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I usually get into any game without too much expectation, and when a game or a developer behind it isn't as famous, then the expectations are even lower. I always heed the invaluable lesson from a very wise god of war, Kratos: "Keep your expectations low, boy! And you'll never get disappointed." Such a wise man, or god... whatever.
Seriously, once I downloaded and started to play Stygian: Outer Gods, I knew exactly nothing about the game or the universe the plot takes place in. The game started a bit slow, without that specific hooking strategy, but after an hour or so, the plot and all else started to thicken like crazy.
After investigating this world for a bit, I got interested in its lore because I figured out how complex and intriguing it was only to find out that this game shares the universe with a title called Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones. Now, I must admit, I've never heard of this game, but given this universe is based on a novel, it speaks volumes of its quality.
Stygian: Outer Gods is a first-person survival horror with light RPG mechanics that is heavily reminiscent of the latest Resident Evil games, especially RE: Village. If you love Resident Evil titles, and by this I mean not just the mechanics but the story and the atmosphere in general, then you'll most certainly love this game as well.
Although Stygian: Outer Gods gave me different vibes when I started playing it for the first time. You get spawned inside an unusual area, full of crystallised rocks and strange contraptions, only to be respawned inside your father's study. To make things more interesting, after a section in front of the mirror, where you set some RPG attributes for Jack (the protagonist of the game), you get visited by a familiar face, a woman called Victoria, who claims she knows things about your father and where to find him.
Soon, you board a boat and travel to a small town called Kingsport, where monsters pester people and where, allegedly, Jack's father has been seen. Of course, as in every other game of the similar kind, your boat is sunk in some shady circumstances, and you find yourself separated from the others, and the survival begins.
From the very start, it is more than obvious that Stygian: Outer Gods has huge potential and the gameplay that can win the hearts of many gamers, the genre enthusiasts and the casual ones alike. The horror elements are not as strong as I'd like them to be; the horror effects are produced more through the creepy and eerie atmosphere than in usual, often cheap methods like jump scares or the like, which is very mature and commendable, only not so scary, sadly.
The entire first section of the game that you'll be able to play (the developers promise more content soon) is designed very well and reminds me a lot of the first level of Resident Evil: Village. The atmosphere is almost the same: a small, infested town with only a couple of merchants left with streets and houses full of scary monsters that were once real people is something that will very quickly get under your skin.
Graphically speaking, the game isn't the work of art that will leave you in awe, but it has its charm. The entire visual presentation leans more towards the older generation of consoles with graphical effects that look quite old for today's standards, but I say again, it's all very charming and somehow complements the game's overall atmosphere and all.
I already said that Stygian: Outer Gods looks and feels like the latest Resident Evil games, but the best explanation would be to say that this game is like the improved version of Resident Evil games. It shares some similarities, yes, like the inventory management, sluggish movements, same weapon choices, crafting system, and many others, and on top of that, the developers decided to add this game's own charm in the form of RPG elements and some magical abilities that will probably gain their full potential once the full version comes out.
The RPG elements represent the choices the players will make during the gameplay because when you speak with other characters, you'll usually get several options, and your choices will matter; it cannot be seen yet, but again, more content will most certainly reveal this mechanic fully.
The next RPG characteristic of Stygian: Outer Gods is elemental damage you'll take and deal, with different potions for healing such statuses. Then, unlike Resident Evil games, Stygian: Outer Gods features stamina management mechanics—you cannot swing your weapons endlessly because once the stamina bar depletes, you'll be exhausted and open for the damage. That said, you'll not be able to sprint endlessly too, and all those additions are really very welcome.
One more thing that characterises Stygian: Outer Gods is the way your skills are learnt and applied. To learn a new skill or to augment some of your abilities like stamina, health, or, let's say, lockpicking skills, you'll have to find cards scattered throughout the world, and once you find one of those, you'll be able to assign one of these skills to it. This will definitely make you explore more.
Speaking of exploration, the levels are designed as some sort of semi-open areas featuring maps (we had a chance to explore only one map, but in the future, there will be more). The areas are full of locked doors that can be opened either with specific keys or from the other side. Then, you'll find materials, chests, and save points, all like in Resident Evil games.
In my limited playtime, I had the opportunity to solve two puzzles, and I must say, if all the puzzles will be as interesting and challenging as those two I encountered, I'm really looking forward to playing this game in the future because the puzzles are just perfect.
Since this is just an early access version with a very limited amount of the game to be played, there are, sadly, some very big issues you'll face if you decide to give this game a go in this state. First of all, there's a big problem with the map. Once you open it in some areas, it starts flickering and you cannot see a thing on it; it is functional only in some limited places, and since you'll rely on the map a lot because there's no compass or any other pointer to where the objectives might be, you'll find yourself stumbling through the game as a blind person. This issue will probably be solved soon, but it is here now, and I'm pointing it out because it is my job to do so.
The second issue is more of a technical nature. On the PC, where I played the game, the performance is very bad. Regardless of the settings, the game will stutter like crazy, especially in open spaces. Also, even though the game is obviously not so demanding, upon clicking on recommended settings, the game recognised my PC specs and set everything to epic (the highest graphical settings), but once I started playing, I could barely get 30 FPS in the best-case scenario.
Lowering settings to high gave me 60+ FPS, which means that some things are just badly optimised. Again, this will probably be taken care of in the future as well. However, it is here now, and I'm warning you about it.
One more thing that is more of the developers choice than the issue itself I want to mention is the lack of any voiceover during the conversations. Jack and some other characters will speak from time to time, and their voiceovers are truly fantastic, but during conversations, they will become completely mute, and you'll be forced to read all they are saying instead of listening to them.
I get that this is probably a way to cut down the development costs, but the developers really shouldn't opt for excluding the voiceover options because, in this way, the game feels very off. On top of all that, the language choice and the sentences you're reading are very difficult, and it only complicates things further. I really hope this will change and we'll get the full voiceover with the full version of the game.
Conclusion
At the end of this preview, I can say that I'm very mad at Misterial Games because they gave me a taste of a game that I really liked, and as soon as I started to enjoy it well, I met the screen: Thank you for playing Early Access...
Seriously, Stygian: Outer Gods will be a very good game; it can be told even now, when you can taste only a small portion of it, and if everything plays out as I truly hope it will, we might get the game that will challenge even the great Resident Evil and come out victorious.
