Styx: Shards of Darkness

Styx: Shards of Darkness is the sequel to Styx: Master of Shadows, and like its predecessor, it's a third-person stealth game where combat is discouraged, using the same parrying system as before. Most of Styx's abilities and items stay the same, making players of the first game feel familiar already. However, there are new features that made the game feel more fresh, like crafting, alternate costumes and some new features to powers. In many ways, it is better than the first game, which was just "okay" for me and annoying quite often. And it's not just the graphics that made the world and characters look amazing.
First of all, what makes this game a lot better is the stealth gameplay. It is a lot easier than the first game. There's considerably less enemies, and they are less perceptive as well, making a no-kill, no-detection run easy and fun, whereas in the first game it's very difficult, even on the lowest difficulty. The paths to the objectives also have more alternate options, like other good stealth games do. There's still no option to knockout enemies, but with the easier stealth approach it's not really needed. One might argue it adds a bit of challenge without making it exhausting.
The second is the level design. The levels look beautiful and more fantasy-esque, we explore different areas such as a shantytown and a cliffside fortress inhabited by elves, a great step from the boring "generic fantasy castles" in the first game. It still suffers from the same problem as the first game, where some of the levels are just reusing previous levels with different objectives, but it turned that weakness into strength. The objectives in the revisited areas are different, making us explore parts of the map usually unexplored or inaccessible during the first visit, and giving us a bit of a head start with familiarity to some parts of the map. There are also boss fights, and no way around those. Worry not, they are fought by moving around and interacting with items and not one-on-one combat. The first boss is interesting, however the 2nd one is annoying and basically just "rush to the end" kind of level.
The third are characters. Other than Styx, who is still funny and makes meta references, there are more important humans, elves, and dwarves, with each their own unique design and personality, making the game feel more colorful and fantasy-like. Sadly, some of these characters are not developed enough and only appeared briefly, which is a shame because they could be better allies or enemies and adds more importance to the game's story and world. Because of this the story feels bland, and the abrupt, cliffhanger ending doesn't help.
S:SoD still has the skill tree feature and a home base to replay missions, as well as insignias for the levels, but it's more forgiving because it acts more like a gold medal. You can still get the "undetected" medal if you were detected several times, but it will be silver or bronze, and you receive less skill points. Same goes will the other medals. No-kill and undetected medals are the easiest ones to get, and is the way to play the game, so consider getting gold on those.
My main issue with this gameplay is the lack of map. While it's no big deal since the maps are useless in the first game and there are quest markers, it would be useful when you're doing a collectible hunt. Another minor, pet peeve issue of mine is how the achievements look. So generic, similar, and boring. The first game does this better by making each achievement having a unique look.
Styx: Shards of Darkness is a great stealth game, and although it's not an immersive sim like Dishonored or Thief, it's still a decent game. If you played the first one and wondering if you should buy the sequel, buy it, as it's a lot better than the first and a bit longer as well, with improved stealth that made it fun. However I do recommend playing Styx: Master of Shadows first, as the events there are referred to here.

I am once again a nasty little poop goblin and the sewer is indeed my home

I love stealth games and Styx has been in my inventory for years. Last time I played was in 2019 but let it pass. I gave it another try.
This game is a hardcore stealth game. Styx is vulnerable to any damages regardless of what armor he wears, any negligence can easily lead to an alarm following an instant death. Player needs to 1) Design a pathway well; 2)Be patience; and 3) Control precisely. Game offers no map, it does have an instinct mode to see nearby enemies and objects to interact with - you can use environment kill, hide bodies or yourself, but it is like a prototype of the Hitman games, Styx is a goblin so no clothes would fit, 90% of the time Styx has to remain hidden. Without a map it is difficult to foresee some danger, I proceed with caution, leaving some side missions undone, rooms unexplored and collectibles behind.
One of the highlights is the path building. Styx can hide in pipelines, walk through small paths, walk on beams, hang at the edges, climb on walls... those stealth elements are decent, finding a great path is fun and satisfying. However, the jump and rope swings are horrible, you cannot change direction in mid air, the jump feels floppy, too. The graphic looks great.. Though some maps are repeated with different goal, the map is big and rich enough to appreciate.
I also like the humour (and the coarse language) - some may find it offensive, but hearing "Can't tell whether Styx is standing or clawing" made me laugh. This game gives a clear waypoint, most time I do not lose the leads, some levels acquires player to trace blood or follow the trolley tracks to find destination, and in a cave of labyrinth it can take several wrong turns before escaping it, it brings some creativity, and the 6 trials are well designed. There is no real fight within the bosses, rather, Styx does damage through indirect way like breaking the connections of the Quartze power.
I set the game to the easiest difficulty but still find it is hard. Even harder in later games when Styx can't do any damage to an armored enemy, even within clone ability and being invisible for a short period, I still retried several times because of instant death like fall damage and spikes. What keeps me going is the story, the interesting maps and wanting to see how it ends.
Styx is definitely not for everyone, it is painful yet rewarding. I finished the game in 8 hours, story is okay but it does not end. If there will be any sequel, I will try only if the devs make it easier.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second live for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☑ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Styx is a one-of-a-kind talking goblin mercenary for hire that will do anything you want as long as you pay him well. Sneak, steal, sabotage and assassinate your way though 10 missions in this 17+ hour game. You can craft items, daggers, and find apparel that gives unique perks and debuffs to suit your playstyle. While Shards of Darkness is the second game in the Styx series, you do not need to play Master of Shadows first.
While I enjoyed playing, it’s a fantastic stealth game with complex level design and a lot of the maps are really fun, one map is recycled three times and another was twice. The final mission was remarkably short, 8 min normal play with no attempt to speed run, and the actual game ending was very vague, so it’s a bit disappointing. You also get points taken off your final mission scores for killing people, which is annoying for two reasons. One, it limits a player’s playstyle and renders a whole branch of assassination skills pointless, two, you need points to actually get skills so unless you want to wait till later missions to get anything useful, you need to sneak your way past enemies making maps longer and more difficult.
TL;DR: A great stealth game, 10 missions to play through but a lot of recycled maps and a vague ending. You get points taken away from killing npc's, which you need if you want skills.

One of the best stealth games. With a great story

sneaky goblin go stabby stab