Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Teslagrad 2 starts with a great platforming promise: you are not just jumping through a connected world, you are learning to bend its rules. Lumina’s electromagnetic powers turn the environment into something you can manipulate, while blinking, sliding, and magnetizing let you carry momentum in ways that become increasingly useful as the journey opens up. When a route finally clicks, it feels less like you found an answer and more like you earned the fluency to move through Wyrmheim.

The puzzles are the main event, and their grounding in electromagnetic physics gives them more character than generic switch-and-door challenges. Curved magnets add another wrinkle to the formula, asking you to think about direction and motion rather than only timing. You will get the most out of Teslagrad 2 if you enjoy pausing to read a room, test an idea, and then execute it cleanly.

Exploration has the familiar Metroidvania rhythm of returning to earlier spaces with new skills and equipment. Hidden collectibles, secrets, and newly reachable areas give the large tower and surrounding land a reason to stay in your mind. Boss fights also matter because overcoming them opens additional abilities and territory, though they can be a sharper test of your platforming and power use than the exploratory stretches around them.

That structure can create frustration when you are stuck on a particularly perplexing puzzle or a demanding boss. Still, the game has a clear throughline: every challenge feeds back into greater mobility and a broader understanding of the world. If you want constant combat, this is not the strongest reason to show up. If you like platformers where mastering movement is its own reward, Teslagrad 2 has real pull.

Graphics

Wyrmheim is rendered in richly hand-painted 2D scenery, with a looming abandoned tower above a fjordside valley giving the journey a memorable Nordic backdrop. The mix of ravaged wilderness, Viking raiders, and myth-inspired beasts gives the world more texture than a single industrial tower crawl, with Lumina exploring that Nordic setting.

Story

Lumina’s problem is immediately easy to understand: her airship crashes in the remote north, leaving her stranded and trying to get home to her family. That personal goal keeps the adventure grounded even as the setting expands into abandoned structures, hostile raiders, and creatures drawn from Nordic mythology.

Teslagrad 2 tells its story through what you encounter instead of interrupting the game with text or voiceover. That choice suits a game so focused on momentum and discovery. You are meant to assemble the history of Wyrmheim, the tower, and Lumina’s ancestors from the places you push into and the secrets you uncover.

The approach will work best if you enjoy environmental storytelling and do not need every plot point spelled out. The mystery has room to breathe, and the lack of traditional narration helps the world feel continuous rather than segmented into gameplay and exposition.

Overall Experience

Teslagrad 2 is a smart, movement-driven puzzle platformer that understands why ability-gated exploration remains satisfying. Its best moments arrive when a new power changes how you see a familiar space, then lets you string that knowledge into faster, more confident traversal. The Nordic steampunk setting gives those familiar genre pleasures a distinct home.

The tougher puzzles and boss encounters may occasionally turn a smooth expedition into a wall, especially if you prefer direct guidance or simple action over experimentation. But the friction is tied to the game’s central strength: it wants you to understand its tools, not merely collect them. Patience pays off with more expressive movement and deeper exploration.

Give it a chance if you enjoy a Metroidvania that leans hard into platforming logic, environmental secrets, and wordless atmosphere. It is an especially easy recommendation for fans of the first game’s magnetic ideas who want a larger world and more ways to move through it. For further game details, the Teslagrad 2 publisher page is a useful companion.

Retro Replay Score

7.3/10