Styx: Master of Shadows

With all the pros and cons. Frankly if I hadn't been able to save scum, I would not have finished Styx. The game's merciless, if you get spotted you're already dead. The combat is difficult, basically a clanky timing puzzle. But you're not supposed to be fighting enemies anyway. You're supposed to be sneaky. And this is where Styx shines the most, when it let's you be creative in overcoming obstacles. There's nothing more satisfying than neatly stashing a pile of bodies behind a chest, systematically luring one guard after another into a dark corner to take them out. I had a blast whenever I managed to successfully do stuff like that. However, Styx is not without its flaws. - It recycles every level at least twice. - Platforming is unreliable and will often result in your accidental death. - Some levels forcefully limit your options. Like don't kill or alert anyone, taking away the most enjoyable aspects of the game. - Those f*cking beetles. - The glitches. Ho boy, the glitches. You get stuck in walls, NPCs get stuck in walls, walls get stuck in walls. Can't deny it's a riot to cheese the bad AI though. - Plot is nonsensical, even if you played the predecessor (Of Orcs and Men) and know what the twist is going to be. - One of the worst final “boss fights” I've seen in a while. There was not a single boss in the entire game, and then suddenly in the last second the games realizes this, panics and throws an action sequence into a stealth game that I only managed to overcome thanks to my stockpile of invisibility and the power of save scumming. Guys, there's no law that demands a boss at the end of every game. Ghost of a Tale did the same nonsense, don't make me rage quit at the final moment and sour the overall experience of an otherwise fun game. In the end, I grew very fond of Styx. It feels like a janky, under-polished labor of love, not unlike the first Witcher game.

It's not bad but if you're going to play it then don't get hung up over stuff like completing all the side objectives or doing perfect ghost runs, because then it's gonna drive you bonkers. The setting is cool, the story gets kinda interesting when it gets rolling. I like Styx more as a character here than in the sequel where he's just goblin Deadpool. I like how the developers had the balls to make certain design decisions. There are no cop-out non-lethal weapons like the blackjack in Thief or the Tranq gun in Metal Gear. If you want to remove a guard then you have to commit to violence. Your melee takedowns come in two flavors: fast but LOUD, and quiet but SLOW (and interruptible!). Throwing knives let you kill guards from a distance but they're very rare. Hard mode disables direct combat outright: most enemies will kill you in a single hit and if a guard catches you he does a cinematic takedown on you and that's that. They'll also check chests/closets/tunnels and other hiding places when looking for you. Styx can burn mana to activate an enhanced vision mode or turn invisible. But most importantly he can spit out clones of himself. This is a ridiculously useful power that you should take advantage of at all times: You can send them out to scout dangerous rooms. You can use them to activate traps at no risk to yourself. You can use them to throw off pursuing enemies (the guards will kill the clone, think it was you, and drop the alarm). You can use them to block sightlines by blowing them up into smoke clouds. You can stick them in chests and closets and they'll ambush passing enemies. Platforming is very inconsistent. There have been multiple times where Styx ignores a platform in front of him and instead tries to climb a torch, catches on fire, and dies. The game re-uses levels (this is why you shouldn't be a perfectionist). The last boss is very poorly designed and could have been mitigated simply by giving the player more supplies in the room before it.

I own this on Steam, and first things first: The screenshots above don't resemble how the game looks. Outside of very few scenes, you play in a functional but visually unimpressive third person view with the camera following from behind. You wouldn't necessarily want to zoom too close on the textures either. Styx is a classic stealth game and does its job well, introducing a number of features and routes that allow Styx to traverse non-linear levels without being seen or by getting rid of enemies in creative ways. There are a few optional extras to collect on each level that require skill, creativity, and often multiple attempts. Gameplay isn't quite like the "Thief"-series of games, in the sense that it sometimes plays a bit like a console title with collectibles, and levels that don't feel quite as organic. Both can be either a bonus or a malus, depending on what you prefer. The stealth aspect of the game requires - as you would expect - that you have time to burn, for this is by no means a casual game. The levels are big, and Styx isn't exactly a nimble character. Options to go around big bad guards are often not there and direct confrontation is deadly. So you spend a lot of time waiting for some opponent to pass by, or hiding and waiting for them to forget they saw you and get out of your way. You also can't save just whenever you want, so you will end up doing a lot of things again and again each time you die, and you probably will die a lot. The variety of enemies is rather low, the AI not too smart and doesn't react to changes in its environment. A lot of backtracking can also make this a bit tedious. A rather slow pacing, the save point "feature", and the reload aspects may or may not be a show stopper, so if you are on the fence, I would recommend to check out one or two let's play videos first. When on sale though, Styx is a rather inexpensive fun game that scratches that "thief"-itch pretty good, proving a simple but fun time sink.

Stealth is not a choice. While your character can win a fight one on one, if you end up fighting two or more guards you will either have to run (not easy) or die. Your a goblin that stands at half the height of a human. Which makes you perfect for squeezing through narrow tunnels or hiding under desks, not so much in a duel. The AI is robust. If you put them on alert they will begin to actually investigate the area and search for you under tables and in closets. If a guard spots you or you attack one head on they will do the sensible thing and call out for reinforcements. One of my favorite tricks the game allows is tricking the guards by sacrificing a clone. Styx can create copies of himself that you can control. If the guards are pursuing you, if you can get away quickly enough and spawn a clone to then pilot back into the guards they will kill it and return to their normal patrol believing they got you. Some reviews list the reused levels as a negative. But I actually enjoyed that. The levels are wonderfully fluid with multiple different possible paths you can choose from. It rewarded exploring the layouts so that when you return to find paths blocked off and new ones opened up you can navigate more easily. For a budget title they made good use of their resources. The story is simple, but solid. You're a thief pursing an obsession, the heart of the magical tree whose amber both fuels your abilities and allows the fortress built around it to stay aloft. I enjoyed the revelations, and the ending made it all worthwhile. Once you finish you can go back and replay levels to improve your score and collect missed tokens with your fully upgraded character. Pass through like an invisible breeze or methodically murder everyone in your path, the choice is yours.

1st playthrough 40 hours on Goblin difficulty with a controller. I liked stealth and level design. I disliked combat and storyline. THE GOOD + Superb stealth gameplay that keeps you in the edge of the seat (which is very welcome cause the simplistic swordplay sucks) + You get to play as a "nimble but mean" goblin. You can't kill heavily armored enemies with your dagger but you can spit on their food for extra fun! + You can create clones, which is a pretty interesting and versatile mechanic (e.g. Use clones to attract an enemy to a certain position, instead of the classic stone) + I was very impressed and surprised when the guards found me when I was well hidden in a locker. Smart NPC's are hard to find and always welcome. + Great Level design, lots of verticality and incredible amounts of possible routes to achieve your objectives. + No bugs nor crashes at all THE BAD - Probably you will end up save-scumming like hell. Styx is hard and unforgiving but it doesn't feel fair sometimes (e.g. Most levers can be activated without alerting guards, but some will get you killed just because, happy reloading) - Bright control sucks. They took the "master of shadows" thing to the extreme and most of the levels are too dark, forcing the use of night vision intensively, or too illuminated and you won't be able to differentiate the spots where you can hide safely. - Fighting enemies face to face is heavily discouraged, the fighting mechanic is limited to smash one button to parry until you are prompted to kill. - No cinematics, even the end of the game is narrated through low budget comic-style images. - Level recycling, nothing new for the last half of the game. THE STYX Story was not so compelling to me: no background was given from the start due to "amnesia"... lol! So no motivation, just go sneak-kill-steal to your heart's content and hopefully have fun. I found the story twist interesting enough to keep me playing till the end and... no spoilers!