World To The West

World To The West is the second game in the Teslagrad universe. I've previously mentioned how I acquired it, so here I'll only talk about my impressions of the game.

Despite being set in the same universe as Teslagrad and being clearly indicated as a follow-up to the first game of the series, World to the West (henceforth: WttW) is a very different game, in genre, visuals and storytelling.

WttW is an puzzle/exploration game with action elements. The game features fully 3D graphics, although the gameplay itself is largely two-dimensional, with the characters exploring a large map of both surface and underground areas, filled with monsters and mysteries, as they are gathered by an ancient prophecy to protect this previously unexplored region from the unhealthy interest of egomaniac wealthy exploiter Tychoon.

Over the course of the game, the player finds themselves controlling four different characters, each with their own particular quirks and capabilities. Progressive discovery is heavily featured during the first chapters of the game, so that the player can familiarize themselves with the movements and attacks of each character independently, until all four characters (the Teslamancer Lumina, the Survivor Knaus, the Adventurer Teri, and the Gentleman Aristocrat Lord Clonington) are unlocked and gathered together.

The characters can mostly be used to explore independently from each other, although a couple of puzzles require some tighter cooperation to achieve the proper synergy between the different capabilities of two or more characters.

In the second half of the game, before the final confrontation with Tychoon, the player is left free to explore the world with any and all the characters, alternating between them as appropriate using a collection of teleportation totems that allow both fast travel and character switching, under the condition that each character can only teleport to other totems he or she has already discovered, and not to totems discovered by other characters.

It's during this game phase that it's time for completionists to shine, collecting all health power ups and “story stones”, cognates to the Teslagrad scrolls that narrate the background history for the game (in contrast to the Teslagrad scrolls, these stones also feature written text in addition to a visual indication of the events from the past). A peculiar aspect of the game is that information about the locations of these extras can be purchased in-game using treasures found in appropriate chests or by killing monsters.

The puzzle themselves aren't overly complex, and tend to be mostly along the lines of finding which character to use to overcome a specific obstacle, or conversely about finding the path to bring a specific character in a specific place. Although the game is not a platformer in any way, Lumina and Teri still have to face challenges where such elements are present.

There are a few intermediate boss fights, some of which I found to be harder than others (the Lumina fights particularly challenging for me), while the final confrontation against Tychoon, where each character has to leverage their peculiar abilities, was surprisingly easy (at least for me).

The art in WttW is enjoyable, albeit simpler than the carefully painted backgrounds of Teslagrad (in many ways, a testament to the difference between 3D and 2D game art), at times funny (you'll never skip an opportunity to look at Lord Clonington's silly faces when he jump slams on the ground), and adorned by a couple of hidden gems (the scenery from the big tree being probably the most visually stunning one).

My overall judgement of the game is positive, and although I can't say it's an exceptional game, it's definitely enjoyable, much more so if you've played Teslagrad (the game is full of references to the previous game —some more obvious, like the initial setup that takes Lumina from the Teslamancers' tower to the titular World to the West, some less so, like a redeemed, healthier Oleg, the huge cat that is becoming a staple running joke of the series, or the laser-shooting electro-mechanical eye, former companion of the Teslagrad boss).

The negative aspects of the game include a very low quality Italian translation —possibly machine-generated rather than commissioned to a good translator1— an underwhelming final boss fights (even my kids noticed how trivial it was compared to the previous ones), and a general feeling of untapped potential (not enough puzzles leveraging the synergy between capabilities of different characters, and the final discovery of “bonus” power-ups, too close to the endgame to be of any significant use).

TL;DR, possible scoring on your typical star systems:

• 3/5
• 5/7
• 7/10

for the game,

• 3/5
• 4/7
• 6/10

for the lack of attention to the translation.