I wish the original Psychonauts felt as good to play as Psychonauts 2 does. In fact, I would like to petition Tim Schafer MYSELF into remaking Psychonauts 1 using everything they used to make Psychonauts 2 so great.
The game itself takes place only a couple days after the first but in reality, the sequel took over 15 years to come into existence but in that time it almost feels as if nothing was lost in creating a successor to the 2005 platforming classic. The humor, the style, the writing; everything feels so intact in creating this sequel. While this seems like a no-brainer (pun-intended), with how many remakes that happen decades after the original that lack the soul of the original, it’s actually a miracle that Psychonauts 2 feels like it is so genuine to its source material.
I had such a wonderful time exploring through this game and experiencing how much dedication went into creating this world, from bringing back OG voice actors to having a whole ass world dedicated to mainstay Jack Black where he sings an original song specifically for this game two years prior to him singing Peaches for the Mario Movie.
In all honesty, I would recommend newcomers to the series play this game first and if they are curious enough, watch the first game through youtube playthroughs until we get a proper remake of the first one. Not a simple upgraded remaster but a pure overhaul of everything that went into making the first one. Playing through the first game now in 2023 due to a dedication to Psychonauts 2 would be, in fact, a disservice to Psychonauts 2. The original was a flawed classic but it’s best not to remember the tediousness of it all but rather play Psychonauts 2 to experience how the vision should truly be played
The game itself takes place only a couple days after the first but in reality, the sequel took over 15 years to come into existence but in that time it almost feels as if nothing was lost in creating a successor to the 2005 platforming classic. The humor, the style, the writing; everything feels so intact in creating this sequel. While this seems like a no-brainer (pun-intended), with how many remakes that happen decades after the original that lack the soul of the original, it’s actually a miracle that Psychonauts 2 feels like it is so genuine to its source material.
I had such a wonderful time exploring through this game and experiencing how much dedication went into creating this world, from bringing back OG voice actors to having a whole ass world dedicated to mainstay Jack Black where he sings an original song specifically for this game two years prior to him singing Peaches for the Mario Movie.
In all honesty, I would recommend newcomers to the series play this game first and if they are curious enough, watch the first game through youtube playthroughs until we get a proper remake of the first one. Not a simple upgraded remaster but a pure overhaul of everything that went into making the first one. Playing through the first game now in 2023 due to a dedication to Psychonauts 2 would be, in fact, a disservice to Psychonauts 2. The original was a flawed classic but it’s best not to remember the tediousness of it all but rather play Psychonauts 2 to experience how the vision should truly be played