Monkey King: Hero is Back (PS4)
The characters and elements of Journey to the West have been pretty popular within the video game space, especially as a source of inspiration for Japanese developers, but the novel itself was a Chinese creation. Monkey King: Hero is Back for PlayStation 4 isn’t based solely on that original tale though, as it instead is an adaptation of a 2015 animated film made in China. With Japanese developer HexaDrive working on this game, an unusual tradition continues as once again Japanese creators set about retelling a Chinese tale. In a rather interesting break from the typical way of adapting a film to video game form though, the action game Monkey King: Hero is Back seems to not count on familiarity with the source material, constructing itself more like a video game trying to impress on its own merits and even altering important events from the film not just to fit the format better, but to make it a better plot.
Monkey King: Hero is Back begins by telling you a summarized version of the ancient tale of Sun Wukong, a monkey who achieved such incredible power he believed he could defy death and attempts to take over heaven. Calling himself Dasheng, a Chinese word meaning Great Sage, the monkey king ends up almost succeeding until the Buddha’s immeasurable power easily repels him and traps him within a crystalline prison down on Earth. For 500 years Dasheng is imprisoned, but a child named Liuer comes across the cave the monkey king is trapped in. Attacked by mountain trolls, Liuer seems all but doomed until he accidentally frees Dasheng, and while the sage who defied the heavens is eager to get back into action, a second layer of protection keeps him from reverting to his rebellious ways. An armlet wrapped in chains prevents him from accessing his incredible power and causes searing pain whenever he acts selfishly, Dasheng needing to do good in the world if he wishes to restore himself to his former glory. Conveniently, Liuer was hoping to find out why children in the area were disappearing, and when it becomes clear a group of monsters are snatching them up, Dasheng is given a task to solve so he can prove he has turned over a new leaf.
Of course, Dasheng begins just as selfish and irritable as he was 500 years ago, but Liuer is a good counterbalance to the irritated monkey king. Dasheng barely wants to even speak to the boy and approaches everything with a belligerent and aloof attitude at first, but Liuer is a monk in training and over the moon to meet a figure of legend. Liuer is charmingly earnest and a well balanced character, able to be an excited child eager to impress Dasheng at one moment before shifting to a more mature and responsible attitude when Dasheng’s behavior almost leads to more trouble. Zhu Bajie, a pig man Dasheng has history with, joins the group soon as well, a comedic addition who always has an excuse for why he’s not fighting but can at least provide support when the chips are down since he’s not a full on coward. While you play as Dasheng exclusively, these two characters are almost always by your side, running to a safe spot if a fight is starting but the gradual friendship feeling more natural as they’re always around and frequently comment on the areas you explore together. Admittedly, the two of them shouting “MONSTERS!” initially whenever they spot some baddies does get a bit old, but a lot of care is put into developing the group dynamic. Dasheng’s gradual growth and acceptance of his traveling companions is perhaps not the most innovative story idea, but it does have some effective moments both by relying on proven story formulas while also nailing some unexpected swerves because of the otherwise traditional elements.
Monkey King: Hero is Back gives a good amount of attention to its plot and building its central characters up, and to do so more effectively it has actually edited quite a bit of the film’s plot to draw out the importance of this relationship more and even concocts new ways to add some dramatic elements to it. It is not some deeply layered tale or anything, but Dasheng feels like he is on a more believable redemptive path rather than being sped along to lighten the mood. While the animated film deviates into comedy quite often, the video game can better slip in quick humor instead of drawing out moments meant to make you laugh, and a good few jokes work better because they arise from well-established personalities rather than cheap visual gags. The use of visuals is quite impressive in Monkey King: Hero is Back, and by diverging from the movie’s script in many ways it can’t just lean on presenting film scenes in full. Instead, Monkey King: Hero is Back has some impressively animated cutscenes with expressive characters that transition rather seamlessly into the action at parts. There were a few shortcuts taken (a few scenes are presented with still images as the characters talk instead) but a lot of love was put into creating rich animations even during the combat sections. If you get knocked down, the monsters will strike one of many amusing poses to taunt you. Get a finishing blow on one of them, and a wide range of possible attacks will unfold, some including a good degree of squashing and stretching of the 3D models. Dasheng will do attacks as intricate as hooking his fingers into a troll’s nose to lift it up and hurl it away in a clean and quick animation, and while the English dub doesn’t match lip syncing meant for Chinese dialogue, even side characters can have a good degree of attention given to their movement. The merchant has a very complex moving model, but the Earth God Elder who could have gotten away with just being a menu to upgrade your power instead will pour drinks into Dasheng’s mouth directly after he initially resists, the effort put into such small interactions something more common in games that need to establish their own world rather than ones that borrow from a film you might be familiar with.
An effective story and a good degree of care put into the animation side of things definitely are Monkey King: Hero is Back’s strengths, but the action adventure elements aren’t entirely without merit. Dasheng is a fist-fighter for much of the adventure, getting to be more acrobatic as you extend his combos through upgrades and eventually unlocking some magical techniques you access from a quick menu that freezes time while you scroll through it. Most fights will only really demand the simplest of attacks though, your straightforward quick strike combo sometimes accentuated either with some aerial maneuvers for flying foes or a heavy attack where Dasheng winds up his punch before unleashing it. The battle system is fairly basic much of the time, the game populating many areas with the mountain troll enemy type that the basic combo is fine for handling, but even as newer enemies enter the fray, they don’t always justify utilizing your magic techniques to spice up the fight. The living samurai armor is a tougher foe for sure, but by having its weakness be in the back you won’t want to use something like the multi-kick Qilin’s Legs spell because the enemy will likely move so its armor protects it while you’re in the middle of the attack. Defeating them requires you to wear down a barrier over the talisman that keeps them alive as well that special moves won’t deal any damage to. It takes a while for the game to whip out things like the flaming crocodiles that Dasheng will injure himself if he attacks normally, but before it demands you be more creative, it can at least provide situations that make it interesting instead. Grabbing small benches changes up your battle style and makes it easier to defend and one of your spells is even to make a bench appear in hand so you can wear down tougher foes, and getting abilities like the needle launch lets you battle foes from afar even when there are no convenient rocks on hand to hurl towards baddies.
The combat could stand to challenge you more and make you engage with your magic system better, perhaps making magic use less of your meter could have made justifying its use in more casual fights more likely, but one element that does exist in game but oddly receives little emphasis is the purge system. If you time your heavy attack just right, you can counter a foe, dealing heavy damage to them while also releasing a burst of collectibles that provide health, magic, and some of the resources used for upgrading abilities at save points. You aren’t taught about purges despite load screens and items mentioning them, but these counters definitely enhance how you treat a battle when you know you can speed it up with a well-timed button press. Your heavy attack’s slow wind-up is also part of the risk involved, since if you mistime it you’ll likely leave yourself open to that incoming hit. One of your earliest abilities can be upgraded to show you an icon for when to execute a purge counter though, but the game only explains purges after the first time you pull one off. Perhaps expecting it to arise naturally, Monkey King: Hero is Back doesn’t account for a player who understands the wind-up punch is risky and only uses it when it seems safe, but the game’s fairly good dodge also lets you break away from combos and avoid damage quite well too, meaning the counter doesn’t feel necessary even though it adds more depth to encounters when you become aware of it. Like the underutilized rage mode where you become incredibly strong at the price of simpler attacks though, it feels like Monkey King: Hero is Back does have the options for a more exciting battle system but doesn’t draw on it through opposition that encourages such an exploration of your options. There is a system where you can make an enemy vulnerable to quick button mashing challenge where the game can show off its animation chops a bit more, but it’s not such an important part of success that it feels necessary to set up so it’s mostly just a nice quick bit of flair when it does happen to crop up in a skirmish.
Luckily, while fairly plain at times, Monkey King: Hero is Back is not without interesting battles, but it definitely would have stagnated if not for the effort put into making your adventure more than just a string of battles. Exploring the areas you enter is important and there are often not only optional side paths, but sometimes a choice of routes to take towards the objective that provide different challenges. A city by the pier for example has many cluttered difficult enemies down the central road who will give good rewards for defeating them, but the less dangerous path to the left will allow you to sneak past foes you don’t want to fight if you’re careful. All throughout the game though there are many items to find in the area, bugs, minerals, and vegetation abundant enough to keep you searching for them but not overwhelming in their number. Rather than paying for helpful things like healing items you instead exchange these scavenged materials for them, although this shop would certainly prove more valuable if the game’s difficulty level was increased. Hidden around environments as well are little Earth Gods, the player needing to notice odd bits of environmental design to make them appear to go towards your power upgrades while ability upgrades instead come from the collectibles you earn from defeating enemies or trading in high value items. The frequent flow of exploring an area for little extras to getting into quick if perhaps too simple combat is decent enough that Monkey King: Hero is Back doesn’t grow old, although repeating a few boss fights does suck a bit of excitement out of progressing to the later parts of the game.
THE VERDICT: Monkey King: Hero is Back is one compelling combat system short of being a good game, but the enjoyable story, quality animation, and effective gameplay loop still means it’s a decent experience for those who are still willing to give it a shot. It’s a shame ideas like the magic techniques and purge counter aren’t made more important parts of the battle system as they could have added more variety to how you engage foes, but the action isn’t mindless either so it can still hold up the rest of the game despite being quite basic. Monkey King: Hero is Back does feel like it’s trying to build a video game rather than just being a tie-in product, but some more love should have been moved to the interactive elements instead of making scenic areas and impressive character animations.
And so, I give Monkey King: Hero is Back for PlayStation 4…
An OKAY rating. One of the more impressive elements of Monkey King: Hero is Back remains its willingness to break from the film’s course of events to create a more effective narrative, the game not merely inserting more action into the plot but planning out important character beats to occur at different points and excising others entirely. The film felt it had to impress more with choreographed action and slipped in a lot of humor to please younger audiences, but in the video game it can slip in its sillier moments while keeping its main trio a set of believable characters who have more time invested in developing their personalities. Dasheng’s arc can get more focus instead of having to speed along some of the expected steps and even his approach to resolving an issue is made a more personal journey, and by having the high quality animations still present and characters like Zhu Bajie constantly on hand to provide humor when appropriate, it’s easy for the game to still provide some of the same appeals but in an appropriate manner for this interactive format. The battle system is still a very present factor in the experience though and it doesn’t quite unite its many elements, the fights feeling like they don’t often push back hard enough to necessitate magic or the purge system when both had the option to really enhance things beyond unleashing basic combos. Luckily, a small spread of enemy types allows for enough moments where you do need to break out something new or you’re at least rewarded somewhat for trying to diversify. Monkey King: Hero is Back wisely places some emphasis on searching around the nearby area so that there’s something to break up any potential combat monotony with a slightly rewarding secondary activity.
Developed by a mostly Japanese team but overseen by people associated with the original film and willing to change it as needed, Monkey King: Hero is Back is impressive in many ways but didn’t quite land the action design. Still, that attention given to the game overall makes it feel more like it could have been an original creation, much of the world design and story telling presented with the consideration that this should be a video game first rather than just a complementary product to stand next to the film. Perhaps it’s little surprise the game released 4 years later after the movie then, since it was less about capitalizing on interest in the film and seemed more concerned with realizing the ideas of it in a way conducive to the media format it now finds itself on. It seems much better at adjusting preexisting materials into video game form than creating new things like a combat system though, the effort to realize it as an interactive experience moderately effective to the point it’s not worth dismissing.