At the time I got on pretty well with the original as a platformer, and didn’t seem to have the difficulties that a lot of people seemed to have. So, I was surprised that I did find this very difficult to control and was soon turning on some of the accessibility options.


I think what messed with my head is the placement of the lb/lt and rb/rt on screen. I understand why they’re how they are, but it feels wrong to me, and there was no way change it. It is fun to move around in the game and utilize the powers, but it also very easy to make mistakes which makes me wish it had been designed in a way that was more naturally forgiving and felt tighter so I wouldn’t feel a need to shortcut to options that make it easier

Not a major problem though because the real joy of the game is the story, and this does the Pixar style thing of having something kid-friendly go deep into darker topics of trauma very well. There’s a real empathy and understanding, that feels like an important progression on the first game, as tackling topics of mental health in the same way wouldn’t really fly. So, it’s a real achievement to just make a sequel to Psychonauts, that still has the same spirit of a game released 16 years ago, but also feels contemporary and mindful of how times have changed since.