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.