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Styx: Master of Shadows review thread (and why you should get this good stealth game)

Tizoc

Member
styx-master-of-shadows-001.jpg


Styx: Master of Shadows got released earlier this week but sadly there isn't much talk of it (Prob. doesn't help that its discussion thread is called a 'Demi-OT').
The game is available digitally on PS4, XBone and PC, and is on sale for a few more days so you can get it at a discounted rate.

Reviews for the game average on positive from various websites and there are some video reviews that appreciated the game positively as well.
Granted the game does have some flaws, but they can be overlooked for an interesting stealth game experience; you can even go for a pacifist run as the developers themselves stated it can be done!
If there's one game series many have compared it to it is Thief so if you're a big fan of those games, go get this game asap.

Here are links to some of the reviews of the game:
My review is here if anyone wants to check it out

Long story short, I really enjoyed it. Very good stealth game, lots to do, quite lengthy and the level design is really good. I was hoping it would be good but it didn't disappoint.

As I said in my closing paragraph, if this had come out before the Thief reboot, they could have learnt a thing or two from this

I have a review up over here as well...

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_gsy_review_styx_master_of_shadows-15934_en.html

I enjoyed it for the most part but it can be frustrating at times.


Hi guys, here is my review at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLqa-oy7kNI

But if you don't like my reviews or youtube I can give some pros and cons and also answer any questions you have about the game.

Pros-
Worlds atmosphere
Sound, music and voice work(one or two misses here)
Styx is is a master of his tools not a tools using master. Lots of thought needed here but not as many tools as some other games which is perfect.
Stealth is just plain fun

Cons
Control when dropping down from above
Some jumping issues
Texture work
Fighting system shows that you should NEVER get in a an actual sword fight in the game. Its pretty bad.

All in all I liked it so much. The feeling of atmosphere the different way in which the at typical bad guy is a good guy here isn't just window dressing but is reflected everywhere in the game. Something is amiss in this world and I wish these guys had AAA money.

Here is my video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cg0eGuJqUM

Very enjoyable game with some flaws that hold it back from being amazing. Decent fun game and for the price worth it.

Posting this in the October Steam Thread and the Styx OT thread.

Our review for Styx: Master of Shadows is live now, you can find it here:

Giant Bomb Quick Look

More reviews in English and various languages
http://steamcommunity.com/games/242640/announcements/detail/233383774937292496

Styx: Now this I'm actually working my way through.

I mean come on, if there's a game that can even get Jase to put some hours into playing it, it's gotta be doing something right!

You can get the game through the following links
US PSN link
Steam store page
Xbox Marketplace

Oh and if the character looks familiar, that's cuz he appeared in Of Orcs and Men which was decent at best, but this game is much better.
 

Sentenza

Member
Fairly interested in this.
Everything I've read so far makes it sound like a solid mid-tier game downplayed by the gaming press just because it's "not AAA enough".
I just wish I could try before buy, just to know if I feel comfortable with the controls/mechanic.
 

GoaThief

Member
As PSN is down again I'm tempted to pick this up now on XB1, I'm guessing the answer is no but are there any visual (or otherwise) differences between the two?
 

-MD-

Member
It's one of the best stealth games (the best?) that I've played in years. A lot of reviewers didn't learn how to play it properly and bashed it.

It must be played as a stealth game, the combat is designed to punish the player when caught. Wide open areas, tons of paths to take, lots of abilities to use, no see-through wall bullshit. Stealth fans should give it a shot.

As PSN is down again I'm tempted to pick this up now on XB1, I'm guessing the answer is no but are there any visual (or otherwise) differences between the two?

I don't know about PSN but the Giantbomb video they said the XB1 version had like 20 second load times, the PC version is like 2 seconds.
 

lazygecko

Member
I suppose I should get this because I want to see more fantasy games where you're not limited to playing as Handsome White Guy™.
 

-MD-

Member
I forget which review but the reviewer claimed he fell "hundreds of times" to his death while platforming, in the 12 hours I've played I've fallen maybe 5-10 times.
 

JBourne

maybe tomorrow it rains
I really want this game, even though I usually don't enjoy stealth games. I think it's the character design. Styx looks fantastic, and I love his animation.

Reviews are making it really hard to hold off.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
To me, it screams steam sale. I'm interested, but I'll wait till it's cheap enough that I wouldn't really care if it's not great. That main character design is great though. Love the look and animation.
 

Fuz

Banned
Fairly interested in this.
Everything I've read so far makes it sound like a solid mid-tier game downplayed by the gaming press just because it's "not AAA enough".
I just wish I could try before buy, just to know if I feel comfortable with the controls/mechanic.

Controls are fine.
If I'm not bitching about them, you know they're fine. I just wish there were 2 sliders for X and Y mouse axis sensitivity, but whatever.
 

Xater

Member
Reviews are good enough for me to check it out since it's more of a hardcore stealth game than most games in recent memory.
 

Ratrat

Member
This actually looks really cool. I saw it on the steam store but wrote it off as another shitty fantasy RPG. Had no idea it was a stealth game.
 
From what I played so far and as a huge fan of stealth games, I like it more than I thought I would, and quite a bit more than the latest Thief game for reference. The graphics and animations aren't the best and the game feels a bit rough around the edges, but the mechanics make for a real solid stealth game and that's all that really matters.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
I guess I'm gonna get this at some point but: I'm already annoyed that the game rates me on how long it took me to finish a level (saw it in the GB QL).
Otherwise this would totally be a game I would 100% (I would have completed Thief if it was possible in one playthrough) but especially in Stealth games I hate timed stuff.
Whatever it's just a dumb achievment but I needed to say this.

Still I'll probably buy this. I love stealth games and well....let's just say that they are very stealthy (meaning I don't see a lot of them around)
 

-MD-

Member
I guess I'm gonna get this at some point but: I'm already annoyed that the game rates me on how long it took me to finish a level (saw it in the GB QL).
Otherwise this would totally be a game I would 100% (I would have completed Thief if it was possible in one playthrough) but especially in Stealth games I hate timed stuff.
Whatever it's just a dumb achievment but I needed to say this.

Still I'll probably buy this. I love stealth games and well....let's just say that they are very stealthy (meaning I don't see a lot of them around)

It doesn't rate you though?

The game rewards you with small amount of bonus points for upgrading for doing specific feats in a map (no kills, fast time, no items etc). The one you're referring to is completing the mission in an extremely fast time, like one mission said I had 18 minutes to get the bonus reward and my time for that level was 2 1/2 hours, you don't get a score or anything though as there are no leaderboards. You can go back and redo a level to earn those challenges if you want to.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
It doesn't rate you though?

The game rewards you with small amount of bonus points for upgrading for doing specific feats in a map (no kills, fast time, no items etc). The one you're referring to is completing the mission in an extremely fast time, like one mission said I had 18 minutes to get the bonus reward and my time for that level was 2 1/2 hours, you don't get a score or anything though. I just ignore it.

Yeah, I mean the thing at the end of a level where it says "Never detected " "Completed in... mm/18" "Didn't kill anybody" "Collected x/20"
It just annoys me a bit cause I usually love to "complete" stealth games (but I hate "Time trials"). It's not a real complaint though, I'm not dumb enough to not play a game because of an achievment xD
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Yeah, I mean the thing at the end of a level where it says "Never detected " "Completed in... mm/18" "Didn't kill anybody" "Collected x/20"
It just annoys me a bit cause I usually love to "complete" stealth games (but I hate "Time trials"). It's not a real complaint though, I'm not dumb enough to not play a game because of an achievment xD

For what it's worth, the game doesn't offer tracking info the first time through -- it's only when you replay that the pause menu tells you how you're going. It's not as frustrating as you might think as you can take your time with the initial playthrough and then smash out Mercy/Shadow/Swiftness once you know how A connects to Z. For instance, "Swiftness" for the first mission demands that you finish the two levels within 18 minutes and I managed to do so in less than 11 minutes, and since being quick is mandatory you can also take the opportunity to not kill anybody and thus not trigger any alerts.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
Is the story worth caring about?
I always feel like Cyanide (and Spiders) games have an interesting setting and then really do nothing with it.
 

-MD-

Member
Is the story worth caring about?
I always feel like Cyanide (and Spiders) games have an interesting setting and then really do nothing with it.

I wouldn't tell anybody to go out of their way to play it for the story, I'll put it like that. I'm not the best person to ask for story elements though.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Is the story worth caring about?
I always feel like Cyanide (and Spiders) games have an interesting setting and then really do nothing with it.

That I can't answer. :( But reviews have been generally positive on that front -- the story is decent and is only notably dragged down by the uninspired voice acting of secondary characters.
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
I wouldn't tell anybody to go out of their way to play it for the story, I'll put it like that.

Eh too bad though not a problem.
It just...urgh.
Of Orcs and Man and this have a pretty interesting idea. Not playing as the noble human but a disgusting little goblin (and an orc) but then they never do anything with it. Too bad.
Anyway I'll probably dig into this after my exam and after I finish Mordor. 23€ is a pretty fair price.
 

JohngPR

Member
Can anyone tell me about the framerate of the PS4 version? Just deciding if I should go PS4 or PC when I do buy this. I need to finish Shadow of Mordor first though.
 

-MD-

Member
Can anyone tell me about the framerate of the PS4 version? Just deciding if I should go PS4 or PC when I do buy this. I need to finish Shadow of Mordor first though.

I'd go for the PC version for the load times alone. I don't know how long it takes on PS4 but the XB1 load times are 20 seconds to PC's 2-3.
 

GoaThief

Member
Nope, no SSD. Giant Bomb made the claim of 20+ seconds for XB1. PC times are verified by me =)
The disparity is pretty odd, why so long?

PS4 allegedly takes a similar time to PC. Have any other outlets mentioned the comparatively awful load times on XB1? If PS4 is fine then I don't see why the gulf is so big.
 

def sim

Member
The disparity is pretty odd, why so long?

PS4 allegedly takes a similar time to PC. Have any other outlets mentioned the comparatively awful load times on XB1? If PS4 is fine then I don't see why the gulf is so big.

A PS4 stream I just saw had a 15 second load time. I think this may be a console thing.

edit: another shows even longer

I had $20 of PSN credit on my account and figured I could save a few bucks to check this out, but I'll just spend the extra money on the PC version later on.
 

Turfster

Member
Oh yea, that's definitely important in this kind of game. PC it is.

Although I'm surprised the console versions doesn't have quickload/save options.

There's a generic save everywhere function, but that involves going through multiple menus each time with overwrite prompts.
The quicksave/load isn't actually advertised as being an option anywhere, but I was very glad when I discovered it was implemented anyway ;)
 

Stuggernaut

Grandma's Chippy
Very tempted by this. Only thing that holds me back is everything seems so "bright as day" on the vids I see, so I keep thinking "How is this stealthy, he is right out in broad daylight? How do they not see him??"

Maybe just me?
 

AsfaeksBR

Member
Very tempted by this. Only thing that holds me back is everything seems so "bright as day" on the vids I see, so I keep thinking "How is this stealthy, he is right out in broad daylight? How do they not see him??"

Maybe just me?

Maybe that's your monitor gamma?
I'm playing on a notebook and I played once with it hooked on a TV. It's a dark game, and I gotta choose where to play this in my house during the day or else the reflection of the sun makes it impossible to play.

So yea, it's a dark game with some brighter parts in it.
 

Karak

Member
Thanks for making the thread.

I have no played through it 3 times and I have to say as a stealth game it excells compared to most entries. Sure the issue with control is there at times and the parry parry attack mechanic is bad, but everything else is pretty damn sweet. First game in maybe 5-10 years that had me purposefully not saving to see if I could get through the level.

Very tempted by this. Only thing that holds me back is everything seems so "bright as day" on the vids I see, so I keep thinking "How is this stealthy, he is right out in broad daylight? How do they not see him??"

Maybe just me?

Nope you are right it actually has its gamma higher than any game I have ever played in my life and I had to adjust controls to get it to sit right. I even informed the developers as its a thing discussed by a lot of the reviewers. But its easy enough to adjust.

Also anyone worried about loading. You load like once a mission if a slightly long loading time once an hour or more is going to bother you than I think you will be more bothered by little things within the game than most people unless for some odd reason even such a rare occurrence bothers you.
 

Turfster

Member
Very tempted by this. Only thing that holds me back is everything seems so "bright as day" on the vids I see, so I keep thinking "How is this stealthy, he is right out in broad daylight? How do they not see him??"

Maybe just me?

If you play on Goblin, they will see you immediately if you're in a brightly or even dimly lit section.
It becomes a game of finding pools of shadow, nooks and crannies to hide in/under and staying in everyone's dead angle.
 

Labadal

Member
I would recommend fans of the stealth game genre to give this a shot and play on the highest difficulty. If you complain about a lack of stealth games and don't get this, you are doing it wrong.
 

Conezays

Member
I was initially skeptical based on a review I watched on youtube complaining about the platforming controls the entire game.

Not sure if it's been patched since or what, but I've had little to no issues whatsoever playing the game control-wise (playing on a Dual Shock 4).

So far I've had an absolute blast playing the game and would recommend it highly to those who are fans of games like the original Thief series. Playing on Goblin difficulty and keeping fighting to a minimum seems to be the way to go. Great, large open-world environments, decent voice acting, and cool atmosphere.

Definitely worth the twenty or so dollars IMO.
 

Taruranto

Member
I forget which review but the reviewer claimed he fell "hundreds of times" to his death while platforming, in the 12 hours I've played I've fallen maybe 5-10 times.

If Alien:Isolation taught us anything, it's that reviewers are AWFUL at videogames.
 
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