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.

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

Rhizzap

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

Magnus Lonsdale

• Class: Phsychic
• 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