Teslagrad 2 Review

Teslagrad 2 is a puzzle platformer developed by Rain Games, and although it's technically the sequel to the first instalment (which came out in 2014 for the Wii U), you don't have to worry about having played the original one, as it works well as a standalone game. In this entry, you'll be playing as a female protagonist and solving puzzles using magnetism and electricity, something I quite enjoyed because you don't see it often in other games!

Our main character has some awesome abilities at her disposal. She can use “Blink”, an electricity-powered short teleport that looks like a dash and allows her to get past barriers in the way leaving the enemies stuck behind. This ability is used a lot in the beginning, as she is being chased by the same Vikings that shot her ship down. What they want with her is unknown, but what I do know is to make sure that they don’t catch you. If they do, you will instantly have to go back to the latest checkpoint; luckily, the game is good about updating the spot, so you won’t have to backtrack very far. Teslagrad 2 is a title that is going to make you think a lot and experiment. Even in the beginning during the chase, you may die multiple times trying to figure out the correct route to take, but it works as a good tutorial to get you prepared for the rest of the game.

There are collectable cards spread around the world for Lumina to retrieve; these will help fill in elements of the Teslagrad 2’s backstory. They are cool to find, but the part I enjoyed more than the story was the gameplay itself. Lumina moves through the environment in weird and interesting ways. When her “Blink” teleport ability is upgraded, it allows you to move/swim through the water quickly to avoid the enemies that are waiting for you. Later in the game, you will be able to combine moves to launch yourself out of the water and fly high into the air to reach walls and platforms that you were unable to access before. There is also the ability to pick up and throw blue glowing blocks at enemies in your way or to grab and place them for a higher platform to stand on. When Lumina gets her magnetic cloak near the beginning of the game, you will gain the ability to use the red and blue magnetic fields to traverse the stage. Blue will push and repel you, whereas red attracts, allowing you to walk up a wall, or even walk upside down for as long as you are on that colour. However, beware of the red flowers that are placed around the world, if you touch them, your polarity is reversed and you will fall. These areas are tricky and definitely require some experimentation to figure out where you need to dash, launch yourself by repelling off the blue areas, or cling onto the red. Once you figure it out, it feels incredibly rewarding.

The game is inspired by Scandinavian culture, so the soundtrack is chock-full of folk music with rich drumming and choir sounds. Lumina and the other characters have a 3D look to them which is different from the first game, which had a hand-drawn appearance. Either way, the game looks really nice, albeit a bit dark at times, which caused me to turn up the brightness on my screen. The backgrounds of the three areas offer a huge variety of environments and give a fantastic magical feel to the game.

Teslagrad 2 is not a very long game, lasting only a few hours or less if you get accustomed to the gameplay quickly. It was difficult, but more in a “use my brain and experiment” way than a “this is totally impossible” way. If you collect all the cards, you can unlock a different final boss if you want to stretch out your playtime and find everything the game has to offer. The puzzles are fun to solve and I highly suggest checking out this title if you enjoy puzzle platforming games!