Styx: Master of Shadows

I really appreciated my time with this game. While flawed the game can be very enjoyable for fans of stealth games and the average goblin experience of Sneak > Stab > Run > Repeat. It's nice to see the character of Styx get around, see more of the world and overhear various conversations about the setting expanding the foundation that Of Orcs and Men had put down. While the story is very simple and many aspects of the game may be either dated or flawed, definitely check it out.

This game was a delight, well worth a price far higher than the handful of dollars being asked for it. The sequel (Shards of Darkness), unfortunately, was disappointing compared to Styx: Master of Shadows, and that contrast really highlighted how right this game got it. Solid control. The game takes itself seriously in terms of character, lore, and narrative. The aesthetic is lovely, and the graphics are great. It's amazing that this game has you re-tread the same ground more than once and yet manages to make it feel like a novel effort each time because the levels are so well designed. The challenge solid, engaging while not being unfair, in fact, perfect for my taste.

Wonderful idea to select a Goblin to play in the shadows of Thief III. Great story, graphics & audio, buttttt.... it Hangs on the Idea of NO FLOOR gameplay. Tutorial training is fine, but in the later levels, it comes to a point where you quicksave before every jump. I find this a detrimental design flaw in both Styx games. Loses 2 stars for that. The game that could've been The Gollum, but never played out that way. Wonderful & humorous innuendos & conversations, makes this character love-able. Not regretting the purchase, overall a good game and experience, but could've been more.

Styx is without a doubt one of the best stealth experiences I've had as a gamer. The beauty of it is that eases you in with each level as they get larger and more complex. A great and unfortunately frequently overlooked game,

Styx: Master of Shadows is a stealth game where you play as goblin with magical powers to assist him on his journey, like cloning and making himself invisible. The game is played from a third-person view, similar to Hitman games. I would describe this game as a "hardcore stealth" game, since stealth is the only important thing here. There is combat, but it's just timing hits to parry your enemies, serving as a last resort. You can only fight 1 enemy at a time, making stealth the ideal way. Levels are wide and open, with many enemies. The better you perform in a level and by completing sidequests, you will get more points to upgrade Styx's skills. However, you can only upgrade skills in your hideout. There are 4 "insignias", or requirements to get points: undetected, no kills, finish under allocated time, and collect 10 tokens per stage. It will be really difficult because of the way the game is, but luckily you can do each separately. As I mentioned before, S:MoS is hard, probably the hardest stealth game I ever played, even on lowest difficulty. Enemies are very perceptive, and they are rarely alone. Navigation is hard too, with a near-useless map that only shows the whole area, but not where we are. I'm gonna be honest, it's more frustrating than fun lots of times. Lastly, I dislike the fact that you cannot just knockout enemies, it's either loud kill, silent slow kill, or abandon them. It would be better if the silent kill part is replaced with knockout. Despite its flaws, Styx: Master of Shadows is still pretty okay for a stealth game, but don't keep your expectations too high. It would be a lot better if the game was easier, as it would not deter the more casual players or makes them resort to cheats. There are many better stealth games out there, but if you have done most like I did, this game is still worth a try.