Teslagrad 2is a puzzle platformer with a 2.5D animation art style focused more on physics traversal powers than combat.Teslagrad 2continues the Teslamancer story with a different protagonist, one some players may recognize as one of four playable characters inTeslagradstandalone follow-up,World to the West.
Game Rant recently spoke with Rain Games CEO Peter Wingaard Meldahl aboutTeslagrad 2’s protagonist Lumina compared to the original game and how the story continues in anew Norse settingwith steampunk influences. Meldahl also discussed the importance of visual storytellingTeslagrad 2and what fans can expect from the platformer video game sequel.
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2013’s originalTeslagradfollowed the story of a young male Teslamancer in a steampunk European-style setting, whereas 2017s action adventure gameWorld to the Westcontinued theTeslagraduniverse in 3D where players could be four different characters: Lumina the Teslamancer, the mind bender Miss Teri, Lord Clonington, or an orphan called Klaus.2022 saw many female game protagonists, and when asked why Rain Games chose Lumina as the star forTeslagrad 2, Meldahl talked about the importance of world setting and picking a character who could carry elements of the original game forward. As Meldahl put it,
We wanted the character to be new to the world, so we did not want to use the protagonist from the originalTeslagrad. We liked the idea of using his daughter. She would look distinctly different, and we would get to figure out how a female Teslamancer uniform would look. With a blue suit and big red hair, she could also carry the color motif fromTeslagradwith her, without the enemies there to supply all the red.
Meldahl added that Lumina’s backstory set up inWorld to the Westgave them ‘the perfect excuse to put her in lands that the Teslamancers had lost touch with ages ago’ inTeslagrad 2’s new largerNorse mythology-inspired gamesetting.
We leftWorld to the Westwith the characters traveling home. They had gotten there in different ways, and Lumina had a big subplot around fixing the ancient teleporter that brought her to the continent by accident. She never got to do that though. She hitched a ride with one of the other characters called Clonington to his homeland, and we always wanted to tell the tale of how she got back from there.
Someenvironmental storytelling video gamesavoid features like lengthy NPC dialogue or cutscenes for various reasons, choosing instead to their stories differently. Meldahl explained howTeslagrad 2’s storytelling is ‘silent’ like the originalTeslagrad’s focus on visual storytelling, but they are ‘more ambitious with the storytelling this time. Meldahl also discussed about howTeslagrad 2has hidden layers and connections to the original game for players to discover,
In the originalTeslagrad, almost everyone understood the main core of the story, and the community has spent years to figure out all the secondary plots and narratives. InTeslagrad 2, there is more of both layers! We even reveal the solutions to some of the last mysteries from the original’s story.
This insight may come as exciting news to players who enjoyed unfoldingTeslagrad’s narrative and those who may be eager to see how the Teslamancer story continues under the mantel of a female protagonist. It will be interesting to see howTeslagrad 2develops its Teslamancer story and lore through Lumina in a new Nordic world setting.
Teslagrad 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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