Psychonauts 2

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On the surface, Psychonauts 2 is shaping up to be an engaging, ambitious, honed-in take on colorful 3D platformers. However, the most promising aspect hasn't just been returning to its world, mastering its platforms or combat, but peeling back the layers to see what's beneath it to take a closer look at its characters, the depth of their struggles, fears, and regrets, all of which serve as the foundation and inspiration for the worlds you traverse.

In a post-mortem for the first game written by its executive producer Caroline Esmurdoc she said that an oft-muttered mantra of the game's development was, "God is in the details." This saying rings true now more than ever when returning to the wacky, complex, and whimsical world of Psychonauts 16 years later, and it left me very eager to see what it means for the sequel when it launches on August 25.
 


Six reasons Psychonauts 2 is 2021's secret GOTY contender​

Psychonauts 2 casts you as showrunner for a weird unaired Cartoon Network show from the late '90s​

Josh West
First Published 2 days ago
By

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(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
It's been a weird year for video games. Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that one of 2021's weirdest releases looks set to be one of its best. With Psychonauts 2 ready to release on August 25, developer Double Fine and publisher Xbox Game Studios gave us access to a huge chunk of the game to play. The build was supposed to run for around four hours, but we ended up sinking double that into our Xbox Series X playtest. That's because Psychonauts 2 is the sort of game that arrests the attention of anybody that sits down in front of it and refuses to let you go free.

Double Fine has an exceptionally crafted and utterly outrageous game on its hands here, following former circus acrobat and interning psychic investigator Razputin Aquato as he attempts to help the Psychonauts agency avert a psychoactive catastrophe. Between the staggeringly detailed levels, sharp writing and animation, and super-tight platforming and combat, it's clear that Psychonauts 2 is going to be something we're talking about for a long time. Don't believe us? Here's six reasons Psychonauts 2 is clearly going to be one of the best games of 2021.


It's a greet feeling platformer​

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(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
Psychonauts was the debut production for Double Fine, the studio formed by Tim Schafer and other members of the legendary LucasArts team that helped bring you Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango. Double Fine has grown a lot in the last 20 years and that maturity is reflected in the way Psychonauts 2 handles. What we have here is a competent and capable platform-adventure game that is able to capture our collective nostalgia for genre games of the '90s without feeling beholden to their limitations. Acrobatic movement feels within your control and the camera is easily teased around truly imaginative environments. Psychonauts 2 strikes a fine balance between challenging traversal and joyful exploration, making it an utter delight to immerse yourself in.

Its levels are out of this world​

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
We wouldn't blame you for being unfamiliar with Psychonauts. It's a 2005 cult classic (translation: a game that few played at the time, but those who did fell utterly in love with it) that got lost in the transition between the Xbox and Xbox 360 generations. The only thing you really need to know is that Psychonauts' game worlds are built with an imagination untethered from any external logic, and that's something this sequel runs wild with. Raz has the ability to dive into people's minds and so each level is completely tailored to their unique brainscape, inner demons, and emotional baggage. It brings this sense of exaggerated creativity to Psychonauts 2 – you never know where you'll be going next or what you'll be doing when you get there.

Places to be and people to meet​

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
Psychonauts 2 is a generous game. Each of the three brain worlds we were able to play through has a different art style and soundscape, new movement mechanics and combat systems, as well as interesting characters to meet and weird situations to navigate. On top of that, there's also the Motherlobe to explore – the Psychonauts headquarters that serves as an expandable hub area. It's here where you're able to advance the plot, upgrade and customise Raz's psychic powers, and check in with all of the colorful characters that occupy this twisting space. Raz can dive back into any completed mindscapes too, with your advancing psychic powers opening up new opportunities and collectibles to find in previously explored areas. There's a lot of game in here.

The game is genuinely funny​

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
Psychonauts 2 is really f***ing funny. The thing is, I couldn't point to any one joke as evidence of that because humor is weaved into the fabric of Psychonauts 2's being. The writing is sharp, of course; Psychonauts 2 has echoes of the off-kilter spirit that helped define the LucasArts era of adventure games. But there's more to it than that. Comedy flows through everything, from the enemy descriptions and outrageous scenario design, to the perfect line deliveries from the voice actors, to the animation of characters and the way they interact with their environment. There's an improvisational nature to Psychonauts 2's design and execution that I really admire. Within minutes of picking up the controller, Psychonauts 2 had me quietly chuckling to myself and that never let up. Modern games rarely register so many laughs-per-minute.

It's got a real '90s Cartoon Network vibe​

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
I think it can be easy for people (myself included) to fall into this trap of claiming that any video game that arrives with spirited characters, a colorful design, and carefree adventuring as evoking the spirit of old Saturday morning cartoons – the same praise was heaped on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart earlier this year. The thing is, Psychonauts 2 captures a particular vibe – it's of that era where off-kilter Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and FOX Kids programming reigned supreme. There's a carefree irreverence built into Psychonauts 2's presentation, with its humor and themes walking that perilous tightrope of being overtly kid-friendly but secretly designed to appeal to the adults that are forced to watch over-shoulder. With its broader narrative, small character dramas, fun action sequences, and bespoke levels all colliding without friction, Psychonauts 2 really does feel like you're in charge of a cartoon from the late '90s and early '00s.

Psychonauts 2 is fearless​

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
I was surprised by a lot of things in my time with Psychonauts 2 – the cinematic nature to its presentation and the tight handling of both platforming and combat, primarily – but the one thing that has really stuck with me is just how damned confident it is. Psychonauts 2 opens with a mental health advisory, warning players that the game contains "artistic interpretations of serious mental health conditions including addiction, PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety, and delusions." While each of us experience these things differently, and will have different reactions to the way Double Fine has presented and handled the subject matter as a result, I know that the way Psychonauts 2 explored the perils of addiction and negative thought attribution cycles – as well as the twisting, all-consuming nature of panic attacks and anxiety – really resonated with me.

Psychonauts 2 deals with difficult themes carefully and yet without reservation, approaching each of the brain levels – a reflection of the state of mind of the person you are encountering – with empathy and without judgement. Barely an hour would go by without the game forcing me to think a little more broadly about the situation the game had placed me in or my own experience in life. I'd be laughing away at some outrageous personification of addiction or anxiety, only for a line of dialogue or metaphoric sequence of play to leave me momentarily breathless. That's part of the appeal, and genius, of what I have played of Psychonauts 2 so far: it's imaginative, intuitive, and very funny, but it's also fearless in its embrace of its subject matter. That's a rare quality to be found in a AAA game, and I can't wait to see if Double Fine can maintain that balance throughout the entire experience with it releases for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and PS4 on August 25, 2021.
 
Game looks fine especially from a 65 person studio and what started and spent most of its time in development as a kickstarter

DFs next game won't be held back by the PS4
 
Game looks fine especially from a 65 person studio and what started and spent most of its time in development as a kickstarter

DFs next game won't be held back by the PS4


My brethren, you guys really going to troll the PS4/5 when the Xbox One, lower end PC's and XSS are supported here?

Smh.

You guys talk about how much of a Sony fan I am, you guys are just as much if not more on the Xbox side with all these jab attempts, lol.
 
My brethren, you guys really going to troll the PS4/5 when the Xbox One, lower end PC's and XSS are supported here?

Smh.

You guys talk about how much of a Sony fan I am, you guys are just as much if not more on the Xbox side with all these jab attempts, lol.
I don’t troll tho 🤦‍♂️
 
You just tried to by implying the PS5 would hold back the XSX 🤔
That’s just being honest. XSX is more powerful and now Double Fine only has to build games for Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Windows and no other device to hold their games back.
 
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That’s just being honest. XSX is more powerful and now Double Fine only has to build games for Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Windows and no other device to hold their games back.

No, that's called trolling because you are ignoring that if anything it would be the less powerful XSS and lower end PC specs that would be the real reason why there would be any holding the XSX back. Even more so when you realize that whatever is being developed for the XSX is going to be released on the XSS and PC as well. So if anything, you should be looking at the XSS for any holding back. Get used to it because it seems the XSS is here to stay for this gen. Besides, the PS5 is basically on par with the XSX as evident by the countless comparisons already.
 
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No, that's called trolling because you are ignoring that if anything it would be the less powerful XSS and lower end PC specs that would be the real reason why there would be any holding the XSX back. Even more so when you realize that whatever is being developed for the XSX is going to be released on the XSS and PC as well. So if anything, you should be looking at the XSS for any holding back. Get used to it because it seems the XSS is here to stay for this gen. Besides, the PS5 is basically on par with the XSX as evident by the countless comparisons already.
It’s not. It’s already confirmed the XSX is more powerful. Your trolling if you say otherwise.
 
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It’s not. It’s already confirmed the XSX is more powerful. Your trolling if you say otherwise.

It's not even about the XSX vs PS5. Your own XSX's little brother is the one holding back both the XSX and PS5 if anything because all multiplatforms AND your exclusives will have to cater to the less powerful XSS, all 4 TF of it. You can't say anything about the PS5 holding back anything when the XSS is right there staring right back at you. If you can't see that then I don't know what to tell you. 🤷‍♂️
 
  • Really?
Reactions: Kvally
My brethren, you guys really going to troll the PS4/5 when the Xbox One, lower end PC's and XSS are supported here?

Smh.

You guys talk about how much of a Sony fan I am, you guys are just as much if not more on the Xbox side with all these jab attempts, lol.


Not us that take a clearly not serious comment so seriously and get defensive
 
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It's not even about the XSX vs PS5. Your own XSX's little brother is the one holding back both the XSX and PS5 if anything because all multiplatforms AND your exclusives will have to cater to the less powerful XSS, all 4 TF of it. You can't say anything about the PS5 holding back anything when the XSS is right there staring right back at you. If you can't see that then I don't know what to tell you. 🤷‍♂️

helicopter crashes GIF
 
Not us that take a clearly not serious comment so seriously and get defensive

I'm just here to clarify the nonsense. The fact of the matter is the game looks like what it does here because it supports last gen and lower end PC specs. Your and Hedon's statements are just plain false and serve nothing else but to troll the Playstation.
 
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I'm just here to clarify the nonsense. The fact of the matter is the game looks like what it does here because it supports last gen and lower end PC specs. Your and Hedon's statements are just plain false and serve nothing else but to troll the Playstation.
Why are you lying and trolling though? I mean by all means, bleed blue, but you need to bleed honesty. The game looks the way it does because that is the art direction and the budget the kickstarter project was designed to do.

Maybe if you were honest, you wouldn't have these meltdowns?
 
Why are you lying and trolling though? I mean by all means, bleed blue, but you need to bleed honesty. The game looks the way it does because that is the art direction and the budget the kickstarter project was designed to do.

Maybe if you were honest, you wouldn't have these meltdowns?

Also because it supports last gen and lower end PC specs. Did you take a peek at the lowest common denominators in the X1 and minimum PC specs? Not very powerful hardware at all in today's standards.

There's no meltdown. I'm just disproving the false narrative that you guys are trying to push here with facts.
 
Also because it supports last gen and lower end PC specs. Did you take a peek at the lowest common denominators in the X1 and minimum PC specs? Not very powerful hardware at all in today's standards.

There's no meltdown. I'm just disproving the false narrative that you guys are trying to push here with facts.
And I am disproving your false narrative.
 
Game looks fine especially from a 65 person studio and what started and spent most of its time in development as a kickstarter

DFs next game won't be held back by the PS4
65 people is pretty big! The plague tales was down by far lessor people I think.
 
Not sure though I did read 45.
They have over 200 currently but this seems to have a lot more open levels compared to a strongly path driven game.
Need to finish it after going back to it after the upgrade
 
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