At first glance, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream seems familiar. The game is an isometric stealth game with multiple characters with unique abilities. At first, you might think this is just again another Commandos or Desperados where anything is possible through clever thinking.
This assumption quickly dissolves upon playing. Eriksholm may look like a nifty little sandbox stealth adventure but is in fact a fairly linear one. It feels more like a puzzle game, similar to Hitman Go, than Shadow Tactics. Your job isn’t to create brilliant solutions to stealth situations – it is to find the exact path the developers want you to go. Any efforts to cheat the cleverly designed challenges are met with a quick failure, which sends you back to the checkpoint.
Visually Stunning Sweden
Even though the gameplay structure is rigid, Eriksholm is a feasty visual delight. The game’s pseudo-Swedish 19th-century backdrop shines thanks to Unreal Engine 5 with meticulously animated characters, sumptuous lighting, and a plague-ravaged world brought to life. The voice acting, especially from the 3 playable characters, is great and really amps up the presentation.
The total offering is a masterclass in presentation, despite the game feeling overly prescriptive. Every scene looks lovely and polished, crafting a world you want to explore even though it can be restrictive in how you interact with it.
A Tale of Two Siblings
In the initial chapters of Eriksholm, we hear only about Hanna. She is an orphan girl and has just recovered from “Heartpox” a deadly disease which is ravaging the working class in the industrial town of Eriksholm. After a short time with her brother Herman, they are separated when police come flooding into the neighbourhood to chase her brother for doing something mysterious.
The narrative is at its strongest in these opening chapters. Hanna can only sneak, hide in shadows, and use a blow pipe to disable her enemies. The real advantage she has is her access to the community. She already knows the shortcuts and the way through. The neighbours let her go through the roof.
This creates an interesting dynamic: the cops are unwelcome intruders while Hanna is free to move around as she pleases. The story successfully conveys a sense of community solidarity against outside forces through gameplay and overheard dialogue.
Expanding Scope, Diminishing Impact
As the game leaves Hanna’s neighborhood and introduces more characters, it loses some of its charms and expands in more ways. The subtle fight between community and police, gives way to a more generic tussle against a cardboard villain. While the video game presents interesting concepts, they don’t get the attention they deserve.
Fortunately, new ways of playing keep coming to maintain the interest. When you add Alva to your group, he allows for smashing light sources and climbing drainpipes. Afterwards, it’s Sebastian who allows choking guards from behind. Each of the eight chapters offers new mechanics making you use them in frictionless stealth puzzles that get more challenging.
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The Frustration of Linearity
Eriksholm has a major flaw, it is completely linear. Even though every puzzle solved feels rewarding, the game rarely gives you a real choice of how to do it. All encounters appear to be perfectly designed to prevent creativity. The patrol patterns catch you if you deviate from the official solution.
Alva has a slingshot to draw guards’ attention, but can only get them to move in limited pre-defined situations made by level design. It begins to feel frustrating when the things you want your team to do become difficult to achieve because they are not a part of the game.
A Foundation for Greatness
Though this product doesn’t break any boundaries, you can certainly expect the Eriksholms to be good quality and enjoyable. Due to the remarkable performances and presentation, what could have been a bland stealth experience. As you go along, you realize that a sequel might have something special in store.
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is a stunning stealth game that offers a great experience. However, it suffers because of the tightly controlled stealth gameplay. Those who are willing to travel its set paths, can still enjoy a lot in this Swedish atmospheric adventure.