Styx Shards of Darkness

🎮 Steam ⏳ 20 hours ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Underrated Sequel #

The second Styx entry is one of those stealth games that never became mainstream, but earned a loyal following among those who appreciate methodical gameplay and player freedom. It is a direct sequel to Master of Shadows, and in almost every way it improves upon the original, at least when it comes to the technical and visual aspects of it. But I strongly feel like the biggest flaw of this sequel is the story, that while at the same time that it is above the average, it is still not even close to the same level as the first entry. I wished this game was released as the first entry, and the first entry as the second, this would make the franchise much more interesting when it comes to its narrative.

Styx Returns #

You play again as Styx (for real this time), a cynical, foul-mouthed goblin thief who survives through stealth, sabotage, and manipulation rather than brute force. But this time, all of these traits are very much turned up to the max, and it is sometimes can be very exaggerated, making it somewhat an overextend in trying to convey this character’s personality as interesting as possible. The story follows him during a politically unstable period in a dark fantasy world populated by elves, humans, dwarves, and mercenaries. Styx is really what makes this whole story interesting, he constantly mocks the world around him, breaks the fourth wall, and delivers sarcastic commentary.

Stealth Done Right #

Where the game truly excels is in its stealth systems and level design. The environments are large, vertical, and filled with alternate routes, hidden passages, climbable structures, and environmental opportunities. And while this nothing new to the franchise, it is clear that the level design on this sequel has improved for quite a good margin. Unlike many modern action-stealth games that allow you to recover easily after detection, this game heavily encourages remaining unseen. Combat is intentionally weak and chaotic, making direct confrontation risky. Because of this, every successful infiltration feels earned, and can sometimes even outright completely fail certain missions.

Improved Movement #

The movement system is one of the sequel’s biggest improvements, you feels more agile and responsive than in the first game, allowing smoother climbing, ledge traversal, ziplining, and navigation through complex spaces. The game often feels like a stealth puzzle where positioning and observation matter more than reflex shooting. Particularly I really enjoyed playing around with the new Clones skills and items, especially the one that you can trow a Clone and teleport to it, making the whole sandboxing a lot more interesting. Not to mention some new enemies have very unique mechanics that require you to change how you approach situations. For example the Dwarves can smell you, but you can mitigate this using items, it never feels unfair on unbalanced.

Expanded Freedom #

You also has several other abilities that expand gameplay considerably, even though some of them are carried over from the first entry. Invisibility, amber vision, poison crafting, traps, and environmental manipulation give you multiple approaches to objectives. The game rewards experimentation, and many missions can be completed in drastically different ways depending on your playstyle. There is also a ranking system, focused on how fast you can complete the missions, and also how little you execute enemies, improving this game’s replayability by a lot. Though don’t expect to have a high amount of unique levels to play in since it recycles some areas throught the story, fortunately, this does not happen very often.

AA Fantasy Presentation #

Visually, the game sits firmly in the “AA” category, it is not technically impressive compared to major AAA releases from the same era, but the art direction works well. The fantasy cities, airships, underground tunnels, and elven architecture create memorable environments with a strong sense of scale. Some animations and facial models are rough, though, and technical jank appears occasionally, especially during the cutscenes. Enemy AI is somewhat inconsistent, guards can sometimes behave intelligently by investigating disturbances, but at other times they become predictable or fail to react naturally. This inconsistency occasionally weakens the immersion, especially during more complicated stealth setups, though this is somewhat very common on stealth games in general.

Methodical Stealth #

I know that there is a co-op mode, but I honestly never bothered to try it. The game’s pacing may not appeal to everyone. Missions are long, careful progression is often necessary, and those expecting fast action or cinematic spectacle may become frustrated. So again, this game, like the first one, will appeal more those who like a more slow-paced and methodical approach to stealth. In many ways, this sequel feels like a throwback to an older era of stealth games, such as Thief and Dihonored, so I can’t really recommend this enough for people that likes these kinds of titles to any extent. It is challenging, systems-driven, and willing to punish careless play, as much as it has an advanced level of player expression and freedom on how to approach things.

Worthy Recommendation #

Overall, this second Styx entry is an underrated stealth-focused PC game with excellent level design, rewarding gameplay systems, and a strong gameplay identity. Its technical roughness, uneven AI, and niche appeal prevent it from reaching the level of the genre’s classics, but for people who genuinely enjoy stealth mechanics and creative infiltration, it remains one of the better recommendations out there. And finally, again, I feel like they should’ve developed this title before Master of Shadows. The reason I say this is that the first game focused heavily in the MC’s story, its a hard sell if you are not already invested in him. And for this reason I can’t give a higher score for this, and for the previous one, story is simply too important for me.