Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 86
  3. Negative: 8 out of 86

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  1. Muyrka
    Apr 8, 2020
    5
    I was hyped up on all Lovecraftian setting, but once you start the game - meh. Clunky gameplay, awful animations, linear and rather dull quests. Battle system is abominable. Looks like a school project rather than professional game.
    Thumbs up for idea, thumbs down for final result.
  2. Babutto
    Jan 2, 2021
    7
    Cool but incomplete game.

    Pros.: - Survival. Hard game at least first half of it. - Atmosphere. - The use of several Lovecraft works. - Different approaches to the walkthrough. Reminded of Fallout. - Total madness. Cons.: - In the middle of the game it's getting simplier because you may accumulate 1000+ cigs and it's more than enough. - A lot of useless stuff and many useless    Cool but incomplete game.

    Pros.:
    - Survival. Hard game at least first half of it.
    - Atmosphere.
    - The use of several Lovecraft works.
    - Different approaches to the walkthrough. Reminded of Fallout.
    - Total madness.

    Cons.:
    - In the middle of the game it's getting simplier because you may accumulate 1000+ cigs and it's more than enough.
    - A lot of useless stuff and many useless items.
    - The potential wasn't fully used.
    - The game is incomplete and it's the most terrible cons.    … Expand
  3. CelilShn12
    Dec 29, 2020
    8
    The game is beautiful. Except for a few missing items, I liked it very much. It also made me very happy that it was a Turkish game.
  4. davidsuzuki257
    Oct 5, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Could have easily been one of the greatest cRPGs of 2019 if it wasn't for its incomplete main quest, regardless of it being buggy.

    The good:

    - Amazing story set in a HP Lovecraft universe with references to pop fiction.
    - Beautiful art and visual effects..
    - Eerie music and special effects
    - Good combat system (inspired by Fallout and Arcanum)
    - Interesting dialogue options depending on your character skills.
    - Includes some frightening scenes later in the game .. it's unique for a 2D horror RPG.

    The bad:

    - Some areas of the game contain horrendous bugs that make the game unplayable unless you keep reloading, hoping that it won't crash the game..

    - You only get around 40 to 60 percent of the game quests combined with an incomplete ending.

    Would have given it 10/10 if it wasn't for the incomplete quests, despite how buggy it is. It is a must play for Lovecraft fans.    … Expand
  5. PHDIKOULAS
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    This game has 10? quests tops. The fact that it makes you run left and right so it can "feel" bigger dosent help.

    secondly it needs a tutorial of sorts, who woulda thought that if you said to companions to part ways,they not only ditch you permanently :D ,they also throw the items on the ground :DDDD yay . All in all avoid.Not a bad game but a shallow one. Hardly a crpg like baldurs eg.    This game has 10? quests tops. The fact that it makes you run left and right so it can "feel" bigger dosent help.

    secondly it needs a tutorial of sorts, who woulda thought that if you said to companions to part ways,they not only ditch you permanently :D ,they also throw the items on the ground :DDDD yay . All in all avoid.Not a bad game but a shallow one. Hardly a crpg like baldurs eg.

    Finished the game and never ever saw this wax man or whatever he was. Also didnt find all the crafting recipes and the ones i found i never crafted because melee all the way :/ Obviously something didnt work in the dev team,it feels like half the team up and left during the making of this game    … Expand
  6. Lordgrey
    Sep 30, 2019
    3
    Great: Plot, setting, atmosphere, artdisign, roleplay system. All of this realy exelent, at beging all looks a great, but later you see a lot of problems.
    Bad: primitive inparty characters and relations, broken ballans, railway storyline, useless craft
    Terrible: all about tech.part and mechanics realisation. This is about realisation of the saves system, boring battles, megatonns of    Great: Plot, setting, atmosphere, artdisign, roleplay system. All of this realy exelent, at beging all looks a great, but later you see a lot of problems.
    Bad: primitive inparty characters and relations, broken ballans, railway storyline, useless craft
    Terrible: all about tech.part and mechanics realisation. This is about realisation of the saves system, boring battles, megatonns of bugs, unevident mechanics. The worst at all its GUI, it realy scarest part of the game. And finaly- game ending, it looks like a book without a last 150 pages of the novel.    … Expand
  7. RustyJames
    Sep 30, 2019
    2
    Overrated and pretentious. Don't waste your time and money.
    System requirements are peace of joke! Bad graphics and design, annoying music and sound, no optimization, no balance, no storyline - just bunch of stupid quests. Gameplay? Just an extremely bad copy of xcom-style battle system.
    And, the key fact - there is no Lovecraft's atmosphere!
  8. Yagizbeyler
    Oct 2, 2019
    10
    Make no mistake, this is a true Lovecraftian cRPG experience. In every scene, every little item, every piece of dialogue you can see the love the team has put into making this game. Let's not forget about the music.

    The logic behind the combat is also different than what we are used to. You are not expected to kill every enemy you come across. In fact, more often than not you are    Make no mistake, this is a true Lovecraftian cRPG experience. In every scene, every little item, every piece of dialogue you can see the love the team has put into making this game. Let's not forget about the music.

    The logic behind the combat is also different than what we are used to. You are not expected to kill every enemy you come across. In fact, more often than not you are discouraged from fighting at all.Most of the time, you can just aim to survive long enough for an escape route to open in the combat arena and make a progressive escape. This gives you the same amount of experience you would get if you had beaten all the enemies. The only reward in killing everyone is a little bit more loot that you get in the end.

    I already know that I will be playing the game again soon after I finish it. I cannot wait to see what would have happened if I played a different character and made different choices.

    We definitely need more games like this.    … Expand
  9. KereMood
    Nov 30, 2019
    10
    This game is great. I know the team put a lot of effort i know their requirements not enough. And i appriciate they did this game. Thank you.
  10. MakuszDzik
    Oct 9, 2019
    9
    One Of the Best Chtulhu rpg. Nice graphic, good music, great story and dialogs.
  11. neperliva
    Oct 7, 2019
    9
    Fantastic art style, music and gameplay.

    Lots of variations in character building and combat.

    Simply the most detailed lovecraftian horror ever!
  12. skohl
    May 6, 2020
    1
    My experience with the game:
    I create a character, get control and start looking around the menu. I accidentally back out to the main menu while trying to resume the game. I can't load back into my character, despite him appearing in a save slot under "Load Game," there is no option to load.
    So I create the character again, and start looking around the menu again. While I'm tinkering    My experience with the game:
    I create a character, get control and start looking around the menu. I accidentally back out to the main menu while trying to resume the game. I can't load back into my character, despite him appearing in a save slot under "Load Game," there is no option to load.
    So I create the character again, and start looking around the menu again. While I'm tinkering with the resolution, the game bugs out and I can no longer exit the menu. I can't continue playing, and I can't leave the game. I have to use the task manager to close the program. Uninstalled.    … Expand
  13. CenkAlp
    Jun 27, 2020
    10
    this game is one of the best RPGs in 2019. if you love Fallout 1-2 you definitely gonna love this
  14. Luffi2539
    Oct 4, 2019
    10
    I was doing Whisperer in Darkness quest, came to give him ingredients and died, because i had not enough mind to resist its true form. 10 Lovecrafts of 10
  15. Turkish-gamer
    Nov 30, 2019
    10
    This game is soo good ı love it becuse it is my firs game ı am stard playing video games and this is super ı loved this game
  16. ScathachPreach
    Dec 29, 2020
    9
    A really dark and cool lovecraftian RPG with beautifully drawn graphics and some interesting companions. Loved the style and story.
    The combat isn't my favourite of the genre, but overall, I'm really happy with this game.
  17. gkceyavuz
    Jul 23, 2020
    10
    that's really good game. I had a really amazing time when i playing stygian.
  18. Bioreactor1987
    Oct 4, 2021
    6
    Игра интересная и в целом рекомендую, если любите Лавкрафта.

    + Стиль и визуал. + Не самая плохая боёвка и рпг механики. - Есть ощущение, что игра откровенно не закончена. Много концов уходит в никуда. - Бывают баги. - Очень раздражающий баг с пропаданием спутников, если их отпустить. - Лично мне шрифт резал глаза. - Местами не самый понятный интерфейс и механики.    Игра интересная и в целом рекомендую, если любите Лавкрафта.

    + Стиль и визуал.
    + Не самая плохая боёвка и рпг механики.

    - Есть ощущение, что игра откровенно не закончена. Много концов уходит в никуда.
    - Бывают баги.
    - Очень раздражающий баг с пропаданием спутников, если их отпустить.
    - Лично мне шрифт резал глаза.
    - Местами не самый понятный интерфейс и механики.
  19. samstrummer90
    Feb 12, 2021
    7
    Este título me sorprendió enormemente. Soy amante de las novelas del maestro H.P. Lovecraft y cada vez que sale un título basado en su universo se me hace el chirri agua pero a la vez me cago de miedo debido a los bodrios lovecraftianos que he llegado a probar.

    Stygian plantea un juego tranquilo, de disfrutar de los diálogos y de la historia. Con un combate por turnos con puntos de    Este título me sorprendió enormemente. Soy amante de las novelas del maestro H.P. Lovecraft y cada vez que sale un título basado en su universo se me hace el chirri agua pero a la vez me cago de miedo debido a los bodrios lovecraftianos que he llegado a probar.

    Stygian plantea un juego tranquilo, de disfrutar de los diálogos y de la historia. Con un combate por turnos con puntos de acción al estilo de Divinity o juegos similares pero mucho más simplificado.

    La atmósfera es brutal y la inmersión en el juego también, se acerca muchísimo a la libertad y toma de decisiones (con sus correspondientes consecuencias) de un juego de rol de papel y lápiz y eso es algo que a mi, por lo menos, me gusta.

    El juego aún no está terminado y por ello no es excesivamente largo pero debido a las posibilidades de crear diferentes personajes con diferentes estilos de juego es muy rejugable ya que al acercarse tanto al papel y al lápiz las habilidades sociales e intelectuales toman gran relevancia en este juego.

    La dificultad es aceptable, no es un paseo pero tampoco es imposible lo que crea un juego ameno y divertido en el que las horas pasan sin darte cuenta mientras juegas.

    No hay mucho más que decir sobre Stygian, si te gusta Lovecraft y el rol de papel y lápiz, juégalo. Si esperas un juego frenético con cientos de horas de historia o gráficos fotográficos y alucinantes, este no es tu juego.

    De momento le doy un 7 pero si en el futuro se amplia la historia manteniendo lo actual, probablemente aumente la nota.    … Expand
  20. MadAdventurer
    Jul 2, 2023
    9
    If I could, I would give it a 10 score, but it's abrupty end prevents me to do that. But this game has one of the BEST character creation I ever saw in a game! If it wasn't so buggy would be the best Lovecraftian game ever!

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. RPGamer
    Dec 30, 2019
    60
    If a steep difficulty curve, the promise of learning and juggling deep gameplay systems, and keeping a close eye trained on stats at all times sound right up your alley, or if you just want to be immersed in a well-made, atmospheric world, then Stygian is well worth checking out.
    Read full review
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Dec 6, 2019
    82
    The number of references to H.P. Lovecraft’s works and the fact that they are subtly woven into the main narrative and side-quests makes Stygian the most faithful lovecraftian game of recent years. [Issue#241, p.60]
  3. PLAY! Zine
    Dec 2, 2019
    95
    Stygian is a masterful, and pretentious cRPG that bravely immerses you into the world of HP Lovecraft in the eeriest and non-linear level. It presents great storytelling influenced by writer’s diabolical cosmic horrors and at the same time, it is a fully-fledged fun turn-based RPG that lives up to the names of much more famous and expensive games in the genre.
    Read full review
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