Toki Tori 2 is perhaps slightly less ruthlessly difficult than its predecessor, and expands the puzzling out into a large immersive world. It’s a very nice sequel!
The earlier Toki Tori games were about carefully managing your tools in the right order to complete levels. Now Toki only has two tools: his native abilities to whistle and stomp, which affect his surroundings in different ways. It’s still about doing things in the right order, but now it’s interacting with the various creatures and mechanisms that inhabit his world, and discovering how they interact with each other.
For instance, a simple puzzle might be stopping a frog from eating a bug long enough for a bird to take both to its nest. When the frog does eat it, it can then spit a bubble to lift Toki to a higher place. Stomping releases the bubble, or stuns the frog, or pushes the bug. Whistling lures the frog or bird.
The intricacy of the puzzles steadily increases, tying into the level design. It’s rarely overwhelming this time around, though; although the world is large and interconnected, each puzzle is self-contained. I miss the infinite rewind of Toki Tori 1′s remake, but if you fail it’s a simple matter to restart and set things up again. There’s also plenty of shortcuts and fast-travel points so when backtracking is required, it’s not too arduous. Of course, there’s lots of optional collectibles and secrets to find if you really want to push the limits of your puzzle-solving skills.
Some of the special functions I’ve mentioned (restart from checkpoint, fast travel) and others (view map, see nearby pickups, take photos for an in-game encyclopedia!) are activated by whistling songs in sequences of short and long notes. What’s nice about these is that everything is done within the context of Toki’s world. The game teaches you everything without breaking the immersion, with the player figuring things out by experimentation, or little birds teaching you the special songs. The plot, such as it is, is also revealed subtly through environmental cues.
Two Tribes have really stepped up here, taking the cute looks and head-scratching puzzles and synthesising them into a real tangible adventure. Simplifying your set of skills while creating this landscape populated by creatures with their own behaviours, and all in service of the puzzling but without breaking the delightful and believable world. It’s really very good.
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