Hey everyone, Cyanide here!
A few days ago, we hosted a Q&A session on Discord (join us), giving you the opportunity to ask us anything about Styx: Blades of Greed. From development workflow to gameplay choices and narrative direction, here’s our answers to some of your questions.
Just a quick note before we dive in: if your question wasn’t selected, it’s simply because we didn’t have time to answer everyone. We picked the questions we felt were the most relevant to share with you, and for some topics, we also chose not to reveal everything just yet, no spoilers!
Now, let’s get into your questions!
Development & Workflow
Question: How was the development workflow? Was there any crunch at Cyanide?
Answer: Development on Styx: Blades of Greed started in early 2021 with a prototyping phase. At that point, we focused on defining the 3Cs (Character, Controls, Camera), along with Styx’s new movement tools and abilities. We also spent a lot of time testing our new open environments to make sure they were feasible within the project’s scope and technical constraints.
It took some time to find the right balance, both creatively and technically. But the team stayed highly motivated throughout the project, and by regularly refocusing and adjusting the scope, we managed to stay on track, without going through sustained crunch periods.
Gameplay & Mechanics
Q: What part of the game are you most proud of?
A: We’re especially proud of how smooth Styx feels to control compared to previous games. His new traversal tools, like the grappling hook and the glider, give you much more freedom, whether you’re exploring the world or approaching stealth situations in creative ways. We really hope you’ll enjoy playing with all of that as much as we enjoyed building it.
Q: Why move toward vast, open environments?
A: As soon as we prototyped the grappling hook and glider, it became clear that larger, more open environments were the best way to showcase these abilities. This approach also allowed us to push verticality even further than in previous Styx games.
Q: Will there be co-op?
A: No. We made a deliberate choice to focus entirely on a solo experience, in line with Styx: Master of Shadows. This allowed us to fully concentrate on level design, pacing, and stealth systems built specifically for a single player.
Q: Will the comedic death screens from Shards of Darkness return as an option?
A: While we know some players enjoyed them, we felt they became repetitive over time and a bit intrusive. Because of that, we decided not to bring them back for this new adventure.
Narrative & Writing
Q: Was generative AI used for the story or dialogues?
A: No, we didn’t use generative AI at any point during development. All of the narrative and dialogue were written by our writers, and everything in the game is handcrafted, from concept art and voice acting to code, animations, assets, and motion capture.
Q: Why make a third Styx game?
A: After working on other projects and prototypes, we realized just how much we missed our favorite goblin. It felt like the right time to come back to Styx, pick up the story right after Shards of Darkness, and start building stronger connections with Of Orcs and Men.
Q: Does the new crew influence Styx’s character growth?
A: Yes, definitely. Over the course of the game, Styx gradually starts to change, moving away from being purely selfish and getting closer to the version players might remember from Of Orcs and Men, when he becomes part of the Black Hand.
Q: Will the story connect more directly to Of Orcs and Men?
A: Yes, that’s clearly the direction we’re heading in. Blades of Greed acts as the missing link between Shards of Darkness and Of Orcs and Men, and marks the beginning of the Great War. We don’t want to spoil too much, but this chapter plays a key role in tying everything together.
Q: Will we learn more about Styx’s past?
A: Yes, that’s definitely the direction we’re heading in. We don’t want to spoil too much just yet, but you’ll start seeing those connections take shape as the story unfolds.
Q: Does the game continue directly after Shards of Darkness?
A: Absolutely! The adventure begins right after the cliffhanger ending of Shards of Darkness. Quite literally.
Content, Length & Release
Q: The game was postponed, what improvements were made?
A: We took the time to carefully read your feedback from the playtests, Discord, and our social media channels. Based on that, we decided to push the release back by a few months so we could improve several aspects of the game. The extra development time was mainly spent on polishing the experience, improving lighting, and optimizing the project to deliver a smoother and more refined adventure.
Q: How long is the game?
A: That really depends on how you play, but on average, you can expect around 20 hours of gameplay in traight line, but way more if you want to 100% the game.
Q: Will there be a physical PC edition?
A: No. Physical PC releases have become quite rare, and many retailers no longer carry PC games. While Nacon still offers physical editions on consoles, PC physical versions just aren’t really relevant anymore.
View game pageThanks again to everyone who took part in the Q&A and shared their questions with us. Your curiosity and feedback mean a lot to the team, and we love seeing how engaged you are with Styx and his world.
On behalf of the entire team, we’d also like to wish you all wonderful winter holidays. Take care, enjoy the end of the year.
We’ll be answering more of your questions as we get closer to the launch of Styx: Blades of Greed, so stay tuned over the next couple of months, and, as always, keep an eye on the shadows.
Cyanide_
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