The first game ever developed by Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions was the originalPsychonauts, a quirky 3D platformer with Tim Burton-esque character designs, innovative gameplay mechanics, sharp writing, and a great sense of humor.Psychonautswas critically acclaimedat the time of its release in 2005, but despite its strong reviews, the game was a sales failure, and so plans for a sequel were put on the backburner. DedicatedPsychonautsfans have been waiting 16 years forPsychonauts 2, and they’ve been rewarded for their patience with what is Double Fine’s best game and a Game of the Year contender.
Psychonauts 2was worth the wait. Fans of the original game should fall in love the sequel pretty much immediately, with it picking up exactly where thePsychonauts in the Rhombus of RuinVR game left off. And no, thePsychonautsVR gameisn’t required-playing for those who want to enjoyPsychonauts 2’s story. In fact, one doesn’t really need to have played the original game to know what’s going on, as there’s a helpful, detailed recap at the beginning to catch everyone up to speed.
InPsychonauts 2, Raz and his fellow Psychonauts have successfully rescued Truman Zanotto, the Grand Head of the Psychonauts and father of Raz’s pyromaniac girlfriend Lili, from the clutches of the disturbed Dr. Loboto. They arrive at the Psychonauts headquarters, which serves as the new hub world in the sequel, replacing the Whispering Rock campground from the original game. After clearing some introductory levels, Raz is mostly left to his own devices, able to freely explore the headquarters and its surrounding wilderness to gather collectibles and complete side quests.
ExploringPsychonauts 2’s world and figuring out the best way to utilize Raz’s psychic abilities is a lot of fun, with the game leaving the door open for players to experiment when it comes to completing platforming challenges and overcoming certain obstacles. Raz retains many of the abilities he earned in the firstPsychonautsgame, butPsychonauts 2throws some new abilities into the mix as well. Besides the usual telekinesis and levitation, Raz can now zip around the game world using floating thought bubbles and can also create a duplicate of himself to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
Everynew ability Raz gains inPsychonauts 2allows him to further explore not only Psychonauts Headquarters, but also the Brains he visits. For those who may be unfamiliar withPsychonautslore, the titular Psychonauts enter the minds of people using tiny doors that they attach to their heads. These minds serve as levels and, in typicalPsychonautsfashion,Psychonauts 2isn’t content recycling the usual stages that players have come to expect from 3D platformers.
Instead of generic water, fire, ice, etc. worlds that are typical of the genre,Psychonauts 2builds its levels based on mental illnesses and disorders.Psychonauts 2tackles gambling addictionin one of the earlier levels, and a later one manifests panic attacks as literal monsters that Raz has to fight off. There’s plenty of traditional 3D platforming throughout the game, but each level has its own gimmick to help it stand out from the rest. From start to finish,Psychonauts 2has some truly genius level design and gameplay mechanics for players to discover. It’s so exciting to see what insane, hilarious new idea Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine came up with next so it becomes hard to put the controller down.
Players will find that the controls have been hugely refined since the original game, which makes exploringPsychonauts 2levels a much smoother experience. Platforming feels great and is an overall massive improvement from the original, whereas combat has also gotten a noticeable upgrade. There are many more enemy types than before and a new dodge mechanic has been implemented to make it more involved.
Not only doesPsychonauts 2control much better than the first game, but it also looks a lot better, too. This is to be expected with a 16-year gap between releases, butPsychonauts 2still deserves praise for its visuals regardless. The game looks gorgeous on Xbox Series X, with top-notch lighting, reflections, and detail to the environment. It brings Tim Schafer’s vision to life like never before, and at times looks like it could pass for a Hollywood-level animated move. There is some minor texture pop-in throughout the game, but otherwise,Psychonauts 2has great graphics.
As players are taking inPsychonauts 2’s sights and collecting all of the goodies hidden throughout its levels, they will get to enjoy an enthralling, hilarious, and surprising story written byTim Schafer and his team at Double Fine.Psychonauts 2’s writing is some of the best in any 3D platformer ever, with a memorable cast of characters and a story full of twists. It opens thePsychonautslore up in a big way, and by the time the credits roll, players will be anxious to explore more of the world.
But even thoughPsychonauts 2will make players want to see more games set in thePsychonautsuniverse, the final quarter of the game does suffer from some pacing issues that drag it down. Whereas a common criticism aimed at the firstPsychonautsgame was its short length,Psychonauts 2is a touch too long, with a couple of levels overstaying their welcome and having collectibles in annoying places that will inevitably force players to replay chunks of the stage.
The last few hours ofPsychonauts 2also have a bad habit of constantly ripping control away from the player to show cutscenes. Admittedly, thePsychonauts 2story cutscenesare great and players will be interested in seeing what happens next, but it still hurts the pacing when players are only allowed to play for a few minutes before they are made to watch another long cutscene. It happens excessively at the end of the game and will make some people frustrated. But eventually, players will be done withPsychonauts 2’s story and they will be let loose in the game world again, free to explore to their heart’s content to complete its interesting side quests and find all of its hidden collectibles.
Anyone that was a fan of the original game will likely lovePsychonauts 2, as it improves on everything that made the first game great. But newcomers should also make it a point to check the game out, as it’s a phenomenal 3D platformer and a Game of the Year contender. And while it’s worth every penny,Psychonauts 2is also on Xbox Game Pass thanks toMicrosoft’s acquisition of Double Fine, so anyone interested can try it out without making a big financial commitment.
Psychonauts 2launches August 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Psychonauts 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Razputin “Raz” Aquato, trained acrobat and powerful young psychic, has realized his lifelong dream of joining the international psychic espionage organization known as the Psychonauts! But these psychic super spies are in trouble. Their leader hasn’t been the same since he was rescued from a kidnapping, and what’s worse, there’s a mole hiding in headquarters.Combining quirky missions and mysterious conspiracies, Psychonauts 2 is a platform-adventure game with cinematic style and tons of customizable psychic powers. Psychonauts 2 serves up danger, excitement and laughs in equal measure as players guide Raz on a journey through the minds of friends and foes on a quest to defeat a murderous psychic villain.
Game Rant reviewedPsychonautson theNeuron 4000D from Origin PC. Origin offers a variety of customizable PCs that can meet any gamers' needs.Read more about the Neuron here.
