this exceeded my expectations in many ways but was also underwhelming in a few aspects.

I love how many Ideas were explored visually, story- and gameplay-wise. This is a game I would show people who say video games aren't art, I'm still baffled at how good this game looked and how high quality the production felt, considering it was made by a comparatively small studio. The plot is also more interesting than the predecessor, even though some characters are a bit bland and feel like they don't add too much. It deals with similar themes as the first game, but does it better and more in-depth. All levels were very unique visually and had different gameplay approaches.

However, I feel like it focuses a lot more on combat than the first game, while still feeling pretty clunky in this regard. The movement in general doesn't feel too great as well and if the game didn't look so good and had so many refreshing ideas, it would get repetitive quickly.

Psychonauts 2 is one of the best 3D Platformers out there but I still believe there is a lot room to improve things and make a more fun experience

One of the best Soulslikes that can easily keep up with fromsoft games

The combat is incredibly complex but still very refined, allowing for vastly different approaches to play every playthrough. You get enough resources to change your build as you like or to adapt to a certain boss, but it's also viable to just stick with one playstyle for the whole game.

I've rarely seen such a consistent Boss roster, there is not a single boss I would call bad, some are easier than others and some are one of the hardest in the genre, but none feel too frustrating or too unoriginal and boring. Even the Gank boss is fun to fight.

I also love how the story is told, it's a perfect mix of environmental storytelling, through item descriptions and regular storytelling. It lead to me reading more item descriptions than in any other game and connecting to the story and npcs a lot more than in most soulslike games.

The Environments weren't too varied but just enough to keep them as interesting as they can be while still staying true to the victorian setting. The abundance of different mechanics can get overwhelming, but most of them are entirely optional and can be ignored if you prefer a simpler playstyle.

It's really impressive how a fairly small studio achieved to have their first soulslike be as good as the ones by fromsoftware, who have a decade of experience in the genre