What Is Styx: Blades of Greed?
Styx: Blades of Greed is a third‑person stealth action game and the third main entry in the Styx series, developed by Cyanide Studio and published by Nacon for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.steampowered+1 You play as Styx, a cynical, foul‑mouthed goblin thief who specializes in infiltration, assassination, and stealing anything that isn’t nailed down.
The game is set on the Iserian Continent, a towering, highly vertical dark‑fantasy world where humans, elves, and orcs stand on the brink of war. At the center of this tension is Quartz, a powerful and dangerous resource that everyone wants to control—and Styx wants to exploit. Blades of Greed evolves the classic Styx formula into large, open environments that encourage experimentation, improvisation, and creative problem‑solving instead of straightforward combat.
Story, World, and Tone
Narratively, Styx: Blades of Greed leans heavily into dark fantasy, political intrigue, and heist‑style setups. The plot revolves around Styx’s obsession with Quartz: he’s not trying to save the world; he’s trying to get rich in a world that’s already on fire, which fits his amoral, opportunistic personality. The game also explores the tensions between humans, elves, and orcs, using these factions as a backdrop for infiltration jobs, assassinations, and thefts.
For long‑time fans, Blades of Greed ties into the broader Of Orcs and Men universe and acts as an origin story for the Black Hand, a mercenary group known from previous games in the shared lore. This makes the story especially rewarding if you care about continuity and world‑building, but newcomers can still jump in without being completely lost. Styx’s trademark caustic humor returns, but many critics note that his writing has been refined, toning down some of the more grating misanthropy from earlier games.
The tone strikes a balance between grim and irreverent: brutal backstabs, high‑stakes heists, and oppressive city‑scapes are often undercut by Styx’s sarcastic commentary and goblin‑level pettiness. That mix of stealth tension and snarky comic relief is a big part of the game’s identity.
Gameplay: Stealth, Quartz Powers, and Vertical Freedom
Core Stealth Loop
Styx: Blades of Greed is built on a “pure stealth first” philosophy. If you try to play it as a straight action game, you will get punished hard: guards hit extremely hard, can block your attacks, and a sloppy fight usually ends in a quick death. The design explicitly encourages you to avoid open combat by sneaking, distracting, and manipulating enemies rather than trading blows.
The basic stealth toolkit includes:
Crouch‑walking, cover, and shadow‑based sneaking to stay out of sight.
Vertical positioning: climbing, ledge‑grabbing, and navigating architecture to outflank enemies from above or behind.
Silent kills that require precise positioning from behind or above, rewarding patience and route‑planning.
Environmental interactions like extinguishing torches to create dark pathways and safer routes through patrol zones.
Blades of Greed rewards planning and observation: learning patrol routes, identifying blind spots, and chaining abilities together to create your own infiltration blueprint.
Quartz and Amber Abilities
The standout twist in Blades of Greed is the expanded powers system tied to Quartz and Amber.
Amber skills lean defensive and utility‑focused, bringing back classics like cloning yourself and turning invisible, which let you scout, distract enemies, or bypass tight chokepoints.
Quartz skills are more aggressive and experimental, with powers such as Mind Control and Time Shift turning rooms into puzzle boxes where you can reposition enemies, manipulate time windows, or set up lethal chain reactions.
This dual‑skill framework gives you multiple approaches to the same problem: maybe you send a clone through a vent to open a shortcut, or you mind‑control a guard to walk his friend into an “accident.” Because Quartz is tightly woven into the story and world, using these abilities feels both mechanically impactful and thematically appropriate.
Movement and Vertical Level Design
Styx’s movement has been upgraded to support the game’s highly vertical environments. You have:
Wall‑running and contextual climbing that let you scale architecture and approach objectives from unexpected angles.
A double jump that helps clear wider gaps and reach hidden ledges or rooftop routes.
Air kills that let you drop onto an unsuspecting enemy below for a stylish, high‑risk assassination.
Later, a grapple hook and paraglider that significantly expand traversal options and recontextualize older areas when you revisit them.
Levels are designed as dense, multi‑layered spaces rather than flat corridors. Critics compare the structure to a hybrid of open‑world hubs and classic stealth missions: large zones broken into interconnected bases and districts, each packed with side paths, secrets, and optional objectives. As you unlock new tools, you can push into new vertical slices of these maps and uncover more loot, side quests, and shortcuts.
Progression, Crafting, and Builds
Styx: Blades of Greed includes light RPG systems that support different stealth playstyles.
You earn points through exploration and successful stealth encounters, which you invest into skill trees covering Amber and Quartz powers.
You craft weapons, traps, and potions before undertaking missions, making pre‑planning an important part of each heist.
The game encourages you to tailor loadouts to the job at hand—more tools for distraction if you expect tight patrols, or more aggressive abilities if you want to manipulate enemy behavior.
This preparation phase reinforces the heist fantasy: every mission feels like a custom plan you built yourself, and pulling it off cleanly is very satisfying.
Technical Performance and Design Strengths/Weaknesses
Reception so far paints Styx: Blades of Greed as a strong stealth experience with some rough edges.
Strengths highlighted by reviewers include:
Excellent stealth sandbox design, with open, vertically complex maps that reward creative routes and experimentation.
A wide array of tools, from classic Amber powers to new Quartz abilities, allowing multiple solutions to nearly every encounter.
A well‑tuned difficulty curve that increases challenge as you grow stronger, keeping tension high without feeling unfair.
Improved characterization and a more balanced tone for Styx, making him easier to enjoy over a full campaign.
Weaknesses and criticisms often mentioned:
Technical issues, including occasional bugs and performance quirks that can break immersion.
Enemy AI that, while functional, can feel somewhat simple or exploitable once you understand its behavior patterns.
Punishing combat that may frustrate players who expect a more flexible action‑stealth hybrid instead of a stealth‑first design.
Overall, most early reviews describe the game as “a devilishly creative open‑world stealth adventure” and “a masterclass in modern stealth,” while still acknowledging these technical and AI shortcomings.
Is Styx: Blades of Greed Worth Paying For?
Whether Styx: Blades of Greed is worth your money depends heavily on what you want out of a stealth game and how tolerant you are of technical flaws.
Who Will Likely Love It
You should strongly consider buying Styx: Blades of Greed if:
You enjoy methodical stealth in the vein of Thief, Dishonored, or Hitman, where planning and creativity matter more than raw combat skill.
You like vertical, open environments that give you multiple routes, vantage points, and infiltration angles for each target.
You appreciate experimental powers and gadgets that let you approach the same goal in wildly different ways.
You’re a fan of the Styx series or Of Orcs and Men universe and want to see where the story and Black Hand lore go next.
Multiple reviewers characterize it as the most refined and ambitious entry in the Styx trilogy, with its Quartz systems and level design standing out as the main reasons to play it.
Who Might Want to Wait or Skip
You might want to wait for patches or a sale if:
You dislike being heavily punished for getting spotted and would rather have robust, forgiving combat options.
Technical polish and AI sophistication are top priorities for you; some critics note bugs, occasional jank, and AI simplicity as recurring issues.
You’re not into dark‑fantasy stealth and prefer straightforward action RPGs or more cinematic, story‑driven experiences with lighter stealth elements.
There is also the usual value question: if you are interested but unsure, early impressions and previews suggest that even the demo showcases the core stealth and movement systems well, making it a good way to test whether the style clicks for you.
Is It Worth Paying For?
Given early critical reception and the depth of its stealth systems, Styx: Blades of Greed is worth paying for if you’re specifically looking for a hardcore stealth sandbox with strong vertical design and creative powers. It doesn’t try to please everyone; instead, it doubles down on infiltration, planning, and experimentation, which makes it feel refreshing in a market with relatively few dedicated stealth games.
For players who value stealth purity, complex level layouts, and the satisfaction of executing a meticulously planned heist, the game offers substantial bang for your buck despite some technical blemishes. If you’re on the fence or more casual about stealth, waiting for a discount or trying a demo first is a smart move, but for genre fans, this is a strong recommendation.
