Styx: Blades of Greed Review: A Masterclass in Vertical Stealth

The Verdict: A Masterclass in Vertical Stealth

After a grueling nine-year hiatus, Cyanide Studio has finally delivered Styx: Blades of Greed. We’ve spent years wondering if the series could survive a shift to a semi-open world format without losing its soul. The good news? It hasn’t just survived; it’s evolved. With a solid 82/100 rating, this is the most ambitious entry yet, trading linear corridors for massive, sprawling "honeycomb" maps that make Dark Souls’ Blighttown look like a flat desert.

Our take: Cyanide hit the sweet spot here. They’ve expanded the scope in all the right ways while keeping the focus exactly where it belongs—on punishing, high-stakes stealth. If you’ve missed the feeling of being a "piddling goblin" in a world of giants, this is your homecoming.

Gravity is Your Greatest Tool (and Enemy)

The standout feature of Blades of Greed is the verticality. We’re talking about three massive maps, including the standout "The Wall"—a multi-storeyed city built into a viaduct—and "Turquoise Dawn," a swampy orc territory with monolithic trees. The exploration feels hugely rewarding, especially with the new Metroidvania-style traversal upgrades.

New Gear and Old Tricks

• The Hookshot: A literal game-changer for reaching heights or making a quick getaway.
• The Parachute: Allows Styx to ride wind columns like elevators or survive what would otherwise be a lethal drop.
• Returning Powers: Invisibility, clones, and enemy possession are back for those who prefer the classic toolkit.

We found that by the five-hour mark, the movement takes on an "expressive fluidity." It’s one of those rare stealth games where it’s actually fun to get caught, just to see if you can escape up a chimney, parkour down a rope, and circle back to slit a throat from the shadows.

The RPG-Lite Evolution

While the game moves toward an open world, it still feels like a sequence of tightly constructed missions. The core loop often involves hunting for "Quartz"—powerful blue slabs used by the villainous Inquisitors. This structure allows for a variety of "stealth narratives" within a single map.

You’ll face more than just human guards. The Iserian Continent is crawling with giant insects that track you by sound, exploding feral dogs, and toxic plants that can delete 75% of your health bar in a heartbeat. It’s a classic 1980s dark fantasy vibe, reminiscent of The Dark Crystal or Return to Oz, which gives the game a much-needed tonal lift from the previous entries.

Technical Performance and "Goblin Problems"

It’s not all smooth sailing. Even on an RTX 3060 laptop, we noticed frame drops, peculiarly in "busy bug-ridden interiors" rather than the vast outdoor vistas. There are also some lingering bugs that Cyanide needs to squash. We encountered unpickable keys, invisible walls, and a quick-save feature that only worked about 95% of the time—a frustrating gamble in a game this exacting.

Then there’s Styx himself. He’s still a "foul-mouthed, quippy goblin," but the writing has shaved away some of the most tedious misanthropy. By the end of the campaign, we found ourselves actually tolerating the green bastard, thanks in part to the "varied cast of fellow adventurers" he travels with this time around.

Final Thoughts for the Veteran Gamer

If you can handle a few technical hiccups and a protagonist with a face only a mother could love, Blades of Greed is a must-play. It’s a deep, challenging stealth-platformer that respects your intelligence and rewards sequence-breaking. Just remember: you're a goblin. Keep the direct encounters to a minimum, or prepare to get squashed.