Psychonauts 2 is the type of game you have to respect purely for the amount of ambition and creativity that came from so many talented people.
Many platform games will merely use story to justify gameplay (ie "X was stolen! Jump from point A to B!!"), but Psychonauts prioritizes story and gameplay equally. In fact, these two elements are intertwined such that your objectives within a given level directly correlate with a turning point in the story. Facilitated by the fact that each level is a literal manifestation of each character's mind.
While this is not necessarily profound, its definitely enough to set it apart from most 3D platformers. Raz doesnt control quite as enjoyably as Mario, but his story is what allows the game to stand a chance against Mario Odyssey, whose story was "Collect the _____ to save the princess!" once again.
Though don't get me wrong, Raz controls well enough. Not the acrobatic fluidity of Odyssey, but it didn't really need to be. The levels are what steal the show, anyway. Creativity and originality ooze from each level. From a dental horrorscape to a casino hospital - there's nothing quite like the twisted feverdream levels of Psychonauts. Each one strengthens the characterizations of the people whose minds you inhabit.
And this game is BEAUTIFUL.Great artstyle, executed perfectly makes a great visual experience. Its always impressive how these mental spaces twist and connect in mind-bending ways.
Only imperfections I noticed: sometimes slow model loading, and some dialogue awkwardly cut by transitions/loading. But does this bother me? Nah. Im just impressed this game exists at all. You should play it tbh
Many platform games will merely use story to justify gameplay (ie "X was stolen! Jump from point A to B!!"), but Psychonauts prioritizes story and gameplay equally. In fact, these two elements are intertwined such that your objectives within a given level directly correlate with a turning point in the story. Facilitated by the fact that each level is a literal manifestation of each character's mind.
While this is not necessarily profound, its definitely enough to set it apart from most 3D platformers. Raz doesnt control quite as enjoyably as Mario, but his story is what allows the game to stand a chance against Mario Odyssey, whose story was "Collect the _____ to save the princess!" once again.
Though don't get me wrong, Raz controls well enough. Not the acrobatic fluidity of Odyssey, but it didn't really need to be. The levels are what steal the show, anyway. Creativity and originality ooze from each level. From a dental horrorscape to a casino hospital - there's nothing quite like the twisted feverdream levels of Psychonauts. Each one strengthens the characterizations of the people whose minds you inhabit.
And this game is BEAUTIFUL.Great artstyle, executed perfectly makes a great visual experience. Its always impressive how these mental spaces twist and connect in mind-bending ways.
Only imperfections I noticed: sometimes slow model loading, and some dialogue awkwardly cut by transitions/loading. But does this bother me? Nah. Im just impressed this game exists at all. You should play it tbh