An instantly beautiful game, Teslagrad Remastered begins in a rainy European village. Luxuriously expressed. There’s no dialogue at all, and the design of the house and the scenery in the background give you all the information you need about what kind of game awaits.
You play as a little boy who crawls out a window and climbs a roof on his way to adventure. Teslagrad is perfectly playable without context, but the mystery of the abandoned Tesla-his tower and the ancient tale of the long-dormant Teslamancer provided by the story are definitely interesting.
Animation is great. The way your character climbs feels very human compared to his character movements in many video games. He grabs onto a ledge and uses both of his arms to pull his body up and use his entire body to climb up. The way the rain hits the roof and drips down the sides of the building, and the way animals move in front of and in the background of every scene sets the stage for a game made with immense love. This is complemented by a truly beautiful soundtrack that perfectly captures every moment.
A race to the Tesla Tower serves as a tutorial. There are no direct instructions, but the controls are very intuitive. By the time you reach the electromagnetic maze, you are ready to tackle it.
Gameplay takes the form of 2D puzzles that must be solved to navigate the Tesla Tower. These require the use of magnets to stick to or keep them away from electromagnetic surfaces. You’ll also know which charges are most effective, as the areas you can interact with are clearly identified by red or blue lights.
First, you’ll need to borrow charges from mechanical creatures you’ll encounter in the maze. As the game progresses, you gain gloves, cloaks, and eventually wands, each capable of generating increasingly powerful charges.
You’ll receive a staff near the end of the game, but it’s your only weapon. This means that you’ll have to use your powers creatively in battles against the minor bosses you’ll encounter throughout the game. They also need to think about how to use the environment to their advantage, and even how to use their electromagnetic capabilities to redirect their own attacks to them.
Both the puzzles and the combat are very well designed. These are interesting enough to ponder and enough to feel rewarding when you find something worthwhile. Boss fights are fun and formulaic, so the patterns aren’t hard to follow. Even after finding a solution, you still need to react quickly and sharpen your timing.
A masterclass in silent storytelling, Teslagrad Remastered has only the shortest cutscenes at the heart of the game. If you don’t pay attention to background details, you can easily miss the context. The story is layered into stages. You pass portraits and statues and, at one point, a puppet show that demolishes your home and shows the conflict that got you here.
You’ll know you’re reaching the climax of the story as the murals and sculptures scattered here and there become more spectacular and scary as you get closer to the king.
Otherwise the game will be mostly non-linear. You can explore the tower in any direction and order that suits you. Scrolls placed throughout the map provide an incentive to thoroughly investigate every crevice before challenging the king. He needs at least 15 volumes to reach his room, and if you can find all 36, the Secret His ending will be unlocked.
Teslagrad Remastered has been successfully ported to the Switch. The controls are very good for Joy-Con. The design has been refined since its inception, but it has lost none of its charm. Also added to the game is the teleporter he hub, which offers a number of challenges that test how well you master the electromagnetic force.
The game manages to strike the difficult balance of maintaining the fun of its predecessor while building just enough to justify the next release.
