Towelket One More Time 2 Review

Towelket One More Time 2 (Karaage Tanpopo) is the second entry in the Towelket series, released on May 1, 2008. Although this game is the second in the series, it should be noted that it's not really a direct sequel to Towelket 3. Most of the games in this series are pretty self-contained, and you won't miss much if you skip the previous game, except for a few callbacks.

In this game you play as a young boy who lives in the countryside with his favorite cow named Cow-chan and his close friend Paripariume. But one day his life changes completely when a group of aliens invade Earth and kidnap Cow-chan. Similar to Towelket 3, the premise of this game sounds like the plot of a children's book, but unlike the previous title, this game quickly proves to be much more than that.

Right off the bat, the characters and the world that this game presents to you are very charming. The overall presentation is a step up from the previous game despite using the same assets. Little touches like cute, simple combat animations and the villagers' dialogue changing based on the events of the plot are things I can really appreciate in a game like this, as it keeps things lively and really brings a cohesiveness that I felt the first game lacked.

Once again, there's nothing special about the combat. It's your standard RPGmaker fare, and that's going to be an ongoing trend for this series, so if you're someone who values game mechanics over story, you probably won't get much out of this series. Personally, I would have liked the combat to be a bit more complex, considering certain aspects of this game that I'll get to later, but overall it didn't really affect my experience either way.

After you get through the game's introduction, you'll find that you have a unique looking menu. There have a few interesting things here. The Mind makes a return and you now have a button dedicated to Hints and your "Flower Field"

Hints are pretty straightforward. At any point in the game, if you get lost about what to do or where to go, you can consult a character named Elizabeth who will get you back on track. The game is extremely linear, so I rarely found myself actually needing this, but it's a nice touch. If you're like me and find yourself forgetting games for weeks at a time, this could be useful in case you need to refresh your memory.

The flower field is another game mechanic that allows you to increase your stats by planting flowers that you find throughout your journey. You'll find these flowers mostly by defeating enemies and looking around NPC houses.

Finally, The Mind returns. There's a bit more to it than in the previous game, so I'll go through it again. In the main room there are two NPCs you can talk to. The Paripariume in your mind and Kabu-kun. Paripariume can sell you items/decorations that can only be used inside the mind. Buying furniture from her can teach a party member a new skill after interacting with said furniture, buying cookware will give you the ability to make certain items in the kitchen, and buying a pet (or girl lol) doesn't really do anything except have a funny little creature walking around inside your mind. On the other hand, Kabu-kun can create armor from the leaves you collect from trees and plants in the main game.

As mentioned before you also have a kitchen in your mind where you can make healing items using "Foodstuffs" items you collect after defeating every enemy in the game.

Lastly, there's the hallway. You'll find that the hallway is lined with several doors labled with the title of each chapter in the game. As you play the game and go through specific events (some of which are optional, so watch out!), certain items or characters will appear in these rooms. Similar to the ghost in Towelket 3, interacting with them can give you items or teach you new skills.

So far, you may have noticed that I haven't said much about the story. That's because I'm keeping it a secret! This is one of those games that's best experienced completely blind. Again, despite the silly premise, this is definitely not a game for children, so if you're interested in playing this game, I strongly suggest you read the general warnings in the About section of this website [Link]. Just know that I think the story is without a doubt the highlight of this game and a good representation of what this series as a whole has to offer. It's a game that knows what it is and it never fails to offer some laughs alongside genuine moments

Now, if there's one thing I didn't really like about this game, it's that the second half of Act 2 suffers a bit from unnecessary padding. Interspersed between the actual relevant plot progression are these kind of meeeeh dungeons that feel like they exist purely to pad out the game's runtime. While these sections don't really drag, they don't do the pacing any favors either. Of course, I don't need this game to be 100% focused on the story all the time in order to enjoy it, but it was often during these sections that I noticed that the characters seemed to have nothing to say about the situations they were in. It almost feels like these sections could have happened at literally any point in the game and nothing would have changed. Overall, it's a very minor issue, and it's one of those things that didn't really bother me until my second playthrough of the game.

Overall, Towelket 2 is a great game, and I find it truly criminal that it never quite got the recognition it deserved in the West, despite how ahead of its time it was for an RPGmaker game. This game is a favorite of both Towelket and RPGmaker fans in Japan and I can say for sure that it deserves the praise it gets. Even though this game is now about 15 years old in 2024, I still have hope that it will find its place in the West as well.

Towelket 2 definitely works as a better introduction to the series, and if you enjoyed this game, you'll probably enjoy what's to come. I highly recommend anyone interested to give it a try and see it through to the end :)

I rate this game 4/5 Towels