Thank you @Eggsandwhich for recommending I play this after my month of NieR. Also a shoutout to @ptcremisi cuz he loves this game too. I'm happy to say, despite some issues I had that do hold it back from me rating it higher, I really enjoyed this game a lot.

Though tbh, at first I wasn't really enjoying it all too much. The beginning cutscene really got me interested but by the time I got to the first level in the game, I started noticing issues I had. First off, I don't think the first level is that great of an introduction. I found the level design to be too simple and it's definitely my least favorite stage in the game. That plus some other issues I had while playing, really didn't help my engagement. I found the combat just okay, it got the job done but it wasn't great. The platforming too could be a little wonky. I found the ledge grab really inconsistent (tho I got used to it later on). The figments were hard to see a lot of the time and they seemed like they'd be quite annoying. It also didn't help that I played this on my PS2 and it ran poorly a lot of the time and even rarely slowed to a crawl. That combination of things, plus the poor intro level, it just wasn't doing it for me. Also later on, you start to fight bosses. While it's cool to find out how to beat them, they're often not that fun mechanically because of the clunky combat and are usually too easy on top of that.

As I played on tho, a lot of these issues were lessened a bunch cuz I blew them out of proportion. Because of this, I learned to really love the fantastic things in this game. Probably my absolutely favorite aspect would be just the game concept as a whole. Going into people's minds is just so awesome, and they really utilize it to it's fullest. Your collectibles are absolutely brilliant. Figments of your imagination, emotional baggage, cobwebs (in your head). It's just all so good and really makes the world feel so well thought out. Like the health pickups are literally called mental health, that's amazing!

The other best thing this game has going for it are the quirky/funny moments and it's memorable cast. I couldn't even count just how many times this game made me chuckle, it's so weird and I love it. It really felt like a Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon show from the early 2000's which is great because that's the era I grew up with. Feels like the love child of Billy and Mandy and Invader Zim if I'm being real. As for the cast of characters, most of kids were whatever (tho I did like Dogen and Lili) but the main cast of Psychonauts were all great. I do wish they had more screen time, because in the 2nd half due to certain events they're mostly absent, but what we do get is great. Also, a shoutout to Raz himself, what a great protagonist. He's so quirky and sassy yet likeable.

At first I was a bit iffy on the camp setting but once I explored the overworld, I really enjoyed it. It feels a bit nostalgic for some reason, and I never even went to camp as a kid. I also think the overworld had overall better level design than the actual levels. The levels are cooler and more out there than the camp setting but the level design is more linear, while the camp is more open and explorable which is fun.

Another thing I enjoyed were the Psi badges. While I wouldn't say most of them were super fun to actually use, a lot of them were used on puzzles throughout the game and are just cool conceptually. I will say though, levitation is an absolute blast and is easily the best badge in the game. Glad you get it early on because from then on, I used it all the time.

Idk why I thought this was a kids game all this time (I probably would've loved this as a teenager) but it definitely isn't considering they cuss throughout the game and the game can get pretty dark. Seriously, some of the mental illness stuff can get pretty realistic even if there is a goofy undertone, but it's still handled with tact. The vaults are another collectable in the game and they hold some of the darkest shit I swear. Milla's hidden vault 😢. But I really love how they flesh out each character even more.

I said the figments were annoying because they're hard to see, and while that is still a criticism of mine, they weren't annoying enough to the extent I didn't want to get them all. So I went and 100%ed the game and that was mostly hassle free. Some stray figments here and there and some of the milkman's conspiracy gave me trouble but that's about it.

So overall, while the actual gameplay is usually just acceptable to subpar, the charm this game has with it's cast of characters, it's quirky humor and just the awesome concept of going into people's minds won me over. This game is flawed but really enjoyable. I'm giving this a 7.5 rn only because the sequel seems to fix the gameplay issues I had. From what I've heard, 2 starts off right where 1 ended and that's just so cool I can't wait. Anyways, on to my Secret Santa game next...Metroid Prime 2!

7.5/10

The surreal style and great humor really carried this. Lots of cool levels (especially visually) and ideas even if i feel like some levels could of leaned into their themes a little heavier. And for a game like this the story is good. Not amazing or anything but it works well with the rest. Only thing really holding it back is the gameplay. You will not be forgetting its a PS2 game while playing. Honestly the gameplay kinda sucks and this would be a lot lower if the rest of the game wasn't as strong. Its not always bad and sometimes its fun even especially with all the psychic powers but too much of it feels janky and imprecise, sometimes downright infuriating. But by the end of the day after finally beating everything I can certainly say it was worth it, and I look forward to the sequel

Took me ages of playing it, putting it down, forgetting about it, remembering I wanted to keep playing months later, picking it back up and repeating the process. Happy to say though, that after 2 years of that I finally finished it and it was great! The platforming was fun, the levels were imaginative, and its overall personality was pretty charming. Having each level be a character's subconscious made exploring each level gratifying as you felt like you were constantly learning more about each character. Some of the boss designs did feel unintuitive and its collectathon nature did make trying to 100% it a pain as finding 1 missing collectible in a level sometimes took me more than an hour, but the core gameplay and story were pretty fun so I can't fault it too hard. Very excited to finally try out the sequel now!

Creative use of metaphors and gameplay contextualization make for a really fun story-focused platformer that reminds me of childhood despite never learning about it til much later. I think the mind-exploration settings are pretty weak during the first half but they knock it out of the park in the back end. I know a lot of people call the gameplay 'average' but I think it handles itself pretty well, it's just really rough until you get the levitation ball. It also runs into the usual trappings of PS2 platformers - mediocre bosses, stressfully-organized collectibles, an 'it's over already?' finale, and bad sound/voice mixing.

Meat Circus wasn't as hard as I anticipated it would be but I also think that level's just, not fun? Chasing after young Oleander is a good setpiece but the bossfights and rising water section are ass. Then again, I played the PC version, which I'm told made it easier.

I’ve dipped into a couple of Double Fine games over the years, but mostly they’ve been a niche I let pass me by as a matter of whim, assuming I’d appreciate the highlights if I ever revisited them. Well, I finally get why their debut established such a lasting fandom.

The writing and high-concept design on display is thoughtful and the dialogue is timelessly funny and charming. I was vaguely aware of the Milkman Conspiracy, and it’s solidly original, but Black Velvetopia and Waterloo World might be even more impressive. Even the less ambitious ideas like Milla’s Dance Party and Gloria’s Theater and Lungfishopolis are clever and fun. The only real dud is the Meat Circus, maybe one of the best concepts on paper and containing the strongest genuinely emotional moment of the game for me (“is that how you see me?”), but it’s tediously frustrating to actually play. Even so, it’s hard to stay mad at any game that’s this lovingly bespoke throughout.

(What finally motivated me to play this was starting their recent Psychodyssey episodes. I paused after 4-5 since Psychonauts 2 spoilers were about to show up, and I want to play it beforehand, so I diverted to finally watching Double Fine Adventure instead, and started Psychonauts 1 in the meantime. Now that I’m finished with this earlier game and that earlier doc series, I’m looking forward to checking out each of their sequels next!)

The design of the world and characters were admittedly a bit off-putting to start, but ended up quickly being one of my favourite parts of the game. I'm not normally big on platformers, and this one certainly has its really, really annoying sections (partially due to its age I expect) but overall it wasn't enough of a problem to complain about. With my attention being immediately grasped as soon as I overcame each hurdle.

Psychonauts definitely has much better concepts and ideas than it does levels and gameplay for the most part, but the balance is there enough that even when I wasn't having fun (per se) I wanted to continue because I knew I would be before too long.

The final level was immensely disappointing, with the platforming being so irritating that this review was almost just "Incoming! Just kidding, you can't catch that! What's the matter Raz?" bc I had to hear those lines so many times. And the final boss was about as underwhelming as it gets.

All that said, overall good time, I'll play the sequel for sure

Flirts SO CLOSELY with perfection. Bad audio mixing and some ass-quality final levels/boss fight kneecap what is otherwise a flawless marathon of inventive 3D platforming. This game soars on its phenomenal and unique premise. The triple threat of Milkman Conspiracy, Gloria's Theater, and Waterloo World are some of the finest levels in 3D platforming history. This universe and its characters are all winners, and I loved every minute spent with them. An absolute must play for 3D platforming enthusiasts.

I am the Milkman. My milk is delicious.

This game is funny. It's also incredibly well put together. Controls are tight, gameplay is fun, combat works well, and is challenging in all the right ways. Incredibly imaginative level design, from disco parkour courses, a topsy-turvy neighborhood, a tabletop wargame, and even a freaking Kaiju level...where you're the Kaiju! Entertaining and engaging story and characters. Milla is an actual comfort to listen to, the inmates at the ruined asylum fascinating and compelling, and Doogan is simultaneously concerningly innocent...or innocently concerning?

I'm hesitant to say this is the definitive example of 2000s 3D action platformers that honor goes to Blinx the Timesweeper (/j), but it is most certainly, assuredly, and absolutely among the top 5, at least.

EUREKA!

As players grow more and more conditioned to prefer 'realism' in modern games, the medium's full potential as escapist entertainment remains increasingly underwhelmed ever so ardently. Bless Tim Schafer and his Double Fine crew then for delivering one of the most endlessly, consistently creative visual works of the millennium, to prove the enriching, artistic power of the craft.

Psychonauts offers nothing less than the evolution of an entire genre, merging adventure game design with a 3D worldscape, where the human mind offers a multitude of labyrinths to plunge into. The serpentine levels address a stream of consciousness, while the meticulous construction implicates an inherently methodical subconscious.

Child abuse and neglect form the backbone of the plot's engaging metastasis, and artistry becomes an arbiter for literal escape. Yes, in spite of its '1970s summer camp flick' aesthetic, Psychonauts is a grim tale of mental anguish, in which an array of subjects propose a perpetual torment besides their greatest insecurities and misgivings. But aside from dishing out some curse words every so often, the game is most astutely mature in its regard to profound musings on psyche.

While a script's instinct to explain its universe normally undermines natural worldbuilding in any work, here it prompts rumination on the human brain's fantastical properties which distinctly set reality apart from fantasy. Classic adventure game logic translates here through traditional 3D action platformer behaviors. Player abilities become manipulable puzzle items to progress. Symbolic representations of psychical patterns level up the character. Health, currency, and ammo items (infuriatingly) have a mind of their own, as if to portray the mind's animated status, constantly whirling like cogs in a machine.

As the Clairvoyance perk humorously suggests, we all see the world and our neighbors differently; logic is molded by subjective perception. Indeed, this mythical venture through chaotic suburbs in the sky, mental battlefields, monstrous underwater pursuits, and even monster movie homage is infused with a healthy dose of reality. One cunning sequence follows the bold, inquisitive Raz into the operatic mind of a retired stage actress, whose subconscious has been littered by self-criticism and childhood trauma as enacted like cheap theater starring a stilted subject of sunny energy. The villainous critic represents any artist's greatest nightmare: their own sense of failure directed back at them from the inside and out.

Raz might as well be named Alice, as he tumbles down rabbit hole after rabbit hole on a crusade for personal overcoming and righteous justice-serving. Double Fine's mischievous item quests have arguably never fit more in line with a crafted universe than here -- paintings grow into traversable vines, stop signs and rolling pins provide comically unconvincing disguises, tags rekindle pent-up emotional baggage. Indeed, this endless tea party is as mad as a hatter; a slyly psychosexual romp (Raz's parental disdain implicates an ingrained prejudice towards the non-conformative) amidst lunatics and everyday people just trying to overcome their apprehensions and misgivings.

The game's glorious sense of humor is most portentiously rooted in an increasing social numbing of the mind by the consequences of media overconsumption, illustrated with poignancy as a brainless child repeatedly demands: "TV." An ironic notion given the screen's potential for artistic creation, and nonetheless a parallel conceptualization of media's prescribed rabbit holes we plunge ourselves into time and again.

Psychonauts defies typical genre musings to ruminate on the various everyday existential squabbles we endlessly endure, that which form our perceptions of time and space and identity. It posits rehabilitation through empathic understanding. It's a psychological horror comedy unlike any other.

Que jogo divertido e criativo, simplesmente fantástico!
Um jogo de plataforma 3D que sabe usar e abusar de seus recursos limitados da época, com um estilo de arte na pegada filme que passava na sessão da tarde, personagens bem humorados, uma ótima trama, dublagem espetacular e discussões psicológicas incríveis. Cada fase que eu passava me surpreendia mais com a criatividade e como a jogabilidade envelheceu bem. É nesses momentos que bate o arrependimento de ter ignorado esse joguinho na feira porque a capa não chamou tanta atenção da mente de uma criança. Curti demais e com certeza irei jogar a sequência!

the most "2000s cartoon network" videogame ever made (probably). i cannot imagine this game being made today, it has such billy & mandy type of humor and when the conspiracy hits is just like, KND movie levels of nonsense and paranoia (zombies that are actually old people (everyone is afraid of old people, i guess?)). just real clever writing, with good timing for comedy while showing a lot of different mental illness and traumas with a bit of dark humor here and there, but never losing sensibility (not the same you would see in today's games like celeste, but still!! (and to be honest, this approach feels better for my tastes)). the main character, raz, is very well developed and his character arc is concluded in the most unexpected way. love the whole contextualization of "videogame things" into mind-things, i.e, your health bar being "mental health" and your power being medium powers (im surprised i've not seen a joke about bending spoons) and stuff you see in cold war media (btw, is this game happening in the 60s? 70s?). the gameplay being janky as it is and some levels being a little frustrating just helps with the comfy-yet-menacing vibes and the whole mean comedy it has. some of the levels are, by the way, one of the best i've ever seen in a videogame -- milkman's conspiracy is just such an engaging story and meat circus is at bowser's castle from super mario 64 level of "utilizing everything you've learned from the game" (while being a scout mission, too!). really like how the camp is a whole place and not a mini HUB -- love when games with levels have a way of locomotion between them, makes the world feels more real and is crazy the amount of, cough, "lore" it has -- hidden stories about the other kids in the camp or bizarre things that you may encounter soon but, until there, is just legend. the kids, by the way, really act like 10~13 years old kids: they are starting to fell in love with each other, talking about "making out" but still have both meanness and innocence a kid has -- you can see this in raz own character, like how he reacts to some of the adults problems while you can totally relate to them, but is still gentle and helps in the way he can.

is just. a really good game.

Definitivamente o jogo mais criativo que já joguei.

Um fantástico plataformer que parece ter vindo direto dos sonhos de um artista. É um jogo muito bem feito, com um level-design absurdo.
Cada nível é lindo e único em todos os aspectos, tornando um jogo muito gostoso de se jogar

Isso junto de uma premissa muito interessante e de um satisfatório sistema de progressão criam um excelente jogo, muito memorável e divertido.
10/10, Obrigado Tim Schafer e a Double-Fine

A very memorable experience that is sort of a mix between platforming and adventure games. Great art, story, dialogue and level design. My only complaint is that the platforming can be frustrating due to wonky collision detection like on ledges and ropes.

I used the following to improve the experience on modern systems: set compatibility mode to Windows 95, ThirteenAG Widescreen Fix, 2021 HD AI Upscale and Cutscenes texture mod on Nexus.

The one technical problem that I couldn't fix was a "popping" sound that happened when playing some sounds, especially those that played in loops like the levitation ball.

Ended up playing this on a whim after it being in my backlog for so long, really glad I did. It's aged quite well, the visuals still hold up as does the unique level design. The writing is really great too, haven't laughed at a game this much in a long time. I think the pacing is a bit odd but I guess with a game that can be beaten in <10 hours it needs to ramp up pretty immediately. I think the end drags on a bit long but maybe that's just the effect of the Meat Circus on a players psyche....

....also its a shame the game peaks in the first minute with the introduction of dogen boole, love that guy.