Story and game itself is for 4 or even more, but there is too many bug currently that sometimes really made me want to quit and forget this game. Also I have a feeling of some missing content or guidance.
If I knew I would not buy this game until they fix all issues, also suggest every potential buyer to wait some time for fixes.
Game was fantastic until the end. But unfortunately there is no end. The devs stated the odd ending was on purpose. I'm sorry but the game was rushed and unfinished. Why lie? But I hope they redeem themselves with a proper ending to justify my $30 dollars. You can save face devs just delete the entire ending and do it right.
I haven't played through the game yet.
I used the offline installer because I found the achievement notifications of gog galaxy irritating and distracting.
The atmosphere and the world of the game is like a mash-up of most of Lovecraft's most iconic works: Not just Chutulhu mythos, you get reanmators and witchcraft too!
Unfortunately I've encountered two bugs:
1. Often after loading an area or a save, keyboard shortcuts don't work until I move my character.
2. Some times the UI stops printing information: I got "experience gained: N/A" a few times.
These minor bugs don't kill the game but they do reduce the immersiveness.
Bug-free, the game would be 5/5
Please don't do it. What you can play is a ton of fun. But inevitably the game will crash and brick your saves or you will run into a game-breaking bug, etc. You think to yourself - no, that won't happen to me! I'll be lucky! No, you are a mere mortal and you won't be lucky. The very game itself is an eldritch horror, captivating but destructive and merciless.
I stumbled upon the 2019’s Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones. A full blown RPG with character creation, skillchecks in dialogue and companions, set in a classic lovecraftian setting? Count me in!
It starts promising, if a little cliche – a character creation full of lovecraftian archetypes, a scholar, an occulist, an aristocrat, a private detective... You get to asign points to various skills, and some of them seemed pretty interesting and while you get some that are of obvious use in an action scene, like firearms or melee or medicine, some others are strangely out-of-combat specific, like psychology or science.
Now, when the first combat concluded I discovered probably my favourite system in the game – ANGST. Every encounter you survive, regardless of whether you win or run away, levels up your ANGST. Every time you gain an ANGST level, you gain a special perk. They are nothing but an obligatory drawback, to represent your character slowly falling apart mentally as the strain mounts.
Some of the negative perks affect dialogue, changing some of your options into deranged, bloody script, making it harder to communicate with some npcs or to finish some quests.
What about the story? I’ll admit, it’s pretty formulaic – a small town, dark cults, Cthulhu himself...
I wouldn’t say it’s great, but it’s servicable and okay.
There’s also some cool 2D visuals in the game, befitting the tone and the lovecraftian theme.
BUT.
There’s one big problem with the game. When it really picks up speed and you’re like “heh, that was actually a quite cool first half of the game”, the game just... ends. No conclusion, no resolution, no solving the plot threads set up earlier. Just... ends.
It’s kinda like the devs ran out of money or time?