Does this Cthulhu game reign supreme in Early Access?
Set in the universe of Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones, the game lets players witness and influence the events preceding the Black Day. Immerse yourself in a unique world full of dangers, unexplored dark corners, and looming evil beyond mortal comprehension. Assume the role of a mercenary accompanying the enigmatic girl to the foggy settlement of Kingsport to uncover her family’s dark secret. You are shipwrecked and soon encounter the nightmares that have haunted this place for centuries. Would you be able to find your way out, keep your sanity, and prevent the coming of the ancient Outer Gods, or maybe being insane is the key to salvation?
I didn’t play Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones so I can’t really compare that to this Early Access game set in the same universe. So, I don’t suppose it’s a direct sequel based on that description, but it didn’t seem that you needed to know anything about the other game to enjoy this one, which is great for a newcomer such as myself.
While it’s in Early Access, it’s hard to give it a full score so I think I’m going to leave it TBC for now until it launches version 1.0. As an RPG, it does well and ticks the boxes you would expect and has some nice surprises up its sleeve. It does have some optimisation issues in outdoor areas with some framerate drops that I wouldn’t be expecting on my hardware, but I hope it gets fixed in future updates.
Animation needs improving as well, but I was impressed with the overall story and even though it probably will get a few tweaks there, it doesn’t need too much. I was impressed with the art style and the Lovecraft inspiration shines through here well. It definitely has Call of Cthulhu vibes.
The Verdict (so far)
I was impressed with Stygian: Outer Gods in its current state in Early Access. Yes, it needs some polishing in the performance department and a few tweaks here and there, but it has potential to be something great.