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Styx: Shards of Darkness - Styx: Master of Shadows sequel

Rahdulan

Omnibus
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Can't wait to stealth my way around this.

qWjFIPp.jpg
 

vortex

Fabulous Optimist
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Cthulhu monster is welcomed in every game. Lovecraft would be pleased.
Based on screens will there be boss fights ?
 
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LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014


Styx: Shards of Darkness, the sequel to Cyanide Studios' stealth surprise success story Master of Shadows, comes to consoles and PC in 2016. Styx creeps back in a new adventure packed with bigger production, a load of new features and a new engine: Unreal Engine 4. Today's spirited E3 Trailer unveils more about the quest that awaits our green-skinned goblin in Styx: Shards of Darkness.

While Styx is in business in Thoben, the City of Thieves, he makes an unexpected deal with a mysterious human officer Helledryn. As Styx, you must steal the ambassador's scepter, a very coveted object, which other, more nefarious, parties are interested in. Of course, the reward shall be worth the risk, in return the officer promises you great quantity of a resource you are desperately looking for: magical amber, the source of Styx power.

Sneak your way to your objective, evading dwarves, elves, and all manner of races, hunting down the scepter. Creatively utilize all of Styx's tools: assassination, amber powers, talents and skills, equipment, and crafting!

Each race excels at a different thing. The Dark Elves, for instance, have experts at goblin hunting while the Dwarves have a supernatural sense of smell, enabling them to track you down (even when invisible!). Learn their strengths and weaknesses if you want to survive long enough to snatch the scepter.

There are further exciting features to be revealed just around the corner!

Infiltrate your way to victory when Styx: Shards of Darkness releases in 2016 for consoles and PC.
 

vortex

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http://gamingbolt.com/styx-shards-of-darkness-interview-more-diversity
MP, release date estimate...
Styx: Shards of Darkness is the latest sequel from Cyanide Studio and it looks as though the team have set out to improve upon every aspect from the original. From better jumping mechanics to actual fights, Cyanide have really wanted to improve every inch of this sequel compared to the first.

GamingBolt recently had a sit down with Julien Desourteaux, Cyanide Studio Game Director and Lead Level Designer to answer some important questions we’ve been hoping to clear up.


"We have multiplayer – it’s all about improving the mechanics that we had in the first one. For example the movements are much more smoother and we added some ropes and pipes to get more ways to interact with the environment, and showcase more versatility and the feel of more danger."

What is Styx’s story this time around? Is it a simple matter of retrieving a scepter or does he set in motion events that he’ll probably regret?

No. It’s funny because we have the trailer about the scepter – the scepter is just the call of adventure. When the heroes join the circle it’s just the call of adventure. The player will be caught by the adventurers of the special contract. You will encounter new characters; you will see a lot of different places like in Master of Shadows. In Shadows of Darkness there is more diversity within the environment; for example we have some aircraft, and then you would go to a dark elves city. It’s just a call of adventure.

What new features and mechanics does the sequel bring, especially with the larger production values to do more?

We have multiplayer – it’s all about improving the mechanics that we had in the first one. For example the movements are much more smoother and we added some ropes and pipes to get more ways to interact with the environment, and showcase more versatility and the feel of more danger. We have some boss fights – you can see one of the huge monsters which is 100 times the size of the goblin; and it’s all about playing with the gameplay mechanics we have and pushing them to the limit.

How does Styx: Shards of Darkness improve on the original game, especially in terms of the sequences that players will engage in?

In the level of the signed the major improvements are diversity in the missions. There you have some investigation to do, listen to some dialogue to learn something; sometimes we have missions where you have to be undetected. It’s all about diversity to have a better player experiences during the game.

What can you tell us about the RPG elements in this iteration?

With the RPG mechanics, we still have the skill tree. We have cloning, crafting, assassination, detection, and five or six branches. It’s up to the player to choose what play style you want to have. So by choosing a branch you set up the character. And as well we have some new powers you will have later in the game, because you will have a new material that can give you special abilities.

Is combat still heavily quick time oriented? What changes have been made to its since the base game?

We have a introduced big improvement in the combat system. In the first game when you enter combat mode, it wasn’t the players that chose to do that it was automatic. Right now it’s up to the player to choose, “I want to fight this guy – I will wait for him to try and hit me, and then I will have a small move to do to parry him. But I will not kill him, I just will stay on him a little bit so I can finish him or I can dodge him.” But you can do that with only one character.


"We are not like the others because you are not a badass guy who shoots everybody when he’s detected. "

Level design is one of the most praised aspects of Master of Shadows. Will we see the same huge levels in Shards of Darkness and how does Unreal Engine 4 help bring them to life?

Totally. I have the same team for the level design. I have the same team as the one on Master of Shadows. We know what is good in our game. We saw a few [things] that were not very good in the first one, we improved them. For example it’s much more smoother now to jump from ledge to ledge, it’s quite easy to achieve. We still kept the verticality and multiple passes.

Just everything is so much better?

Yes. It’s because of Unreal Engine 4: The shaders, technically it’s much more beautiful, and it’s better as well. We have some cut scenes in the game. It’s good for the story because we can have realization. Because in the first one the story was told through a 2-D drawing. Now it’s 3-D cut scenes because of the engine.

What is being done to fix the edge detection issues that plagued the launch of the original game?

It’s much more better right now. It will be very technical, more things that say, “can I do that? Can I grab that?” Now you can turn on a corner, you can jump from a ledge, it’s easier to grab an anchor. It’s much more better. It’s much more fluid. But you still need to be a little bit skilled to travel the distance. It’s not like in real life but it’s much more comfortable for the player to have this.

Medieval fantasy stealth is still pretty unrepresented despite some very good games in the genre. What are your thoughts on the same and how will Styx stand out among other stealth games?

First, you are a goblin. I haven’t seen any goblins in this area except ours. Second, we are not like the others because you are not a badass guy who shoots everybody when he’s detected. You have to flee, you are small, you have to use your special abilities. He’s fragile. So direct confrontation is not a good option in our game. It’s all about skills, it’s about not being detected to achieve that special trick. To know the mechanics, exploit them, and be creative with that.

When can we expect Styx: Shards of Darkness to release? Is it still on track for this year?

It will be released in the third quarter of this year.
 
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Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
MP, eh? I hope they still have enough focus on the SP portion of the game.
 

HoboForEternity

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Maybe not dark souls, but if they managed to incorporate stealth to the fight, instead of forcing us to fight. Like puzzle boss of some sort. Lure them into a trap or sneaky sneaky quitely stab their eye, multiple solutions, etc etc
 

vortex

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In a fucking stealth game?
As HoboforEternity said, boss fight could have stealth kill elements, environmental puzzles in boss area (like Deus Ex:Human Revolution DC - Lawrence Barrett ). In trailer there is implied Styx will use some magic of sort. Maybe throwable explosives, sorcery staff (sorcerer in Dark souls) etc. I'll have to see the gameplay. IDK.

I wish Styx would be classless, so you could play the way you like.
 

Riskbreaker

Guest
I wish Styx would be classless, so you could play the way you like.
I hope that they'll add open world in one of their post release patches. Open world Styx would be really fun.
I also wish they'd implement customisable mechs and destructible terrain. Maybe they add it later on, there's still some time before release.
 
Joined
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I hope that they'll add open world in one of their post release patches. Open world Styx would be really fun.
I also wish they'd implement customisable mechs and destructible terrain. Maybe they add it later on, there's still some time before release.

Shit bro, I'm already saving money for that base building RTS mode DLC.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Styx: Shards of Darkness Previews and Interviews

First up is a preview on Entertainment Buddha:

Being a game focused on stealth, lighting and level design are key ingredients for making the experience enjoyable and believable. You can’t really stalk targets in brightly lit rooms, so the world of Shards of Darkness features a great use of lighting to create shadows for Styx to creep in to easily take out his targets. The world isn’t one big shadow though, as there are fires to add a orange hue to the environments and to create the shadows, so the colors aren’t all drab.

The textures in the environment are also top notch thanks to the talented artists working on the game and the abilities of the Unreal Engine 4. The wooden structures that Styx tip-toed through looked lifelike and almost as if they could give him splinters based on how precise they appeared. Styx’s green skin also appeared very detailed thanks to the quality texture work featured in the game. Of course his targets also looked pretty polished even though they’re just in the game for Styx to murder.

Another preview is on Entertainium:

The demo walked us through a quick mission through a secluded part of a seaside town. Styx’s job was to grab a few valuables and escape. A simple job for an accomplished thief. Our walkthrough of the demo didn’t show off much of the level due to time constraints, but it seemed to have plenty of pathways and methods to complete objectives. The approach the developer playing the game took us underneath most of the buildings, allowing him to move unseen.

He used a few new tricks to get around. Most notable is using clones to teleport. In the previous game, Styx could vomit up clones of himself to distract guards, operate levers, and safely scout ahead. Their use was limited, though, because once you were finished with them, your only option was to destroy them. Now they can be used to access otherwise inaccessible areas, such as high ledges for a quick escape, which the developer demonstrated.

Then we hit up a text interview on Gaming Bolt:

What can you tell us about the RPG elements in this iteration?

With the RPG mechanics, we still have the skill tree. We have cloning, crafting, assassination, detection, and five or six branches. It’s up to the player to choose what play style you want to have. So by choosing a branch you set up the character. And as well we have some new powers you will have later in the game, because you will have a new material that can give you special abilities.

 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
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13,582
Codex 2014
8 minutes gameplay narrated by the familiar Focus Home guy:



This also delayed to early 2017.

Originally expected for the end of this year Styx: Shards of Darkness will finally arrive in Q1 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Patrick Pligersdorffer, CEO at Cyanide Studio, explains, 'With this new episode of Styx we updated our engine from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4. This update has brought so much to the Styx series, from graphical enhancements to new gameplay mechanics and features. The engine transition has required some time for our team to adapt to. We're dedicated to providing the best stealth experience possible for players, so in agreement with our publisher Focus, we are delaying the game until the first quarter of 2017.'

Developed with Unreal 4, Styx: Shards of Darkness, creeps into an ambitious new sequel with a host of new features! Today, we are unveiling the very first gameplay video of Styx: Shards of Darkness, where you can watch our goblin hero sneak, climb, swing, and kill through the Port of Korrangar on a mission offered by his latest shadowy client. This is the perfect opportunity to discover some of the new features and gameplay mechanics added to Styx's latest adventure.

In search for the Ambassador's magical scepter stolen by a shape-shifting elf, Styx must infiltrate a diplomatic summit through clever use of the environment and new crafting abilities. A new feature, crafting, enables Styx to use more abilities, such as throwing a cocoon large distances enabling him to teleport into a newly hatched clone of himself.

The series' lauded verticality returns, with many choices of routes and tactics to take throughout the level. Stick to the shadows on the ground, avoiding patrols, or turn to the walls and ceilings to sneak past or attack from above. Kill, or subvert; the choice is yours - just don't be seen!

The leveling system returns expanded and enhanced. Using the magical power of Amber, Styx is able to turn himself invisible for a short period of time, and if you choose to upgrade this skill, it can even turn victims invisible while you go in for kills. By levelling up the assassination tree, Styx gets access to improved aerial kills, as well as the ability to kill an enemy from a barrel or box and stuff the body inside in a single, swift, move.

Styx's second adventure builds upon the foundations laid Akenash, with more fluid movement and climbing abilities, a richer story told with cinematics including an enhanced bestiary, and side-missions to complete for the sneakiest of goblins.

Styx: Shards of Darkness comes out early 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC! You can preorder the game now to get exclusive access to the Akenash set, donning the outfit and dagger of Styx's first adventure.
 
Self-Ejected

Bubbles

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That's the same level we saw at Gamescom. Looks more polished already.
 

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