Monster Hunting

Overview

Monster hunting is the core activity at the heart of Black Myth: Zhong Kui. As a single-player action RPG in the Black Myth Series, the game follows Zhong Kui, the ghost-catching god of Chinese mythology, as he hunts and destroys supernatural beings. While no gameplay footage exists and no specific mechanics have been confirmed, the game's premise, trailers, and mythological source material all point toward combat centered on confronting a diverse hierarchy of ghosts, demons, and yaoguai.

Mythological foundation

Zhong Kui's entire identity revolves around the destruction of evil spirits. After his unjust death and appointment as King of Ghosts by the rulers of the Chinese underworld, he swore to "rid the Tang realm of every Xuhao ghost and harmful spectre." In mythology, he commands 80,000 demons and has the authority to capture, punish, and devour any evil spirit. His tools include a ghost-slaying sword, Taoist exorcism rituals, and raw physical dominance over the supernatural.

This gives the game a rich pool of potential enemies. Chinese mythology contains hundreds of distinct ghost and demon types, from shape-shifting fox spirits and vengeful water ghosts to ox-headed and horse-faced underworld guards. The Ten Courts of Hell alone, with their ten Yama Kings and specific tortures, provide enough material for an entire game's worth of boss encounters.

What the trailers show

The Gamescom 2025 announcement trailer is entirely cinematic, not gameplay, but it establishes the game's visual tone for monster hunting. Zhong Kui rides his massive tiger into a rain-soaked town, flanked by ogres and goblins carrying his ghost-slaying sword. The town appears abandoned or besieged. Lightning cracks overhead. The atmosphere is one of a hunter arriving at his quarry's lair.

Zhong Kui wields a folding fan that transforms into a razor-sharp blade. This weapon choice is rooted in traditional artistic depictions where Zhong Kui holds a folding fan while standing over a subdued ghost. The dual nature of the weapon, elegant fan and lethal blade, suggests a combat style that balances finesse with violence.

Developer intent

Feng Ji has stated that Zhong Kui will feature "new hero, new gameplay" that deliberately breaks from Black Myth: Wukong's established formulas. Wukong's combat centered on staff stances (Smash, Pillar, Thrust), transformations, and spirit abilities. Whatever monster-hunting mechanics Zhong Kui adopts, they will be distinct from this system.

Feng Ji also explained the decision to make a new game rather than Wukong DLC: "A DLC would, of course, have been a solid choice, but right now we prefer to make a new Black Myth game first: new hero, new gameplay, new visual, new technology, and new story." The emphasis on "new gameplay" suggests the monster-hunting loop will differ from Wukong in meaningful ways, not simply reskin the same combat with a different protagonist.

Possible enemy types

Based purely on Chinese mythology and the game's confirmed setting, the following categories of supernatural enemies could plausibly appear. None of these are confirmed.

What remains unknown

Nearly everything about the actual monster-hunting gameplay is unknown. How encounters are structured, whether hunts involve tracking and preparation or direct combat encounters, how boss fights differ from regular enemies, whether the Cooking System ties into a hunting resource loop, what role the 80,000 demon army plays in gameplay: all of these are open questions. The game was described as "little more than an empty folder" at announcement, and no gameplay footage of any kind has been shown.