Nearly 16 years later we finally get a sequel to one of my favorite platformers and games ever in Psychonauts, and also the first game I ever backed! Of course many know the horror stories of MN9 and other disappointing sequels/spiritual successors, but there was also games like Bloodstained and A Hat in Time to prove there was still hope for these fan backed projects. Fortunately, this was absolutely a case of the latter.
Most games receiving a sequel or some form of successor after a decade have to change in some form whether I like to admit it or not, standards for what the public enjoyed back in the 2000s might be different than now. For example, we've reached a point of consumption of media at such an expedient rate that something like summons from FF7 which have such a long animation would be a detriment in the 2020s if there was no skip/fast forward button for a good majority of players. The shocking thing about Psychonauts 2 is outside of the graphics (which look amazing), the game could've come out 3 years after the original and not felt out of place at all. The team really seemed to look at what worked for the original and show the charm still has a place in the modern era.
For one thing the characters are just as fun as they were in the original game, with a new focus on Raz's family and overall a really sweet narrative focused around forgiveness that really got me emotional in certain parts. And alongside that we got whole new worlds and they're all so much FUN and stylish with the first world alone being a contender for one of the best in the game and series. While the first game had a lot of variety a lot of the focus was on how people internalize their own little worlds, but in 2 there's a lot that went into what can absolutely break down our minds and in general trying to heal these pains that haunt us. I think my personal favorite world has gotta be PSI King's world, there's just too much to love about it.
I'm just so glad that there was a follow up to one of my favorite games that managed to do everything right that it ended up being even better than I could've expected.
Most games receiving a sequel or some form of successor after a decade have to change in some form whether I like to admit it or not, standards for what the public enjoyed back in the 2000s might be different than now. For example, we've reached a point of consumption of media at such an expedient rate that something like summons from FF7 which have such a long animation would be a detriment in the 2020s if there was no skip/fast forward button for a good majority of players. The shocking thing about Psychonauts 2 is outside of the graphics (which look amazing), the game could've come out 3 years after the original and not felt out of place at all. The team really seemed to look at what worked for the original and show the charm still has a place in the modern era.
For one thing the characters are just as fun as they were in the original game, with a new focus on Raz's family and overall a really sweet narrative focused around forgiveness that really got me emotional in certain parts. And alongside that we got whole new worlds and they're all so much FUN and stylish with the first world alone being a contender for one of the best in the game and series. While the first game had a lot of variety a lot of the focus was on how people internalize their own little worlds, but in 2 there's a lot that went into what can absolutely break down our minds and in general trying to heal these pains that haunt us. I think my personal favorite world has gotta be PSI King's world, there's just too much to love about it.
I'm just so glad that there was a follow up to one of my favorite games that managed to do everything right that it ended up being even better than I could've expected.