Toem 2 review: a cosy photography adventure with a warm spirit

I played the original Toem on first release in 2021, and it was a positively delightful experience. As a tiny little being, you’re set upon a big, wide world, with only a camera to your name. Adventure is in your blood, as is helping people. So you begin a quest to meet folks of all kinds and solve their latest conundrums using the magic of photography.

Toem 2 continues that quest with an equally peppy spirit, as you journey to new realms to photograph even grander sights, from giant sunflowers to wayward donkeys, and beyond.

This is a shorter game than its predecessor, but it packs in plenty of goodness during its runtime as you wander through new cities, in search of peace and belonging, and the opportunity to see the mysterious Toem (a magical event which defines your trip).

Light-hearted vibes define a clever puzzle adventure

Across four major locations, you’ll spend your time in Toem 2 making friends, learning of their troubles and doing everything you can to help. Your camera will be your weapon, as you collect photos of the world around you, and also use it to magically turn screws, fix buildings and bridges, and defeat an evil, spreading vine.

With a light, breezy approach to puzzling, you’ll want to complete everything this game offers, from serving your fellow citizens to capturing photographs of every unique critter and cool discovery.

The lack of friction in exploring and taking photos elevates the entire experience. While there’s a layer of challenge in some quests, the game is mostly about going at your own pace through simple puzzles, and enjoying the sweetness of the Toem universe.

The game doesn’t give players any majorly challenging roadblocks or impossible tasks. It’s simply asking you to tickle your brain lightly and to enjoy the resulting journey.

This is sweetness in game form. Chill vibes, Cosy times.

A pure example of just how good, fun and joyful video games can be.

New mechanics and a fresh aesthetic

For those coming to Toem 2 from the original adventure, there will be much familiar here, with some important tweaks for style and gameplay.

As mentioned, the original game’s camera gets new features, allowing you to solve fresh types of puzzles. You’ll head through jungle vines and into dungeon sewers to fix the problems of towns you visit, while also wielding the camera to capture new memories with friends.

Beyond this addition, Toem 2 also features a refreshed art style that’s slightly less busy than that of its predecessor – there’s larger worlds here, packed with more details and cleaner edges. It feels like a natural evolution for the series, and one that still maintains the original game’s sense of humour and cutesy style.

The quest variety is another difference, with this particular adventure leaning into new fantasy quest lines and more absurd scenarios. There’s particular fun to be found in a quest where a goblin must brew spells for a rival wizard and a man who’s accidentally turned himself invisible, as well as a quest where a mafia boss requests photographs of smelly items for his ‘smell museum.’

Some of the game’s quests are extremely silly, and it’s this devotion to the absurd, bizarre and funny that hauls Toem 2 along, all the way to a heartfelt conclusion that feels good for the soul.

Toem 2 is short, sweet and exceedingly lovely across its runtime. With a simplicity in its design and the overall adventure, it’s not a particularly groundbreaking sequel. But with its devotion to being good (in spirit and in experience) it’s an all-round wonderful time.

Play Toem 2 and feel the whimsy wash over you. Like receiving a warm hug, you’ll feel much better afterwards.

A PC code for Toem 2 was provided by the publisher and played for the purposes of this review.

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