Styx: Master of Shadows

The story of how the one-of-a-kind Styx came to be! Excellent and flawless flow of movements. Game controls are very easy to learn in no time. The game gets difficult after half, but not in an unfair way. All you have to do is be patient, watch your surroundings and make your move! Very beautiful and large environments, in which the missions take place. You’ll have many places to hide in and strike from! Well-written story which is given in small parts and in a clever way. The game is full of surprises and plot twists after the middle of the story, with the first one being not just for the hero, but for YOU as well! “I like being me…”

I'm surprised about the mostly positive reviews of the game on gog, since my experience is completely different, although I like stealth games and really tried to like this one. Styx: Master of Shadows is less of a stealth game and more of platformer with badly balanced stealth elements. A stealth game should be about sneaking through levels, hiding in dark or dimly lit spots and - most of all - avoiding enemy contact. However, this game forces you to take out as many opponents as possible, because sneaking past them is - thanky to the AI - always a gamble. Pro's: - open world with huge levels to explore - multiple ways to achieve mission objectives - "fresh" player character "Rakash" Con's: - difficulty level is tough - even on easy - most likely too hard for casual / non-hardcore gamers - enemy AI is random and inconsistent. Enemies get stuck on objects and lose their pathway, freezing them on the spot, unable to continue their patrol. Enemies can see or hear you even if you're hiding in total darkness, behind pillars or moving behind them. Guards will randomly turn around ro spot you. AI forgets about areas they checked for your character two minutes agp (drop a chandelier, guards inspect the scene, leave and come back two minutes later to do the same) - skills are mostly useless and far too easy to acquire - enemies hit boxes are tiny and require pin-point accurarcy or lightning quick reflexes (aerial kills, hanging kills) - clunky controls making climbing and jumping frustrating - no difficulty balancing; as the game progresses you're just served more and more enemies, most of them immune to your skills - ragdoll engine causes objects like buckets or chairs to noisily fly across the room, alerting all guards in the area

Cons: -AI path finding sometimes not work, or stuck in one place and stay there for eternity -boss lvl design -one section then you climb iside elevator -camera while combat -achievements bug Pros: -great lvl design with lot of ways to approach your goal -stealth kill animations -amber powers -the reactions of guards, when whey sus -responsive controls In short game give you a lot of ways to deal with obstacles to achive your goal. You can chose to sneak undetected going another path, using amber skill or maybe you prefer kill all guards it all up to your preferences.

The big draw here is the verticality of the levels, which, combined with the quality artwork and graphics, can be awe-inspiring. The stealth gameplay is standard fare, but that's not a bad thing. It's generally enjoyable and challenging without being punishing, and enjoyable is what I play games for. I'm an oldschool Thief fan who disliked Dishonored and the Thief reboot, and Styx is no Thief 1-3, but it's close enough to scratch the itch if you can stomach the main character's somewhat childish belch-and-fart gruffness. Re-use of levels has turned off many players, but I just took it in stride as part of the storyline. No bugs or crashes for me. Would recommend at twenty bucks or less. Also, see the lead review here about a potential game-breaking bug to avoid. I avoided it, so I don't know if it still exists or not.

Great replay value if you like to get all acheivements in game. Well worth the money. Can drive you nuts. Like any game, controls take some getting used to. Not a fast pace button masher. Definately have to put some thought into what you are doing. Definately recommend