Glad you did mention the more serious tone (which IMO is what makes me think of comparing it to God of War). Zhu Baijie has to bulk up and carry most of the jokes on his back. It works well enough, IMO, especially given the liberal reimaginings of the Journey's events in the game's metaplot.

Kind of suspect they avoided anything that might look satirical or farcical because they were scared Xi Jingping might decide *he* was the target of the satire.

(And I'm not just talking about incorporating elements from later operas and folktales, I mean stuff like the whole Purple Mountain Conspiracy with the Crane Immortal.)