Styx: Master of Shadows - Goblin stealth in the Of Orcs & Men’s world - by SubJeff
faetal on 21/11/2014 at 21:23
If the achievement isn't called Ghosts and Goblins, I'm destroying everything.
henke on 20/12/2014 at 13:51
7 hours into Styx, on chapter 3. Enjoying it, but not without a few reservations.
About those medals, the ones that there seem to be 10 of in each area, are they good for anything? I found all 10 in the first area, but haven't really bothered with them since.
Also, any recommendations for skill upgrades? I'm mostly going for Kill moves at the moment, since those seem to be the ones that'll make the game more interesting to play. When does the "Predator" skillset unlock?
henke on 21/12/2014 at 13:15
There's a really cool plottwist halfway through the game. Then, right after that, nothing makes any sense any more and the game starts reusing levels and becomes nigh-on impossible. The smart thing to do would be to stop playing right here. I'm not very smart, it turns out.
Renault on 21/12/2014 at 16:58
If you collect all 10 medals in each area, you get some type of bonus that gives you more skill points to distribute. You get similar bonuses for getting through a level without killing anyone, without being detected, etc. I treat them as loot, just like in any Thief FM or OM. You don't have to get them all, but I like the challenge of doing so. I'm trying to ghost every level, so that makes it even tougher.
I had heard about the reused levels in the game, and wasn't looking forward to slogging through them, but with the changed AI locations and the increased difficulty, I found it fun. Others mileage may vary.
As far as skill upgrades, I'm not doing any killing, so about 50% of them don't really help me out. I maxed out stealth any other things like maximizing your gear.
henke on 21/12/2014 at 19:06
Ah yes, my own playstyle is more along the lines of "Kill everyone. Make as much noise as possible while doing it. When their friends come running, kill them too."
[video=youtube;bj9SbIWTtrY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj9SbIWTtrY&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Pyrian on 21/12/2014 at 19:16
Oh, geez, that gives me an Invisible War flashback - sniping a guard, then each other guard who comes to investigate the growing pile of bodies, until nobody's left.
henke on 23/12/2014 at 20:34
Think I'm getting close to the end, and this game is winning me over more and more. The controls and movement are very good. Very slick, but not overly contextual. The gameplay clicked with me almost from the start. The levels are huge, open, and well suited for stealth gameplay. And a lot of the music is great, I specially like (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WamIZ_nDsk0) the stuff that plays in the Hideout sections.
Inline Image:
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/545265027449122481/8622643EAC0F03E654F403F9ADB20F8CCEE9047C/However, it certainly is a game that you need to forgive a lot to enjoy. I have experienced a few issues with ledges, like the RPS review mentioned. Dropping off them and hanging on can be a bit hit and miss. I've frozen in place twice, and been unable to move. There's a huge difficulty spike halfway through. The story is often messily told and unclear, but also has moments of brilliance. Enemy bodies sometimes ragdoll around a bit too much after they've been killed, they can bounce off into view off other enemies, or go flying of ledges and land in the laps of guards below. In a game where you're trying to be stealthy, this sort of stuff can cause a lot of teethgrinding. The AI often is a bit twitchy and unpredictable. Combined with the fact that they are super-alert and have great peripheral vision means this can be frustrating if they happen to turn around quickly. I hated the combat at first but now I'm getting used to it and end up using it a lot. And then there's the repeating dialogue. Holy shit, if you thought Thief was bad in this regard you haven't seen anything yet.
Inline Image:
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/545265027515033472/490A6DC04572F5E1724983044D5D6E7B2BCC5C5B/Most of these complaints are minor, and none are showstoppers(aside from the difficulty spike, nearly). Mostly I'm having a great time. It's a stealth game that gives you big open levels, the tools to get through them, and then it gets out of your way and lets you play. I can definitely second Brethren's recommendation. :)
Inline Image:
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/545265027536363370/6FFF3F3B4A72264540D1CEFAB1F5F0564D79E4BA/henke on 26/12/2014 at 20:52
The story is good, tho kinda messily told. It's got some really great parts. I like the intro a lot, and the plottwist in the middle casts previous scenes in a new light in a really satisfying way, and the ending is pretty cool.
[video=youtube;31SvBWhyo3o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31SvBWhyo3o[/video]
Apparently there's more Styx to come! :)
