I’m amazed at how successfully this retains and even expands on the handcrafted charm and daring imagination of the first game, while expanding the scope considerably and making everything look shiny and modern. The writing similarly retains the thoughtfulness and humor and empathy of the original game, but feels more impactful and emotionally mature overall.

After an early reintroduction to the original cast and a handful of new interns, I assumed the story would largely follow them, but this ends up really being a story about the founding members of the Psychonauts and resolving old mistakes they made. It’s impressive how much of this game is essentially gamified cognitive behavioral therapy; that sounds annoying and didactic, but one of the many impressive things about the writing is how breezy and playful it all is instead. I also love how interwoven seemingly random plot details end up being, and how packed it is with clever flourishes that could easily be overlooked but really reward paying attention and poking around.

As dessert, I’m really looking forward to the majority of Psychodyssey episodes I have yet to watch, and seeing the messy, fascinating stories that went into creating this wonderful game.