I certainly didn't have high expectations for this game considering it was being made a decade after the original and was in development for a long time, but it ended up being a great sequel that somehow feels exactly like the original but better in nearly every way. The mental worlds you traverse are all very distinct and imaginative and the story still captures that combination of quirky comedy and emotional trauma that made the original stand out. I wouldn't really say the comedy got me a lot but it had a nostalgic classic feel to it. In a world obsessed with advanced ironic humor you don't really see much LMAO BACON floating around and it feels refreshing in a way.
The levels tended to end a bit too quickly but I'll take the fast pace over the gimmicks wearing out their welcome and I really enjoyed seeing the creative ways the psychonauts' mental weaknesses were portrayed in both gameplay and presentation. The platforming is enjoyable and the combat is generally pretty fun, I especially like how strong psi-blasts are after upgrading them a bit. There are a few annoying enemies though like the judges and the shield dudes who can be tedious to deal with even if you know how to fight them. The game also has some really long loading times and frequent framerate issues, at least on the xbox one S.
As for the story, I greatly enjoyed the main plot and the personal stories of each psychonaut as you explore their psyches, but I really didn't like the interns. The interns are just a bunch of generally unlikable twerps who don't really add to the game at all and give it a sort of unfinished feeling due to how they give the impression of importance in the first level and then practically disappear until the ending. I think it would've substantially improved the game if they were just removed and the time was used to build up Raz's family instead since they also feel underused but end up serving a much more important role in the main plot.
The artstyle still has a very unique appeal and the game looks great throughout. The music is good too, I actually really liked that grulovia propaganda theme and felt bad when I accidentally broke the record player for it. Also I'm very glad they removed the required collectathon-ing for story progression like in the first game. Overall I'm very pleased, good job timmy.
The levels tended to end a bit too quickly but I'll take the fast pace over the gimmicks wearing out their welcome and I really enjoyed seeing the creative ways the psychonauts' mental weaknesses were portrayed in both gameplay and presentation. The platforming is enjoyable and the combat is generally pretty fun, I especially like how strong psi-blasts are after upgrading them a bit. There are a few annoying enemies though like the judges and the shield dudes who can be tedious to deal with even if you know how to fight them. The game also has some really long loading times and frequent framerate issues, at least on the xbox one S.
As for the story, I greatly enjoyed the main plot and the personal stories of each psychonaut as you explore their psyches, but I really didn't like the interns. The interns are just a bunch of generally unlikable twerps who don't really add to the game at all and give it a sort of unfinished feeling due to how they give the impression of importance in the first level and then practically disappear until the ending. I think it would've substantially improved the game if they were just removed and the time was used to build up Raz's family instead since they also feel underused but end up serving a much more important role in the main plot.
The artstyle still has a very unique appeal and the game looks great throughout. The music is good too, I actually really liked that grulovia propaganda theme and felt bad when I accidentally broke the record player for it. Also I'm very glad they removed the required collectathon-ing for story progression like in the first game. Overall I'm very pleased, good job timmy.