Over the years, the Styx series has become the series for those looking for involving stealth gameplay. Cyanide's hardcore approach to stealth mechanics prevented the series from being popular among audiences that weren't the stealth games fanatics, but it's undeniable that this approach, combined with a dark fantasy setting and a chatty, irreverent main character, made the series what it is.
After having had the chance to try out Styx: Blades of Greed, the next entry in the series, now set to launch this February on PC and consoles, I couldn't help but notice how Cyanide wasn't going to compromise on its hardcore approach to widen the series' appeal. The contrary, actually.
While Styx continues to be the likeable goblin rogue he has always been, everything else has been expanded considerably, with an open-world setting with sandbox features that provides new challenges, but also new tools to dispose of surprisingly attentive enemies that leave no stone unturned if they believe to have spotted something suspicious. This early build was unsurprisingly a little rough around the edges, but the experience's potential was evident.
Last month, I was given a second chance to try out Styx: Blades of Greed before its release. While in terms of content this new build wasn't different from the one I tried during Gamescom 2025, except for a new intro sequence teaching the game's basics while setting up the story, the prior experience (and the more relaxed testing environment) made me appreciate even more the focus on verticality, and the sandbox design of the Slums, where the build's main mission takes place.
As part of this build's main mission, Styx is supposed to talk with a drunken dwarf who is staying at a nearby tavern to recover the Zeppelin. With little knowledge of the game mechanics, in my Gamescom 202 test, I went through the tavern's main door, using every opportunity to distract enemies to make it to the dwarf's room, with some difficulty, as the enemies have solid AI that makes them smarter than your usual enemy in non-stealth-focused games. However, now knowing where the room is, I took a completely different approach.
Taking advantage of the map's verticality, I climbed the tavern from the outside, making sure to crouch under windows to avoid enemies spotting me. This approach provided not only a different experience but also highlighted how the sandbox design of Styx: Blades of Greed will allow players to complete missions in any way they like.
The second part of the mission, which involved taking down all enemies in a somewhat closed-off location with an intricate design with multiple passages between rooms, likewise showed how many options are at Styx's disposal to take enemies out, even without using any of the special abilities that can be learned via the different skill trees or new tools like the grappling hook and the glider. One option I didn't see back in the Gamescom 2025 build is the ability to poison food, which highlights once more how varied the player's approach can be to clear missions.
Besides being able to appreciate better what Styx: Blades of Greed tries to do, the new build also showcased a higher degree of polish over the Gamescom 2025 demo, with little to no visual and gameplay glitches. Unfortunately, I can't really evaluate the game's performance, as the preview was conducted via cloud streaming; however, things felt smooth enough, even with multiple characters on screen.
While I don't expect Styx: Blades of Greed to set the market on fire, as its hardcore stealth approach is still going to leave anyone who isn't a stealth game fanatic frustrated, the new entry in the series by Cyanide seems to evolve the series' formula considerably, providing a sandbox stealth experience that works incredibly well with its wealth of options.
As such, I am looking forward to seeing what the game will offer beyond what I have already experienced twice, and whether the map and encounter design will hold up as well as they do in these missions when it launches on February 19 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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