A methodical, vertical stealth adventure that rewards patience but struggles with narrative and repetition.
For many gamers, playing a stealth game as a child that sticks with them is a defining experience. Sticks: Master of Shadows was that game for me. It came out in 2014 and seemed to be in all of the GameStops and local shops.
I never played it back then, but I remembered how well-known it was for having smart stealth tactics and well-thought-out levels. Three years later, Shards of Darkness came out as a follow-up. It added to the world of Styx, but it still wasn’t as good as great stealth games like Splinter Cell. Now, almost ten years later, Styx: Blades of Greed is the latest game in the series.
It looks like it will build on the series’s best features while adding more modern ones. The game, which was made by an independent team that really loves stealth gameplay, is meant to fill the void left by big studios that have mostly stopped making pure stealth games.
The rude and angry goblin thief Sticks comes back for a new journey in Blades of Greed.
In previous games, Sticks was tasked with collecting amber and completing simple heists. This time, he is after crystal quartz, a resource that gives power but also has unknown risks.
In Styx: Blades of Greed, he is on a traveling zeppelin that serves as a hub between tasks and lets him craft, improve his skills, and sometimes talk to other characters. Blades of Greed is a stealth game that tries to combine Metroidvania-style exploration with methodical assassination tactics. It does this by making a world that encourages both planning ahead and exploring thoroughly.
The story in Styx: Blades of Greed is similar to others, but it has more character-driven drama. Sticks is still the selfish antihero who only cares about himself and his own gain, but this time, he is in charge of a small group of people on his zeppelin.
The story is mostly about gathering pieces of quartz in three huge areas: the ruins of Aenash, the orc town of Turquoise Dawn, and the Wall, which is a city ruled by humans. Each area has its own enemies, environmental challenges, and story aspects.
Even though the idea behind it is good, the story often fails to keep my attention. Cutscenes with a lot of dialogue often don’t work, and most of the characters, including Styx himself, don’t make a mark. Even though he still uses his signature snark and edgy humor, some of his jokes seem out of date for the year 2026, harking back to a style that might have worked better ten years ago.
There aren’t many interesting secondary characters, and story scenes are usually just fluff between stealth scenes and not really important to the plot.
As a result, the world feels huge and full of possibilities, but it doesn’t have any emotional or story-related risks. There are still some charming moments. People, elves, and goblins don’t all trust each other, and Styx has to deal with that tension while still looking out for himself. This makes tasks more interesting.
Exploration or finishing side quests can sometimes lead to story rewards, and styx’s questionable choices give his actions meaning. Overall, the story is fine; it sets the stage for the game, but it doesn’t really make you care about it.
The real strength of Blades of Greed is in how it’s played. At its core, the game is a methodical stealth simulator that requires you to plan your moves carefully and be aware of enemy troops. It’s possible to sneak, climb, double-jump, hide in shadows, push against walls, peek around corners, and roll between covers.
The series is known for its verticality, and this one goes even further than the others. The buildings have more than one floor and can be reached through windows, chimneys, and ledges. Each area is meant to encourage discovery and new ideas.
Styx’s moveset has grown to include the ability to disappear, make decoys, and timed abilities like slowing down enemies or controlling their minds.
You can unlock these abilities by collecting quartz and getting skill points from finishing missions, side quests, and finding collectibles. With these tools, you can take different approaches, which makes each stealth situation feel like it could be different.
However, some advanced skills don’t feel fully utilized because of the game’s lighting; a lot of the world is highly lit, which limits the chances to use shadow-based strategies. The game pushes you to use its tools carefully, but the environment doesn’t always feel like it supports the stealth dynamics that were meant.
Styx: Blades of Greed‘s combat is simple but well-thought-out. It puts timing and planning ahead of force. The fighting method in the game is like Souls Lite, where just a few hits from an enemy can kill the player.
A lot of the time, you have to carefully watch, kill quietly, and use the tools around you in smart ways to survive an encounter. To control the battlefield, players can kill people quietly, hide bodies in closets or chests, and move things like torches and items.
This method works well to keep things tense, but it can get annoying at times.
For instance, enemies may be able to see Styx from unnatural angles, like guards in rooms next to each other or from above, which takes away from the thrill of sneaking up on someone and killing them.
Some players might find these features unfair, especially since there is no hard save option—only quick saves and autosaves—so failing often means playing long sections over and over again. Despite this, the combat system rewards patience and creativity, and it feels good when a well-thought-out routine works.
Puzzle parts are tightly built into the design of the levels. Puzzles in the environment, parkour sections, and secret paths all urge players to look around and think outside the box. Even though they’re not too hard, these tasks go well with stealth gameplay and make the focus on planning and observing even stronger.
The method falls short when it comes to repetition: many missions have the same goals, like collecting quartz or destroying a target, which can make the experience feel like a string of fetch quests. These tasks give you experience points (XP) and help you move up in the game.
With skill points, players can improve Styx’s sneaking and moving abilities.
This makes the game more fun to play again and again by letting players find new ways to get around in familiar places. Unlockable powers, like being invisible or making copies of yourself, make tasks very different, which encourages players to explore and try new things. The fact that the game doesn’t have any upgrades that focus on fighting shows that stealth is its main feature and not a “power-fantasy” approach.
Visually, Styx: Blades of Greed is a big step up from the games that came before it. The lighting system is always strong, and each biome has its own set of colors that make the surroundings look different even when the same buildings are used. The textures on character models have been greatly improved, and Styx himself stays true to his original form while enjoying modern rendering improvements.
The game’s level scale and ability to go up and down are really amazing. There are many ways for players to get through huge, multi-story buildings, open towns, and difficult terrains. This desire for beauty does, however, come at a price. Performance can be rough on mid-range hardware, and even fairly powerful laptops can see frame rate drops.
The game’s focus on stealth is complemented by its sound design.
Environmental sound cues, like footsteps, background noise, and action far away, are very important to gameplay, so headphones are almost a must. The sounds of each area are different, from the sounds of the tropical jungle in Turquoise Dawn to the sounds of the wind-swept heights of the Wall. This not only adds to the mood, but it also helps players guess where the enemies are and act accordingly.
Not all voice acting is good or bad. Styx is played again by Jeff Caught, whose raspy, grumpy voice is perfect for the lone goblin antihero. Some performances of other figures, on the other hand, don’t quite capture the same energy or come across as old-fashioned.
Sometimes subtitles don’t match up with spoken speech, and accents are used in strange ways, but overall, the audio design works well for stealth and exploration.
The music, which was written by Henry Pierre Pelgrren, does a great job of mixing new songs with old ones from other games. Styx: Blades of Greed is a game for people who really like to sneak around. Its core gameplay—careful hiding, level design that goes up and down, outdoor puzzles, and different ways to get from one area to another—is still fun and challenging for people who like slow, deliberate gameplay.
Styx can become invisible, make clones, and change their surroundings. These tools let them try new things and give them a strong sense of control during missions. Styx: Blades of Greed does have some problems, though. The story and dialogue don’t always hold my attention, tasks can get boring, and sometimes the way enemies are found makes it hard to do my best.
Some players may get frustrated with technical issues like the game’s high system needs, the lack of a hard save system, and some lighting or Unreal Engine problems. Also, people who want fast, action-packed games might not like the slow pace and methodical style.
The good things about Styx: Blades of Greed are that its settings are big, visually interesting, and full of verticality. The world and stealth features are strengthened by sound and music, and the XP and skill progression system lets you get useful upgrades that keep exploring fun.
Styx: Blades of Greed is a nostalgic but new take on spy games for people who are dying for new ones, even if it doesn’t have the polish or story depth of AAA games like Splinter Cell.
