I played Black Myth: Wukong on the new MSI handheld to prove it was possible

I scoffed when MSI put the Claw 8 AI+ in my hands with Black Myth: Wukong selected. I’d spent 80 hours in the game on my full desktop packing an RTX 4090, and I knew just how demanding the game was. It’s a pipedream for a handheld gaming PC.

I pressed Continue and loaded up at the Pool of Shattered Jade rest point — the ideal spot to farm; if you know, you know — and proceeded to run up to the cocoons spotted around the area, unleash my spirit ability, and run back. Sitting in a dimly-lit New York City bar, I continued the loop a few more times. I’d done plenty of farming in the game before.

And that’s when I realized I was fully in the zone, just playing Black Myth: Wukong — forgetting that it was on a handheld. The game didn’t look perfect, and it wasn’t locked to 60 frames per second (fps). But here I was playing one of the most demanding games of the year on a device that I could have brought with me on the plane ride over.

Before things get too rosy, it’s important to remember the context. The original MSI Claw, which I gave a measly review score of 5/10, was a bit of a mess. In my MSI Claw review, I wrote it “isn’t worth your time, and certainly isn’t worth your money.” More expensive than the competition, and with inconsistent performance to boot, the MSI Claw was a certified failure.

But the MSI Claw AI 8+ is a shot at handheld redemption with one of Intel’s new, souped-up Lunar Lake chips, and based on that chip alone, I wouldn’t blame you for having a hint of cautious optimism.

With this new handheld, MSI is really targeting the Asus ROG Ally X. In addition to the Core Ultra 258V chip and 32GB of LPDDR5x memory — Lunar Lake is a system-on-a-chip (SoC), so 24GB isn’t possible — the handheld comes packed with an 8-inch 1200p screen, Hall Effect joysticks, an 80Whr battery, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, and Wi-Fi 7. On paper, at least, the Claw 8 AI+ outclasses the ROG Ally X point-for-point.

MSI claims that it outclasses the ROG Ally X on performance, too. At 17W, MSI says its handheld is 20% faster on average, and out of the box with MSI’s dynamic AI Engine power setting, the company claims it’s 28% faster. Even more impressive, MSI claims that it offers 7% higher performance at 17W compared to the ROG Ally X at 30W, and it manages 44% longer battery life.

Bold claims, but we’ve seen bold claims from MSI before. I’m holding out judgement until the handheld is actually here, and I suggest you do the same. With the original MSI Claw, the handheld would often consume more power and offer less performance when compared to the original ROG Ally, so MSI has a lot of work to do.

Still, I was able to play a bit of Black Myth: Wukong, and that alone is impressive. Not impressive enough to earn a recommendation, but impressive even to catch my interest. Hopefully MSI’s performance claims actually hold up once the handheld is out in the wild.

MSI has two versions of this handheld coming — the Claw 8 AI+ and the Claw 7 AI+, the latter of which uses the shell of the original MSI Claw but the guts of the Claw 8 AI+. They’re priced at $899 and $799, respectively, so MSI has to not only match what Asus is offering with the ROG Ally X; it has to go further with the higher price point.

What makes me nervous is the release. Both handhelds are available for preorder now, and they’ll go on sale officially on December 26. MSI tells me that there won’t be any reviews available on release day. Just like the original Claw, MSI is releasing the handheld at retail without any review program with media.

That means the first impressions you’ll get are from people rolling the dice with their own money. That’s usually a red flag in the world of tech launches. Either way, it should go without saying that if you’re interested in the Claw 8 AI+, I’d wait a while after it releases to see what independent reviewers have to say.