Overall Impression
Eriksholm is an immersive story driven stealth game. This is the type of experience you want to just chill, grab a cup of coffee and just soak up all the vibes of the world. The city is fully realized with intricate details that keep you curious about the environment and it’s people. The stealth gameplay is well executed and pairs nicely with the overall story and tone of the game. Because it’s a fairly simple and straightforward experience focused on story telling, it’s one of the few gaming experiences that feels like you can enjoy it at your own pace without feeling pressured to try to rush to complete a string of tasks. The characters and story are interesting and the voice acting brings to life the personality and charm of the characters.
Target Audience
Gamers that desire a primarily story focused experience with puzzle and stealth elements interwoven throughout will enjoy this title. It may also appeal to those that enjoy the art style and overall design as the city is quite interesting on its own.
Story & Gameplay
The central focus of the experience is the narrative. The main protagonists are siblings, Hanna and Herman set in an industrial 1900s Nordic city. The story itself is interesting with a strong focus on the individual characters. The overall flow of how the story is presented is seamless. You’ll automatically trigger dialogue as you get into proximity of other characters. The dialogue will continue to play as you explore the city. This means that you aren’t stuck standing in place until the dialogue finishes. This simple setup makes the over rhythm of the game feel smooth as you can focus on moving while still getting bits of narrative that push the story forward or that adds context to the world and its people. There’s a lot of care and attention to how this world is presented and interwoven with the overall experience.
The core gameplay is fairly straight forward in that you are usually tasked with arriving at a certain location. Since the objective is simple you don’t feel pressured to act quickly. Instead stealth elements and puzzles make you think more strategically about how to overcome certain challenges. The puzzle and stealth elements themselves are fun and not overly strict on how you overcome them. There is also a nice restart feature that allows you to easily begin a stealth challenge again if you encounter a failure state. This mechanic makes more challenging stealth sections easier to deal with as it places you right back into the scenario at a spot that is fairly close to your last position. Altogether the gameplay matches the narrative and is nicely intertwined with the overall tone of the game allowing the player to enjoy the story and environment.
Art & Design
The overall art style has an animated painterly type aesthetic that is somewhat stylized but leans more towards realism. The environments are really beautifully designed becoming a defining feature of the game. There’s a lot of detail and inspiring views to take in as you travel this world. The overall more relaxed pacing allows you to take things in and just enjoy the surroundings and the everyday interactions that take place allowing you to dive into this immersive setting.
Challenges
The main challenge is understanding who you are as a gamer and what you like. The game itself is well done with an engaging story, excellent voice acting and stealth gameplay that matches the narrative. However, those that are looking for more challenging gameplay or more things to do in the world may be disappointed. It’s not a fault of the game but understanding the type of experiences you are looking for as a gamer. Connected to this, at least in the early part of the game, is that puzzles and stealth elements are somewhat more simple. There may be times you need to restart a section but it usually becomes obvious fairly quick what you need to do. This allows a wide range of gamers at various skill levels to easily get into the game. However, those looking for more of a challenge may find the initial stages a bit too easy.
Closing Thoughts
Eriksholm is a narrative journey set in a Scandinavian city in the 1900s. The puzzle and stealth elements pair nicely with the overall story and vibe of the game. Those who are looking for a primarily story driven experience with some stealth elements should place this on their list of games to check out.
Thanks
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GAME DETAILS
PLATFORMS: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
RELEASE: July 2025
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: River End Games / Nordcurrent Labs
GENRE/TAGS: Story Driven, Exploration, Adventure, Stealth, Puzzle
TARGET AUDIENCE: Those that enjoy a primarily story driven adventure with some stealth and puzzle elements.
IMAGE CREDITS: River End Games
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