Not satisfied with Chicory: A Colorful Tale taking up the Game Pass spotlight of monochromatic indie titles emphasizing player creativity, Something We Made decided to release TOEM a couple months later.  While there's connective tissue between the two in genre and aesthetic appeal, TOEM is deliberately striving to capture a bite-sized adventure.  That's not always the easiest sell (discounting the advent of subscription services), but when you understand the intention it's easier to appreciate how that mindset fuels the grander creation.

The quaint start with our humble, football-headed protagonist opens at his/her nana's home.  Today's the day when this plucky player-character becomes a peripatetic photographer and sojourns to see TOEM.  I don't recall ever seeing what those abbreviations mean, so I assume it's something like "The One Eternal Moment" for short; essentially, there's something nested on a mountaintop begging for any daring traveler to capture.  It's the Shangri-La for any wildlife photographer worth their salt and your newly-acquired Polaroid will do just the trick.


Reaching this… holy mountain of sorts is a relatively simple endeavor.  Each leg of the journey – from Nana's homestead to a bustling cityscape – is separated by bus stops.  These locales are segmented 3D dioramas that're seen through a top-down viewpoint (akin to Link's Awakening), which transitions to first-person mode when reaching for your camera.  Those smooth transitions between a bird's eye view and an up-close zoom are central in capturing important items and events.

You're training to think of this world through a photographic eye; in fact, every new place has some empty picture frames waiting to be filled by anything in your photo album.  Each stop has several tasks to be completed, running the gamut of getting pictures of a mysterious trench-coated figure to solving minor puzzles, that'll go towards filling your passport with stamps.  Collect enough stamps and get a free ride.

Since Something We Made's aim is towards being therapeutic over daunting, the inevitable deluge of small tasks never feels overwhelming.  It's actually quite easy to stumble upon the solution of a yet-undiscovered quest by keeping a sharp eye and snapping pictures of whatever captures your attention.  It's not often said – sometimes not even discerned, but there's something special about a good invisible rhythm to short-n-sweet questlines; from the tempo to consistent stimulation – like the satisfying aural feedback from each new stamp – there's a science to this drip-feed of dopamine hits.  Perhaps there's also a danger to that formula when the hits feel too stretched out, but it's nonetheless a solid system.


Buttressing that structure is a delightful tone that never wears out its welcome.  While some rapid-fire jokes don't hit, the majority are silly gags that harmonize with this bouncy aesthetic.  Something as simple as an odd surprised face, or the inherently goofy sounds of the foreign language (which may just be nonsensical patter), perfectly captures this joyous jaunt.  This also comes into play with acquired cosmetics you can don or doff at any time; a couple are important for certain objectives, such as cool shades to see ghosts, while most are an added flair.

Self-expression also courses through TOEM's photography veins.  Because of breezy mission pacing and snappy camera controls, it's easier to invest more time into getting 'your shot' with pre-made frames and filters.   There's an extra layer of depth upon acquiring a tripod too, enabling you to be in a shot with wider vistas and greater background complexity.  While, granted, it's fair to say these extras can be mostly ignored if just pushing through the campaign, that extra work in making well-crafted photos part of your character's identity carries a genuine payoff.

This much background detail does suggest the main course could've been grander in size.  I don't mean in the strict numbers-crunching sense of a 3-hour (non-completionist) runtime per se, but rather in the sense of added complexity.  Certain quests demand you view or take pictures of things unseen from on high; for instance, subtle environmental clues hint at graffiti or mysterious black boxes that can only be seen through your camera's viewpoint.  Aside from the aforementioned tripod, the only other camera attachment is a horn to break up squabbles of seagulls.  Transmogrifying to the level of a tough point-n-click adventure would fundamentally disrupt its original flow; that said, I still see a stronger title slightly increasing the number of camera attachments and heuristically-focused quests.


Perhaps hoping for a bit more isn't such a scathing criticism for TOEM the more I think about it; after all, it's not like the adventure has to end so soon.  Ephemeral length or no, there's something to be said about the post-credits allure to continue filling your album with more stamps and photos while vibing to Jamal Green and Launchable Socks' antique cassettes.  There's a key takeaway found in its simplicity: this fusion of charm, aesthetic, soundtrack, and fun design gimmicks do enough to make even the silliest distraction feel meaningful.

Contractor by trade and writer by hobby, Lee's obnoxious criticisms have found a way to be featured across several gaming sites: N4G, VGChartz, Gaming Nexus, DarkStation, and TechRaptor! He started gaming in the mid-90s and has had the privilege in playing many games across a plethora of platforms. Reader warning: each click given to his articles only helps to inflate his Texas-sized ego. Proceed with caution.