Styx sequel Shards of Darkness announced, out next year

Focus Home teased a sequel to its goblin-based stealth game Styx: Master of Shadows last Christmas , and it's finally emerged from under a shady parasol to announced it.

, and it's finally emerged from under a shady parasol to announced it. Say howdy to Styx: Shards of Darkness, which features "more ambition", a "bigger budget", and a "new engine", all things that would probably help when developing a sequel.

That image up there is the only glimpse we've been afforded of the third-person stealth-'em-up, but here are a few more details from that announcement post.

"Following the fall of Akenash tower, an extraordinary matter has forced Styx out of hiding to infiltrate Körangar, the city of the Dark Elves. Supposedly impregnable, a diplomatic summit offers Styx a chance at slipping in unnoticed, as he learns that the event is nothing but a mere façade… Moreover, the Elves have joined forces with the Dwarves, and the only thing both races have in common is a mutual hatred of the Goblins…"

Shards has been in development for six months, using Unreal Engine 4, and Focus Home says it stars a "nimbler, more refined" Styx who'll sneak around a "more fully realized world". That Dark Elf city up there is just one of "many extensive mission areas", which sounds promising

There are new enemies, environments and so on, plus Styx has a bunch of new abilities: he can now grapple around corners, climb ropes, and use his knife to zip-wire along others.

Jon Morcom had some gripes in his reviewof the original, but reckoned it weaved "an entertaining Grimm-like yarn in and around twenty hours-worth of furtive fun."