Psychonauts 2
Welcome to our mind palaces
For us, it’s been a little over 15 years since circus runaway Razputin Aquato foiled a plan to steal brains at his psychic summer camp, earning the recognition of his revered heroes, the Psychonauts. But for Raz it’s only been a matter of days, this brand-new adventure picking up just moments after PSVR spin-off Rhombus Of Ruin. Reading fans’ minds, Double Fine delivers a game that’s more of the same, with modern tweaks that stumble a little on the high dive.
Despite the backing from Xbox Game Studios, Psychonauts’ superpowered origins are in crowdsourcing. The original’s a cult classic, after all, uniquely mixing bouncy, psychic-powered platforming with creative level design inspired by the studio’s adventure-game-making origins.
That might be why so much of Psychonauts 2 feels familiar. Fans put their money where their mouths were to get the levitation ball rolling, and so it needed to be true to the original. For the most part it’s a success, though it’s carrying some baggage that perhaps could have been jettisoned.
THINKING CAPS
The story picks up without missing a beat. Raz returns to The Motherlobe, the Psychonauts’ HQ, having rescued Grand Head Truman Zanatto from being kidnapped (expect plenty of brain-related puns throughout – the script is as sharp and funny as you’d expect from Double Fine). Diving into kidnapper Dr Loboto’s brain, it quickly becomes apparent the plot was only the beginning of a scheme to infiltrate the Psychonauts and revive Maligula, a water-wielding psychic defeated by the original Psychic Six many years ago.
Palmed off into the intern program, Raz has to put in work to convince his superiors to let him help investigate the threat. Cue lots of brain
This isn’t a game that shies away from heavy themes.
hopping. Psychonauts is a collectathon platformer, but one where each world is literally inside someone else’s mind. Even when you’re not inside someone’s brain the somewhat surreal cartoon art style sings, having translated to high-definition marvellously. Inside the minds, though, it’s next-level. Each environment is incredibly creative, whether that’s the glowing neon of a hospital-turned-casino or a psychedelic pseudoWoodstock, or even the grimy Manhattan-like streets of a germ civilisation (connected via ten-pin bowling lanes, of course).
MIND OVER MATTER
Quirky as they are, these levels are more than zany for zaniness’ sake, they’re abstract manifestations of the consciousness you’re in. Sometimes this is explicit as part of the main narrative, but at other times it can be hands-off, leaving the metaphors to speak for themselves.
The more you soak it in, the more you’ll get out of every area, which tell complete stories about the past. As funny as the script is, this isn’t a game that shies away from heavy themes, and each mind has some nasty memories locked away (and sometimes gruesome body horror, like a dentist’s mind having plenty of creepy teeth). Tackling these means using psychic powers to battle with the likes of censors, doubts, and panic attacks (as the game says, they can come out of nowhere, teleporting around). You use psychic mental mind slaps, pyrokinesis, PSI blasts, and more to deal with them. New powers, like a time-slowing bubble and a spruced-up version of telekinesis, join those from the first game.
Nonetheless, combat is where the game falls from the trapeze, due to the clunky way powers are mapped on the controller. Four can be used at once, each attached to a shoulder button (one more than could be used in the first game). Yet there are eight powers, and enemies are especially vulnerable to specific ones, not to mention some powers are necessary for traversing platforming sections. Changing which ones are linked to your controller requires holding the D-pad to pause and bring up a power wheel, then remapping to the button of your choice. It’s a pace-killer and can get confusing, a headache holdover from the first game that needed a better solution.
BRAIN TRAINING
Odd pacing returns too, and is perhaps slightly worse this time around, funnelling you into a lengthy endgame about halfway through, stopping you from exploring the hefty hub filled with interesting side-quests and collectibles (it’s nothing revolutionary, but involves some neat extra platforming nevertheless). Fortunately you can mop up everything you missed after the credits.
Despite being teased as campmate equivalents early on, your fellow interns feel pretty underdeveloped too. A shame, as the almost heist-like missions in which each psychic helps pull off a plan are delightful, though perhaps they
A collectathon platformer, but one where each world is literally inside someone else’s mind.
could be developed more fully in the future.
Not all minds are made equal, either. Level length varies widely. Sometimes this leads to great moments, like when you have to dive into three separate aspects of a character’s mind, each a short but sweet challenge, to reunify them, but sometimes they spin the wheels. There’s no joy to be had in a single boss fight either (unless fighting your despair at solving problems with violence is the real boss fight).
While some levels are creative – an ’80s-themed cooking game show, for instance, or a small world you sail around entering beached alcohol bottles – they never quite reach the level of mechanical creativity of the first game, like the disguise-laden fan favourite Milkman Conspiracy level. This isn’t a huge problem. After all, this time the platforming feels much more responsive, so can be leant on more. The floatiness has been dialled back a bit, while keeping the fluidity of Raz’s circus-inspired flips and psychic ball running. New moves like a memory chain grapple make navigating areas easier than ever, too. It’s a joy to control.
This might disappoint some fans expecting to be wowed by constant novelty once again, but even when painting within the Psychonauts lines it’s endlessly more creative than the likes of Balan Wonderworld (which this reviewer did still like). Gorgeous visuals and shot composition, a gripping yarn, and excellent platforming prove Aquato still has the ol’ Raz-zle dazzle.
Held back by some clunky controls and combat, this is a joy to play and a deserving, if somewhat less novel, successor. A truly mind-full delight. Oscar Taylor-Kent