Best Stealth Games With High Replayability

While I don't judge my favorite stealth games based on their replayability, the fact that you can play them multiple times and feel like they're different experiences is a significant plus.

Since these titles tend to focus on player expression and level design, the genre lends itself well to multiple playthroughs, as you're always discovering new mechanics and interactions.

Although it's an unwritten rule, I've noticed replayability is a natural consequence of the design style of these kinds of games, which perfectly explains why I'm seldom satisfied with just seeing the credits once.

Therefore, if you're like me and also enjoy appreciating every last detail lurking in the shadows, I invite you to read this list of the ten best stealth games with high replay value.

10 Mark of the Ninja

The Challenge Lies in Variety

Although not a particularly popular genre among indie titles, stealth gave us Mark of the Ninja over a decade ago, and it remains the indie benchmark for countless reasons.

Among the main ones, I don't doubt its replayability is fundamental, driven by a New Game+ mode that strongly encourages you to repeat the challenges at maximum difficulty, even for someone like me who doesn't usually play these modes outside FromSoftware titles.

Of course, Mark of the Ninja allows for diverse playstyles and challenges per level that are incentive enough, yet the joy of experiencing its refined mechanics in a more demanding context made me appreciate and enjoy them even more.

Whether by killing everyone, knocking them out, or simply sneaking around without interacting with anyone, its core gameplay screams replayability, but it's the other aspects of its campaign that truly convince you to do so.

9 Aragami

Many Ways to Take Advantage of Shadows

However, when it comes to replayability in the indie scene, my favorite will always be Aragami, whose plethora of powers is simply fascinating.

I imagine it depends on your personal preference for realism or fantasy in stealth, but in my case, it's quite clear that the idea of ​​teleporting through shadows or creating them at will is far preferable.

Although Aragami has a limited number of abilities, what made me want to finish it four times was discovering the possibilities of using them, awakening a creativity in me that I don't usually possess, even with the most complex gameplay systems.

Ultimately, I've always considered that stealth games seek to evoke fantasies of power, allowing you to wipe out an entire faction as a one-person army, and in that particular aspect, Aragami excels enough to even incentivize me to speedrun it (and fail miserably, but it still was great).

8 Styx: Master of Shadows

A Goblin With Quite a Few Tricks

I remember the first time I finished Styx: Master of Shadows, I did it almost in a rush, because there was something about its dark fantasy atmosphere that oppressed me and put me in a survival mode I wasn't accustomed to.

That feeling in itself was remarkable enough to make it stand out from its peers, though giving it a second playthrough, truly exploring everything, and seeing its depth is what cemented it among my favorite games in the genre.

With the calm of having completed it, trying to find its secrets, maximizing Styx's power, avoiding detection, and even attempting a run of pure direct combat, because it not only has the depth to support its variety but also the quality.

To be honest, more than ten years have passed since I played Styx: Master of Shadows for the first time, and to this day, I still think it's underrated. I hated the final boss, but beyond that, I consider it one of the last decade's best stealth video games, so it definitely deserves a chance.

7 Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Reconnecting with its Roots

I often say Assassin's Creed is a series that lost its way long ago and should have been put to sleep, though there's something about Assassin's Creed Shadows that simply captivated me.

Yes, it's still a title with RPG elements where stealth never seems to be the sole focus, but for the first time in a couple of generations, I feel like Ubisoft remembered to embrace the roots that brought it here.

Aside from the fact that I detest playing as Yasuke, venturing into his feudal Japan has been extremely satisfying, not only because of the nostalgia, but because it's evident this is a title with production values ​​the genre hasn't seen in a long time.

It shows in the graphical fidelity, the amount of content, the variety of weapons and paths, Naoe's customization, and basically everything else, given it's a game designed to be experienced multiple times.

I'm not in favor of creating interactive experiences based on how much quantifiable entertainment they can give you because I think it undervalues ​​the medium's artistic focus, but Assassin's Creed Shadows touches a weak nerve that makes me succumb to its charm.

A Story to Relive Constantly

Of all the games on this list, it's important to acknowledge that Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has by far the lowest level of gameplay excellence, replayability, and variety of mechanical possibilities, because these aspects aren't part of its objective.

Despite this, I've placed it so high on the list because it's virtually impossible to decipher its message and impact without multiple playthroughs, through which you delve deeper and deeper into its complex narrative.

More than just fun, Sons of Liberty is a philosophical treatise that acts as an oracle on the human condition in a post-truth context, accurately anticipating what we're currently experiencing and, consequently, making it more relevant than ever.

You don't replay it because fighting bosses is fun or because the routes are entertaining (it's as linear as can be), but because its story and message are impressive enough to make you want to understand them at all costs.

And perhaps this is all a personal opinion, but I don't know anyone who has only played Metal Gear Solid 2 once. What it lacks in gameplay it makes up for in everything else, which is itself another conscious design choice by Hideo Kojima.

5 Hitman: Blood Money

A Costume for Every Occasion

Considering I'm not usually a fan of games with a lot of scripted events, it's easy to understand why I hold Hitman: Blood Money in such high regard.

There's something fascinating about video games' ability to create natural environments where spontaneous and believable events can occur, though few can match the mastery with which Agent 47 makes us experience them.

I could have included any entry in the series on the list, but I chose Blood Money both for nostalgia and because I genuinely believe it's the one that best utilizes its systems for replayability without feeling lacking or overwhelming the player with too much to do.

It's not just the idea of ​​tackling each level by searching for different solutions, but also the enjoyment of completing its challenges, improving your scores, discovering all the weapon upgrades, and other artificial things that normally annoy me but work wonderfully here.

I know World of Assassination is basically synonymous with replayability and has many quality-of-life improvements that Hitman: Blood Money does not possess, but the former is nowhere near having motivated me as much as the latter to replay everything.

4 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Sam Fisher in His Most Versatile Version

One of my biggest frustrations in the video game industry is Splinter Cell's existence, largely because I find it difficult to believe that Splinter Cell: Blacklist is still the last game in the franchise.

After giving us one of the most mechanically refined stealth games in history, Ubisoft let Sam Fisher fall into a slumber from which he hasn't awakened, which is a loss for all of us who are fans of the genre.

Lamenting aside, I can say it's a good thing Blacklist was the last one released, because I've lost count of the number of times and in what ways I've finished it thanks to its three playstyles (non-lethal stealth, lethal stealth, and direct combat), which really encourage you to try them all and explore their tools.

If I add the number of split-screen campaigns I've played with family and friends, it could easily be the stealth title I've dedicated the most hours to, but I don't put it higher to punish the company for not yet showing any signs of life for its most underrated IP.

3 Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

The Power of Strategy

I'm not a big fan of strategy games because I'm terrible at them, but Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun makes up for it for two pretty important reasons: feudal Japan and stealth.

It took me ages to get used to the controls, perspective, AI's behavior, and who knows how many other gameplay elements, but the truth is, once I got the hang of it, I couldn't put it down.

Its combination of genres makes it feel more like a puzzle game where you're always trying to discern the right clues, with the interesting twist of having more than one correct answer to each dilemma you encounter.

Certainly, all of this makes the stealth aspect more of an expected feature of executing a plan than the main focus, though what is stealth if not identifying patterns that you wait for to carry out a pre-planned strategy?

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun abstracts the design philosophy of stealth and applies it in a radically different context, and it works just as well because they coincide at their core. It's probably the hardest game on the list to recommend due to its atypical mechanical fusion, but I must say it's glorious.

2 Thief: The Dark Project

The Father of Stealth

You know that if a game from 1998 can captivate you enough to make you want to replay it every time you think about it, it's because we're talking about a generational title, and there's no better way to describe Thief: The Dark Project.

Coming from the masters of immersive simulators, Looking Glass Studios, expecting their games to be replayable is the most predictable thing in the world, because they love to include dozens of ways to approach each objective and understand the challenges beyond the stats.

This becomes especially true with Garrett's first appearance, where each new difficulty isn't more health points or unrealistic fields of view, but increasingly intricate demands that force you to become more familiar with the environment, your enemies, and the tools at your disposal, creating extremely satisfying challenges.

Once you've seen it all, you have the opportunity to see it again but from a different perspective: that of a true master thief. You have to do a bit of role-playing like I did to get the most out of Thief: The Dark Project, but it's an experience from which there's no going back.

1 Dishonored

Reigning Over the Genre Efortlessly

While having numerous entries on this list as a reference, Dishonored takes first place with an ease I don't usually find so common when I sit down at my computer to write an article.

However, if you consider Thief's immersive sim quality, Splinter Cell's distinct gameplay approach, or Hitman's spontaneity, you'll find in Arkane Studios' masterpiece a combination of all of these elements that works with enviable harmony.

With one of the most in-depth level designs in history, numerous narrative outcomes based on your in-game actions, countless secrets hidden in the darkest corners, a variety of weapons and powers to achieve objectives, and both game-driven and self-imposed challenges, the replayability is incredibly high.

Dishonored is, roguelikes aside, the single-player game I've played through the most times, and I've never felt like I've had the same experience twice. I can say exactly the same about its sequel, though the first one feels both familiar and unprecedented.

Every time I discover new loot, a path, an interaction, or a piece of lore, I'm connected to Dunwall in countless ways. The immersion in this title is unparalleled, and it creates a desire to walk its streets again that I don't think any other title on this list can match.