Styx: Shards of Darkness

Unfortunately Styx: Shards of Darkness is a downgrade from its predecessor in almost every regard. As such i could only recommend this to people who loved the first game and are desperate for more.

The gameplay in Shards of Darkness is mostly the same as Master of Shadows, yet somehow it manages to be easier and more frustrating at the same time. This game commits possibly the biggest crime a stealth game can. Terrible AI. Enemies are incredibly inconsistent. Sometimes they will spot you instantly while you are in complete darkness, and sometimes they wont see you run right past them in bright light. Even ignoring that, the gameplay is just not great. There is essentially no new enemies that were not in the previous game. There is a new type of roabie and now dwarves, but the dwarves are functionally the same as the elves at the end of the Master of Shadows. There is numerous other gameplay issues, such as how they also managed to make turning out torches a liability. Putting out a torch actually makes you more likely to get caught as enemies become alert when they see an unlit torch and path towards it. Instead of putting out torches to hide in the darkness, their only use is to be a mild distraction.

But the biggest downgrade from the Master of Shadows has to be the frankly atrocious story and writing. Master of shadows had a very interesting story with good, if rather edgy writing. The story in Shards of darkness is utterly incomprehensible. The main villain might as well not exist, characters never explain their motivations and almost nothing is ever explained. The writing is just groan inducing levels of terrible. Styx now speaks almost entirely in pop culture references and 4th wall breaks and he never bloody stops. The voice acting is also very low quality. There's only about 6 or 7 voice actors in total, and Styx is the only one who is consistently good. The others range from mediocre to just plain terrible.

Overall i am incredibly disappointed by this game. Master of Shadows was not a perfect game, but i did like it despite its flaws. i found myself speed running Shards of Darkness as i just wanted it to end. Unless you are desperate for more Styx, i would recommend skipping this game entirely.

In a time where DEI seems the norm this is a breath of smelly filthy medieval stench I wholeheartedly welcome.

Edit: It does break the 4th wall a bit when Styx addresses you as a gamer directly and certain language used that is contemporary and thus breaks immersion a bit. An attempt at direct interaction with the player to add moxie to Styx who is already oozing with the stuff seems redundant when executed this way.

A great stealth game, funny main character and an interesting fantasy based story. Enjoyed it a lot and really hope they continue the series with a 3rd game! They seemed to learn a few lessons from their first game as this one seems much more polished and fixes a few of the control issues that bothered me before (Like being able easily drop and hang off a ledge)

The levels do get a little reused (At least twice each) which does make sense story wise but content wise disappointed me a bit, but that's really the only real negative I can think of.

If you like stealth games, get it, but if you haven't played Styx Master of Shadows, go play that one first! The game and story stands up on it's own if you haven't played the first game but might as well do things in order.

Also Co-op is a lot of fun and lets you play the full campaign with a friend! Rare enough for most games but especially rare for stealth games, recommend giving that a play through too!

This is an amazing game. Beautiful graphics, great storyline, and fun missions. A hidden gem! Definitely recommend it.

[SPOILER ALERT]

If you are a fan of stealth games, you should know Styx. It has a good story and game mechanics but the ending was honestly anticlimactic and disappointing.

Step 1: Buy game
Step 2: Play for 5 minutes
Step 3: Die.
Step 4: Get called "Retard" by a fucking Goblin with a drug problem.
Great game 10/10

Great stealth game

Basically an improvement on the already decent "Master of Shadows" in every way.

.

As someone who plays a lot of stealth games, I enjoyed it overall. It cleaned up some of the issues I had with the original game, but it did lose a bit in the process by tempering down on some of the rougher points that made the original feel unique.

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The core gameplay is largely the same as its predecessor. Styx: Master of Shadows. Styx is a pure stealth game and doesn’t stray into the trap of giving you stealth as an option while still making combat an equally viable option. You have to stick to blind spots and shadows to either slip past or kill enemies without being detected. Getting caught is practically a death sentence unless you’re able to escape quickly so keeping hidden is your only realistic option for beating the game. I really liked the mechanics of the first game and I feel the same way about this one too.

The biggest changes to the gameplay are with the items and abilities, though I’m somewhat conflicted on whether I like them overall. Rather than finding items across the map, you now find raw materials and can craft items of your choosing between missions or upon finding crafting stations. While this does give you more flexibility and predictability regarding what tools you’ll have at your disposal, it does mean there’s a lot less reason to conserve your items for a particularly tricky situation unlike the first game where they were a precious resource.

Likewise, the abilities are much stronger and provide you with far more options than before. You can craft better gear, reduce the sound you produce, kill in different ways, and more. While this does make a lot of the moment-to-moment gameplay more fun, it does reduce the tension since you have far more ways out of a tricky situation compared to the restrictions posed by the first game. While the gameplay does have some more polish around movement, climbing, and interactions with the physics that I appreciated, they add to the general feeling that the game is going easy on you by taking away the points of the first game that, while rough, contributed to the tension and restrictiveness of the stealth that made it such a good experience.

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Aside from the mechanics, the level and mission design has changed substantially. I like the levels much more this time around. While both game's levels are visually distinctive, the actual layout and gameplay ‘feel’ of each is much more varied in the Shards of Darkness. Each level feels like it's asking for a different approach thanks to the variety in environmental hazards, enemy types, and how both of these are placed throughout the map rather than just putting a different set of paint on the same challenges as before. The actual layout also has a lot more options for traversal which, combined with the polish to the movement I mentioned earlier, makes the stealth feel much smoother with more time spent on actions and less on watching and waiting.

By far my biggest issue with Master of Shadows was the repetition of levels in the 2nd half of the game. The entire back half (barring the very finale) was just a slightly tweaked replay of a level from the first half with some changes to the objective and enemies. It sucked and really made the game a chore to complete. But while Shards of Darkness does still repeat some (but not all) levels, it did a far better job of making them feel distinct from the first run. The missions are substantially different. Each level is large and you probably missed a lot of stuff in your first run. On the replay, the mission objectives will typically send you to the parts of the level that were the least important during the first run and often require different methods of traversal thanks to changed enemy placements and obstacles. So while the level itself is the same, your engagement with it on the gameplay’s end still feels fresh. While some parts did this better than others, I never felt like I was desperate for the level to end in the same way I did throughout much of the first game.

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The gameplay and levels are easily the most important parts of the game. But I should still at least mention the other aspects. The story is…. well it's not worth paying attention to. I didn’t mention it in my review of the first game but the story was actually quite good. Its narrow focus and integration with the gameplay made it surprisingly impactful and while I didn’t really value it as much as the gameplay I did at least appreciate that it tried to do something interesting. The sequel's story is uninteresting. Styx steals something, guy steals the thing from Styx, and Styx tries to get it back while getting involved with other important stuff in the process. It’s uninteresting and pretty detached from anything gameplay related so I choose to ignore it.

But even worse than the bland and forgettable story, this game made some noteworthy changes to Styx’s personality. In the first game Styx was a morose, selfish, uncaring, and generally bitter creature who doesn’t care about anyone or anything but himself. But in the new game, his personality has become even worse: he’s become cringe. Styx tells so many dumb jokes that all feel like they were killing me on the inside. Every time you die, Styx will break the 4th wall to berate the play and say you suck at the game. He feels like you took an outline of his personality from the first game and asked the marketing team to make him into something that 2010s teenagers will love (they won't, but marketing will think they will). The worst part of dying wasn't the knowledge that I would have to redo the gameplay, it was that I would have to put op will several seconds of the cringiest dialogue I've seen in an otherwise serious game. It's not a big deal or anything, but it's bad enough to warrant mentioning.

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Broadly speaking, I prefer the gameplay of Masters of Shadows and the levels of Shards of Darkness. This game simply lacks the pressure and tension that characterized the feel of the first game by making everything so much more smooth and flexible. But the relative shortcomings of the gameplay are outweighed by the improved level design, better handling of repeated content, and fixing all the jank and awkward flow of the first game. Both games are definitely worth playing, but I imagine most people will agree that Shards of Darkness is the better of the two. As long as you’re interested in stealth games then I would definitely recommend playing it yourself.

Funny goblin stealth game with edgy humour. few glitches few and far between. I had a really fun time playing it 8/10

Amazing game!

Bestest Stealth Game much recommend

Set gamemode to master then spent 4.5 hours getting though prologue
super fun

this game sucks and i am so glad to never play this again. more like dyx sharts of fuck this

Has dwarves in the game, although you play with a goblin.
Best stealth game I played so far, really fun. The writing is funny, the art is astounding.
I barely know english anymore, but I think you get it.
Full price recommended.

I just finished the 100% (on both of them) and it was a fun run. The second opus really add a lot of QOL, controls are better, smoother (tho still a bit stiff) and the visual effects are really well done. Maps are still beautifully crafted, with a lot of variety, some height that makes the game more vertical (but not easy) ! Goblin difficulty is my go too since you HAVE to be stealth ! It’s also very enjoyable that you have some skills that help you but not make the game no brainer ! Honestly I recommend this game for any stealth enjoyer and satiric humor fans ! Bonus point for Styx roasting you when you die :)

One of my favorites.

Excellent game, great stealth. Fast loading when you die. Very funny.

Pros and cons.
Pros: Good game, funny game over screens, good story, and good stealth.

Cons: AI can get stuck in some bits, areas of the mission are too hard even with it being on easy mode, poor placement of save areas on the final boss and not being able to save as well, pointless areas you can get stuck in, dawf AI being able to smell you through walls, the game is short with only having 9 missions in total. Hey devs where is mission 10? why did you cut it off at 9? I doubt they will make another game of this.

We tried Styx: Shards of Darkness in co-op with a friend for about three hours, but we really didn’t connect with it. While positive reviews highlighted its nice graphics and interesting level design, we found the game lacking in overall appeal.
The character controls were frustrating, and despite some visually appealing elements, the gameplay just didn’t feel engaging. In the end, it wasn’t a satisfying experience for us. — installed and uninstalled just as quickly.

a very good game it reminds me of the Tomb Raider series!

this game is much better than the first one, the story is much well structured, and the gameplay remains similar, Styx is still smart ass funny!

nice stealth game.......runs real smooth but can be abit frustrating at times....still had alot of fun 10/10

The goblin called my nuts small.


10/10

10/10 owo's

Fun coop with a lot of jank. The main character is written perfectly for a two person play through. They just don't make games like this anymore.

definitely a rarity of a co-op game.

If you're in anyway a sneak-em-up fan, this is the Gold Standard.

The controls are wonderful, the abilities and skill tree advancements are great.

The levels are vast, beautiful, extremely well designed with a great variation of style through zones. I went back to unlock a few more achievements and I'm now running the game on full specs, and the vista are stunning sometimes.

If you've not played a Styx game, the levels are built in such a way that there are multiple ways to approach each problem/situation which really gives you a great sense of freedom while playing.

My only con would be that there is sometimes so bugginess with some elements, but that is really easily overlooked for the fun you get playing.

I couldn't recommend this game enough and I image you could get it in a sale for a steal nowardays.

If you get into character, immerse yourself in the world/game, you'll have a great time for sure :)

harder than i thought but was fun

Compared to the first game, with all Styx's abilities intact, this game wanders aimlessly, doesn't seem to know what it wants to do or be - reuses maps over and over and ends in the middle of a sentence as if the devs said: That's enough of that. The first game is amazing but this one? Just dream of what it could be - because that's better than playing this. Playing this just leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.

While not the best stealth game, Styx: Shards of Darkness offers some fun, unique gameplay. It might be filled with mixed messages, but there's still a number of hours' worth of sneaky, fun, stabbing action.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3325043599

u get more pnts for not killing filthy humies, ewww
aside from that its gud

In a nutshell, this is an improved prequel.
+:
- the worldbuilding and the atmosphere of dark fantasy
- music
- more compelling story
- improved gameplay with more variety of how you can go through levels
- collectibles and secondary quests are more immersive
-:
- unnecessary 4th wall breaking
- gameplay is still somewhat clunky in certain aspects
- boss fights are desinged kinda poorly
- some levels are still re-used

Overall it's 8/10. If you like stealth games, give this one a go.

It's a good game. I like many aspects of it but think the combat is a bit clunky

good

buggy af

fun

Humorous Co-op stealth with fantastic vertical maps.

Game's fun, but this is hardcore stealth even on the lowest difficulty. If you're expecting leniency / mercy with fuck ups, I would skip this one. But if you're up for a challenge and perfect execution to avoid issues, then you'll enjoy this. If you excel at stealth and you're already skilled at them, you'll like this.

Wanna feel noob af?
Then play it.
Awesome Game 10/10

This game is funny to slog through in co-op but it is a deeply frustrating experience only made bearable by playing it with a friend. Getting the medals is annoying and the parkour is absurdly inconsistent, constantly failing to grip onto ledges that are obviously in range and making weird jumps you did not intend. Of all the game's problems, the parkour is by FAR the biggest and the only reason I could tolerate it was playing in co-op with essentially infinite respawns. If I was in singleplayer and had to reload a checkpoint each time I died to the game making me fall to my death, I absolutely would have stopped before 2 hours and refunded.

The story is also exceptionally boring and un-engaging and Styx is incredibly annoying to listen to, particularly because the writers clearly think he is being very funny when I only vaguely smirked at maybe one of the jokes in 12 hours of playtime. The character animations in cutscenes are also really janky but the game is insistent on showing these poorly-made cutscenes and putting the bad animation front and centre.

The crafting system is not good. There's no reason for it to exist other than what is clearly just an attempt to chase the trend of crafting systems that was popular when this game was developed. Gathering materials is very tedious, especially since almost all the materials it gives you are ones you do not want.

The combat sucks, which could theoretically be fine if the game didn't have so many abilities clearly trying to push you towards combat. Stealth games having clunky, janky combat is not inherently bad because an awkward combat system is a way of motivating you to stay in the shadows and not fight to begin with (such as in Thief). However, I do not think this game is actually intelligent enough to deliberately do that. I think the combat just sucks.

As mentioned the medals are very annoying, but especially the Mercy medal, which feels excessively arbitrary and gamey. There are very few non-lethal abilities available, but unlike a game like Dishonored which makes a point out of you choosing to restrain yourself when nobody can stop you (and still has more non-lethal options than this game), in Styx you are a goblin that has absolutely no reason to value the lives of his victims, and absolutely nothing changes except getting a gold medal if you refrain from killing.

The bosses are uniformly awful, except for the final boss which was only made tolerable because the game bugged out and simply never spawned the boss at all. Luckily we were able to cheese through what would have otherwise been a soft-lock by throwing a clone using a cocoon to clear a gap.

The level design isn't necessarily bad - though some levels are egregiously laggy when looking in certain directions even on my high-middle range PC - but it is incredibly lazy that several levels are just straight up re-used with no changes except the placement of enemies and objectives. The theme of repetition is also in the music - the music is not very inspired at all and it really numbs your mind when the same bland tracks are repeated over and over and over.

All in all you should avoid this game like the plague. It has frustrating mechanics, a boring story, repetitive levels and music, and insufferable chronically unfunny dialogue.

Get it on sale,
I got it for $3
Games not bad, but...
-cringey dialogue
-controls are wonky at times
-meh story
-skill tree is either wack or op no in between
-discourages violence and exploration in a big way with how skill points are distributed.

other than that has some decent stealth mechs and there are moments where you get to pull off some cool moves
all in all very entertaining for $3

Despawning random collectibles on save+load which are required for level medal
You owe me 2h of my life

upd. Completed:

Pros:

Cons:

I bought the game to play with my partner. The coop worked for our first session of trying the game.
However, the second day we tried to play it again, we couldn't join the co-op or anyone else's. It either doesn't let me invite my partner or shows "your connection to the host has been lost"
I checked what other people had posted, and many others have this issue. I bought it mainly to play co-op but it does not work. They didn't let me refund it.

OMG i played 20 mins and i have been dying so many times i lost track and i keep finding my self wanting to die again.
You may not like these type of games but holy hell u r going to love dying in this game. Beep Me its funny as hell.
I just love dying in this game.
If i wake up in bad mood i boot up the game and go looking for ways to die and have a laugh when this cocky goblin grills me verbally :P

Guys even if u dont play these type of games u will still find love for this game.
I got it on offer for 2.70 pounds and had i know the comedy in this game i would have happily pay 20 pounds...
i will definitely be looking out for a follow up to this game :P

Great game with steam remote play! Love the co-op stealth and hijinks. The level design is lots of fun.