VGC：《黑神話：悟空》爲中國遊戲在西方崛起中的閃亮燈塔

備受玩家們期待的國產遊戲《黑神話：悟空》將在2024年8月20日正式上線，而就在最近，國外遊戲媒體在一篇對2024年遊戲展望的文章中稱：《黑神話：悟空》是中國最重要的買斷制遊戲，並表示隨着中國遊戲產業的崛起並在西方市場站穩腳跟，《黑神話：悟空》無疑是其閃亮的燈塔

在這篇文章中，VGC表示：最近幾年來，中國遊戲在西方的市場越來越大，特別是非常受歡迎的《原神》《崩壞：星穹鐵道》以及《永劫無間》。不過這些遊戲都還是以F2P的收費模式（即免費遊玩，內購等方式收費的商業模式，《永劫無間》在今年初轉爲免費運營）而騰訊網易忙着收購西方和日本的工作室。但《黑神話：悟空》不一樣，它更符合西方3A工作室的價值理念，它是一款一次性付費的買斷制單人遊戲

以下是VGC全文的原文搬運和機翻內容：（原文地址：2024 PREVIEW: BLACK MYTH: WUKONG IS CHINA’S MOST IMPORTANT PREMIUM GAME）

隨着中國的視頻遊戲行業在西方市場站穩腳跟，黑暗之魂：悟空無疑是其閃亮的光芒

With the rise of China’s video games industry gaining a foothold in the Western market, Black Myth: Wukong surely stands as its shining beacon.

儘管其主題明顯是中國的，基於中國最受歡迎的16世紀小說《西遊記》，這部作品在各種媒體上的改編無數，看起來感覺卻與許多人對中國作品的期望大相徑庭。中國的遊戲產業主要以廉價仿製品或充斥着惡劣的扭蛋機制的免費移動遊戲爲主，而這部作品卻與這些形象截然不同

While its subject matter is unambiguously Chinese, based on the country’s most popular 16th-century novel Journey to the West that has no shortage of adaptations across media, looks and feels unlike anything many had expected to come out of China, an industry that has predominantly associated with either cheap imitations or free-to-play mobile titles with egregious gacha mechanics.

自 2020 年首次亮相以來，它的第一部預告片展示了 13 分鐘的 pre-alpha 遊戲玩法，它已經引起了人們的注意，迄今爲止，它在開發商 Game Science 的 YouTube 頻道上獲得了超過 100 萬次觀看，並通過 IGN 獲得了超過 1000 萬次觀看

Since its first trailer debuted back in 2020, showing 13 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay, it has sent tongues wagging, garnering over a million views on developer Game Science’s YouTube channel and over 10 million views via IGN to date.

從那時起，我們看到來自中國的遊戲不斷增加，在國外找到了觀衆，特別是非常受歡迎的《原神》和《崩壞：星穹鐵道》，這兩款遊戲都是由總部位於上海的開發商HoyoVerse開發的，而大玩家騰訊和網易則忙於收購西方和日本的工作室。儘管如此，其中許多遊戲並沒有逃脫其免費實時服務的陷阱，受武俠啓發的大逃殺遊戲《永劫無間》實際上在今年早些時候就免費上了遊戲

Since then, we’ve only seen a continuing rise of games from China finding audiences beyond its borders, notably the extremely popular Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, both developed by Shangahi-based developer HoyoVerse, while the big players Tencent and NetEase have been busy acquiring studios both in the West and Japan. Nonetheless, many of these haven’t escaped their free-to-play live service trappings, wuxia-inspired battle royale Naraka: Bladepoint actually going free-to-play earlier this year.

然而，《黑神話：悟空》絕對是一款單人高級遊戲，旨在一次性購買。它看起來確實如此，具有您可能期望從西方3A工作室獲得的製作價值，其對孫悟空的黑暗幻想重新構想，這裏被稱爲命中註定的人，結合精確而殘酷的戰鬥，使其與 FromSoftware 遊戲並駕齊驅。這家總部位於杭州的工作室發佈了每一個新的深度視頻，包括2022年切換到虛幻引擎5，一切都變得更加令人印象深刻

Black Myth: Wukong, however, is resolutely a single-player premium title intended to be released as a one-time purchase. And it certainly looks the part, with production values you might expect from a Western AAA studio, its dark fantasy reimagining of the Monkey King, known here as the Destined One, combined with precise and brutal combat making it stand toe to toe with a FromSoftware title. Things have only continued to get more impressive with every new in-depth video from the Hangzhou-based studio including its switch to Unreal Engine 5 in 2022

然而，除了這些視頻之外，信息也相當稀缺，可能是由於大流行，也可能是缺乏與西方的溝通（根據其 Steam 頁面，《黑神話：悟空》目前是自行發行的）

Yet aside from these videos, information had also been quite scarce, perhaps due to the pandemic but also a lack of communication with the West (according to its Steam page, Black Myth: Wukong is presently a self-published release)

然而，它在Gamescom上的出現，據報道，公衆排隊四個小時才能親身體驗，以及其英文配音預告片在The Game Awards上的首次亮相，這表明當《黑神話：悟空》於8月在全球PCPS5和Xbox Series X/S上推出時，遊戲科學正在爲其漫長的西方之旅做準備

However, its presence at Gamescom, where the public were reportedly queueing for four hours to get hands-on, and the debut of its English dubbed trailer at The Game Awards, is an indication that Game Science is gearing up to the final stretch of its long journey to the West when Black Myth: Wukong launches on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in August worldwide

儘管中國人對Steam等平臺的優質遊戲很感興趣（儘管有嚴格的限制），但免費遊戲仍然是國內獲取遊戲的主要方式，這使得《黑神話》要想取得成功，就必須找到全球觀衆

And even while there is an interest in premium titles in China via platforms like Steam (albeit with heavy restrictions), free-to-play remains the dominant way to access games back home, making it more imperative for Black Myth to find a global audience if it’s to become a success.

那麼，我們能從遊戲本身中得到什麼呢？如前所述，它肯定是從 Soulslikes 中汲取靈感的，即無情的戰鬥，治療有限，休息意味着敵人重生，反覆死亡是通向精通的道路，這當然會在與中國神話中強大生物的史詩般的 Boss 戰中達到高潮

So what can we expect from the game itself? As mentioned before, it definitely takes inspiration from Soulslikes, that is unforgiving combat where heals are limited, resting means enemies respawning, and repeated death is the path to mastery, which of course culminates in epic boss fights against powerful creatures of Chinese myth.

然而，你也是一個拿着棍子的靈活猴人，比黑暗之魂中更慢、更有條理的遭遇戰使戰鬥更快，而恰到好處的閃避會減慢時間，就像在《獵天使魔女》中一樣。還有一個更類似於《仁王》的系統，你可以在不同的戰鬥姿勢之間切換，每個姿勢給你不同的攻擊、連擊和時機

You are, however, also a nimble monkey man with a stick, making fights faster than the slower, more methodical encounters of Dark Souls, while perfectly-timed dodges slow down time, much like in Bayonetta. There’s also a system more akin to Nioh where you can change between different fighting stances, each giving you different attacks, combos and timings.

這還不包括你可以使用的基於冷卻時間的魔法能力，無論是將敵人變成石頭，讓你自由地哀嚎，還是變身爲更強大的造成傷害的野獸。因此，不乏適合您遊戲風格的工具和技術，即使這是一款比典型的 Soulslike 更注重角色和敘事的遊戲（但 Sekiro 確實會浮現在腦海中）

That’s not counting the cooldown-based magical abilities also at your disposal, whether turning enemies to stone letting you freely wail on them or even transforming into a more powerful damage-dealing beast. So there’s no shortage of tools and techniques to suit your play style, even if this is a more character and narrative-focused game than a typical Soulslike (Sekiro does however also spring to mind).

當然，與 FromSoftware 爭奪同一片領土並非易事，尤其是在同年，我們也期待 Elden Ring 的擴展。但是，遊戲科學比《墮落之王》或《匹諾曹的謊言》等遊戲的優勢在於，它既能從自己的文化和神話中挖掘出來，又能從調皮的美猴王中挖掘出不敬的語氣

Fighting for the same territory as FromSoftware is, of course, no easy task, especially in the same year we’re also expecting Elden Ring’s much anticicpated expansion. But where Game Science benefits over the likes of Lords of the Fallen or Lies of P, which make unfavourable comparisons by being so nakedly derivative of Dark Souls and Bloodborne respectively, is that it can mine from its own culture and myths, while there’s also an irreverent tone that’s befitting the mischievous Monkey King.

它的最新預告片無疑讓我們更瞭解我們可以期待的那種古怪角色和可怕的敵人，從矮人針頭型的人、擬人化的老虎、長着老人頭的鳥，到巨大的野獸，包括可以看到我們的命中註定的人騎着的帶翅膀的蟲子狀生物。換句話說，不僅僅是刻板的龍，儘管也有其中之一

Its latest trailer certainly gives more of a flavour of the kind of oddball characters and fearsome enemies we can expect, from a dwarven Pinhead-type person, an anthropomorphic tiger, a bird with an old man’s head, to gargantuan beasts, including a winged bug-like creature that our Destined One can be seen riding. In other words, a whole lot more than just the stereotypical dragons, though there’s one of those too.

無論《黑神話：悟空》是否在魂系類型中留下了印記，它將於 2024 年發佈，這也將是龍的十二生肖，象徵着高貴、榮譽、運氣和成功，幾乎可以肯定的是，這將是中國優質遊戲未來的重要時刻

Whether or not Black Myth: Wukong makes a mark on the Soulslike genre, its release in 2024, which will also be the Chinese zodiac year of the dragon, a symbol of nobleness, honour, luck, and success, it will almost certainly be an important moment for the future of premium Chinese games.