Teslagrad Review – Xbox One

Teslagrad was originally released on PC back at the tail end of 2013 and has launched on almost every available platform since. Now available on Xbox One, Teslagrad has brought it’s electromagnetic puzzles to Microsoft’s flagship console, but are its powers of attraction enough to win over a new legion of fans?

If you’ve played a Metroidvania game before, then you’ll have some familiarity with how Teslagrad progresses, though there is a larger focus on puzzles than mere exploration here. Each room in Teslagrad is a puzzle in itself, and though you do discover equipment that grants new abilities, backtracking through previously ventured rooms is kept to a minimum. The Xbox One version of Teslagrad brings with it new additions to the game’s Challenge Mode, which essentially fulfill the role of extra rooms to test your brain.

The first thing that struck me about Teslagrad was the animation style, and in particular the character models, which are especially pleasing on the eye. Unfortunately, you rarely encounter other characters once you progress past the first few minutes of the game, as much of your time with the game is spent battling environmental puzzles instead of fellow living beings. There is a decent variety to the environments, though, from lava-lit scrapyards to the treetops of an aviary where a menacing mechanical bird resides.

One of the more disappointing aspects of Teslagrad is that for large parts of the game, I didn’t have much idea of what was going on story wise or why I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. There are a few instances of backstory delivered through theatrical recreations of the game-world’s history, but for much of the game you are progressing from room to room with no real sense of purpose. The first few minutes of the game reveal that there’s some form of invasion underway which forces your character to take shelter in a mysterious castle but beyond that, narrative delivery is minimal at best.

Thankfully, much of your attention will be taken up by trying to find your way through the many puzzles that Teslagrad puts in front of you. These puzzles often involve magnetism in some way, presented here in the guise of two colors, red and blue. There’s a fairly even difficulty curve, with earlier puzzles relying on the use of only one or two abilities, and later puzzles requiring a much greater sense of control over both the game’s mechanics and the uses of the various pieces of equipment you pick up as you progress.

The first piece of gear that you find is a glove which allows you to change the magnetic charge of certain objects in the environment, and you later find a pair of boots that allow you to teleport short distances, and a cloak which allows you to give yourself a magnetic charge. By the end of the game, you’ll be using all of these abilities to solve puzzles, often in quick succession or even at the same time. Unfortunately, some puzzles rely more on trial and error than genuine problem solving, and there are a number of instances where you will be forced to restart a puzzle due to an obstacle placed just after a screen transition. Instances such as these force you to reply on pattern recognition and memory more than gaming ability, and there are times later in the game where the same puzzle produces multiple instances of this, creating a more frustrating than challenging experience. The one caveat is that Teslagrad features a fairly forgiving autosave system, but this doesn’t do nearly enough to resolve the issue.

If you haven’t yet had chance to experience Teslagrad in one of its many releases, then you could do a lot worse than checking it out on Xbox One. It’s quite rare for a puzzle game to perfectly nail both a difficulty curve and the difficulty of individual puzzles, and while Teslagrad does fall short at times, the overall experience is enjoyable enough to partially forgive some of these transgressions. Teslagrad doesn’t offer a top-drawer experience but is certainly strong enough to satisfy the cravings of puzzle fans.

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Author: Jack Moulder
Born in England but currently living in Toronto, Canada, Jack's been gaming as long as he can remember, which just happens to coincide with his 6th birthday, where he received an original Gameboy and a copy of Tetris, which his parents immediately 'borrowed' and proceeded to rack up all the high scores that Jack's feeble 6-year-old fingers couldn't accomplish. A lover of sports games, RPGs and shooters, Jack's up for playing pretty much anything, so long as it doesn't kick his ass too frequently. He has a delicate temperament.

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