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KickStarter Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones - a Lovecraftian Computer RPG

V_K

Arcane
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
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at a Nowhere near you
The problem with Stygian combat, I think, is that the systems are there but they are underutilized. Like, there are actually three damage types - physical, mental (sanity) and supernatural. But most of the characters can only do physical, and occultists can do supernatural. Which makes sense - it's not like humans can drive eldritch abominations mad. Maybe the damage types are more important for playing defensive? Like, you can't deal them to the enemies, but you have to be able to defend against them? That would also make sense both in the setting - since humans can only hope to survive an encounter with cosmic horrors, not go on the offensive - and mechanically, given the "progressive escape" system. But the problem here is - what kind of defensive abilities do you get exactly? I can think of two spells, one against physical damage, the other against conditions. That's it. And then there's the question of difficulty - personally, every time I had the progressive escape tiles open, there was no point to use if because I could finish off the remaining enemies within one round.
There's a skeleton of a good horror-themed combat in there, but to make it work they need to introduce more defensive abilities - of various kinds - and make enemies harder to kill.
 

V_K

Arcane
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at a Nowhere near you
as such there s zero doubt companions are many times stronger than the MC. as a matter of fact, the buttler with a ripper knife and punches could easily solo the game without even using drugs. with drugs he s just borderline cheating
To be fair, I don't know about the butler and the dog, but all the story companions are essentially undead (Sonia's perks hint a her being some sort of ghost) - it's no wonder they're stronger than MC.
 

Iluvcheezcake

Prophet
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,651
Location
Le Balkans
Having fun in the blasted street xD
Also a tip for new players going for a mage run - dont buy spells, they are expensive and you get em for free as you go about

Also the game gives a new meaning to dumpster diving :)
 

Xunwael

Educated
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
73
Turns out no flappers in the 20s behaved in ways that conservatives found shocking. :lol:

You can't go back far enough for conservatives. "Ok at what date did women have absolutely NO power or autonomy because THAT's the ticket for ME!"

(also lol at flappers in the 20s being more forward-thinking than dweebs at the Codex in 2019)
Point isn't that NPCs shouldn't be allowed to be obtuse cunts, it's that the PC should be allowed to be an equally obtuse cunt right back at them. Obviously, my lecherous materialist performer would see no issue, but you'd think my crazy religious nobleman, driven even more fervent in his dogma by the surrounding whirlpool of madness, would have an issue or two with some dumb broad talking down to him while being objectively wrong about god's rightful plan for the sexes on top of it all.

This trivial shit can be forgiven when you're dealing with a game that has actual -gameplay- to talk about. Even the IEE games can be forgiven. But this game has nothing but its writing to fall back on. Also, even the IEE games allowed you to be an obtuse cunt. All the way back to BG1, every second conversation, seems like, had some retarded flippant response for you to obnoxiously shit all over the NPC's face. Then they'd try to kill you for it, as one might expect. Not that these shitty modern titles even allow you to fight random NPCs half the time. Too much fucking effort to code a game that lets you engage in freeform combat with anyone you encounter, as would be appropriate for its genre. Just one of the many reasons that, even as they were making up the games as they went along, the older titles still somehow manage to feel more like authentic role-playing experiences than most the derivative garbage that, today, idiots tie themselves into knots to forgive all the staggering, shameful flaws of. Some perverse state of famished trickle-fed mania compelling near-instinctive defensive responses to even the most bare-bones critique of any """game""" in the genre.
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
So how do I order Outsider to cast spells/rituals during combat? I can't see any buttons for it? I noticed shortcuts numbers on the Grimoire but when pressing them they did nothing.
 

Alienman

Retro-Fascist
Patron
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Mars
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
What does that line has to do with conservatives? If you don't take the middle dialogue, and even that one sounds weak, you can't get out of the dialogue system. Where is the dialogue option to tell her off or slap her? The game allows you to play a gangster and as seen several times otherwise in the game the mobsters aren't shy of hitting or even killing women - so why can't you?
 

GandGolf

Augur
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
854
Location
Rivendell
So how do I order Outsider to cast spells/rituals during combat? I can't see any buttons for it? I noticed shortcuts numbers on the Grimoire but when pressing them they did nothing.

You right click on him to bring up the radial menu I think, though you need the spell equipped to a quick slot.
 

Jenkem

その目、だれの目?
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Vatnik
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Nov 30, 2016
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An oasis of love and friendship.
Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I helped put crap in Monomyth
this, I presumably last (i fucking hope) section is annoying as FUCK.. can't stealth way through because a fucker will fly down, no where to rest so my character has 3 hp and can't just leave a fucking battle because it brings you back to the beginning of the map who the fuck thought this idea was good? fucking turkroach pieces of shit. i will boycott mount and blade 2 just to spite their entire fucking dev scene
 

Jenkem

その目、だれの目?
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Vatnik
Joined
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Messages
8,846
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An oasis of love and friendship.
Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I helped put crap in Monomyth
well I finished it.. what the FUCK at this ending? I was enjoying the game for the most part despite bugs until the last 10% of it, and it was all decline from there.. badly designed sections, abrupt happenings of plot and then shit just stops... 16 more days 'til disco elysium
 

Alienman

Retro-Fascist
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
well I finished it.. what the FUCK at this ending? I was enjoying the game for the most part despite bugs until the last 10% of it, and it was all decline from there.. badly designed sections, abrupt happenings of plot and then shit just stops... 16 more days 'til disco elysium

You saw one Mi-go too much and the MADNESS™ consumed you!
 

PrettyDeadman

Guest
this, I presumably last (i fucking hope) section is annoying as FUCK.. can't stealth way through because a fucker will fly down, no where to rest so my character has 3 hp and can't just leave a fucking battle because it brings you back to the beginning of the map who the fuck thought this idea was good? fucking turkroach pieces of shit. i will boycott mount and blade 2 just to spite their entire fucking dev scene
Are you talking about the sleeper battle?
 

the mole

Learned
Shitposter
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
833
well I finished it.. what the FUCK at this ending? I was enjoying the game for the most part despite bugs until the last 10% of it, and it was all decline from there.. badly designed sections, abrupt happenings of plot and then shit just stops... 16 more days 'til disco elysium
Pretty much every rpg that comes out now somehow manages to be shorter than fallout 1

Just assume it's early access, I enjoyed it when the bugs weren't ruining it, which I would say is most of the game
 

Trash Player

Scholar
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
Messages
438
this, I presumably last (i fucking hope) section is annoying as FUCK.. can't stealth way through because a fucker will fly down, no where to rest so my character has 3 hp and can't just leave a fucking battle because it brings you back to the beginning of the map who the fuck thought this idea was good? fucking turkroach pieces of shit. i will boycott mount and blade 2 just to spite their entire fucking dev scene
I made the same mistake. Don't go to stealth mode, just avoid the shadows of the Mi-go patrols with speed.
 

the mole

Learned
Shitposter
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
833
I like that the game vindicated shovel autism, just wish there were more fights, I didn't genocide the cultists because I thought they might be tied to later game quests
 

Jinn

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,930
Well, just finished it.

Hooo boy, that ending. They sure did run the fuck out of money and time. What a shame. Hope they're able to finish up work on the game through DLC and a deep revision and enhancement of some of the gameplay. Enjoyed the game overall. Started off really strong, then started to falter about 12 hours in for me. Really impressive for a studio's first project, in particular. Hope to see much more from these guys in the future.
 

Trash Player

Scholar
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
Messages
438
Finished it too. Wore me out around the same mark. The witchhouse is literally a theme park attraction. They are busy fistting in as many Mythos catch-em as they can for the cul points after blasted street.
Look people, we really love the Mythos and are shorter in resources. Blam. <10k sales on steamspy. I still don't regret buying it. Not sure if licensing CoC would have helped or not.
 

Sloul

Savant
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Messages
259
I was close to finish the game but due to a crash... :negative:
I read a few things about the ending, and learned that there is a big amount of content cut.
Thus, I would suggest to wait until the game is patched and upgraded with the missing parts before trying it out.
I heard there is an expansion coming out, I really wish it isn't meant to add those missing parts.

I will say what I wrote previously, this game is an absolute, grand, boner. But it's short. I put 30 hours in it (incomplete though), but I spent a great amount of time with exploration. As a matter of fact I didn't attack the black castle, so, there is still that in the bag.

There is a character development and a world development in Stygian that you simply don't feel in any other game that I can think of.
The fact that your character not only grow with stats+perks but also with pathologies and weakness, make it feel more interesting.
There isn't much scenery, the counterpart is that it's quite retroactive, but, often not really bright: a door which was previously barred to you is now open for the need of quest progression. Progression is never made through player wits and decisions, or through the use of items/spells. It's only following quests progression: You talked to this character? ok, now this path is open.
All game paths seem to be open to any given character - minus some tidbits -, but not every character will succeed at what's presented to them, or not in the same fashion.
On the tidbits, to illustrate what is possible (don't read if you never played, because it's actually cool):
If you're playing a christian, you can prove your faith and help cleaning the church. I didn't experience this side quest in my playthrough because I played an occultist.

It will certainly dust some old reliques in my fav. rpg list.

edit: there was a patch yesterday which make both Hunter doggo and Aritocrat buttler disappear.
 
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Van-d-all

Erudite
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Jan 18, 2017
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1,557
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Standin' pretty. In this dust that was a city.
Not sure if licensing CoC would have helped or not.
I don't really see any point in that. Character system is decent as it is, and implementation of Angst and Sanity fits perfectly. If anything, maybe I'd tweak the Angst traits to be actually contextual, as if in, being unlocked by specific occurrences, but that's it.

Thus, I would suggest to wait until the game is patched and upgraded with the missing parts before trying it out.
I heard there is an expansion coming out, I really wish it isn't meant to add those missing parts.
Do they even plan of ever adding the missing content? If they ran out of money, given the base price, I wouldn't mind getting the whole package even if this means releasing it as separate DLC.
 

the mole

Learned
Shitposter
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
833
What angst level did you guys get, I think I got high 6 by the end, all the passives that drain sanity, critical failure +10% is absurd
 
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Sloul

Savant
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Messages
259
I don't really see any point in that. Character system is decent as it is, and implementation of Angst and Sanity fits perfectly. If anything, maybe I'd tweak the Angst traits to be actually contextual, as if in, being unlocked by specific occurrences, but that's it.


Do they even plan of ever adding the missing content? If they ran out of money, given the base price, I wouldn't mind getting the whole package even if this means releasing it as separate DLC.
That's certainly not for me to say, but imo, in any given circumstance, the part that is missing from the main game cannot be sold as a distinct part.
Even if on the short term it makes their wallet heavier, not even sure it might work, it will on the long term be a backlash.
Missing content: patch, Expansion: whatever they want.
If they are in a bad financial spot - which I am unaware of - there is nothing stopping them from selling their expansion to cash up. But to cash up on something missing from the base game is something else, entirely.

This pretty much sounds like gossip though. I can't fathom gentlemen of their taste to even consider such a dubious route.
 

Sloul

Savant
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Messages
259
From what I know:
The biggest offender is that soon after starting the game, your main task is to decipher the meaning of a poem and to unlock the mysteries of a certain statuette. It's like finding the Eye of Innos in Gothic 2.
But the game ends abruptly by sacrificing a companion. Statuettes? Poem? To dust.
But among other things
- when asking the owner of the painshop about better price, he mentions calling the player on an errant at a later time to complete the deal. Only, it never happens.
- you can't complete the quest of the lone soldier, because Gwen is nowhere to be found.
- and same for Sonia's boyfriend, that could also be part of an expansion, but that's a bit off. Even more considering that you've got a full fledged follower seeking him.
// We are supposed to meet ''The Carion'' at Wessex hotel, but I never met him. I mean, I have an entry stating that I met him at Wessex Hotel, never happened. I 'heard' he was there from the receptionist. I also witnessed some girls being called in his room, but never actually saw the face of the guy.

And that's only what I am aware of.



edit: Sonia's boyfriend not Randolf Carter, mixed up names.
 
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