TOEM 2 review – A safe but wonderful sequel

It’s been five years since the first TOEM released, and it’s a game I still think about regularly. A quaint, cosy game about solving problems through photographing objects, it only took a few hours to complete, but it very much lived on in my heart long after I’d finished. Presented in monochrome but absolutely bursting with vibrancy in every other way, it’s a shining example of an indie adventure game done right. And it’s with a big sigh of relief that I can confirm its sequel, TOEM 2, follows in its footsteps.

It’s a double-edged sword, though. TOEM 2 very much feels like an extension of the first game. Its new mechanics don’t add much in the way of additional depth and, really, I could simply copy and paste my review of TOEM 1 here and everything would still ring true. But as they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And TOEM certainly was not broken. More of the same is exactly what fans wanted, so in that regard, TOEM 2 is a roaring success.

It’s not that the new mechanics don’t add anything. Along with taking photos, your camera can be used as a tool. Be it a hammer, a pair of scissors or a screwdriver, you can zoom in on a key object through your camera lens and activate your tool.

Every town you pass through will grant you a unique tool which can be used to solve puzzles or to find secrets; the hammer, for example, can be used to hammer in nails or to break pots, along with some more unique uses. And the screwdriver can be used to rotate pipe flow systems in order to remove blockages or turn waterflow on and off. It adds a bit of depths to some of TOEM 2’s puzzles – although there’s rarely anything too taxing on offer here.

You can also zoom in and use your camera to ‘focus’ on an object, which may trigger a special or unique interaction. A creature may open its eyes, allowing you to take a clearer photo of it, for example, or something buried in the ground may pop up to reveal itself.

But ultimately, wandering around the small yet perfectly formed world of TOEM 2, taking photos, talking to NPCs and discovering secrets, feels very much like the last TOEM game. It’s not a bad thing at all, and developer Something We Made has worked hard to ensure the challenges and quests offered up here at least feel unique. It’s just that, if you were expecting something a little different from the original, you’re likely to be disappointed.

But why would you want something different? It’s a practically perfect sequel; it builds on what makes the original game so good in small and meaningful ways while offering a familiar experience. Once again, when it’s all over, you’ll be left disappointed, eager for more challenges to complete and more photographs to tick off your list. What a wonderful adventure that I challenge you to play without a smile on your face.