Styx: Blades of Greed

I wouldn't recommend this game if you're fan of the previous ones like me. SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU ARE WARNED !!! I've waited more than a decade just to know what happen after the awfully bad end of shards of darkness and i still don't know entirely because i can't finish this game, too disappointing. The most important thing first, Styx. Where is he ? Because there is no way the main character is actually Styx. In the previous games, he was mean, selfish, greedy like our politicians and above all, funny. He often had a funny/mean comment about the situation or about your target, something that would make me grin. I've never had this feeling in this game, he is almost silent, has nothing to say and when he does, it's just not funny ! He feels like he gained 40 years ! Clearly the writters didn't know what they were doing and didn't play the previous games. Which brings me to my next point, why do we play ? in the previous ones, it was just about his personal contempt or personal vengeance. He doesn't work for free and espacially not for the greater good, or to help others, which is the case here. Would he care about helping djarack with his lost pure amber for his people and stuff ? NO and it doesn't even bring a big upgrade to the gameplay either. The orc retrieve her stolen runes ? NEITHER, especially that again, it doesn't bring much to the gameplay. Same thing with treasures. In the first game, there was rare collectibles, one per mission. Here it's helledryn asking you to steal them for her. NO NO NO, Styx steals for him or get paid to do so ! Helledryn still didn't pay her debt from shards of darkness ! Styx shouldn't even help her ! Long story short, Styx's personality has not been grasped by the devs and writters at all. He went from selfish thieve to gentle thug. And there is so much more to say about this but you got point i think. The gameplay isn't crazy either. It's the same as before but with mechanics that have disappeared, like ropes for example or certain powers you could gain in shards of darkness just to be replaced by lame new ones. They don't help infiltration most of the time. Like the time slow for example, why do i care about slowing time to pass between gards ? I can be invisble since first game ! The egg/teleportation has been nerfed and honestly, i get it, it was broken, but the clones ? Why can't i move them anymore, why can't i scout ? why do they stay still ? It's not even justified in game lol. And the new gadgets like the grapplin hook or paraglider ? Forgetable at best because they're very situational and honestly not that great. They're just a way to limit the player progression in the "open" maps (who are still lineare anyway) The sound design of the grapplin is also terrible, i had to the feeling i was using a plastic toy. I'm not asking for the same grapplin as batman but come on. Even the way you move completely straight in the air with it, no matter the angle, feels off. The phasing is also forgetable since you get it quite late in the game where the maps have been visited almost entirely if not the case. But the worst about gameplay is probably the fights. Yes, you read well ! Because in this game, you can't finish without fighting ! HE IS A THIEF ! THE MASTER OF SHADOWS GAD DAMMIT ! Why do i need to fight an orc 1vs1 ?! It's not one occurence either ! The gimmic of Styx is to be sneaky and little, fitting everywhere but when you get caught, you're in trouble ! Not anymore. Feels like the latest AC games, and it says something. About the absence of coop...They said that would turn off the challenge of the game, but man, can games just be fun sometimes nowadays ? You just didn't want to work on it and that's all, admit it at least ! You think my stupid brain won't make the game 10X times harder because i'm playing with my friend, goofing around and trolling him ? Huge miss... I could go on for more but it's getting too long. I could talk about the fact that some animations are worse than the previous games, that akenash is completely out of proportion making it feel weird, the fact that the structures are the same assets shared between maps (lazyness at it's peak). I wasn't asking for a dishonored 2 in level design either but at least they could have tried. Oh and did you know that the only way for you to get new cosmetics was via microtransactions ? Even for the one of the previous games !!!! Pack your Ubislop and make a complete game ! I don't know if there will be a styx 4, but i won't buy for less than 10 € that's for sure. I'm just gonna go back to the first and second opus.