There is Nothing NEW Under the Sun: Innovation Comes After Imitation and Emulation

[神威98]

Black Myth: Wukong by Game Science was in development for over 4 years with regular exposure to publicity. This time frame gave other companies plenty of time to develop imitation products. BUT in the business world, it's never enough to just imitate something, you have do introduce an innovation that sets you apart from the crowd.

I think the biggest flaw in Black Myth: Wukong is his disciple beating up classic Chinese Gods like Yang Jian, Zhu Bajie, and even himself (evil Sun Wukong) in the final battle (aka the alternate NOT true ending).

I want to see a work about a Chinese character beating up Western Gods instead of own Chinese Gods. Tencent's Slay the Gods (2024) released almost concurrently with Black Myth: Wukong seems to address the problem!

"The Gods of the Western world will start a war to invade China!" This is the kind of work I'd rather much consume instead of Chinese game character beating up Chinese game boss!

 

[神威98]

Before I dive further into this work, let's get the basics out of the way. The MC is definitely Sun Wukong.

When he gets mad, his face turns into a monkey's (with glowing rune). This is the innovation I was talking about in post #1. To survive in the business world (and any other kinds of endeavors like the military), you don't just copy Black Myth: Wukong, you have to innovate (his face)!



Released concurrently with Black Myth: Wukong, Slay the Gods HAS to be the imitation/clone!

 

[神威98]

If I saw this scene again (in an imitation work), I would be flat-out bored!



Innovation case point #2: Put a spear tip on the staff, take it away [the staff] and give it to a side character. Let Sun fight with a blade instead!

The next problem becomes to imitate another work where the MC fights with a blade...

 

[神威98]

Because Tencent removed the iconic staff from the MC and replaced with blade weapon, they are forced to imitate another popular work Karas from (another) Japanese company.

The most intriguing thing about Karas, the hero, is he works part time as an emergency room medical doctor (for spiritual beings).

I think this is why the MC in Slay the Gods is also a medical doctor for spiritual beings! (I think the EM doctor in Karas is a more lowly job than psychiatric doctor in Slay the Gods, the former has to deal with all kinds of dirty things like blood and body fluids)

I love this part the most about Slay the Gods. There is no other Chinese work where the MC is a Western medicine doctor (rather than traditional Chinese medicine healer).

 

[神威98]

Oops, I had forgotten you can't update the posts with pics after a short while....

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If I saw this scene again (in an imitation work), I would be flat-out bored!

Innovation case point #2: Put a spear tip on the staff, take it away [the staff] and give it to a [female] side character. Let Sun fight with a blade instead!


(Let Sun fight with a blade instead!)


The next problem becomes to imitate another work where the MC fights with a blade...

 

[神威98]

Oops, I had forgotten you can't update the posts with pics after a short while....

--------

Because Tencent removed the iconic staff from Sun Wukong and replaced with blade weapon, they are forced to imitate another popular work Karas from (another) Japanese company.





The most intriguing thing about Karas, the hero, is he works part time as an emergency room medical doctor (for spiritual beings).

I think this is why the MC in Slay the Gods is also a medical doctor for spiritual beings! (I think the EM doctor in Karas is a more lowly job than psychiatric doctor in Slay the Gods, the former has to deal with all kinds of dirty things like blood and body fluids)



(MC the medical doctor in both Karas and Slay the Gods [This is outrageous! Tencent turned Sun Wukong into a white coat healer instead of spiritualist disciple!])

I love this part the most about Slay the Gods. There is no other Chinese work where the MC is a Western medicine doctor (rather than cliched/overdone traditional Chinese medicine healer). Being an MD in today's society is almost revered like being a God!

 

[神威98]

If you guys ever watched Slay the Gods (2024) and wondered where the part about the main/male lead character being a Western medical doctor comes from, it came from Karas (2005-2007) the Japanese animation!

(Most fights scenes [with blade weapon] in Karas happen at dusk/night time, the MC joined an elite organization to become a Night Watchman in Slay the Gods...)

 

[神威98]

These were the points Tencent considered when producing an imitation work based on Black Myth: Wukong.

1. Slays/fights various religious Gods [albeit various Western Gods instead of Chinese Gods] (check)
2. Fights with staff blade to "slay the gods" -> imitate Karas the blade-wielding warrior (check)
3. Unreal Engine.

It's not possible to pay homage to Unreal Engine (UE) without paying homage to Unreal Tournament '99, the game that made UE a household brand in the first place!


(When an animation released in 2024 is chock full of box cars from the 1990's [and 1990's arcade games] you know it's deliberately done [to pay tribute to 1990's era of Unreal Tournament/Unreal Engine 1.0])

The opening music piece is a straight imitation of Unreal Tournament '99 cyberpunk soundtrack.

Listen to it on BiliBili

https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4792327697732096

or WeTV

EP2: Slay The Gods - - 2 - Free - Mainland, China - Comic - - -

It follows the journey of Lin Qiye, a blind high school student who unexpectedly becomes a night watchman, tasked with protecting the nation from "mystical" invasions as the mist descends and gods rea...

wetv.vip

 

[神威98]

I'm a HUGE fan of Unreal Tournament '99. I own the physical GOTY edition CD roms. I'm simply astounded how this score in Slay the Gods (2024) sounds just like the victory music in Unreal Tournament '99:

I skipped the BiliBili video to the exact time start of the theme:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1EMH5enExc/?p=8&t=72

(theme of Zhao Kongcheng's FINAL battle to the death)

Whoever composed the music for Slay the Gods (2024) really studied UT '99 in depth!

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

(When an animation released in 2024 is chock full of box cars from the 1990's [and 1990's arcade games] you know it's deliberately done [to pay tribute to 1990's era of Unreal Tournament/Unreal Engine 1.0])

Box cars from the 1970s-1980's you mean. They were mostly rounded by the 1990s.

1985 Toyota Camry with crappy box edges.

1992 Toyota Camry with rounded panels we see today

Innovation Comes After Imitation and Emulation​

Innovation comes from thinking out-of-the-box.

For instance people over the centuries tried to replicate birds in their quest to build the first powered airplane. Some with great success

The First Rubber Powered Aeroplane PLANOPHORE 1871 Alphonse Penaud France​

Even with the success of the above the Wright Brother's plane (other than having wings) looked nothing like a bird.

 

[神威98]

I skipped the BiliBili video to the exact time start of the theme:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1EMH5enExc/?p=8&t=72

(theme of Zhao Kongcheng's FINAL battle to the death)

That video disappeared from BiliBili disappeared fast.

Below is another source of the video/soundtrack (have to manually skip to 19:07)

EP3: Slay The Gods - - 3 - Free - Mainland, China - Comic - - -

It follows the journey of Lin Qiye, a blind high school student who unexpectedly becomes a night watchman, tasked with protecting the nation from "mystical" invasions as the mist descends and gods rea...

wetv.vip

(It sounds sooooooooooo Unreal Tournament '99-y. Good job to the composer!)

 

[神威98]

Self-explanatory:



(If you ever wondered why there are guns in Slay the Gods (2024)... Because Black Myth: Wukong uses Unreal Engine, which was first popularized/propelled to fame with Unreal Tournament '99 a gun-toting tournament shooter)