My 2 cents

[Knoggelvi]

First things first I love how much the movement has been improved, it's fun to just run around and scale the different structures. I love this series. I really enjoyed both Styx games and really hope for a 3rd some time in the future.

There are a couple of features that I think would really improve the gameplay:
1. Make amber vision enable night vision again, I avoided putting out lights because it felt like it punished me as much as the enemies since I can't see in the dark either.
2. The ability to close doors that have been opened.
3. The ability to toss bodies a short distance instead of always setting them down, there were quite a few instances where I fell of a cliff trying to drop a body over.
4. The trailer shows Styx throw a clone egg at a guard and the clone automatically begins grappling, this should be possible in game. Every time I have tried it the clone simply spawns next to them and is immediately killed so either it can't be done or I'm not able to trigger it.
5. Bring back the doors with grates that only the clones could squeeze through or something similar, cloning is Styx's signature move and should be encouraged. The removal of those doors makes it less necessary.
6. Pick up acid mines that were not triggered.
7. Now that Styx has multiple weapons and outfits, one weapon should be a nonlethal club.
8. There was no bonus for going into a level barehanded. The con is that you can't directly kill or fight enemies a potential pro could be called nimble fingers, pick locks and sabotage alarm bells faster
9. Bring back the relic hunts from Master of Shadows, seeing items added to the hideout gave a nice sense of progression and played into Styx's character as a thief.
10. Remove the clone poisonous fog ability (too over powered). In the first game I sacrificed clones to lure guards away from an area, now I can just send a clone running in and neutralize an entire room.

A big problem story wise is that Styx somehow has his memories. In Of Orcs and Men he doesn't know that he is the first goblin. In Master of Shadows this is explained by him falling into an amber lake and losing all his memories. Yet in Shards of Darkness he suddenly has his memories again, as he references various events such as his hatred of Barriman and his dip in the amber lake. This needs to be addressed and reconciled in the next title.

While the Easter eggs and references for other games were okay, I would really like it if the next game focused more on the world of Styx and built up it's lore. Perhaps you could place documents throughout the level that once found could be read back at the hideout.

The next game should open with a boss fight between Styx and Djarak, either in game or in cutscene. If Styx could keep the airship as his new base he could slowly customize it throughout the game.

A boss fight concept could be that you have to stun the boss to attack, with it taking multiple attacks to kill them. Either with a clone grapple, falling chandelier, or some other method. But each method only works once. In the meantime the boss is hunting you through the level so you have to keep on the move.

I am playing the GOG version currently. Does this have the latest patch; the AI had quite a few bugs with guards standing in one spot instead of following their patrol route and getting caught on environmental objects. This was especially noticeable with chests, I once ran and jumped in a chest with four elf guards chasing me. They spent the next few minutes colliding with each other in front of it, unable to open it.

[Bassilth]

You are right in your points. I also found the inconsistency with his memories and all those pop culture references too much. Not to mention he does a ton of fourth wall breaking in the game, which harms immersion.

I also would like to see 2 things in the next game:
1. A reward system of killing enough guards (contrasting Mercy, so you can get either or, so you are not forced to be a pacifist. Styx is NOT a pacifist.)
2. Consequences of actions. We had a couple of choices in the games and although it seemed like it might have consequences, sadly they did not have any, which was a huge bummer. It could be also implemented within the insignias. If you choose to get Mercy, you will notice something different in the game, but if you go for killing guards to get the other insignia, then there would be other consequences.

[Knoggelvi]

So I've been thinking about what else the clones could be good for.

Part of the reason I like the clones squeezing through the door grates was the fact that it was something no one would account for. Before Styx there were no goblins, the grates were probably for passing items between security gates without having to open them. He just took advantage a situation no one would have planned for or could plan for, because Styx is unique.

They should definitely push angle that in the sequel, how Styx's uniqueness allows him to survive.

Make puzzles that would take two people to solve. The world at large now knows about goblins, but the talking goblin is still seen as a myth. Let alone a goblin that can copy himself. So when designing security to keep thieves out it makes sense to design a system that would require two people to open a door because who would plan for a magic goblin when designing their security.

They could bring back the trap ability from Master of Shadows where you could set a clone to wait in a hiding spot and kill however comes by instead of the poisonous fog in the skill tree.

There could even be traps that you can use clones to neutralize. For example there's a treasure chest that approaching it triggers spikes unless you have the key to unlock it. You could either search the level for the guard carrying it, or simply sacrifice a clone to trigger the traps and then opening the chest with a lock pick.

[Knoggelvi]

A fascinating story that was touched on is the elven culture. In the first game they are a hive mind connected by the amber with limited individuality. The ambassador is even disturbed by the thought of having to live without the voices of his people in his mind. With the destruction of the world tree this entire way of life is no longer possible and dies.

In the second game we see that the elves have begun to change drastically. Physically they are smaller than their ancestors and now about the same size as humans. They also have a far greater sense of individuality. At some undefined point the High Priestess figured out how to extract amber from Goblins and used it to bind all the elves to her to try and recreate the old order. However the elves no longer mention being able to hear each others voices, just hers. Making it very similar to a cult of personality. We even find out that members who refuse to take the amber are either killed if they continue to refuse, or imprisoned if they repent. One of the elven guards even comments with the destruction of the amber she will be free, Djarak's stated goal.

This is one of the aspects that sets the Of Orcs and Men universe apart from other fantasy settings. I hope the next game touches on this a little more in-depth since goblins and elves are both children of the amber, and just generally explores more lore on how the races are different here.

[Knoggelvi]

Something that is missing from the first game is a section for killing the enemies. In Master of Shadows there was one mission late game where a side objective was to kill all the enemies that had invaded the hideout. This was a highlight for me as I was finally rewarded for stealthily picking off the enemies instead of being penalized for failing to avoid them. Instead in Shards of Darkness we just had several levels where being spotted was an instant game over. There was the occasional side objective where you were given the option of killing a target, but this wasn't really enough in my opinion.

For the third game there should be a better mix. A couple short levels where the goal is eliminating enemies, some no detection levels, and a large number of open-ended levels where play-style is up to the player. If there was a elimination level early game, then another one late game you would get a sense of how much Styx's fighting abilities have progressed and how much more powerful he has become.

[Hello Toonie]

These suggestions are so good I'd put you in charge of Styx 3.