Is Black Myth Wukong harder than Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree?

Black Myth Wukong is a challenging game, there's no doubt about that. Despite not being a traditional "souls-like" RPG, developer GameScience's latest title does feel a lot like the games developed by FromSoftware. Although the inspirations from titles like Sekiro and Elden Ring are quite obvious in Black Myth Wukong, it's far removed from the traditional souls-like experience.

That said, the game is still quite challenging, often surpassing the likes that players usually experience in action RPGs of similar ilk. Although the difficulty in Black Myth Wukong only rises after Chapter 3, it's still quite a significant leap, with some of the end-game bosses rivaling the likes of Isshin the Sword Saint, and Orphan of Kos, in terms of difficulty.

However, is Black Myth Wukong more difficult than the recently released, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree? Or, more appropriately, is there a boss in GameScience's latest title that rivals, if not surpasses, the likes of Messmer the Impaler or Promised Consort Radahn? Let's find out.

Note: This article is purely subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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Black Myth Wukong is hard, but how does it compare to Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree?

Black Myth Wukong is a difficult game, no doubt about it. In fact, some of its bosses are much more challenging than those from the toughest end-game encounters in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice and Lies of P. But is there a boss more mechanically challenging than Shadow of the Erdtree's Promised Consort Radahn or Messmer the Impaler?

Promised Consort Radahn in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (Image via FromSoftware)

Well, I don't think so. However, I do feel as an overall experience, Black Myth Wukong is significantly more challenging than the entirety of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. The difficulty in some of the toughest bosses in Elden Ring and its DLC comes from their intensity, not mechanics.

Promised Consort Radahn is challenging not because of its intricate movesets, but due to the sheer damage it inflicts with even the most basic attacks. On top of that, it relies too heavily on AOE (area-of-effect) attacks, which are detrimental to a fun (and fair) boss fight. And lastly, some of Radahn's attacks are borderline unfair, i.e., the meteoric ground slam.

I won't say Promised Consort Radahn is mechanically in-depth since he only has a few attacks, which aren't particularly hard to dodge. However, the difficulty of this boss fight stems purely from the additional shenanigans he has access to. Messmer also suffers from the same issues albeit not to the same degree.

Malenia in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware)

Even Malenia, which many still consider the hardest boss FromSoftware has ever created, is mostly hard due to the "borderline unfair" advantages she has. The first is her lifesteal, which works even if you block her attacks, and the second is her Waterfowl Dance, which I can safely say no one can dodge properly until they watch or read some tutorials online.

Mechanical depth is what makes a boss fight fun, in my opinion. It is precisely why I adore almost every other boss in Sekiro. In Black Myth Wukong, most bosses offer a similar degree of mechanical depth as Sekiro. This is precisely what makes Black Myth Wukong more challenging compared to Elden Ring. However, if you end up mastering the dodge timings, it immediately becomes a much easier game to replay.

Every boss, barring maybe Captain Wise-Voice and Yellowbrow, in Black Myth Wukong operates on the same combat system as the one you have access to. And the difficulty only comes from the depth as well as the complexity of their moveset. Take bosses like the Supreme Inspector, Great Sage's Broken Shell, or Erlang, the Sacred Divinity for example.

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity (Image via GameScience)

None of these bosses rely on "cheap tricks" or go all out on AOE attacks to overwhelm players. Instead, these bosses rely entirely on skill. While I do think some of the end-game bosses have a bit too much health, it never really bothered me as the boss fights were fun. I cannot say the same for some of the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree.