I was planning on playing this game as I am a big fan of the Sychonaughts series since 1999, but when I learned that they were adding a mode with invincibility, that's when I draw the line! I only play games made for MEN by MEN! I don't play any games with game journalist soyboy pussy mode in the game! I am so sad to have to not play this game that I was totally gonna play otherwise, but was ruined by game journalists to now have an optional invincibility mode. Back to only playing Dark Souls for me.

A game that is simply so fun and enganging from start to finish, Psychonauts 2 was well worth the wait.

As a sequel, i cannot stress how much Double Fine improved over the first game, the biggest issues with that one have been terminated, while only losing a bit of the originality that the first game had. I think they could have done more with the genre-blending but at the same time, i don’t think there’s many games out there that have ever been made better by adding point and click mechanics.

Psychonauts 2 might genuinely have my favorite levels of any game, because every level of this game has more unique visuals than most entire games have. I was constantly looking forward to the next one because they just kept getting better and better, there’s no low-points to this games levels, they don’t ever stop.

The way the game tells a story with those levels, and that being the like, the main way to learn things about characters is so brilliant. It’s a game that that finds the perfect middle ground between giving the player no interaction in the narrative, and making the narrative a chore to explore.

Psychonauts 2 is a game that reminds you of how fun video games can be at their core, it’s a perfect sequel to an already great game, it might be my favorite platformer ever, and it’s my Game of the Year 2021.

I never thought this day would come but I guess it has.
Psychonauts 2 has finally been released, and it FUCKS HARD.

Pretty much all control problems from the first game are gone, and everything feels so smooth to play; that feeling you get when the controller just melds with your hands making you emerged with your surroundings, very few games can truly give you an experience like that.

Not only does the game look fantastic from a graphics stand but it also looks fantastic from a style aspect. Even 16 years later and it still has the charm and humor the original had and then some. Almost every character looks deformed; like someone a really crap drawing on a napkin and then used that as concept art, but it's so charming and oddly fitting with the world of this game that you just learn to accept it after a while.

The level design in the first was some of the best of that generation and it's just as good here. Not only are the levels masterfully designed from a gameplay angle but they're also outstanding in narrative and stylistic. Each mind is unique for each character, one mind might be a psychedelic Woodstock like concert, and another might be a hospital casino hybrid. The levels become character onto themselves making exploration a treat rather than an obligation.

The one aspect that really caught me off-guard was the game's story and writing. For how funny the game can be it also balances the emotional and heartwarming moments amazingly. This game also gets an award for outstanding portrayals of mental illnesses such as "PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, and Panic Attacks" just to name a few. This game also gets the award for having a gay couple that actually acts like real-life gay people. IE regular people.

This was such an amazing surprise. Going into this I was thinking to myself "There is no way in hell this is gonna be as good as the first, at best it's gonna be a fun time with some characters I haven't seen in years"; oh how wrong I was. This game has surpassed the first game in pretty much every category and is now in my Top 5 favorite games ever. Psychonauts 1 will always have its place in my heart, but this game is just so great I just couldn't resist giving this a 10/10. (with a BADASS seal of approval)

Honestly I was expecting to find a trainwreck of Crackdown 3 levels here. After years of delays, setbacks and general development hell, Psychonauts 2 finally arrived and holy moly its good.

If I was to be quick about it, i'd just compare it to the original as at times its very much 'More of the same but with some of the rougher edges filed off' which... Honestly? Given how good the original game still is, isnt a bad thing.

Almost every level feels full to the brim with unique ideas, graphical flourishes, grand story beats and memorable characters, both main and side.

This transfers over to everything in the main world too, the storyline carried over from the previous game and Rhombus of Ruin is just incredibly fun and heartfelt. Sure theres one or two duff characters (I still dont totally care for the Interns) but overall you just want to find out more and more.

Thankfully the gameplay too retains its charm from the original. Battles are fast and frantic and, this time more difficult to just spam your way through. The platforming for the most part feels more precise and free-form meaning you're unlikely to ever reach peak Meat Circus levels of rage that the original occasionally lapsed into due to the engine.

Its just all great. If I am to nitpick (and I will. I mean this is a 4.5/5, not a 5/5), the game does rely too much on the 'Power of 3' in its design. Each level has 3 beats, 3 areas, 3 collectables. Each boss generally has 3 phases. It makes for the occasional bit of predictability in whats a unpredictable game. Also I still feel Levitation should just be mapped to a non-power slot. While you'll generally mix and match, Levitation is too useful to ever ditch.

That said. These are nitpicks. I am really really happy with this and its making me eager to find out what else Double Fine can get up to through Microsoft.

I never thought this one would be on the same level as the first game, let alone better, but by god they did it. Psychonauts 2 is an absolute treat from front to back. From as early as the opening and tutorial stage, you can just tell how much was poured into this game. Every crevice of this game is absolutely packed with detail. There's not a single level I dislike or found to be filling space for the sake of it. Hell, the second half of the game ESPECIALLY goes firing on all cylinders. Every level fleshed out its characters through symbolism and level design so well, you'd swear it was damn magic. You get to see why characters act the way they do through them, just like the first game, but it really expands on things with how it chooses to display these things. (For example, in Dr. Loboto and Ford's levels, you get to hear some of their inner conversations to themselves, to see how these parts of their brains process trauma, loss and grief). Sure, nothing quite reaches the iconic-ness of The Milkman stage from Psychonauts 1, but does it need to? Again, no fluff here, besides the hubs. The vibes of the game are emotionally rich and yet still darkly hilarious at times, capturing the spirit of its predecessors perfectly, while still making an identity for itself. I laughed, and I'm not going to hesitate to say I cried. There's a lot to unpack, and I loved unpacking it. I have some minor gripes (a lot of collectibles mixed with massive hubs/levels can get a little grating on cleanup, and one boss was a little difficult for how early it was), but as a whole, the core game is just so rich, so dense. It feels like a true project of passion from front to back, something made with little to no compromise. Psychonauts 2 is a masterpiece, and I'm so happy I can call this one of my new favorite games of all time.

(Also, you CAN play this one first but I'd say playing the first game enhances it. You DID pick it up when it was $1 on Steam right? ....r-right?)

Que este juego haya salido así de bien, siendo una secuela de un juego tremendamente nicho, es una maravilla.

Que un plataformas 3D tenga estas mecanicas tan cuidadas y un movimiento estupendo y que te invita a explorar, además de un combate suficientemente variado como para no ser simplemente un trámite y que además tenga una historia tan cuidada, con unos personajes tremendamente carismáticos y tratando los temas tan jodidos que trata es algo que me deja a cuadros, pero que he disfrutado muchísimo.

How do you make a sequel to a cult classic game 15 years later?

You put all of your heart and soul into it, and make it a spirtual celebration of its developers long and storied history.

Psychonauts 2 is way better than it has any right to be. The original game is famous for being a bit of a forgotten gem, maybe too ambitious for the Double Fine of 2005, a gem with just enough sharp edges to put off the average player. It's a game I myself bounced off of, partly for aesthetic reasons, partly because it is rough. Psychonauts 2 takes that scratched disc out of its case, polishes it in one of those fancy machines you used to see in Game - then goes absolutely fucking wild with it.

I cannot overstate how regularly I was surprised by the creativity on display here. Every mind presents something new and exciting, some incredible technical trick, something smart or elegant or just plain funny. Mechanics get introduced, iterated on and remixed constantly. The writing is deep and broad, challenging complex issues head-on, with the subtlty and nuance that maybe 2005's outing lacked. And it is funny. It's the Tommy Cooper effort - you probably won't laugh at every joke, but they come thick and fast enough that you'll crack eventually. For me it was a throwaway line from the dentist in the hub after the first mission that charmed me and from then on it never stopped.

Platforming feels as tight as the best of Mario - Raz's breadth of skills affords elegant movement almost as versatile as Odyssey's, and just as it starts to get dull that mechanic creativity kicks in and you get a new toy to play with. There's a Rare game's worth of collectables available, far more than would be reasonable to collect - but each is so enjoyable to grab that you'll be sorely temped anyway.

It's not all totally rosey - combat comes up a bit too often or my liking, and would often be greeted with a sigh. It's not like the creativity doesn't extend to it - each of your skills has a use in combat as in exploration - but ultimately it does largely boil down to what feels like filler. Bosses are hit and miss - most are fine, if a bit rote. Some are overlong, and if you happen to die during them, there's no checkpointing. Some are absolutely sick. Raz really loves to hammer stuff home - you'll hear lines about emotional baggae so often you'll start whispering it in your sleep. The game's way longer than one might expect - in a worse game, this would hurt it more, but the creativity amok atones for it. Putting in 3 separate Points of No Return makes things a bit weirdly paced in the last act, mind.

But by and large these are nitpicks. I can't recommend Psychonauts 2 highly enough - it came out of nowhere to immediately become my second favourite game I played this year, and it's propelled me straight into having another crack at the original. Do youirself a favour and enjoy 15 hours of pure anti-AAA antidote.

Double Fine as a company holds a very special place in my heart, and that's due to Double Fine Adventure. When Psychonauts 2's credits were rolling, I was getting a little teary eyed, because I was recognizing a bunch of names. Names like Lee Petty, Anna Kipnis, Ray Crook and many more. It’s weird (and stupid), but I’ve developed sort of a special connection with the team due to that documentary series. I've been a fan of most their games (even games like Broken Age, which people seem to not like), but they’ve always struggled either commercially or critically, and you can tell how much of a toll it took on the team. Every single game they’ve made had an incredible amount of heart and soul poured into it, but something was always off. They’ve never managed to make that game. they’ve never managed to make it. It feels so fucking satisfying to say that they’ve finally made that game. From beginning to end, Psychonauts 2 is a joyous, wonderful experience that’s immensely creative, that feels great, that has excellent writing that tackles some really serious subjects with a great level of finesse, and that looks absolutely gorgeous. Psychonauts 2 is it.

That’s not to say it’s flawless or perfect. The combat is janky and feels extremely unpolished, and the game sadly highlights it by constantly throwing you into combat sequences that are just never fun. I also found the final level a bit underwhelming. Nothing on the level of Meat Circus, just a bit disappointing. The back half of the game in general, while still fantastic, fails to live up to the front half in my opinion. Also, the ending is so insanely abrupt that I legitimately thought I accidentally skipped a cutscene.

That aside, it’s an incredible game. I’m so, so happy for the team.

It is so, so, SO rare that the world of gaming gets a situation like this. Where a hugely anticipated, and long-waited sequel to a beloved video game gets a sequel that practically lives up to every expectation that most had and honored the legacy of it's predecessor. Psychonauts 2 is a phenomenal game and easily up there for GOTY for me. Absolutely astonishing. This game could have easily been an unnecessary sequel riding off nostalgia and hype, but it's a passion project through and through. Every damn aspect of this game has so much love and creativity put into it. The art direction is insane and is constantly throwing interesting and varying worlds and mechanics at the player that keeps it feeling like a breath of fresh air with each beat.

The story is largely an improvement in many ways to the original. Where the original game used its dark themes as subtext for the more goofy surface, Psychonauts 2 goes for telling a story that takes a lot more chances with representing mental health and issues. It definitely feels like the comedy is the compliment this time around. And it's excellent. There are some really great moments of writing here for what it chooses to portray. I kind of feel like some of the "charm" of the original is not quite here though. The comedy in this one just doesn't quite hit like the original did. It's a lot more serious and it kind of sucks a little. I missed the more zany levels. Like The Milkman, for example. But it's obviously the intention for comedy to take more of the background this time around. Some of the issues I had lied in the pacing. I felt like the game drags largely in some moments in the game. The beginning is largely kind of meh for what I expect of Psychonauts. It eventually comes into its own though. The final act in the game goes on WAY TOO LONG too.

Combat has been vastly improved this time around. Using psi is more convenient than ever and implements so much more to the combat than the original. But it's still kind of... there. It's not what you play Psychonauts 2 for. That's for sure. Platforming is insanely improved as well. Traversing through levels and the world feels more amazing than ever. The camera is responsive and, besides a couple hiccups, I feel the platforming is very good and the great animation adds a lot to the enjoyment.

Psychonauts 2 is not as beloved to me as the original, but it is literally just as good, overall, as it. By all objectivity, it is a far superior experience. I just think the original kind of... hits different if that makes sense.

Un pequeño milagro de juego y posiblemente mi GOTY de 2021.

Carisma, personalidad, combinación de lo clásico con lo moderno, una cantidad de cariño y cuidado puesto en cada detalle que da gusto jugarlo, verlo, escucharlo.

Un plataformas fantástico con una historia estupenda y personajes estupendos, un derroche de imaginación y creatividad continuo y sorpresas narrativas, jugables y visuales constantes.

No puedo reprocharle nada porque todo lo que intenta hacer lo hace a la perfección. Un clásico instantáneo.

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A small miracle of a game and quite possibly my 2021 GOTY.

Charisma, personality, a mix of classic and modern and an amount of care and polish put into every detail that it's a delight to play, watch and listen to.

A wonderful platformer with great story and characters, a constant flood of imagination and creativity and gameplay, visual and narrative surprises all the way through.

I can't say anything bad about it, everything it tries to do, it does perfectly. An instant classic.

It's like the original in terms of writing but with way better combat and platforming and tons more content. This might be my favorite release of 2021, it's got the same charm and personality and is such a thrill to explore. In fact, I found its quality so compelling that I uninstalled my Game Pass version and bought a copy on Steam after finishing the tutorial level. If it takes 16 more years for a game of this quality to be produced from the franchise... well I wouldn't be happy with the wait, but at least we'd have a pretty damn good game.

This is my first experience with Psychonauts as a series goes, and I very much enjoyed my time with the game. The writing is often legitimately laugh out loud funny with an incredibly charming cast and some of the best level designs/aesthetics I have seen. They really use the theming of going into people's minds to the fullest, and I loved every second of it.

While the cast is lovely, I think the game does falter with its large cast. I think a lot of returning members from the first game get less of a spotlight which might be intentional, but was disappointing to me especially as someone with little experience with the original. However, even some of the newer cast members(I presume) just feel like they don't get quite enough time even if I greatly enjoyed the majority still. I think the game also runs into an issue of some sections just being a tad on the long side. This is most notable with bosses where they last a while and have to be done from the beginning if you die at any point.

Ultimately, I was pretty blown away though. The game left me with a huge smile on my face and eager to find what crazy idea was going to be shown next. Great, charming, Saturday-Morning Cartoon like game.

Psychonauts was a story about a boy saving the world and succeeding in his dream of becoming a… Psychonaut and being able to work with his lifelong inspirations and heroes.

Psychonauts 2 is a story of how even the people you look up too are incredibly flawed individuals. The story in Psychonauts 2 is amped up to a hundred with a more serious tone with loss, love, and acceptance.

The best thing about the previous psychonauts was collecting everything you could and I’m very happy to say that not only have they added more collectibles to gather in the game, they are all a joy to collect. There’s some figments that annoyed me but once you find them all you feel accomplished. Each level was incredibly unique and enjoyable (especially helmet fullbear). My only complaint is that the final boss was really short for my liking compared to some other boss fights Raz had to pummel through but it didn’t hinder my experience in the slightest. All the characters old and new were so charming, funny, and emotional that it made me care for each and last one.

This game is fantastic man fuck