Believe it or not, but Toki Tori 2 was one of the most daring and ingeniously designed
puzzle games of 2013.
I say that because it's a Metroidvania game where you aren't stopped by doors you can't
open or blocks you can't break. The only thing stopping you from breaking off the main road
to forge your own path is just basic knowledge of how the game works.
Before I get to that, let me define a Metroidvania.
Back in the day, most games were split into levels, and they followed one after the other,
in order. Then games like Metroid came along, squished all the levels together into one
contiguous world map, and jumbled up the order.
This means that during your adventure you might come across a door that you can't access
yet, until you unlock a new item that will let you through, so you now have to retrace
your steps to get back to that obstacle and bypass it.
There are now loads of these games, including Metroid and Castlevania of course as well
as Shantae and Shadow Complex and Strider and Guacamelee and more.
But they all generally do the same thing. Bits of the world are completely inaccessible
until you get the next power up, meaning these games aren't truly about exploration at all.
You're still on a predetermined path. Only, there's a lot more backtracking.
So, enter Toki Tori 2 - a game which does something quite different.
You only have two abilities in this game - you can tweet and you can stomp. And that's it.
You never get any more powers or items. You do learn some songs that let you respawn,
jump to the map screen, take a picture, or view your location, but they don't actually
unlock any new areas.
Instead of abilities, the game has a complicated ecosystem of creatures that all act and interact
in different ways, and you advance by manipulating these critters. You might tweet to move this
platform near to you or use fireflies to disable these masks.
The main pathway, as much as there is one, introduces you to these concepts slowly, and
doesn't let you advance until you've got it. So in this very early section we have to learn
about making bubbles to ride up to this next area. Along the way, checkpoints linger just
out of view so you know where you should be going.
But, at any time, you can break off from this path, even if the majority of first time players
don't even realise that they can.
Take this very early area. We came in from the left, and it seems like all we can do
is move to the right.
Then again we could lure this bird over here to get up to here, then use this water to
grow this grass so we sneak past the other birds, then use this little animal friend
to clear the gap.
But you probably won't because you don't officially learn about luring birds until this part of
the game, or growing grass until you do this puzzle, or using those repeater bugs until
you get to this section.
If you manage to do get up here and wander off to the left, you've reached a part of
the game that most players won't actually access until much later on. It's sequence
breaking - you know, the way that industrious players use cheats and glitches to bypass
bits of level - but made official
Here's another example. In this section, we fall down and our only option is to go left.
The stairs on the right are too steep and we can't jump, remember. But, we later learn
about herding fireflies, so when we eventually come back to this area we'll know to bring
these little guys down with us to wake up this sleepy purple monster, who we'll feed
to the frog, who gives us a bubble to get up here.
And in this section, these electric critters are in our way. Later on in the game we'll
get taught how to disable them by stomping while wet. But maybe you'll figure that out
before you're supposed to and then start to explore the game on your own terms
That's kind of the magic of Toki Tori 2. Exploration in this game feels real and organic because
you can discover your own path at any time, and your options are never limited by your
abilities. If you can't advance, it's only because you can't work out what you're supposed
to do.
The main path eventually brings you to this area, where you find that the main goal in
this game is to lure these five frogs to these warp holes. And you can do that in any order
you like which again, reinforces the sense of discovery and exploration.
Likewise, one other goal in the game sees you collecting these shards to activate these
stones to open this gate. And you can collect them however you like. It's always up to you.
Now I don't think that every game, or even every Metroidvania, should try this. It's
a ballsy move, because if you don't tune it just right players can break the order all
over the place, miss vital bits of knowledge, and get lost or stuck or fed up.
But it's just nice to be trusted with the way you plot out your adventure for once.
So many games these days hold your hand with helpful companions, endless tutorials, and
big compasses that point you in the right direction.
Toki Tori 2 has no tutorials, no words at all actually outside its logo, and it respects
your intelligence in a very satisfying way. This one has gone overlooked but I think it
deserves more attention. Don't be fooled by its cutesy exterior - this PC and Wii U puzzler
is wicked smart, and also devilishly tricky at times.