Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is the first game with Newcomer Studio River End Games, but it brings the confidence and ideas of the band that works in the Stealth genre much longer. With a top -down view, a wonderfully designed setting and a basic, but addictive mechanics, each chapter seems to be an hourly session of the game in a handsome Diorama puzzle. The gameplay is supported by a low and sweet story about home and perseverance against all adversities and contains stunning photos. When Eriksholm finally presents all his puzzles on the board two -thirds in the game, he sings all the experience, inviting fun and wise experiments. I would just like to have access to his tools; When I fully grabbed what I was capable of with all three heroes at the same time under my command, the loans soon began to roll.
The game begins in the inspired Nordic city of Eriksholm, which brushes the aesthetics of Whalepunk with steam engines, hanging prams and verticality reminiscent of the disgrace series Arkane. This is a great surroundings, with painting visuals, stunning lighting and society that seems alive. After the police in the city kidnapped her brother, the hero Hanna sets off on an adventure to find him. She was quickly drawn into a humorous, but basic plot that leads her to abandoned mines, rusty and humid sewage channels, and ultimately face to face with the most powerful people in the city. But she is not devoid of lend a hand because she meets a local resistance leader in the form of Alva and the hardened, but shy Sebastian, who join Hanna’s journey to save her brother and Eriksholm.
I like the dynamics between these three, because everyone represents a different aspect of the city and what he does for its less happiness, less wealthy citizens; Hanna, a child of the city, trying to survive, Alva, a youthful woman with the fire of the revolution, and Sebastian, a lonely employee who sticks to herself. The way they play narrative with each other is great, supported by excellent voice work, but I am glad how these three harmonically even more mechanically.
Hanna can crawl through swift ventilation, escaping through secluded buildings to reach up-to-date places and find hidden collector’s, and shoot at sleep with a blow. Alva can climb the trigger tiles, bringing it to Eriksholm roofs, where he can apply his dust to shoot pebbles that create sabers or airy sources to darken the area. And finally, Sebastian can suffocate guards with brutal strength and swim in the surrounding water to reach up-to-date (usually lower) locations. The real feast of Eriksholm is the search for threats to us, whether it illuminating airy, the abundance of guards, or something else, and determining what each of these playable characters must do to allow others to succeed.
Perhaps Alva must climb to the roof to shoot the pebble on the street above, allowing Hanna to get closer to the nearby guard and take them with sleep darkened by the shot of the darkness of Alva. I find out that this guard is a sentry, which means that the arrow itself will not pull them out, but fortunately Sebastian is nearby and can end his work, suffocating a sleepy guard. From Stry, all three are promoted to a nearby maze of hedge, where I have to think even more about how their movements will take me through this maze filled with half a dozen guards whose visual lines cross in a stressful way. If you are noticed by the guard and do not hide before your eyes are filled, you will meet with an immediate game above the screen.
Fortunately, in most control points are generous. Trial and blue puzzles and constant game rarely penetrate fun. But several times I felt betrayed by a tender control point, which restored me a bit too far, and it doesn’t lend a hand me that realistic animations and the general speed of the game are quite leisurely. Despite this, I am usually only a few minutes from another great puzzle, reserved for a moment of Eurek, who will not grow aged.
However, Eriksholm’s greatest madness is that you spend almost half of the game with Hanna before Alva joins Fray, and before Sebastian circles the trio, there is only a few hours left. I understand why River End Games did it – the first few chapters from Just Hanna serve as an extended tutorial and an opportunity to discover how the world of Eriksholm reacts to your sneaking movements – but she refreshes too long, how great the game can be when Alva and Sebastian get into the picture.
The chapters start and end with film cutscenes with a mystifying magnificent visualizations that compete with the best industry, and the story of Eriksholm is basic, but full of heart, even if I saw his return of action from a distance. Before I finished the game, about 15 hours, I left more of this crew and the world. But Eriksholm also ends with a neat arch, ending the most loose ends in a satisfactory way. However, my favorite moments appeared in miniature stories told by citizens and guards when I stolen it. One about a woman who professed her romance to her husband, who lay unconscious in the obscure thanks to my actions, left me a giggle. This is an almost physical kind of comedy provided by the player’s point of view in the style of Diorama and provides moments of edged writing and wit.
Eriksholm is a great puzzle game under the guise of hidden adventure, using the mechanics of the latter to create elements for the former. Thanks to the concentrated cast, three playable characters that synergia harmoniously, and the world whose corners and circulation are begging (with collections to reward your efforts), I leave more. Eriksholm mostly avoid a critical error of puzzles, which become comprehensive into frustrating, and turns into a number of challenges, which are almost always humorous and, in the last handful of hours, brilliant. I just want the rest of the game to be in line with its later heights.
