Stygian feels like a throwback to hardcore strategy RPGs like Interplay’s Fallout and Wasteland, beyond just the same isometric perspective during world exploration. Players are thrown into a deep and detailed world, and getting acquainted with the various systems in play can be a daunting challenge. Further choices like gender, age, and belief system all play into stat point allocation and growth possibilities, and specific dialog choices and gameplay options that may be available over the course of the game. Players also get to choose a specific background for their character within the chosen archetype the criminal, for instance, can have a background as a gangster, thief, hitman, or con artist. There are many archetypes appropriate to Lovecraftian horror to choose from, ranging from the academic to the criminal, from the investigator to the occultist. Right from the beginning, players are given free rein to create the kind of character they want, choosing from some premade builds or making one from scratch. Stygian is not afraid to delve deep into its role-playing roots. Indoors and outside, bleak and dreary pretty much sums up Arkham these days. Taking on the role of one of Arkham’s unfortunate residents, currently eking out an existence living day-to-day in the attic of the Old Eel House tavern, players set out on a quest to find a being known only as the Dismal Man, who promises answers and, perhaps, a way out of the doomed town. Chaos and anarchy now control the streets: the mob is the new law, madness and violence run rampant, and a cult worshipping entities known as the Great Old Ones has taken up residence just across the Miskatonic River, making excursions into Arkham proper periodically to “recruit” new members. A mysterious supernatural event known as the Black Day has caused Arkham to become cut off from the rest of the world, seemingly enshrouded by an endless void. True to form, the game takes place in the 1920s city of Arkham, Massachusetts.
While it isn’t a flawless experience and absolutely refuses to hold the player’s hand, it does manage to set itself apart by virtue of its unrelenting difficulty, all while telling a story that comes closer to Lovecraftian fiction than many of its contemporaries. This is where Cultic Games’ Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones comes in. One area we haven’t seen represented as much as expected is the traditional, hardcore RPG that emulates a tabletop session rich with narrative, interlocking gameplay systems, and tons of player choice dependent on random number generation.
An Abyss of Madness and Old-School DifficultyĬthulhu has covered a lot of digital ground in recent memory, from tactical games to first-person mystery thrillers, and everything in-between.
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