Stygian: Outer Gods from developer Misterial is a Silent Hill-style prequel to Stygian: Realm of the Outer Gods, itself a Fallout 2-style take on horror and RPGs. Misterial swapped turn-based combat for first-person exploration, survival, and stealth, while keeping much of its predecessor's emphasis on choice-based character development, and the result makes for a tense journey across a tortured physical and mental landscape. Just as tortured, though, is Outer Gods' script and take on combat, its weakest points that drag the whole thing down.
The what now
Stygian: Outer Gods starts with a bad dream, or maybe it's a memory. The nature of what's happening is purposely obscured, but the gist of it is that Stygian's hero, Jack, an explorer of some renown, is having trouble. A previous expedition evidently went wrong in some capacity, as he mentions his brother, a cursed temple, and dealing with the occult, before waking up in a panic.
It seems like Stygian has a layered story, but it's buried under writing that frequently borders on unintelligible. That's not just hyperbole, either. The dialogue is often florid in an effort to sound Edwardian, but just as often, characters slip into modern usage – saying "invite" instead of invitation, for example. There are also several instances, including situations where the main characters are discussing ideas and people important to the story, where it just doesn't make sense.
"Most hesitate to utter Kingsport, so convincing them is a trial. Plus, my trust is sparse," Jack's former friend-turned traveling companion Victoria says at one point. There's no indication who needs convicning, as she also just told you that she's gathered a full crew to join the expedition, and the trust comment seems like it's pulled from a different conversation. Early access games always change and improve over time, but hopefully Misterial pays more attention to the script in future updates.
It takes a village to (break your mind)
Outside of confusing conversations, Stygian: Outer Gods plays a bit like Resident Evil Village and Silent Hill 2 with light RPG and survival elements. Before setting out for Kingsport, Jack has a moment of reflection in the bathroom, where you decide what his stats and general proficiencies will be. You might make him physically powerful, but incapable of handling the occult or anything remotely mysterious. He could excel at stealth and persuasion, but be complete rubbish when it comes to combat. It sounds like standard stuff, but your choices have an immediate affect on the way you approach Jack's journey. If, for example, you bolster his resistance to the occult and make him specialize in the supernatural, you'll stand a better chance at surviving Kingsport's more murderous residents and have an easier time understanding the town's mysteries.
After reaching Kingsport, Jack finds that all is very much not well in the seaside town. Almost everyone is either dead, feasting on the dead, or standing around chanting, and Victoria's only lead about… whatever it is they're meant to be in Kingsport for – it should be finding Jack's father, but that seems to get lost in the shuffle – is in a wealthy trader's mansion. That mansion just so happens to be locked behind a magical gate that needs three discs to open, so off you trot to the cursed village to find them and get an idea of how Stygian: Outer Gods works.
Violence shouldn't be the answer
With no clear idea about where to look, Stygian pushes you to explore and find ways to get around the murderers and witches wandering the town. The actions available to you are basic and the same as many other survival-horror games – sneaking by, distracting with items – but the town's layout adds an extra layer of tension and creativity to these familiar strategies. Each area has multiple possible routes through, and you can make your own via distractions and carefully planned sprinting. Even successfully escaping enemies comes with risks, though, as Jack's sanity plummets whenever he encounters anything to do with the occult. A witch's chant might not kill him, but it can break his mind. Carefully balancing Jack's needs while trying to explore and survive is one of Stygian's strongest points.
Combat is inevitable, though. That's a shame, as it's rather boring at launch, a series of back-and-forth blows where you try to kill your opponent before they kill you. There's little room for strategy outside knowing when to block and when to strike, and most enemy behavior for the first few hours is predictable. Things get a bit more interesting when Jack gets a gun and moves beyond the village square, but battles are definitely a weak point for Stygian right now. Surviving the elements and keeping Jack from falling into insanity are challenging enough, and given how rudimentary combat is, I wish Stygian focused more on its stealth and psychological horror.
Stygian: Outer Gods needs some extra work, but that's what early access is for. With a heavy editing pass and some rebalancing, though, Outer Gods has a chance to shack off its obvious inspirations and make a strong identity from its strengths.
The publisher provided the PC copy of Stygian: Outer Gods used for this impressions piece. Stygian: Outer Gods launches in early access on Steam on April 14, 2025.
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replyJosh Broadwell posted a new article, Stygian: The Outer Gods' early access launch shows some promise under its rough exterior
