Toki Tori 2+ is NOT a game that belongs to the metroidvania genre. It is a game that shares certain elements similar to metroid and some castlevania games, but they do not share the same genre. It is similar to how metroid and castlevania share certain elements with super mario brothers, yet no one in their right mind would put the three games in the same genre.
Toki Tori 2+ is in a genre of it’s own. The thing is this genre doesn’t exist yet. This is why when the media asked why there would not be a number 3 the series, the developers two tribes responded with, “there is no audience”. Toki Tori 2+ is a well crafted game for an audience that doesn’t exist yet. So of course this is why the game didn’t sell well. The people for which it is made simply aren’t aware of it’s existence.
Many people all over the internet tried to give their two cents as to why the game didn’t do well. Some people approached it thinking it was a metroidvania only to find out there weren’t any unlockable powerups or items that are the staple to that non-linear genre of 2D platformer. Some people tried to convince people that is was because two tribes released the game on Wii U before steam, thus giving the finger to their PC loyalists. I don’t buy it. Didn’t find enough evidence of disgruntled PC gamers to convince me otherwise. Some people said it was because in the Wii U version it was difficult to navigate through all the gates, there was a lot of back tracking once a puzzle was complete or to return to puzzle once the cute little yellow chubby bird’s 2 abilities were understood better. Two Tribes listened to these comments and immediately fixed them in time for the Steam release, promising the adjustments would be added to the Wii U version. (I actually didn’t check the integrity of this promise to their Wii U fans, but I assume it was kept because as soon as the Steam version came out these types of complaints stopped.) Some people said it was because the game took an extra year to come out. None of these reasons are convincing enough because gamers these days more than ever, understand that game development doesn’t always go as planned. Steam’s Early Access among other programs have allowed developers and gamers to become much more involved with each other during the dev process and knowledges from both sides just rubs off from this kind of intimate exposure.
No no no I tell you. None of these reasons pan out as possibilities for why Toki Tori 2+, a goddamn well designed game, perfectly balanced puzzles, amazingly cute characters, and deliciously vibrant graphics, would not do well. Especially when you considered the success of their past games.
The only explanation that works for me is Toki Tori 2+ belongs to a genre that is too unfamiliar to people. This is what caused so much discourse. The fact that no one knew how to classify the damn game. Humans love to classify things. It is our little perverted secret hobby. We do it in our head with every single person we meet. “Hello, I am James, how are you?” “Oh that guy has capris on. He must either be this or this or that”. “Oh look at that lady, she looks so mean, I bet she eats cats for breakfast” A world of Classification is world of comfort for us. So when a game comes along that doesn’t have a shape we’re are familiar with, we feel weird. We try to judge how good it is by comparing it to the classics of the genre yet nothing we say sits right. Eventually we move on because some other quacky ass high energy Indie toy bounces in front of our face and we chase after it like a butterfly.
Read the dev blog of two tribes as they were developing the game. They even tried to classify the game as a metroidvania but it didn’t sit well with them. They were onto something big and they knew it. Too bad the world wasn’t ready.
This is the direction I am taking Indy Hobo - help the world become ready by first figuring out how to define the genre to which Toki Tori 2+ belongs.
This is what I got so far.
I have located an element of Toki Tori 2+ that is completely unique from any other game - the progression system. To further understand it I am going to try to find other games that share this element (so far I have found one). Once I understand this element well enough I will try to use it to create around it an entirely new genre of game. To this end I think I need to compile a lot of data about how previous genres came to be, from where they came, how did they manage to differentiate themselves from their parent genre to be considered stand alone genres etc. This information will help me in my efforts to stimulate the developmental process for the genre to which Toki Tori 2+ belongs.
I guess it sounds like I am the biggest Toki Tori 2+ fanboy in the world and thats ok. Then again, some of you might now. I mean I haven’t even done all the achievements yet. You are free to classify me however you want. Me personally, I am a teacher who sees a connection between this unknown genre and a potential solution to the current issues that plague the world’s education system. Also, Toki Tori 2+ is a damn good game and the dev and design team behind it deserve much more respect than they got.
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