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Styx: Shards of Darkness - Styx: Master of Shadows sequel

Wirdschowerdn

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Either way, I'm playing Styx: Master of Shadows right now and it's an okay game. As okay as 3rd person stealth can get.

Update: I'm still playing it (right now in the Deliverance mission) and enjoying it. That in and itself is an achievement. If Cyanide wants to become an Arkane copycat, then more power to them. But there's still much to learn for them to seriously become git gud.

As always, I'm playing it as a purist stealth game. I keep forgetting that I could hit '4' for cheat mode or use that goblin decoy because I'm just too used to the Quickload-Try-Again pattern. Also, Styx is a real Codexian. He should come join us.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://nowloading.co/p/styx-shards-of-darkness-interview-talks-co-op-story-and-unreal/4176360

'Styx: Shards Of Darkness' Interview Talks Co-op, Story And Unreal
December 24, 2016 at 03:32AM
rf8buadtajzqtc0mqdox.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

If you can't tell by how we eagerly voted Dishonored 2 Game of the Year or my personal playstyle in most games, #Stealth's in. Recently we were given a demonstration of one in particular that we're terribly excited about, the upcoming stealth game #StyxShardsofDarkness.

Following the demonstration we had the opportunity to chat with Julien Desourteaux, the lead level designer on Styx: Shards of Darkness, where we got to discuss how the series has evolved their little green goblin and the influence co-op has on the overall experience.

We Talk Co-op, Story And The Unreal Engine In Styx: Shards Of Darkness
styx-shards-of-darkness-credit-focus-home-interactive.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

Now Loading: I know you're trying to avoid too many spoilers, but where does Shard of Darkness pick up?

JD: Okay, it's a sequel to Styx: Master of Shadows. I'm gonna spoil Master of Shadows, I don't want to spoil Shards of Darkness.

After the fall of Akenash, the huge tower, Styx created the goblin races, these are spreading like a green plague around the world. It's a huge problem for the different races living in our universe, so they try to hunt them.

Styx is living in a city of thieves called Thoben, off smuggling and assassination contracts. But he will get caught by the adventure pretty quickly. The call to adventure is kind of a twist, so I don't want to spoil much more about the story.


















Now Loading: You're a level designer, and one of the things you've shown to us is the ability to tackle a level in multiple ways. At an average guess, how much of a level would a player see in one run?

JD: That depends on how he likes to play. For example, I like to hit every corner of a level, but if he just goes straight for the objective without exploring, I think he will see maybe 40%. It depends which objective he will choose, if he chooses one he will see that pass, I honestly can't answer that question.

Now Loading: One of the things that encourages you to see more of the level is the crafting system and all of the items spread around the world. Would you mind telling us how the crafting system blends into gameplay?

JD: So in the first game, we wanted the player to explore the full level, but we didn't have a reward to give him. So the crafting system and ingredients were a good reward.

You can listen-in on conversations as well, by exploring and trying to find conversation, we encourage the player to explore.

styx-shards-of-darkness-credit-focus-home-interactive.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

Now Loading: That's thrown in with the fact you can collect medals for completing a level without killing anyone or clearing it within a certain time limit, encouraging replay-ability. One thing I wanted to know is about a no-kill playthrough, what about boss fights?

JD: You know boss fights, it's a creature, so it's not really (he trails off).

I see what you mean there. We have a few missions where you need to kill somebody, it's your contract, but you can finish the game without killing anyone who's not on a contract, but we don't have a lot of missions like that.

Now Loading: The combat in the original was a little bit clunky, but that meant emphasizing strategy and honing in on stealth. Is that something that changed in Shards of Darkness?

JD: Yeah, we changed the combat system a lot. It's not a combat system right now, it's a last chance quicktime event, it will work with only one guard and it's quite hard to perform. You're not locked into a combat system like in the first one, it's up to the player if they'd like to flee.

We really encourage players to play in goblin mode, I like that one, when you're caught you will be dead first time, the first fight.

styx-shards-of-darkness-credit-focus-home-interactive.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

Now Loading: One of the things I wasn't expecting to hear about was the inclusion of co-op, how do you think that changes the overall experience?

JD: In Styx Master of Shadows, you could create a goblin clone of yourself. At the office we were like, "that would be cool, it would be fun if I could play your clone and we try to synchronize our actions." The first trial we had, we had a lot of fun in the office playing together.

As I said before, it's not easier or more difficult, it's really different because you have to deal with the mess your friend can make in the game, but if you manage to synchronize your actions, you can be very, very efficient. It's a different flavor of fun.

Now Loading: So, sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's trolling?

JD: Yeah, you can be both co-operating or both competing. Who will reach the objective first, or loot these things.

Now Loading: What feedback did you take from the original that you've applied to the sequel?

JD: The ropes, we saw a lot of playthroughs where the first rope they saw in the game, everybody tried to catch it and they were disappointed they couldn't. That's one example of a feature we added because of this.

styx-shards-of-darkness-credit-focus-home-interactive.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

Now Loading: How does moving the engine to Unreal 4 improve Styx: Shard of Darkness?

JD: It allows us to have better graphics, shadows and lighting. It's the same sort of tool we use as level designers, mostly I think it's better for the graphical experience.

Now Loading: This one is entirely for me, but what happens if you kill a bunch of people and pile their bodies together?

JD: Nothing special, you're allowed to do that, but if someone sees that they'll try to ring an alert and they will search everywhere for the culprit. You can do that if you want to do that.

Now Loading: I remember they had some brilliant animations if you did that in the first game. Thank you very much for the interview.

JD: But you know that's a good idea, maybe if you do that you should get an achievement.

styx-shards-of-darkness-credit-focus-home-interactive.jpg

Styx: Shards Of Darkness - [Credit: Focus Home Interactive]

Perhaps we'll see a 'Slumber Party' achievement in Styx: Shard of Darkness, we'll find out early in 2017 and would like to thank Focus Home Interactive for the demonstration and interview.
 

HoboForEternity

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
okay i changed my mind about the co op now knowing how it works.

it can be fun, alot of high manuever opportunity now that another human being control one of the clones. the problem is this is best with friends and mine are all popamole players
 
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The problem with non-lethal takedowns is that they inevitably end up with you (the skilled, Codexian player, not the casual nub) clearing out the entire level without the downside of having to feel like a mass murderer. Lethal only forces you to "ghost" to feel good about yourself, which can be challenging.

I don't mind having to clear out targets in a stealth game, as long as the mechanics make it interesting. Replacing the fake gun with a real gun in Hitman, is a great example. And piling up bodies in Thief meant at least maneuvering so you were behind the target, within melee range. As a stealth purist, a game which gives me a swiss army knife of approaches is best, though all should be tailored toward me--the harmless trespasser--being helpless if I'm caught with pants down.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014


Styx: Shards of Darkness unveils the "Art of Stealth" trailer

Styx: Shards of Darkness is Cyanide Studio’s upcoming Stealth Adventure game arriving March 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Today, watch Styx subvert Elven defenses in a stealthy attack that sees him using throwing daggers, knives, traps and even chandeliers to distract and kill his enemies, and steal the coveted Quartz, a source of magical power.

As a nimble Goblin, Styx’s strengths are boosted by a magical Amber flowing through his veins, allowing him a plethora of magical abilities such as amber vision, a short-lived invisibility, and even the possibility to clone himself. As well as these, Shards of Darkness introduces crafting, allowing Styx to create tools and gadgets to distract, disable, and kill his foes.

Use both magic and mayhem to infiltrate huge environments on the hunt for Quartz in Styx: Shards of Darkness, releasing March 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC! You can preorder the game now on STEAM to get 10% off and exclusive access to the Akenash set, donning the outfit and dagger from Styx's first adventure.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/02/08/styx-shards-of-darkness-stealth-vomit/

Styx: Shards of Darkness is a vomit-y fantasy Hitman
Adam Smith on February 8th, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

styx1.jpg


Styx was a game in need of a little refinement. You wanted to take the little oik and clean his fingernails, boot him into a bathtub, and scrub him down til he shone like an emerald. In his first adventure, the titular goblin (he’d smirk at being called titular) did some decent stealth, stabbing and scurrying through a handful of levels that were solid if unspectacular. It all worked fairly well but it didn’t pack any real surprises.

Pleasingly, the sequel Shards of Darkness [official site] looks like it might deliver a polished version of the original, though some of the rough edges are still noticeable in the opening level I played last week.

Styx is grosser than ever. His cloning ability is present and correct, and involves a ball of mucus that turns into a goblin replica. He can vomit in food and drink to poison guards who take a nibble or a sip. When he dies, he does little fourth wall breaking insults directed at the player, often referencing pop culture (sinking into goo, he switches his Terminator thumbs-up into a different single digit gesture). He’s a little git, but he’s your little git, and there’s a certain pleasure in striking against the just-as-gross humans who act all superior even while they’re farting and scratching their arses.

styx2.jpg


Behind all the silliness, there’s a serious stealth game though and it reminds me of Hitman more than anything else. There’s a similar farcical element to the improvised escapes and murders that follow detection, and the level design encourages experimentation, even in the smaller confines of the level I played. Stealth games often move slowly, with lots of creeping and clinging to shadows, but Styx spends a lot of time clambering on ledges and using his weird little tools (acid and fungus and those horrid clones) to cause merry chaos. You can sneak and observe, clocking patrols and figuring out how to kill guards and hide their bodies, but the whole game is structured to encourage a playful approach.

You won’t unlock every ability on a single playthrough so choices have to be made. Perhaps you wish you could turn invisible from time to time? OK, sure. It feels a bit like cheating, something that the level designer agrees with when I mention it, but that’s ok. If people want to play that way, they can, and if people want to play through the entire game ghosting every level, without using abilities, that’s possible as well. There’s been a very deliberate effort to make the new levels support as many playstyles as possible, which in turn can make the game as difficult as you’d like it to be.

styx3.jpg


Combat will never be easy though. Styx can parry, with the correct timing, but if more than a single guard is alerted, you’re best off ditching your current approach and hiding til everyone calms down. Death comes quickly for a fragile little goblin and even though he’s terrifying when striking from the shadows, something that the intro makes clear as guards are picked off in increasingly ridiculous circumstances, Styx is not a fighter. He’s not a lover either. He’s a nuisance, a pest and a crook, but the ugly little world he lives in needs that kind of bastard to kick back against the pricks.

Even with limited playtime in a level with fairly basic objectives – go there, steal the thing, get back out – I found time to muck around. The clone is a fantastic little device, causing guards to react as if they’d seen Styx, and seeming like nothing more than a decoy or safe way to conduct a trial run at first. But it’s deeper than that. With the right upgrades you can use it to not only conduct an experimental infiltration, but can then teleport the real Styx to its position once it has achieved its goal. It’s a multitool, allowing you to scout, sabotage and confuse enemies. A stone thrown into Lake Stealth to watch the ripples that it creates.

styx4.jpg



A later level is based around investigation and assassination. When you start, one of several possible NPCs is selected as your target. To find out who that is, you’ll need to gather clues scattered around the area. If that kind of inventive objective is put to work alongside smart level design, this will be the sequel for not only the people who enjoyed the first game, but for the people who skipped it because it didn’t look like it had enough of a hook.

The introductory level that I have played is fine, though its shanty town is sometimes a little difficult to read. Locating ledges that Styx can grip and clamber up isn’t as easy as I’d like, though it’d be simple enough to learn the tells of the textures. Jumping is a bit janky too, leading to a couple of deaths that didn’t feel justified. There’s a difficult balance between the kind of freedom the developers are trying to give players and the tight controls that avoid accidental death or discovery, and I don’t think Styx is hitting the sweet spot just yet (he’d smirk at that phrasing too).

styx5.jpg


I’d gladly play more though, right now if I could. The level design will make or break it, because Styx himself has enough tricks to be the sort of swiss army goblin character that this sort of stealth game needs. Fiddle with him and you’ll find the right tool for almost any situation (yep, sorry), but he needs the right kind of areas to use them in.

Earlier today, Graham wrote about the original Styx:

“If you’ve played every Thief game, Dishonoreds 1 and 2, and all the other classic and bigger budget stealth games, Styx might briefly sate your appetite. It’s not a great game or an inventive one, but it’s pleasant. Here’s hoping the sequel due this year is a little more ambitious.”

Hope springs eternal, vomiting poison along the way.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.gamereactor.eu/news/504623/Co-op+changes+Styx+Shards+of+Darkness+radically/



Co-op changes Styx: Shards of Darkness radically
We talk to lead level designer Julien Desourteaux about co-op, cloning, AI, and story.

If you're a fan of the first game, Styx: Master of Shadows, you may have been expecting to see the sequel sooner, but Cyanide Studios decided to give the game a little more time in development.

"We have delayed to deliver the best experience we can give," explained lead level designer Julien Desourteaux.

What needed extra work then?

"It was multiplayer," says Desourteaux. "Now we have a drop-in, drop-out system that allows you to invite a friend or play with a friend. It's the same adventure that you will play in solo, but adding a new player in your game will change your experience radically."

The interview also covers the rather interesting clone mechanic that has been massively expanded since the last game.

"We had the clone system from Styx: Master of Shadows, the first one, but we thought it was lacking of something," says Desourteaux. "For example, being able to be in two places at the same time it's a good thing, but we didn't want the player to play the same part of the game twice."

This brought on the ability to teleport to the clone, and you can also use the clone as a checkpoint system of sorts so that if you fail you get transported back to your clone.

Furthermore, Desourteaux talks about enemy AI, as well as the story and the locations you'll visit during the adventure.

Styx: Shards of Darkness will see release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in March.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014


Cyanide Studio, developers of Styx: Shards of Darkness, today share in video how they envisioned and gave life, personality and soul to the main lead of their game, the witty goblin Styx.

More ambitious than its predecessor in every department, Shards of Darkness takes our nimble thief out of the shadows of Akenash and into a bigger world with more skills, a greater bestiary, and more intricate, vertical level design. Shards of Darkness benefits from a larger production and better realization, with a story supplemented by cutscenes in which Styx expresses his trademark wit and snark - get a sneak peek at his sarcastic, fourth wall breaking humor in this video!

You’ll learn why Styx is not the kind of character you're used to playing, and how his wits outweigh his weaknesses. As a goblin, direct confrontation is the best way to kick the bucket, so you’ll have to study your environment to find the best approach and tools to overcome your enemies.

Discover how this “ugly little green character” adapts to your playstyle, as “you can be the guy that goes in and out through the level getting every item, or the sneaky one who never raises any alarm.” Take advantage of Styx’s acrobatic prowess and rain down from above, or use your tools and abilities to totally avoid detection – it’s entirely up to you. No matter how you play, he’ll be there for the entire journey, criticizing not only the player, but his creators too!

Styx: Shards of Darkness comes March 14th, 2017 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC! You can preorder the game now on STEAM to get exclusive access to the Akenash set, donning the outfit and dagger from Styx's first adventure.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014


Styx: Shards of Darkness, Cyanide Studio’s new Stealth game, arrives March 14th to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Today's new trailer showcases how you and a friend can sneak your way through the game together, jumping, climbing, hiding, joking and killing together thanks to the game’s drop-in/drop-out coop mode.

At any time during your adventure, you are able to invite a friend to join your current session to sneak around with you for an alternative stealth experience. Two players opens up many more opportunities for clearing a level and reaching the objectives, but also doubles the risk of being spotted. Assassination partners must co-ordinate carefully in order to succeed!

Work together to create elaborate distractions, unleash dastardly synchronized assassinations, and run circles around larger enemies - every level and mission is playable in coop and will open a new array of gameplay possibilities.

Styx: Shards of Darkness comes March 14th, 2017 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can preorder the game now at participating retailers and get bonus DLC.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
http://wccftech.com/styx-shards-darkness-main-quest-15/

Styx: Shards of Darkness Main Quest Lasts 15 Hours; No PS4 Pro Enhancements Planned



Cyanide’s Styx: Shards of Darkness is due for release in about a week from now. After previewing the stealth game sequel recently, we had the chance to talk to Cyanide’s Julien Desourteaux, Lead Level Designer.

He opened up on the game’s longevity as well as the most important new features, such as the co-op multiplayer. He also confirmed that Styx: Shards of Darkness won’t have any dedicated support for PS4 Pro, which seems to be a trend lately (Yooka-Laylee won’t have it either) though at least PS4 Pro users will be able to use Boost Mode as soon as firmware 4.50 is released.

Styx: Shards of Darkness is out on March 14th worldwide for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Styx: Master of Shadows is often cited in game forums as one of those games that were slightly underrated when they first came out. Many players seem to be fond of the main character in particular. Were you surprised by how much people like the goblin Styx?

Since the release of Of Orcs and Men, we already knew that Styx as a character had huge potential – that’s why we wanted him to star in his own game. However, we didn’t expect quite so much love as what we received for our goblin!

How long has it been since the events of the first game? Will the story of Shards of Darkness explain what Styx has been up to in the meantime?

About 20 years have passed between the two games. All that is known (Styx 1 spoilers ahead!) is that after the fall of Akenash, a goblin invasion is devastating the world and Styx is among them.

Styx used to live in Thoben, city of thieves. He is smarter and more agile than other goblins, making him a good match for the many, less-than-noble jobs to be found in Thoben.

He is a shadow, a legend of the city, with few allies and many enemies.

It’ll enhance your enjoyment to know Styx’s other stories. However, we’ve ensured that you can play Shards of Darkness as a player completely new to the series – no prior knowledge is necessary to enjoy the story, and you’ll have a lot of fun even without knowing a thing about Master of Shadows or Of Orcs and Men!

This sequel runs on Unreal Engine 4 and features “larger environments”. Can you quantify roughly how larger than the first game?

Rather than solely taking place in a huge tower (like the tower of Akenash in Styx: Master of Shadows), Styx will travel around to a variety of new locations in the world. These include airships in flight, a hunter village, a huge city under a mountain, roach-infested mines and more.

With regards to level design, we added many different ways to improve player navigation in the level, while keeping the same degree of verticality we had in the first game.

What’s the single biggest improvement in the feature set when comparing Shards of Darkness to Master of Shadows?

Styx’s flow of movement has been improved, and animations are much smoother. He can now use ropes, and the crafting skill tree branch offers more freedom for players to experiment.

Having more diversity in missions and their objectives was one of our main intentions for this sequel. The player will almost always have a few objectives active at the same time, so they can choose the order in which they want to achieve them.

This feature is good for replay value, as some objectives have alternative ways to complete them. Additionally, in the co-op multiplayer, players can choose to stick together or split up to achieve the objectives.

In terms of stealth gameplay, what do you think will set apart Styx: Shards of Darkness from the many games in the same genre?

I think Styx himself, our nimble, agile and fragile goblin, is the primary asset that sets our game apart from others. For example, when detected you do not have the strength or weapons to fight enemies face-to-face like in many other stealth games. Because of this, direct confrontation is not a good option – this game really harks back to the roots of the stealth genre.

The official description hints at a “complex narrative”. Can you give us any tidbits? Also, do you have an estimate on how long it will take to complete Shards of Darkness?

There are a lot of different characters in Shards of Darkness, and a complex plot with twists, surprises and epic moments, but I don’t want to spoil it for you!

Regarding the length of the game we did a lot of playtests. The average player will complete the main campaign of Shards of Darkness in around 15 hours, but that’s not including the completion of every secondary objective and emblem.

What are the chances that Styx will become a trilogy with another installment following this one? Will we ever see Styx working with Arkail again?

We really like the lore that we are building around Styx and the other characters in our universe! So… maybe. ☺

Are you going to release any content pack/DLC after launch and if so, would those be free or paid?

No DLC or content packs are in production right now, only ideas.

Will the game support HDR technology for those who have compatible displays and if so, on which platforms?

No.

The Nintendo Switch is launching just before Styx: Shards of Darkness. What do you think about the console as a whole and are there any chances to see the game on the Switch in the future? Have you been in contact with Nintendo at all?

We are only focusing on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One for Shards of Darkness at the moment.

What’s your chosen target resolution and frame rate for Xbox One and PlayStation 4? Also, are you going to support PS4 Pro and if so, what kind of enhancements can users expect?

900p / 30 FPS for Xbox One and 1080p / 30 FPS for PS4.

No plan right now for the PS4 pro.

On the PC front, what kind of hardware will be needed to play at 4K resolution? Will there be any extra effects or higher quality textures when compared to consoles?

To play at 4K on PC at a steady framerate, you’ll need to have a good hardware setup, as Unreal Engine 4 is quite intensive on resources.

As for the PC options, we do have some visual treats for PC gamers. These include higher resolution, higher texture quality, faster load times, as well as better anti-aliasing and shadow distances.

Thank you for your time.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014
Very soon.



The game will be available from Tuesday March 14 on consoles and PC

Styx: Shards of Darkness, the Stealth game from Cyanide Studio, releases Tuesday March 14 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC! Players will take control of agile goblin thief Styx, as he assassinates, sneaks and snarks his way across an immense, dark fantasy world filled with deadly secrets and enemies. Watch the game’s lively launch trailer for a taste of Styx’s abilities, quick acrobatics, and even quicker tongue!

Styx’s latest adventure sees him making an unexpected deal with a mysterious human officer named Helledryn – and she’s got a job with far higher stakes than anything he’s tackled before. He must steal an ambassador’s scepter, which has attracted the interest of several nefarious (and goblin-hating) parties. As a reward for completing this dangerous mission, he’s promised a mountain of magical Amber, the source of Styx’s power and a substance he’s hopelessly addicted to. Of course, it’s not long until our green-skinned thief is stuck in a web of intrigue and assassination!

Master the verticality and non-linearity of Styx: Shards of Darkness’ open environments with an array of tools and abilities. Struggling to bypass a heavily guarded entrance? Scout the path ahead using your amber vision, distract the guards with a controllable goblin clone, then emerge from temporary invisibility to stab them in the back! Styx will always have a wide range of dastardly creative methods for completing his objectives – and if you join a friend in the drop-in coop, you’ll discover even more ways to unleash chaos!

Styx: Shards of Darkness releases Tuesday March 14 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Preorder the game now from participating stores, and get exclusive access to the Akenash set, donning the outfit and dagger from Styx's first adventure.
 

Durandal

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My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
I've been playing the first game in anticipation of this one (I'm loving it), though when looking at that trailer I don't remember Styx being that much of a Deadpool-character in the first game. The game sure takes itself seriously, but I don't hope they entirely go in the other direction with the sequel either with fourth-wall breaking jokes.
 

Heretic

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With regards to level design, we added many different ways to improve player navigation in the level, while keeping the same degree of verticality we had in the first game.

What’s the single biggest improvement in the feature set when comparing Shards of Darkness to Master of Shadows?

Styx’s flow of movement has been improved, and animations are much smoother. He can now use ropes, and the crafting skill tree branch offers more freedom for players to experiment.

Having more diversity in missions and their objectives was one of our main intentions for this sequel. The player will almost always have a few objectives active at the same time, so they can choose the order in which they want to achieve them.
Damn, they say all the right words.
 
Unwanted

lili

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I've been playing the first game in anticipation of this one (I'm loving it), though when looking at that trailer I don't remember Styx being that much of a Deadpool-character in the first game. The game sure takes itself seriously, but I don't hope they entirely go in the other direction with the sequel either with fourth-wall breaking jokes.
Wasnt the goblin the literal narrator of the first game?
 
Unwanted

lili

Unwanted
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
193
Do the following games do anything interesting with the character and his sad existence?
I liked his origin, the single sentient of his artificial race, walking through a world full of RACISM!
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
RPS is butthurt about Styx being an asshole, lol: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/03/14/styx-shards-of-darkness-review/

Wot I Think – Styx: Shards Of Darkness
Alec Meer on March 14th, 2017 at 9:00 am.

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A few years ago, I probably would have forgiven Styx: Shards of Darkness [official site] a multitude of sins (and though there is not a multitude, there is one honking great sin). A proper stealth game that isn’t low-rent or poorly balanced, with a choice of paths and abilities but which doesn’t devolve into routine action – we didn’t used to get too many of them.

Recent times have given us new Dishonoreds and Deus Exes and Metal Gear Solids and Hitmen, endless Assassin’s Creeds and even a so-so Thief, the game Styx most resembles. Hell, even the new Zelda game has a functional stealth element to it. We are spoilt for stealth choice, and that makes this fantasy wall-hugging sequel a tough sell. What it’s got on its side is purity. What it has against it is its lead character.

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To get it out the way, no prior experience of the first Styx game is required to understand what’s going on here. I have not played Cyanide’s 2014 game myself, and though there is a glossing over of the setup – a fantasy world in which goblins are an animalistic pest in the world of man, but one, Styx, is intelligent – there was nothing truly unclear. The little bastard’s a thief, goddit.

He’s also a Thief, with Styx’s core being based heavily on the Looking Glass stealth classic – navigate around a large area, stick to the shadows, climb over and around get the loot, get out, and if you’re caught you’re almost certainly dead. However, where Thief broadly keeps its fantasy low (i.e. trick arrows and and a tricksier eyeball), Styx spins off into a few more fantastical abilities.

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The foremost of these is the heightened mobility that being a beclawed munchkin affords him, so there’s far more climbing and hanging involved here. It’s nothing you’ve not seen in, say Assassin’s Creed, but there’s a definitely a bit more hanging by your fingernails or swinging from convenient ropes than a Dishonored.

More singular is Styx’s ability to vomit up a mindless clone of himself, which he/you can then direct to perform a few basic actions, such as distracting an enemy or knocking something onto them from a great height. Depending on what you pump your upgrade points into, this power can expand to include summoning cloney inside a mid-air cocoon or magically swapping places with him. In terms of opening up new ways to play what’s otherwise quite a familiar game, this is your best option.

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Other tricks primarily relate to various consumables, from the obvious deadly dart to short-term invisibility potions to an acid solution that dissolves bodies on the spot. The skill tree’s big enough that one playthrough will only snag you a portion of its branches, and really that’s the biggest draw here – flexibility in how you play, but always within the boundaries of a fairly pure stealth game.

While Dishonored, Deus Ex, MGSV and even Hitman to a very slight extent offer the option to be a mass murderer in broad daylight, in Styx you might survive one or two fights against a lone opponent, but generally speaking getting seen means becoming a greenskin rug. Which is to say, if you object to the presence of open combat options in your stealth games, you’ll probably get a lot out of Styx. This is a game about the art of not being seen, and not really one of madcap improv if you are.

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Escape is eminently possible thanks to Styx’s mobility, and that leads to the age-old ‘must have been rats’ reset after the murderous guards’ alert timers cool off, but running and hiding is pretty much your only option. Even then, the game so loudly declares that you’ve screwed the points bonus you get for a perfect run that the temptation to reload is overwhelming. Same goes for killing – although Styx has a whole upgrade path dedicated to silent assassination, you miss out on points for mercy if you avail yourself of your weapons.

Now, usually I gravitate towards non-lethal options in stealth games. I like the challenge of it, be it avoidance or the generally longer incapacitation sequences involved, and I like the idea that I’m being Not A Bad Dude. The friends and family of a henchman, and all that. In Styx, however, absolutely everyone is so hateful that I simply do not give a shit. Kill ’em all. They’re all shits. It’s so much easier. Shame about those experience points, mind you.

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We’re shown a word in which most humans blindly murder goblinkind, and though Styx is the only one of them who can speak or, seemingly, think, this attitude stinks enough that I lose all my usual hesitation about bloodshed. What is mercy for here?

The flipside of this is that no-one in the game is more hateful than Styx himself. Perhaps some will lap up the banal venom of his humour, but for me it’s a significant misfire, to the point that I struggled to enjoy a game I otherwise would have done.

I suspect the game’s creators believe that, in their fourth-wall breaking, wisecracking, sneering protagonist, they’ve made Fantasy Deadpool. He chastises the player for their failings, he makes references to films and other games and pizza, he questions the likelihood that the person who bought this game will ever find a sexual partner, he insults the developers’ wisdom and talents. (Never do this in your game unless you are supremely confident your game is basically perfect, otherwise you are essentially telling the player that, yes, they’ve just wasted their money).

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This kind of humour is playing with fire at the best of times, and Styx is very much not the best of times. The gags are incredibly broad and obvious, some of the terminology is simply insulting without being funny enough to get away with it (e.g. a woman’s weight is repeatedly mocked), many of the references are outdated and, to make matters worse, the wording often sounds like it ran through Google Translate a couple of times.

To his eternal credit, the guy who lends Styx his salty New Yoik tones is clearly a total pro, lending a certain amount of charisma to the character even though the actual words spoken are purely dreadful. I would buy that man a pint if I ever met him, and then clasp him into a sympathetic hug. Despite my sense that this was a good man in a bad situation, any time I died I found myself desperately hammering F9 in the hope I could quickload before the awful wisecrack-to-camera sequence that follows every death. And therein lies the rub – Styx would be an infinitely better game without Styx.

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This is a decent stealth game saddled with wretched characterisation. Insult to injury is that it has all this sub-Deadpool bollocks while at the same time offering a deeply dour fantasy story that we’re supposed to take seriously. Once in a while, Styx’s scoffing dismissal of all the magic wank is a blessed relief, but the trouble is that then the magic wank proceeds to wank on and on anyway. This is a game that’s having its wank-cake and wanking it.

The stealth game underneath this miserable skin is solid. Often very flashy too, in its environments, range of powers and choice of routes, but undermining that sometimes severely is that its Assassin’s Creed-style ‘jump from a ledge or wall to somewhere else’ system misfires frequently.

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Too often, I plunged to my death purely because Styx did not leap to the handhold he either either appeared to be reaching for or was the only logical place to go. It’s not quite so unreliable as to make the game consistently frustrating, but something there is seriously in need of a fix. I learned to speculatively quicksave my way around it, which isn’t ideal but was enough to let me keep thinking that this is a solid pure-breed stealth game.

Personally, I prefer the option for improv more than I do fealty to pure hide-or-die stealth, but it’s clear that this has put the work into making its sneaking work. Though generally saddled with a muddy aesthetic, it makes a reasonable fist of varied environments and scattering optional, harder sub-goals across them. It’ll keep you busy and, particularly if you’re playing non-lethal, demands careful planning and thought.

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There isn’t ever the magic puzzle-box feel of a Dishonored or the shocks of Thief in its bravura moments, but it mixes up its environments plenty. There’s plenty of the ‘hmm, now how can I get into there?’ of a Splinter Cell or Deus Ex.

Clearly, a lot of money and skill has gone into making Shards Of Darkness, which only makes the fact that you have to battle past this woeful characterisation to get to the strong stealth meat below all the more tragic. Give me a mod that lets me turn off Styx’s comments and I’ll like it a whole lot more. Until then, Styx out of ten.

Styx: Shards of Darkness is out today on Windows via Steam and Humble for £35/$40/€40.
 

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