Styx: Master of Shadows

The game "Styx Master of Shadows" (2014 onwards) was completed by me in 2022.

This is important to note, because I am reviewing this not new Game now, many years after its Release Date.

Overall, I liked this Game. Yes, it can be played many years after its Release. I didn’t regret that I came across it on Steam, and I went through it not without interest.

For me, the main thing in Games is not the Graphics, but the Plot and Musical Composition and the Atmosphere of the Game and the Gameplay itself.

Everything is fine with the ambient Games and Music - no complaints.

There are no videos in this Game - the narration is in the form of a Static picture and voiceover (there is no Russian localization, so you have to read Russian subtitles), and at the beginning I thought, “why is it so cheap, where are the AAA videos?! “, — I couldn’t take the very first Screensaver of the Game seriously.

But then, when I played a little, I got involved, and began to watch these Screensavers, not without Interest, and it no longer bothered me at all that there were no videos - I became interested in the story of this Game itself - The plot of the Game hooked me.

And until the end of the game, I was interested in watching the development of this Story, I was interested in how it would all end, but it all ended very unusual - you don’t expect such an ending)

The Atmosphere is closely connected with the Plot of the Game - a certain indefinite quality of the Game, which includes various indicators.

The atmosphere of the Game is conveyed through the Gameplay and, in fact, through the Scenery that surrounds you.

Because The game takes place in a Medieval Castle, so the Atmosphere of this Castle is conveyed well.

It is worth noting here that the Castle itself is an integral Complex - from the Beginning to the End of the Game it is integral and some locations smoothly flow into others, i.e. you can even explore this Castle inside and out and enjoy its Grandeur and the Genius of its Architecture.

In general, Castles are interesting to me from a historical point of view, and it was very pleasant for me to climb within the walls of the Castle.

Everything in the Castle was thought out, from the very foundation of the Castle - the Sewerage System, to the highest Roofs.

And all this can be explored, you can climb everywhere - which is what you will do throughout the Game.

Also from an architectural point of view, the Zones and premises of this Castle themselves are interesting.

And all this is not just like scraps of scattered Locations, but a single Complex, where you gradually move deeper into this Castle, pursuing your Goals.

As you move through the Castle, you will meet Opponents and this is where the Gameplay begins.

In the Game we kill Opponents, and their bodies - just imagine, do not disappear before your eyes in the name of Optimization, but remain lying where you left them throughout the entire Mission.

The body can disappear only after you douse it with a special Acid in order to cover up the traces of your Crime)

But there is no need to do this, I tried it once - for the sake of the Experiment and did not use this technique again.

But if you go through the Game to get all the Bonuses and at maximum difficulty, then you will have to do this.

The opponents in the Game are not the most Aggressive - they are very limited in their Characteristics - Vision and Hearing.

The enemy may not see you at point-blank range. The enemy is heavily rendered and primitively scripted in the name of ease of passing the game.

If the Enemy noticed the Corpse of his comrade, then after wandering around a little in search of the Killer, he soon forgets about this Corpse and walks as if nothing had happened, tripping over it, not paying any attention to it.

I would have done it differently, because... The game is Stealth-Oriented, then I would make it difficult to pass with a more interesting model of the Enemy's behavior.

Let these Opponents be fewer in number, but so that they would react and behave more realistically.

So, for example, it was possible to do this: when an enemy burned you, or saw the Corpse of a comrade, he would raise the alarm within a certain Location, and everyone would be alarmed and would continue to walk warily, and accordingly, this would make it difficult for you to pass . You would think about whether to raise the alarm again or not.

And so, you kill the Enemy right in front of everyone, there is a Loophole 5 meters away, you sneak into it! and "I'm in the house! Be-be-be!" — No one knows how to climb through Loopholes, and after 20 seconds everyone happily forgets about you and goes about their business - as if nothing had happened.

It’s clear that this is a Game convention, but it looks too pathetic and primitive from the outside, it’s just funny)

It would also be possible to teach the Main Character the Stunning technique, so as not to kill all the poor fellows around, but deafen.

So, for example, you come across the usual Hard Workers, Librarians, Cleaners - and you break everyone’s neck - and it becomes a pity.

Meanwhile, the Game does not punish you in any way for Killing those who could easily not be killed, but generally avoided.

But why would I leave someone alive behind me if it’s safer to kill, which is what I did throughout the game. I completely cut out everyone in the Mission who came into my field of vision, so that I could then run at full height around the Castle, and not crawl around the entire Mission on my knees.

But it is worth noting that you can complete the Mission without killing at all, or kill only in extreme cases, where you cannot do without it.

As you progress through the Mission, you will come across a certain number of Coins - local secrets - they are located in various nooks and crannies, and if you collect them all at the Level, you will be given a Bonus, but I don’t know what, because I don’t I bothered and didn’t try to collect them all.

Still, this is not the kind of game to get caught up in and collect these Coins.

Because I didn’t even always complete Additional Tasks, for which they give additional Experience points, which in turn need to be spent on advancing Skills.

These Additional Tasks could also be made so that they can be completed more easily.

These Additional Tasks and Coins are quite a Hardcore element, they don’t seem to be required, but I don’t see the point of making them so difficult to complete.

Speaking of Hardcore, the Game has a static map of the Level, but it only shows the entrance (the beginning of the Level) and the exit (and not always...), and where you are at the moment is not shown - this is I will mark it as a minus, because... I think that the map should be Informative, and ideally, so that you can leave your Notes in it...

I remembered another negative point.

At the Beginning of the Game, in the 1st Mission, you need to quickly hide from the Guards, who are coming straight at you, and the Game tells you “Press (press such and such a button) and Hide behind the Barrel” and even the point where you are must get up.

I sneak up to the Barrel, press the “Snuggle” button. The Hero presses against the Wall, and they shoot me and, accordingly, chop me into minced meat into small pieces.

And so on for an hour! I really can’t figure out what to do - “okay!” — I went to YouTube to watch the walkthrough.

It turns out that you need to press yourself not against the Wall, but against the Barrel🤦‍♂️

And there is no more such moment anywhere in the entire Game!

Well, ok, the Game showed me the opportunity to “Push Against the Wall” - I got it! Why did they put me in such a stressful moment, and even at the beginning of the Game, that I couldn’t get through this place! This is really a minus for the Game!🤬 bombed me - yes! because my Sense of Self-Dignity was infringed by the fact that I had to go on the Internet to find out how to pass this moment, and didn’t figure it out myself...

It’s just terrible and ruined my first impression of this Game💩

Here's another interesting point. At the end of the Mission, you find yourself in the local “Hub”, where you can stock up on provisions, learn new Skills, etc.

So, I was surprised that this Hub was given an entire Location!

And I was constantly appearing there muttering to myself

“Why was such a Location stupidly made for the Hub, where you need to perform 10 more acrobatic tricks before the Secret Room to get to the desired point!”😣

And what was my surprise that in the future Enemies would penetrate my Hub and I would have to recapture this Hub from an entire Commando that was sent to destroy me - this was a pleasant surprise for me)

1 more curious moment in passing.

Imagine Prison Cells, Bars, Prisoners Behind Barred Doors and Guards Outside.

I press the Lever and all the doors in all cells open automatically‼

A riot begins in the local prison‼‼‼

The prisoners are trying to break free, and the Guard is running around and cutting everyone's throats (an unpleasant moment, actually).

So, I wait until 2 Guards enter the next Cell, and as soon as they are on the other side, I press the Lever again and the Doors are Locked.

I so joyfully run up to the Door to make fun of the Guards locked in the Cell, to make a happy face at them, when suddenly the door is unlocked and the Guards come out! HOW!?🤓

There is no door unlocking mechanism inside! This is, of course, a jamb, but the case itself is funny)

Apparently, the Lever is the central Lock, but there are also keyholes, and it is possible to open the door from the inside with the Key that the Guards have. Logical, but not pleasant - I wanted to lock up the Guard, and so that they would starve to death there, like those poor fellows whom they kept in inhuman conditions)

Another moment in the same Prison - this is the task before me .

There is a Guard, and behind him is a Door, and you need to somehow pass unnoticed.

Yes, there is an Invisibility Potion in the game, but I somehow forgot about it, and in general I rarely used it.

Somehow it was necessary to distract the Security Guard.

I did this. He brought the Corpse of another Security Guard and from around the corner threw it under the nose of this Security Guard, he saw the Corpse, came up, and his alarm mode turned on, he began to look for who did it and went straight, at this time I sneaked behind his back and slipped into Door)

Although it was possible to simply lure the guard out by appearing in front of him from afar, he would also rub his eyes, etc. It’s dark, I would have gone to check who was looming there in the dark, but at that time I didn’t know about this “mechanics”, and that this way you can lure the Guards out of their standing position)

Also in this Game the most dangerous Enemy is Beetles, especially bulletproof ones)🐞

They smell you within a radius of 15 meters, you can’t sneak up on them, they live in bunches, there’s just no Beetles killed, and if they set you on fire, then you have to run oh how far away from them - since they are hot on your heels - I remember running from the Zhuk from the middle of the level to the very beginning of the Level) - but it was also fun🤡

And in the Final Game I mastered another “Killing Mechanic” - killing from above.

The fact is that if you successfully jump on the enemy’s head, you instantly kill him - this was mentioned in the Game, but I didn’t use it and forgot completely.

And at the end of the game, Elves appeared. They are not to be trifled with, their sense of smell is the same as that of the Beetles, but even the Potion of Invisibility does not help against them, because... they are, in short, Vangas) - and you can kill them only with a Dagger, of which only by the end of the Game you can carry 3 of them. And there’s a whole Army of Elves at the Last Level, and so I spent 2 Daggers and squeezed 1 - I think, well, I’ll use it only in the very, very last resort. And here the Elf stands in front of me, looking at me, but I somehow need to go further behind his back.

I really panicked, I started rushing around the entire Level, looking for the Dagger, but I spent all the Daggers that I picked up.

And do you know how I defeated him?) First I jumped out in front of him and danced - he noticed me, got angry that I was so impudent in attacking - and I started to scoot away from him as best I could, climbed up the Column, and he had already lost sight of me, walking around looking for me, and then I was waiting for him right when he began to walk back, and I pounced on him from above and killed him!

Seems simple, right? But the Game didn’t teach me such tricks)

And then I thought, why did I spend 2 Daggers at all, because in this way I could grind at least an entire Army of Elves)

And suddenly the end of the Game immediately comes! And I’m with 1 Dagger!

Opposite me in the round arena are 3 Goblins at once, squeezing me into a narrow ring, and killing them hand-to-hand is generally unrealistic, you can barely cope with the 1st in a fair Fight, and then with the help of the cheating Quick Save feature .

By the way, for some reason, our Main Character is a very lousy fighter in a fair fight)

And how can I defeat them!?😲

Complete the Game yourself and get the same pleasure from the Game as I did)

There are also minor bugs in the Game, but they are not critical and are compensated by the Quick Save-Quick Load system.

After completing the entire Game, you can once again replay the entire Game (or, if you choose, a Mission separately) to collect all the Secrets, having already acquired all the Skills previously acquired.

I played this Game on Steam for as much as 31 hours! — I’m shocked myself😎

So, if you are interested in the Stealth setting, if you are interested in the architecture of Medieval Castles, then you can try it) Thank you for your attention)