Teslagrad 2 is the sequel to the well-received PS4 title Teslagrad, developed by Rain Games. This is her 3-5 hour Metroidvania-style 2D puzzle platformer where you play as Lumina, a young girl. During her training to become a Teslamancer, she crashed her airship into Willmheim, stranded in this dangerous foreign land north of her hometown of Teslagrad. Using her various electrifying and magnetic abilities, you must solve her puzzles, avoid dangers, and explore her surroundings to find a safe route back home.
Teslagrad 2’s puzzles focus on awesome traversals with many unlockable abilities that enhance your quick movement. You get both a motorized dash and a slide very early on, so if you chain it well, you get a very satisfying moment. Sliding down hills, running through utility poles and dodging death up close is a thrill. Combined with the magnetic ability to approach and leave platforms, you get the tools to build considerable momentum to achieve impressive heights or long jumps.
Inspired by Norse mythology, puzzles become more difficult as you progress and unlock more weapons and abilities, requiring more precise jumps and more precise timing to avoid burning to a crisp This is to be expected, but no hints or guidance are provided if you get stuck on a puzzle or don’t know where to go. There were a few times when I was completely baffled by what seemed like a dead-end room, but later found out that our new abilities had functions the game didn’t tell us.
In between all the platforming you’ll face some challenging boss fights. Having these too difficult was a major criticism of the original game, and it seems that feedback has been incorporated. It did a great job balancing out the steep difficulty, but there were some particularly unfair encounters. We’re talking about you, elk.
Ultimately, Teslagrad 2 is a comfortable successor with satisfying traversals and fun and challenging puzzles and boss battles. But its short runtime and lack of hints and guidance don’t really make it better than its predecessor.
