- October 16, 2019
- HEXADRIVE Inc.
- 10h median play time
MONKEY KING: HERO IS BACK
The legend of the Monkey King doesn't live up to its promise.
Platforms
About
"Monkey King: Hero Is Back" is an action-adventure game based on the Chinese legend of Journey to the West and the 2015 animated film of the same name. The deluxe edition includes the main game, a season pass, and additional content like extra skins and in-game items. The first DLC episode is set to release in November 2019, with the second following in December 2019. In the game, players control the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, as he embarks on a new journey with a young boy named Liuer.
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- The game features a colorful and vibrant world with enjoyable combat mechanics that can be fun for casual players.
- The story is engaging and closely follows the movie, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of the Monkey King mythos.
- The game has a charming art style and humorous character interactions, making it suitable for younger audiences and those looking for a light-hearted adventure.
- The gameplay is repetitive, with limited enemy types and a lack of variety in combat, leading to a monotonous experience.
- Technical issues such as a 30fps cap on PC, long loading screens, and bugs detract from the overall experience.
- The game is relatively short, with some players reporting less than 10 hours of gameplay, which may not justify the price.
- story31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
The game's story, based on the popular movie about Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is criticized for its lack of coherence and depth, with many reviewers noting that it relies heavily on repetitive cutscenes and simplistic plot devices, such as color changes for enemies. While some players appreciate the cultural elements and find the narrative engaging, others feel it falls short compared to the film, resulting in a mixed reception overall. The pacing is often described as slow, with significant portions of gameplay dedicated to cutscenes rather than action, leading to a perception of a lack of substantial content.
“The story of the game is based on the hit movie of the same name, the story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King who was captured by Buddha after trying to battle against him by being imprisoned for 500 years. After being awakened by a child, he starts on a journey to help them.”
“The story, the characters, the setting, all work in unison together to paint a world for you to wonder about as you learn more and more about the Monkey King universe.”
“Great storyline if you have never watched the movie; fun bosses and great attacks, recommended to all.”
“Why stop there though when you can, after a 45-minute long fight with a boss, leave the game after watching 5 cutscenes that are just JPGs and be in a completely new map area but not have it auto-save, nor the option to manually save because there are save screens instead of proper save buttons. This game's idea of a new enemy is to change the color, this game's idea of a boss is to change the color, and this game's idea of an interesting story is to just kidnap everyone possible for the plot, which makes literally 0 sense. Why would I even care about this little kid who just won't shut up during the entire game? F-, -35$/10, ★☆☆☆☆. Monkey King? More like Monkey Annoyance that should have stayed asleep in the first place. The first cutscene should have had this kid die and the end credits roll; at least that would be worth more than $5 compared to the entire game.”
“A big part of the game consists of rather slow cutscenes for simple actions like using a ladder or even narrative fragments where you have to walk while a dialogue takes place. At least later on, the storytelling relies more on cutscenes showing some backstory, which is a big improvement over the few weird initial scenes. Excluding such elements, I'm not even sure if there will be 6 hours of actual gameplay.”
“I finished the game in about 7 hours, so excluding 1 hour+ cutscenes and the slow storytelling parts, it truly is below 6 hours of actual gameplay.”