At other times, he finds that ledges he jumps toward can't be grabbed at all, thus negating 15 minutes' worth of careful sneaking. Sometimes Styx will simply jump down, usually into plain sight of guards who leap at the chance to test the sharpness of their blades. Far more worrisome are the controls and edge detection, which turn what should be the simple act of dropping down to hold onto a ledge into a labor worthy of Hercules. That's enough to make Styx a stealth game worth noticing, and it works so well that the option to vomit out a clone to distract guards and flip distant switches usually feels like an unnecessary contrivance. All the while, he sneaks behind the guards and researchers populating the sprawling complex, either muffle-killing them so as not to arouse suspicion or driving his dagger through them in hastier (and noisier) moments. He's in his element among the shadows crowding the bleak prisons and sewers of the tower, and Master of Shadows wisely encourages interacting with the environment to cup out candle flames or using well-placed spitballs crafted from sand to extinguish them from afar. Styx is at his best when he's focused on the business of not being seen when he's hiding in bins and slinking through suspiciously goblin-sized ducts dotting the six stages ahead of him. Styx clings to its stealth focus as tightly as an assassin wears his mask - one slip, and the whole gig threatens to dissolve into chaos.
But Master of Shadows uses the dark Fable-style art to good effect in most settings, and the low demands means it's generally possible to maintain high framerates at the best settings even on weaker PCs. The graphics aren't advanced, and most of the time our garrulous goblin tiptoes through textures that look as though they took a wrong turn half a decade ago. He finds human friends as he scrambles through the pleasingly vertical levels of the Tower of Akenash - an elaborate structure surrounding a world tree that's being harvested for its sap - but they mainly exist as foils to better showcase his wit and snark. It doesn't hurt that Styx is a likable sort his predilection for well-timed F-bombs and exemplary voice work allow him to carry weak scenes that might have tripped up the whole story in less-capable hands. Developer Cyanide knows the strength of its main character well we first saw him back in 2012's flawed but ambitious Of Orcs and Men, where he shared the stage with an anger-prone advocate of orcish civil rights.
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