Stygian Hollow

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Stygian Hollow
Genre(s)	Role-Playing Game, Dungeon Crawler
Developer(s)	Yoko Taro, Sam Lake, Hideo Kojima,Tetsuya Nomura, Takayoshi Nakazato, Hideki Kamiya
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC
First release	Stygian Hollow (2013)
Latest release	Stygian Hollow: Complete Edition (2025)
Spin-offs	Baois' New Moon

Stygian Hollow is a 2013 role-playing dungeon crawler video game. It was made as a collaborative effort between several notable video game directors, such as Yoko Taro, Sam Lake, Hideo Kojima,Tetsuya Nomura, Takayoshi Nakazato, and Hideki Kamiya. The game was published and is currently owned by Square Enix. An expanded HD port was released in 2025, featuring new scenes, new mechanics, and redone character artwork.

The game is set in the year of 1906 in a historical-fiction setting, and surrounds the exploration of the Stygian Hollow, a massive hole that has suddenly opened up in the middle of the town of Horne. The player takes control of the Ouroboros Survey Team, a party made up of six characters; Astor Leeweigh, Rhizzap, Magnus Lonsdale, Dero, Stalks-The-Aboveground, and Kasimir Lanzebrecht.

Synopsis

Stygian Hollow follows the story of the Ouroboros Survey Team after a large hole mysteriously opens up in the middle of the town of Horne on the island of Estrella. The party is formed as a collaboration between the dragons of the elements and the Ouroboros Conglomerate, lead by a shady researcher named Eileen. Eileen recruits the likes of Astor Leeweigh, a college student from the college town of Liberte, and Rhizzap, a robotics expert living in the same town. The dragon of the ocean, Idio Harley, recruits Dero for his musical ability, since the dragons channel magic through music. Stalks-The-Aboveground is recruited by Stanley Rayleigh, an ally of the Conglomerate. Magnus Lonsdale is drawn to the island through mysterious dreams, and is swiftly picked up by Eileen. The Survey Team clears the first stratum of the Hollow before Kasimir Lanzebrecht, a kobold and direct descendant of the wind dragon, joins them. Together, they must solve the mystery of the Stygian Hollow, and seal it once and for all.

"On the island of Estrella, nothing is as it seems. A mystery hundreds of years in the making brings together a band of unwitting explorers, the revelations they uncover binds them together. What starts as a simple job turns into the struggle for the fate of the island. Join the Ouroboros Survey Team as they confront the horrors that lie within, and uncover the secrets of the Stygian Hollow. The truths they find within may reshape their perception of the world itself."

Plot

"You wouldn't have understood, and you probably would've ran off in abject fear." This section contains heavy spoilers! Read at your own caution.

In the year of 1906, a strange chasm has opened up in town of Horne on the island of Estrella three years ago. The island is home to Raoul Partita, the Deferential Earth dragon, who sends in his grandsons, Cadell and Rhys, in to investigate it. They are among many other explorers of the Hollow, most of which who perished within. A researcher of the Ouroboros Conglomerate, known as Eileen, works with the dragons to form another survey team to send into the Hollow.

Eileen hand-picks Astor Leeweigh, a tengu student from the college town of Liberte, who is eager to follow in the footsteps of his globe-trotting archeologist parents. She tells him that he's the top of his field, and there's nobody else at the college who is as capable as he is. Having heard this praise, Astor willingly accepts the position as the Survey Team's leader, assuming that she's hand-picked several other professionals to aid him.

Eileen's second choice is Rhizzap, an inventor gremlin who partakes in the college's underground Mechadome. She uses his criminal record to get Rhizzap to accept the position, willing to pardon him of the various thefts he's committed against the college. With no other choice, Rhizzap is recruited, and spends what little free time he has building the Thumb Detector Mk. II, a hammer made of scrapped parts.

Meanwhile, A Chthonian hunter, who allies himself with the Gemini Corp to support his family, is offered the position on the team by Stanley Reyleigh. Stalks is given the choice of sending one of his family members to join the team, or take the place himself. Stalks accepts the offer, knowing that it will provide for his family long after the job is done.

Somewhere else, the Tranquil Ocean dragon, Tambori Harley, seeks out the notable musician, a Yinglet named Dero, fascinated with his musical style. Dero has little choice but to accept the position on the survey team, as he's been directly sought out by a dragon.

Finally, royal noble moogle Magnus Lonsdale finds himself having strange dreams, being drawn to Estrella by them. Upon landing, he's bumped into by Aleksey Hiryakov, a close friend of Eileen, who drops him a letter and a train ticket telling him when and where to meet the rest of the survey team.

On the train, they meet Lily, who has stowed away and opens conversation with the group. She tells them that she's part of another team exploring the Hollow.

Upon finally meeting each other in the town of Horne, the survey team is given a trial task by the town's guild leader, Ada, in which they are to navigate a labyrinth in the woods. During the trial, the group encounters a mysterious shadowy figure near a cabin in the woods. Upon inspecting the shadow, it hands Astor a cassette player, a device that should not exist around this time. Upon returning to Horne, Astor informs Eileen of the technology, in which she reveals that a camera has been discovered within the Hollow as well.

Later, the party encounters Hubert and Horace, inquisitors from the church of the Herald. They have also been sent to investigate the Hollow on the church's behalf. Astor almost openly asks the inquisitors if he could join them, but ultimately sides with the survey team once Dero is pointed out by Hubert and begins making a fuss.

A day after the trial, the group is quickly ushered into the Hollow, in which they encounter the Partita brothers, as well as the party they've assembled. Upon meeting the survey team, Rhys begins to insult Astor, prompting Astor to fire his gun at Rhys' feet. Rhys' brother, Cadell, immediately steps up to defend Rhys, leading to a fairly one-sided confrontation. Rhizzap is the only one to stand by Astor during the feud, swiftly being knocked aside, while Astor witnesses Cadell stabbing him through the chest. However, due to some mysterious circumstance, Cadell has no recollection of stabbing Astor, but Astor receives a scar where he would have been stabbed.

Feeling betrayed by the group and Eileen, Astor attempts to leave the survey team, but is stopped by Eileen, who tells him if he does, he will not be admitted back to the Liberte college. With no choice, Astor begrudgingly stays.

The team makes some progess within the Hollow, but eventually takes a break to assist with rebuilding the railroad back to Invidia, a city that mysteriously fell victim to some force around the time the Hollow opened. During their shift, the railroad workers were attacked by shadow clones of themselves, prompting the survey team to step in.

The survey team eventually reaches the bottom of the first stratum, meeting a similar shadowy figure of a jester, who introduces himself as Sephtis. Sephtis tells the group that Hubert, Horace, and Lily are further in deeper, and are being attacked by something. They encounter a shadowy doppelganger of Rhys, similar to the railway workers. Astor promptly names them shades, and Rhys' shade summons a giant monster to combat the survey team, finding out that the creature had killed Hubert. They defeat the creature, and learn that it's name was Cipactli from finding a cassette tape near it's corpse.

The survey team finds Horace and Lily. Horace was maimed in the battle with Cipactli, having lost his left arm. Lily is found hiding in a log near the arena the group fights Cipactli in. With a newfound sense of vengance, the group returns to the surface. The following day, a somber service is held for Hubert, only having a lone gravestone to remember him by. The same day, the Partitas invite the survey team to Raoul Partita's mansion for lunch.

Gameplay

The game plays like a tactical RPG, similar to the Fire Emblem series, with major differences that the player does not control a massive army, and several NPCs will join the players party at certain points in the story. The player cannot control these temporary party members. Each party member is set as a certain class and cannot be changed. Instead of using EXP to level up, party members will gain new skills and abilities through feats related to the plot. An overall map is displayed on the touch screen (or in a minimap in the Complete Edition).

Playable Characters

Astor Leeweigh

• Class: Gunslinger
• Weapon(s): Heirloom Musket, Final Farewell
  • Astor undergoes a major change at the end of Act I. This change is not yet documented.

Rhizzap

• Class: Inventor
• Weapon(s): Thumb Detector Mk. II

Magnus Lonsdale

• Class: Psychic
• Weapon(s): Magic

Dero

• Class: Bard
• Weapon(s): Banjo-harp, Hand crossbow

Stalks-The-Aboveground

• Class: Ranger
• Weapon(s): Hunter's Bow, Clan Dagger

Kasimir Lanzebrecht

• Class: Cleric
• Weapon(s): Halberd