, and lighting effects. Wukong's environments are fairly linear so this isn't exactly a big deal, but comparing screenshots does show a difference.
Of course, a 30fps cap is going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of players, which is completely understandable given Wukong's unwavering emphasis on action combat. Indeed, it's for this reason that we find the Quality mode difficult to recommend.
With that in mind, Balance mode is an interesting option. The vast majority of games that present graphics settings on PS5 stick to just a simple choice between Quality or Performance, but Wukong's Balance mode provides something in between. From what we can tell, the frame rate is higher than 30, but it's definitely not 60, and it seems to fluctuate quite heavily based on how busy the scene is.
This alone will be enough to put some players off the Balance setting, but we suppose it's a nice option to have. The resolution appears to be decent as well, but ultimately, we're not sure who Balance mode is supposed to please. If you want visual fidelity, you'll go Quality, and if you want smooth gameplay, you'll go Performance — but Balance is worth checking out if only to see what you make of it.
Performance mode will be the way to go for most players, we imagine. This setting targets 60fps at a reduced resolution. Fortunately, the drop-off in resolution isn't hugely impactful. Switching between Performance and Quality will show a fairly obvious difference, but the promise of 60fps is near impossible to ignore.
Is it a perfect 60, though? Sadly not, based on what we've played. Wukong can certainly hit and maintain 60fps more often than not, but there are definitely dips every now and then. Fortunately, these drops seem to be kept under control during combat, but when you're exploring, turning the camera to check your surroundings and sprinting through dense environments, the fluctuations are there.
The performance mode reminds us of Final Fantasy 16, which also struggles to maintain a silky smooth 60 when you're just running around. Although having said that, we don't think Wukong's drops are quite as noticeable, or as prolonged.
As for additional graphics settings, Wukong defaults to heavy amounts of motion blur, but you can either lessen the effect or turn it off completely via the display options. Phew.
Overall, then, Black Myth: Wukong actually holds up well on PS5. It's a gorgeous game both in terms of graphical heft and art direction, and even though its three visual settings each come with their own flaws, it's definitely not the technical disaster that many feared it would be.
What do you think of Black Myth: Wukong's graphical offerings? Are you glad to hear that it's not some kind of crazy mess on PS5? We'll hopefully have a full review in the near future, but until then, let us know if you're itching to embark on this mythical adventure in the comments section below.
Comments 55
If anyone's got any questions about the game I can try to answer them based on what I've played. Will hopefully have a review sorted soon!
So literally unplayable, got it.
(Edit: For those who took me seriously, I’m looking forward to playing this when I can work it into my playtime, just mockng those who expected this game to run like crud or who insist the lack of 60fps locked makes a game horrible!)
@ShogunRok
Does VRR help with frame rate drops and smooth it out?
I have a Sony X95L 65” and it’s a stellar tv with of course VRR and 120hz at 4K.
@dskatter literally more playable than it is on Xbox 😎
Are there any load times between areas? If so how long?
Can I call down a cloud, find Buddha's fingers and have a wee on one? I've wanted to recreate that scene since I was a kid!
Also, is Tripitaka in the game and does he pray to make your headband inflict pain?
@OldGamer999 It should do, I don't see why VRR wouldn't make it feel better.
Although like it says in the article, these aren't big, lurching drops — more just fluctuations.
@OldGamer999 got a sony xr too, not sure if vrr kicks in tbh but i didnt see much stuttering myself
@riceNpea All the environments are seamlessly stitched together, so there's no loading. But when you first load the game, or when there's a cinematic, you'll get load screens that are actually quite long — at least compared to what we're used to on PS5.
Takes maybe 10 seconds or so to respawn at the last checkpoint if you die, too.
@ShogunRok I assume the cinematics are not skippable and viewable later, like with Monster Hunter games?
@dskatter. Hater gonna hate.you know you were wrong about the game now you feeling ridiculous.🤔.i been saying since day 1 black myth wukong is going to be a instant hit.word up son
@WhiteRabbit How would you characterize the difficulty level? Leaning towards FromSoftware or more like Stellar Blade? I am seeing conflicting views on this!
Also, the story of Monkey is actually very humorous, does this game capture that, and does it feature Pigsy and Sandy as playable characters, or characters who fight alongside Monkey?
@WhiteRabbit
Sounds good then to me.
I have had many TVs LG C3, Samsung S90C
But when you set a Sony TV up correctly it is just so silky smooth for all applications.
The motion just edges out the competition.
@WhiteRabbit
One of the biggest review criticisms of myth has been in between the boss fights, not much to explore or do, you honest opinion so far please.
@WhiteRabbit
Always get tempted to drop £3k on a Sony A95L 65”. The tv of all TVs.
@WhiteRabbit
Have not bought the game yet, just sitting on the fence right now, thank you for your reply.
Will get Astro Bot and probably Myth after that.
Depends on SW Outlaw reviews as well.
Performance mode with blur set to weak is what i'm using. Yeah despite concerns its actually fine, don't know why the Devs kept the PS5 version hidden.
@WhiteRabbit I know, I was totally joking. I expect to enjoy this game down the road!
@IamJT More Stellar Blade then Souls. Its tough at times especially one early boss but its not From level.
@DennisReynolds wondering f it was to do with nvidea? Only wanted it shown with their latest cards?
@playstation1995 I’ve never said a bad thing about this game, been looking forward to it! I was gently mocking the doofuses who were against this game or were like “No locked 60fps no play!”
@colonelkilgore Amen!
@WhiteRabbit Very good description I know exactly what I would be getting into now! Thank you!
@DennisReynolds Okay awesome I handled Stellar Blade so this game probably wouldn't drive me insane.
@WhiteRabbit HUZZAH! Genuinely glad to hear that for sure.
I have the game downloaded and ready to go. I’ll check it out later this evening. I can’t wait — it looks fantastic!
"The performance mode reminds us of Final Fantasy 16" 😭
Really glad to hear it works well! Especially after the initial worry.
@DennisReynolds I am yet to get past the boss I think you're describing but it seems more an issue of not understanding his moves yet. I think it is a hard game but I agree not like From. really enjoying it so far its impressive
@ShogunRok You answered this same question on the other article, but since I believe you've played more of the game from the beginning, could you elaborate a bit more about the cutscenes and overall pace? I love games that go for the cinematic DMC and modern FF games, so you get the idea of what I mean.
@WhiteRabbit @DennisReynolds I'm listening to you two more than pushsquare. I'm going to buy this as soon as I have the time to actually play it with the respect it obviously deserves. Cheers for the info guys 👍
@Northern_munkey Hope you enjoy it as from the 4-5 hours i've played i've been really enjoying it.
This game looks insanely good. Definitely on my to-plat list 😉
Yeah this one is awesome. Was pleasantly surprised by this today!
Is this available on disc or digital only?
Any difficulty options?
@colonelkilgore Oh snap!
Performance mode + motion blur off ☑️
Are we glad to hear it’s not worse… not sure. I really need my fast paced games to perform well, or I’ll just get sick. So if FF16 is a reference, that’s a BIG no for me.
@riceNpea No idea if they're viewable later — not even sure if you can skip them (haven't tried yet!).
@darylb24 No difficulty options.
@caiol92 It's a very linear game so far, with little in the way of cinematics beyond the opening. Boss fights are definitely the focus, with some fairly straightforward sections in between where you fight lesser enemies and pick up resources.
I'd say it feels like a more linear Souls game in terms of pacing / structure.
Sounds like the perfect candidate for a Pro patch, since it seems more GPU than CPU bound. Also, the PC version is based on the Nvidia RTX UE5 branch, meaning it's heavy on the ray tracing goodness. For those in the know, the Pro is supposed to be much better at that. And last but not least, the base PS5 version seems to be employing FSR2 to upscale to 4K, which is fine, but PSSR should be a lot better.
I wouldn't be surprised to see this game featured at the Pro reveal event.
Glad it's decent on console, i know a lot of folks were excited. I bought PC but had to refund due to really bad freezes + other issues. I may have able to fix them, but couldn't risk my refund window running out. This will be a game for next Gen for me..
@ShogunRok makes sense. No one wants to skip them first time they see it.
I have it on PS5 and am perfectly happy with it. Of course it's going to look and perform better on a $2000 PC than it is on a $500 console.
Doesnt look much better then a ps4 game. Its pretty sad when the best looking games on a system come out at launch.
I have read the lag starts later on then 5 hours, so you guys might want to wait for a full review.
@playstation1995 Aye facts. I'm 10 hours in on PC and the game is running smoothly for me. It's also an amazing game, definitely GOTY.
@slothtard Well I'm 10 hours in and there's no lag unless you're talking about the PS5 version.
Either way, this game is running smoothly for me.
@slothtard No, the game looks good. Doesn't look anything like a PS4 title.
Then again, I'm playing on PC and maybe it just looks better on PC then. Which means maybe the only issue is with consoles now being outdated already and not able to hand the actual next gen games now releasing.
Anything below a stable native 4K 60 FPS should be banned from release. Frame gen and super sampling are neat but if possible I want to avoid using it, unless I´m going for way higher FPS than 60
Can't wait to see how it runs on the Pro, in the near future.
Since Quality mode, is unlocked as well, maybe it can get closer to 60 on the Pro. Or at least above 48fps, to stay within the VRR window.
"The performance mode reminds us of Final Fantasy 16,"
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
@DennisReynolds @WhiteRabbit I've just purchased it and I'm downloading it right now..I was going to wait but f**k it I can't wait any longer.
@Northern_munkey Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...