Black and white photos are like a photographer’s purity test. If it looks good in black and white, it’s going to look good in color. Toem 2 lacks the shades of gray that make black and white photography beautiful, but it keeps the art design simple and inviting. I’m glad they didn’t change it. In today’s era, where graphics are usually the first thing people notice in sequels, Toem 2’s familiar return allows us to jump into the game and enjoy everything else that’s new.
We embark on another adventure of solving problems and creating an organic life collection through photography. A robot comedian, who cracks jokes that are worse than dad jokes, forgets his punchline and needs you to take a picture to jog his memory. A citizen is obsessed with raunchy smells, so he wants you to take pictures of things that smell bad so he can smell them. Toem 2 leans into the absurdity of what it is—a photography game. I love taking pictures of landscapes, animals, and people. But that’s hardly entertaining. Getting commissioned to go around the city and take pictures of bags of trash? Now that’s an adventure. Anything people need you to do isn’t something they can’t do; it’s just goofy to have you do it.
Your camera also acts as a magical screwdriver. There’s a plumber who gives you a screwdriver that only works with the camera. The camera becomes the gateway to life. In a way, I find that’s what photography truly is. After taking boatloads of pictures in Alaska, I could appreciate the beautiful blue water and the lush green forests, but capturing them with the camera helped stamp the details in my brain. Toem 2 isn’t that deep, but the basic idea is there. As a way to support that idea, you help the plumber unclog pipes around the city. They’re not puzzles—I don’t know what to call them. They’re not difficult. They’re more like process-of-elimination tasks. The actions themselves don’t carry enough substance to justify their existence, but they do give an excuse to interact with the silly plumber—I love hearing the phone voice.
That’s another thing photographers notice: people are funny. And Toem 2’s people are just as interesting. One lady wants you to help her put up a sign for her business, but she has nowhere to put it, so she just wants you to figure out where to slap it on the building, but the building has a lot of windows; views be damned. While moving the scissor lift, she wobbles erratically. She wants you to take a picture and show her where it should go, and I should have done something way sillier.
You can jump now, which makes this game more vertical. Now you have to watch how far you fall because you might drop coffee. One odd use of the jump is needing to jump up ladders. Pressing Up is not an option. And it’s not obvious how to get down without employing some platforming acrobatics. I like that Toem 2 goes higher now, but I’m not sold on the jumping implementation.
In an era where sequels rule the day, Toem 2 is one I’m glad exists. I was happy with the first, but I’ll be happy to snap more photos.
And I almost forgot to mention the Dance Bug. I hope you find the Dance Bug.
Thank you for reading The Daily Demo! Did you play it? What’d you think of it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.