Styx: Master of Shadows

Fun stealth game

Атмосфера, стелс, мир. Всё прекрасно. Сейчас такое не делают

Completed on Normal Difficulty and was not a Ghost Run The Short and Sweet version of this review is that the game is very good and if you are a fan of more modern stealth games of this era, it will most likely scratch that itch. Now for the lengthy version. Pros: [list] [*]You don't need to do a Ghost Run to complete the Game [*]The sense of verticality the game provides is probably the most challenging part for me. [*]The narrative is simple to digest, even if you are not familiar with Of Orcs and Men. [*]Styx as a character I found rather endearing towards the end of the game. The themes of identity were something I found rather relatable, which is funny because this comes from a goblin. [*]The Twist was something I did not see coming [*]Exploration feels really rewarding as completing the various side objectives gives you more skill points. The various hiding places are creative, to me at least. [*]Combat almost feels intentionally bad and I love how it is framed from being a goblin going up against human adults as well as not many options for defense. [/list] Cons: [list] [*]Styx has an issue where if you are too impatient with how you are grabbing ledges, it can lead to a death. I do find this problem is somewhat easy to overcome if you wait for Styx to lean into where you want to go and then attempt to make the jump. [*]There is a bug that sometimes a guard will discover a body that doesn't exist, so if I was doing a Ghost Run that would probably kill my moon. [*]Sometimes after reloading a save, a body will fall through the geometry and then it gets discovered. [*]The final boss can be viewed as weak, mechanically speaking. I personally think it serves a more narrative purpose. So, if you are looking for a challenge that tests your skills, you will probably be disappointed. [/list] Minor Gripes that I want to address but I don’t think affects the experience: I can feel the small budget-ness of this game. Mainly due to the reuse of various locations and not an expansive skill tree you might expect from this genre in its current state, but I think this is made up for a well-crafted atmosphere as I scale these puzzle rooms. [list] [*]There is a lack of cutscenes you might have expected from a 2014 game, but I think the stylized comic book stuff not only looks nice but adds to the edgy/cynical tone of the game and world. [*]Inventory could be a bit more expensive and a little bit better. [*]During said Boss I had a bit of a struggle with it due to a lack of resources. I had to basically save scum with each encounter. But I am going to attribute that to my own skill over something that is the game's fault. [*]Although I call it positive, combat is something that players may not like if they are used to something akin to Dishonored and Thief 4 over old-school Thief. [*]When it comes to a potential subsequent playthrough to unlock all the stuff you didn't do, there isn't really a difference in terms of your overall strength. [/list] Other Thoughts I get the feeling that the devs understood the state the stealth genre was in but wanted to acknowledge the past. To me, there is a statement that is being made with this game in all of its aspects, and I feel it has almost reached it but is marred due to probably things like budget and hardware and the like. The Sequel is on Steam and I know a Third Game got announced, so I will be looking forward to those.