"It's not excessive to say that I have been expecting a game like this my entire life," said 39-year-old Kang Jianxiong, while manipulating the hero in the Black Myth: Wukong video game to stand on the top of his magic staff and launch a heavy attack on his enemies.

He said he had not expected the game's stunning visual effects or the precise modeling of the characters, which are both excellent according to player ratings of the game.

Kang, who has played video games since he was 8 years old, said Black Myth: Wukong is the first influential Chinese game based on a Chinese legend that he has played on an international gaming platform such as Steam.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, personal computers were new to China and a luxury for the majority of families.

Kang and his friends mainly played arcade games, with the text usually in English. It was not until he studied English in middle school in the mid-1990s that he learned the stories behind the games he played.

Contra and Super Contra were part of a run-and-gun series featuring commandos fighting an alien invasion, while the King of Dragons and the Knights of the Round were largely based on the tales of King Arthur from British legend.