Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream Review – May steal your heart if you can look past its flaws

When I first tried my hands at Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream during this summer’s Steam Next Fest, I came away with one particular phrase etched into my mind. That phrase was “casual stealth”. A simplistic control scheme, a lenient checkpoint system and a host of tricky but generally doable stealth challenges meant that my experience with the demo was both pleasant and free from the frustration that tends to plague this genre from time to time.

Having now finished the entire 12-hour journey of Eriksholm, I can confidently say that this ends up being one of the game’s biggest assets, as well as its greatest shortcoming.

I know what kind of game you are

In essence, the easiest way to introduce Eriksholm is to say it’s an isometric stealth game. But to me, that expression primarily calls to mind titles like Commandos, Desperados or Shadow Tactics – challenging stealth experiences focused on elaborate planning, creative problem-solving possibilities and making use of each team member’s unique skill set to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds in a quiet, yet elegant way. A lot of that applies to Eriksholm as well, mind. You have to plan ahead a bit, you do need to make use of your characters’ abilities, and staying stealthy is, naturally, of paramount importance. There are, however, a few key differences.

See, Eriksholm isn’t really a stealth game in the classic sense – it’s more like a puzzle box with only one way to solve it. Instead of getting dropped into a level teeming with enemies, and then being allowed to experiment with different approaches, Eriksholm instead tells you “Okay, here’s your level, but there’s only one way to get through it – now figure out what that is”. And that’s really the gist of the entire game’s design philosophy: every stealth scenario you come across has a very specific way it needs to be tackled, and the game wants you to simply puzzle out what that singular solution is. The fact that being spotted immediately results in a Game Over, without giving you tools for trying to salvage the situation, reinforces this design decision: you will do things the way Eriksholm wants you to do them, and that’s that. There’s no room for experimentation, no opportunities for alternate paths or creative solutions – your only option is to follow the linear path planned out by the developers, allowing yourself be railroaded through the experience.

In the early chapters, this feeling of “I’m literally just walking from A to B” is fairly prominent, and while the game will eventually give you three different playable characters to manage and juggle during later levels, it never quite breaks away from its set-in-stone formula of expecting you to do exactly what the developers had intended. Levels in Eriksholm aren’t these massive playgrounds that facilitate creativity and player expression via different play styles – instead, they’re moderately simple puzzles to be solved, with only one solution available. They’re rigidly designed, allowing for no divergence, which makes the gameplay feel smooth and streamlined, but also robs it of player freedom and replay value.

Teamwork makes the dream work

Here's the thing, though. All of the above can still be fun. And it is, usually. Each of your three playable characters has a specific thing they’re good at – one of them can make enemies fall asleep by shooting darts from a blowpipe, another can fling pebbles to create distractions or even use them to take out light sources, while the third one can straight up knock people unconscious from behind. Each protagonist also has different traversal options; young Hanna can crawl through vents, while the more mature Alva is capable of climbing up to rooftops, but only the strong and robust Sebastian is able to swim, for example. That said, they often need to work together to be effective, and the game leans quite heavily into this, which leads to several scenarios where precise timing and character swapping is key.

However, as mentioned above, there is very little room for freedom. In fact, the way the levels are designed makes it glaringly obvious which character needs be used in a given situation. Oh, there’s a ladder leading into the water? Time for Sebastian to do something. There’s a small vent near this spot? Time for Hanna to step forward. Oh look, there are street lights here. If only someone could get rid of them… Well, you get my point. The pieces of the puzzle are clearly laid out, and it’s up to you to figure out (with some trial and error) how to make them work, but it’s rarely anything particularly complex. Which is ideal for people who want an experience that’s easier to digest, but might be a bit too simple for gamers looking for more of a meaty challenge.

Pretty but plotless

Narratively, I felt let down by the game, sadly. Granted, the visuals are gorgeous, with each level offering something different: whether it’s a dark and gloomy mining complex or the sunlit rooftops of Eriksholm, you’ll always have reason to keep hammering away at your screenshot button. Similarly, some of the cinematic cutscenes are absolutely mind-boggling in terms of facial animations and level of detail. But the actual storyline and script? I can’t say I was a big fan. For starters, the plot is a tropey nothingburger that feels more like a shaky outline than a complete narrative; it’s also barely present for most of the runtime, to the point you almost forget there’s even a storyline to follow at all.

Furthermore, I just never felt like I really got to know any of the characters. Playing Eriksholm genuinely feels like starting a TV show in its second or third season: all the characters have some seemingly deep history together, but I wasn’t really there for any of it, and now I’m finding it difficult to get invested. Why am I supposed to care about this otherwise really bland story when I barely know any of the major players involved? Instead of proper characterization and storytelling, we mostly get droning dialogue scenes that go on for entirely too long without serving a purpose, along with some unnecessary bickering – put simply, the game likes to talk a lot while saying very little. But hey, the voice acting is all top-notch, so at least it’s somewhat pleasant to listen to.

The bottom line

Ultimately, I’m torn on whether or not I should recommend Eriksholm – or rather, to what extent I should recommend it. To hardcore stealth enthusiasts looking for another Commandos or even an isometric Dishonored, this isn’t the game to make your dreams come true. It also won’t blow you away if you want a solid story or memorable characters. Despite all that, however, it’s still a decently enjoyable single-player experience where every new map presents an amusing, puzzle-like challenge that you need to overcome with the characters at your disposal. And I did have some fun with it, linearity and lack of freedom be damned. I’d recommend trying the free demo for starters: if you enjoy that and want to do it with two additional playable characters for 10 more hours, then you’re probably going to like Eriksholm – just keep in mind that the basic formula won’t really evolve beyond what you see in those initial chapters, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.