A recent GameScience Chinese New Year short film tied with Black Myth: Zhong Kui does not reveal gameplay, story details, or confirmed in-game scenarios. The developer made it clear from the start, calling the piece non-canonical and made purely for fun. What it does offer, however, is a glimpse into the cultural framework that surrounds Zhong Kui as a mythological figure, creating a world and themes Black Myth: Zhong Kui. In this sense, the film's focus on ghosts and creatures preparing a communal feast is actually more relevant than it might first appear.
The legend of Zhong Kui is built on spiritual hierarchy, ritual and regulation of the invisible world. In Chinese folklore, food and communal preparation often serve as markers of identity and relationships between realms. Viewed through this lens, the film's focus on cooking naturally aligns with the mythological logic that defines Zhong Kui's role, and the same logic provides the basis for how Black Myth: Zhong Kui can bring your world to life.
Zhong Kui's authority on folklore
Zhong Kui is commonly represented as a suppressing demon, but his role in the legend is more specific. In many traditional accounts, he is a scholar who, after being denied recognition in life, takes his own life and is later appointed posthumously to command and suppress malevolent spirits. He is often depicted guiding lesser spirits or standing at thresholds as a guardian figure, especially during the Lunar New Year when his image is placed by the door to ward off injury.
These details paint a clearer picture of the kind of world Zhong Kui inhabits. He's not just a wandering warrior who randomly knocks down enemies. Its presence implies a spiritual realm populated by beings with dignity, purpose, and order. Some must be restrained and others come under his command. His authority depends on this structure. For a game centered on Zhong Kui, this backdrop suggests a supernatural setting influenced by relationships and insight rather than chaos itself.
Food as an indicator of the identity and meaning of the Lunar New Year setting
Given GameScience's Chinese New Year acronym Black Myth: Zhong Kui is almost entirely about cooking and food, some viewers may think that cooking has something to do with its gameplay. However, it is not that simple. In Chinese folklore, food is often used in a symbolic sense.
In Chinese folklore, food and communal preparation often serve as markers of identity and relationships between realms.
A famous example of this comes from the legend of Meng Po soup. In traditional stories, Meng Po is the goddess of oblivion in the underworld, who waits at the Bridge of Oblivion to serve a special broth to souls as they prepare for reincarnation. Drinking her soup erases memories of past lives, allowing spirits to forget the burdens and attachments of what came before and be reborn without them.
Because of symbolism like this, food is rarely accidental in Chinese folklore. When food appears in a ritual setting, it often reflects belonging, hierarchy, or boundaries between realms. It may suggest that the various realms are not entirely separate, but linked through ritual and exchange. Chinese New Year short film for Black Myth: Zhong Kui draws on this cultural logic. The spirits and creatures gathering to prepare a feast are depicted as participating in something collective rather than confrontational, and even without a canonical context, this imagery supports the folkloric idea that the supernatural works through custom almost as much as conflict.
The short film's seasonal context further strengthens this connection. Zhong Kui has long been associated with Lunar New Year traditions, particularly in the form of protective images to guard homes in the coming year. The festival itself emphasizes restoration, protection and transition between cycles. Placing a joint feast in the center of the New Year's celebration Zhong Kui they feel in tune with this heritage. In a way, it places the supernatural within the ritual, allowing the short to be less about previewing the game and more about reaffirming the mythological roots that define the game's world, cultures, and main character. For a similar project Black Myth: Zhong Kuiwhich draws directly from Chinese legend, maintaining fidelity to this tradition is important.
What this means for the Black Myth: Zhong Kui
Game details are confirmed at this stage Black Myth: Zhong Kui were limited. So far, the game has been introduced as a single-player action RPG inspired by the figure of a ghost-catching legend, but the mechanics, systems and specifics of its story have not yet been fully revealed. Still, the source material gives some insight into what kind of world the game can build.
Zhong Kui has long been associated with Lunar New Year traditions, particularly in the form of protective images to guard homes in the coming year.
Zhong Kui's story revolves around judging, protecting and maintaining balance in a populated spirit realm. A world shaped by this mythology would naturally include hierarchies between spirits, established customs, and relationships that go beyond mere enmity. Action RPGs often lead to combat, and this will undoubtedly be central Black Myth: Zhong Kuijust as it was Black Myth: Wukong. Mythology needs a lot more than just the spectacle of gameplay to sell itself. In this case, he needs the cultural tradition of Zhong Kui, the mythological character after whom the game is literally named.
Chinese New Year short film for Black Myth: Zhong Kui it doesn't attempt to show off mechanics or story arcs, but instead reflects the character's culture and the folklore in which it is rooted. By emphasizing communal preparation and ritual during a season historically associated with the Zhong Kui's protective role, the short Chinese New Year truly reflects Black Myth: Zhong Kuiroots where spirits are part of an ordered system. The emphasis on communal preparation and ritual is in keeping with a mythological tradition in which food and ceremony help define how the realms interact, and the Chinese New Year short film helps bring that world to life in a way never seen before.
As development continues and more gameplay details emerge, these mythological underpinnings will likely become clearer. For now, the Chinese New Year vignette serves as a reminder Black Myth: Zhong Kui it's rooted in a tradition where ritual, hierarchy, and relationships matter as much as any confrontation players will face in the game, whether it's an encounter with rank-and-file or a difficult boss fight. Zhong Kui's legacy has always been defined by maintaining order between the worlds, and this foundation is already visible in how GameScience presents itself. Black Myth: Zhong Kuiworld.
