When it comes to great video game ideas, Double Fine are absolutely one of the best. Their catalogue of games have some incredibly unique premises which are unlike anything else, even to this day. Psychonauts is the absolute pinnacle of these - there's such a wellspring of inventiveness in this game that you can't help but be swept up in it. And because of this it's easy to forgive some of the problems you come across because you want to see what awaits in the next world.
For a game overflowing with ideas and humour, at it's base it's a platformer. And for a platformer to get platforming so badly wrong is frustrating, as the biggest flaw is that is it's controls are pants. You never feel safe jumping or moving because the depth perception is so difficult to track - in a 3D space it's so hard to work out where you are because of this; you need tight controls and an easy way to perceive where you are. The wonky camera adds to this issue, and makes the last two levels (Asylum and Meat Circus) exercises in tedium. They're not badly designed levels, but their focus on platforming in tight spaces with little room for error highlights the worst parts about this game and leaves a bad taste as an ending. The earlier levels paper over these cracks as the focus of a level is mostly in other areas.
It's everything else where this game excels - the levels themselves are so different from each other that each one could be expanded and spun off into it's own game. Whether it's a Catan game vs Napoleon or being Godzilla to a city of lungfish, every single world has a very unique essence. I'm a sucker for a good hub world, and the camp itself is a great example of one - it's bursting with secrets and hidden dialogue from characters, and all of this is elevated by a wonderful script and stellar voice acting throughout. This world feels very alive for such an odd premise and it manages to sweep aside a lot of problems from the mechanics side of things.
I never had the chance to play this back in 2005, and it's only relatively recently (with the sequel being released) where people have revisited this and come to appreciate just how good and inventive this is. Because even now, 15 years later, it still has elements I haven't seen in any subsequent games. It's just such a shame that the fundamentals drag down everything else here, and it's something I hope the sequel has fixed.
For a game overflowing with ideas and humour, at it's base it's a platformer. And for a platformer to get platforming so badly wrong is frustrating, as the biggest flaw is that is it's controls are pants. You never feel safe jumping or moving because the depth perception is so difficult to track - in a 3D space it's so hard to work out where you are because of this; you need tight controls and an easy way to perceive where you are. The wonky camera adds to this issue, and makes the last two levels (Asylum and Meat Circus) exercises in tedium. They're not badly designed levels, but their focus on platforming in tight spaces with little room for error highlights the worst parts about this game and leaves a bad taste as an ending. The earlier levels paper over these cracks as the focus of a level is mostly in other areas.
It's everything else where this game excels - the levels themselves are so different from each other that each one could be expanded and spun off into it's own game. Whether it's a Catan game vs Napoleon or being Godzilla to a city of lungfish, every single world has a very unique essence. I'm a sucker for a good hub world, and the camp itself is a great example of one - it's bursting with secrets and hidden dialogue from characters, and all of this is elevated by a wonderful script and stellar voice acting throughout. This world feels very alive for such an odd premise and it manages to sweep aside a lot of problems from the mechanics side of things.
I never had the chance to play this back in 2005, and it's only relatively recently (with the sequel being released) where people have revisited this and come to appreciate just how good and inventive this is. Because even now, 15 years later, it still has elements I haven't seen in any subsequent games. It's just such a shame that the fundamentals drag down everything else here, and it's something I hope the sequel has fixed.