Styx: Shards of Darkness Reviews
In the end, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid stealth title. The lack of real combat puts your ability to go undetected to the test, and the breadth of each level means that your solutions to each problem are wide open, giving you some flexibility to your approach. While your abilities are fun to use, it would've been nice to see them make a difference, especially since the game reuses some environments instead of going for new ones. Shards of Darkness is an improvement over the first game, and it's worth checking out if you're a stealth fan.
A dark, challenging stealth game undermined by an unimaginative and rambling story littered with crude gags and lazy pop culture references.
I see a lot of reviews slammed the game for its poor combat system really?! This is a stealth base game, not a hack and slash game combat is not an option. You aren’t supposed to be facing enemies head on. Another issue reviewers seem to have is the fact that Styx breaks the 4th wall like Deadpool. And that his sense of humor is a bit much for these reviewers who clearly lost theirs a long time ago. And yes I am aware humor/comedy is subjective but to me, Styx is a welcome change of pace as protagonist. He is a character, snarky, scheming and yes he makes the occasional quips and dated pop-culture references. That alone gives him a definable personality. Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid stealth game with plenty of humor and style. And it harks back to the old-school hardcore stealth games of the past.
Unlike the original game, this version now has a quick save function by pressing right on the d-pad. This makes the game a lot more forgiving than the original and the level design has been improved with multiple routes though the levels giving the player choice how to approach each situation. The A.I. is hit and miss, when it's good it's fantastic, but this is spoilt when you see the guards glitching out.
Amid an overcrowded season full of newly launched triple-A titles, Shards of Darkness, at its very best, works as an inconsistent but serviceable stealth experience.
A surprisingly old-school and well-crafted stealth game, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a welcome sneaky outlet in a world so often focused on open combat.
Styx: Shards of Darkness is polished and expanded Styx: Master of Shadows. It uses same mechanics, which makes it feels familiar, but somehow better. It's the essence of stealth game where you can either leave a trail of blood behind you, or a few empty purses. Styx feels like THIEF and is acquired taste, but everyone should at least try it.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Styx's good story, interesting world, great stealth mechanics, lots of humor, and engaging atmosphere overcomes its poor AI, moderate visuals, unbalanced controls and repetitive levels. If you are a stealth fan, you'll enjoy Styx: Shards of Darkness.
Review in Persian | Read full review
It’s not going to win any hearts and minds any time soon, but as an open-ended stealth experience, Styx: Shards of Darkness more or less does its job without major stumbles. Less of the lip, though, please.
All in all, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a game you won't want to miss.
Styx: Shards of Darkness One of the few titles that provided stealth in a great form, all the elements were designed to serve the player in his adventure away from action and direct clashes as much as possible, but on other hand you feel the limited budget the game have or it's safe more to say it didn't have much time in development especially at second half of the game, which represents weak story and limited graphical level.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Styx may not be the most anticipated stealth adventure of the year, but it’s definitely one you should be checking out If you’re a fan of the genre. Gameplay can unfortunately start to feel repetitive after a string of deaths, but those happy to take their time will find an adventure to enjoy.
In the end Styx: Shards of Darkness isn’t a terrible game. Sadly several elements stop it from reaching the greatness it could have had, like bad platforming, AI getting stuck during patrols, a story that doesn’t engage and wobbly voice acting all keep Styx in the firmly good section
Styx: Shards of Darkness improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, but still leaves room for a deeper, more thought-out stealth experience.
A stealth game that sticks to its core values and offers some excellent level design, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid sequel. It is not without some presentation issues and could really benefit from some better controls on the more delicate maneuvers. If you can get past the crassness of the main character there is much to like.
If you want to play an “old school” stealth game, you have many options that aren’t the price of a new game. If you want crude humor, there are far better options in games and other media to enjoy. If you want to get berated by an ugly creature who thinks he’s better than you, well, Twitter is free.
What's worse than dying in a game... dying and being heckled for doing so.
It may not have quite the level of polish of a AAA title, but it’s more than worth your time.
Styx: Shards of Darkness offers an excellent and varied style of gameplay with massive and beautiful fantasy world, but suffers from repetitive level design and awful jokes and commentary, in addition to weak indoor graphics that lack detail.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Styx: Shards of Darkness does well with its detailed level design and humorous main character, but the inconsistency in its gameplay mechanics and a forgettable storyline stand in the way of its prominence as a stealth action game. Entertaining, to say the least, but far from a must-play.