Madness will overwhelm everyone – review of the game “Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones”

Great Old Ones …

They’re already here. They took control of the city of Arkham, and their presence drove many of the townspeople crazy, including a guilty one with the face painted black of a man dancing in the streets. The game accurately reflects aspects of Lovecraft’s fiction, i.e. offensive points of view and strange fears of ocean life. Most of the author’s horror films describe uncovering the truth about strange phenomena, while in Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones instead of stopping the invasion of extraterrestrials, the player must survive as long as possible. The graphic style is filled with grotesque and beautiful at the same time, hand-written backgrounds that change and evolve as the madness progresses. If we add rumbling sounds, jaws of chains and screams of children, we will quickly realize that we are participating in a real horror movie.

Like Fallout

The gameplay can be compared to the first two Fallout games. The player explores a ruined city full of dead buildings and a galaxy of various characters, from gangsters to madmen without pants. Many heroes and companions were taken straight from the pages of Lovecraft’s stories. In our journey, we can be accompanied by two heroes and an additional bodyguard. Companions share common inventory with the exception of a bodyguard who will leave the group without receiving a daily payment. Its counterpart in this world is cigarettes. We can get them by selling items, completing tasks, they are also buried in various places and in the pockets of killed enemies. They are very important, because without them the player will not be able to buy items needed for survival, i.e. crafting ingredients, books, cocaine and always needed ammunition. The choice of the form of a specific origin will determine how the player will experience the Stygian. In particular, it is about bonuses related to individual archetypes. For example, if we choose the character of the Great Hunter, a dog will accompany us during our adventure. In turn, the figure of an aristocrat will be followed by a butler. At a later stage, the game allows us to travel outside the city of Arkham, but does not offer the possibility of free exploration and the locations become available after we are informed about their existence. The fight takes place in a turn-based system on a field of cubes, which also resembles the first installments of the post-apocalyptic series, or In turn, the figure of an aristocrat will be followed by a butler. At a later stage, the game allows us to travel outside the city of Arkham, but does not offer the possibility of free exploration and the locations become available after we are informed about their existence. The fight takes place in a turn-based system on a field of cubes, which also resembles the first installments of the post-apocalyptic series, or In turn, the figure of an aristocrat will be followed by a butler. At a later stage, the game allows us to travel outside the city of Arkham, but does not offer the possibility of free exploration and the locations become available after we are informed about their existence. The fight takes place in a turn-based system on a field of cubes, which also resembles the first installments of the post-apocalyptic series, orFinal Fantasy VII. Unfortunately, it can be terribly slow, especially at times when larger groups of enemies appear on the screen. It doesn’t matter if we are fighting monsters or maddened people – in the initial hours of the game the opponents seem to have more action points than the player. Regular groups of more than four enemies can be found, which turns combat into bloody chess, often frustrating. Fights are also the main cause of getting negative experience points, known as ANGST. The more we collect, the more traumatized the hero becomes. Therefore, it is often worth looking for other solutions to problems. The player’s character cannot go all the way and not go crazy. Going into madness for various reasons is an integral part of the game and something that makes the hero stronger.

Summary 

Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones  very faithfully reflects the realities of the universe created by HP Lovecraft and dresses them in the clothes of an old-school RPG. Despite a few small shortcomings, all fans of horror movies and the old approach to role-playing games will find a lot of things to discover when playing it over and over again.