This moment needs to be cherished. Double fine finally put out a product with the polish and technical competency to match it's whimsy and poignancy. Psychonauts 2 is the best narrative to grace the 3D platforming genre, and by a sizable amount. Characters like Bob and Ford are some of the most interesting and charismatic NPCs I've seen in a long time.

Psychonauts 2 operates with a deft touch, but is unafraid to teach Raz and the player lessons about mental health, the root of "evil" and the importance of companionship while making it fun to play.

The level design is a bit less chaotic in gameplay structure than the first game, but the worlds are of a more consistent quality here. There's only 2 (1.5?) levels for me that stand out as being a touch less engaging, but they're a minor blemish on a great package

I think the mechanical rust that's attributed to Psychonauts 2 is a bit overstated. It's not Super Mario Odyssey levels of fluidity, but it's a perfectly competent platformer mechanically. The actual flaw I'm willing to dock Psychonauts 2 for is the uneven pacing in the games opening hours. In the process of getting the ball rolling, Double Fine struck an uneven balance between exposition and assuming players came into it with all the necessary context. This is less of an issue starting with the first main brain in the hub, and disappears later on, but it's easy to see how players may be turned away early on, despite how rewarding it is to continue with

Reviewed on Sep 07, 2021


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