Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is the debut game from River End Games and Nordcurrent Labs that aims for the stealth subgenre of adventure games. The genre isn't that crowded, but there are enough standout games in the space that it's a tall order to stand out with a new approach. To their credit, the developers have done several things to help make the game memorable. While there are some misses in the execution, there are a higher number of successes.

You play the role of Hanna, a woman who has awoken from bedrest while her brother Herman cared for her. While Hanna continues her recovery from an unknown illness, Herman goes to work but fails to return the next morning. Police officers barge into the home, and when they discover that Herman isn't there, they bring in Hanna for questioning. A distraction helps her escape, and it's up to the fully recovered girl to find her brother's whereabouts and uncover the bigger story.

The narrative approach is to thrust players into the situation while filling in the backstory as you go along, and there are moments when this works fine and moments when it doesn't. For example, the game's opening moments don't hit hard emotionally since you never knew that Hanna was sick with a deadly disease, but you know what that disease is if you pay attention to the collectibles and banners during the game's first level. Meanwhile, the story goes at a fine pace but doesn't pick up until around 75 percent of the way through the campaign, when some of the bigger reveals are made. Overall, the narrative is good enough to make you want to see how it ends.

As alluded to earlier, Eriksholm is a stealth title, and the developer's approach is different in many ways. For starters, the game is presented from an isometric viewpoint. This isn't a camera angle that's used often in stealth games, as a first- or third-person viewpoint makes things feel more intimate. The overhead view proves to be tactically advantageous. Going isometric is similar to a top-down viewpoint, but it can also have some drawbacks, such as inadvertently hiding enemies and objectives due to the camera angle in relation to the environment. Luckily, the game lets you rotate the camera a full 360 degrees and lets you control the zoom level — although the available levels of zoom aren't too significant.

Mechanically, the game adheres to some of the staples of the stealth genre. When some enemies are taken down, you can drag away their bodies, so they aren't immediately spotted by others. While you can't stick to the walls, shadows do a good job of hiding you, and you will get highlighted if you are under the cover of darkness. In outdoor areas, you can disturb bird flocks to distract guards, and the game automatically has you go into a crouch, so you won't have to manually change stances.

The game also does a few gameplay-related things to compensate for the viewpoint to make things a tad easier. Aside from seeing an enemy's cone of vision, there's a segmented line that fills up to show you how long it takes before you're spotted. While running and throwing pebbles can produce noise, you get a visible ripple of effect indicator that appears only when you or your aiming reticle is near an enemy. Some actions, like running, don't cause enemies to get suspicious until a hearing meter fills up. These things seem like small additions, but they help out greatly in practice.

The main defining aspect of the gameplay is its use of multiple characters, each with their own strengths and limitations. You start off with Hanna, who is the only one who can go through grates to get into building interiors and bypass sections of the level. She also has a blowgun that knocks out people, but the effect isn't immediate, which forces you to wait longer before you can move safely. Alva is the next character you get, and she's the only one who can climb poles. She can also knock out lights with her slingshot, and although she can't attack guards directly, she can throw pebbles nearby and have the sound distract them. Then there's Sebastian, who can choke out people from behind and swim in nearby bodies of water.

The party system creates some very interesting stealth-based tactics. The game often guides each character to certain pathways that are only accessible to them, so you can't help but employ cooperative moves to get past an area. For example, Alva could use her pebbles to cause a bird flock to fly, and then Sebastian can go around an area while guards are distracted. Sebastian can choke out a guard just as Hanna uses her blowgun to knock out another guard, or Hanna can hide in an area of darkness created by Alva to get a better shot at another guard. The use of multiple characters sometimes makes the stealth feel more strategic, and while the narrative doesn't allow it, this would've been a good opportunity to have some multiplayer, since the setup feels appropriate.

There is one aspect of the stealth genre that Eriksholm doesn't stick to, and that's what happens when you get caught out of stealth. The moment you're seen by anyone, you instantly fail, and the game kicks you back to the last invisible checkpoint you reached. While other stealth games let you fight back against those pursuing you or try to run away, so you can get everyone to stop chasing you, that luxury isn't afforded in this title. Considering how much leeway is given in the game's other stealth mechanics, having a strict system for detection can seem counterintuitive. Some may see this as a balance to ensure that you aren't playing loose with the stealth mechanics. One consolation is that the load times are almost nonexistent, so getting caught may be bad, but you won't have to wait long before you can make another attempt.

The strict detection guidelines also expose the fact that the game expects you to get through certain areas in a certain way with no room for improvisation. You may find a little wiggle room for execution timing, but you'll always fail certain areas if you don't discover how the game wants you to proceed and in what particular order. Again, this can be frustrating since most modern stealth games thrive on a combination of improvisation, luck and brute force for success. It can also be seen as a challenge instead of a roadblock, since the game features nothing but stealth, and this is a way to do something a little different while staying within the game's context.

The game sports eight levels, and each one is of considerable length, since you'll be moving through each stage at a slower than normal pace. Depending on how many times you fail a given scenario, having around 90 minutes spent on a level is a good estimate. It can be a tad longer if you try to get all of the level's collectibles. The fact that the game sticks to a complete stealth experience with no deviations throughout the campaign is commendable.

Graphically, Eriksholm is good, given its perspective. Extreme character detail isn't present since you can't zoom in all too close to the models, but they still look good and distinct enough from a distance, except for a few enemy types later on that look too similar to one another. Their animations look nice, so there is that to look forward to. The environments are where graphical details shine, as every section looks awesome. There aren't any bad textures, and there are lots of good-looking lighting and shadow effects. Complementing this are fully rendered cut scenes that look magnificent due great facial animations.

The game fares quite nicely on the audio side of things. As one may expect from a stealth game, the soundtrack is sparse. Music only kicks in during cut scenes and when you're close to being discovered. It's good and moody, but don't expect much in the way of musical variety during the gameplay. The audio effects are crisp and clear, another thing that is a necessity in the genre, but the real star of the audio package is the voice acting, which amplifies an overall solid script. The delivery of each line feels natural, and the main characters are given a chance to shine, since they have a habit of monologuing often. The side characters and other people who don't play a bigger role in the story are also given a chance to shine. Their performances match the main cast, making the whole game's audioscape feel richer.

For those hoping to play on the Steam Deck, the game has already been marked Verified to work on the device. You'll get a full 1280x800 resolution, but you will need to tweak the graphical settings because the game saves the settings you've used on another device into the cloud. With the game set to maximum graphical settings all around, you'll get roughly 90 minutes of gameplay on a full charge and a frame rate that fluctuates between 30-50 fps. Using the minimum settings will help the frame rate and battery life, but you will be annoyed at having to tweak the settings all the time if you plan on frequently swapping between the Steam Deck and another higher-powered PC.

In the end, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is a good game despite some design choices that can lead to moments of frustration. The viewpoint feels fresh since so few games use it, but the game's various indicators even things out when you compare it to other stealth titles. The strict failure conditions and seemingly rigid process for stealth puzzle-solving can be an annoyance, but it is helped by the game's fast load times and generous checkpoints. The use of team play keeps things interesting. For genre fans, Eriksholm is a good game to check out.

Score: 8.0/10