Psychonauts 2 is one of the best jumps in quality from the first game in a series to the second, and giving the amount of time and financial backing included, that makes sense. Microsoft swooping in and giving this franchise a much needed lift resulted in a fantastic platformer and one of the genre's greatest experiences.
I do have qualms with the game that prevent me from really loving it, but I think I got enough from the game to acknowledge its stroke of genius. Even though I felt like it ran a bit long, had subpar combat, and a (personally) not up to Psychonauts 1 caliber of mental health conversation, it more than made up for it in other ways.
The visuals and zones/levels of Psychonauts 2 were picture perfect, legitimately I don't know if I've seen a linear game with this much life ever. Every room in every brain and area was filled with an abundance of life and things going on: beautiful colors and lighting abound, thematically appropriate backdrops and items included, and great game within a game moments. Even though the gameplay loop of using psi-powers and simple jump to platform remain unchanged, every area was built to perfection to keep the limited gameplay interesting.
Characters were designed and voice acted to perfection, something I felt was very lackluster in the Tim Burton-esque Psychonauts 1. Here you have some gorgeous 3D visuals on modern hardware, popping and making the unrealistic characters look like humanoids out of a Pixar film. Raz, Sasha, and Milla all return with great acting jobs and are again, interesting characters. I wasn't too crazy on the new additions to the game like Bob and Hollis, but thats a small knock against the otherwise great cast.
I'm glad I was able to play this game and add it to my 2021 gamelog.
I do have qualms with the game that prevent me from really loving it, but I think I got enough from the game to acknowledge its stroke of genius. Even though I felt like it ran a bit long, had subpar combat, and a (personally) not up to Psychonauts 1 caliber of mental health conversation, it more than made up for it in other ways.
The visuals and zones/levels of Psychonauts 2 were picture perfect, legitimately I don't know if I've seen a linear game with this much life ever. Every room in every brain and area was filled with an abundance of life and things going on: beautiful colors and lighting abound, thematically appropriate backdrops and items included, and great game within a game moments. Even though the gameplay loop of using psi-powers and simple jump to platform remain unchanged, every area was built to perfection to keep the limited gameplay interesting.
Characters were designed and voice acted to perfection, something I felt was very lackluster in the Tim Burton-esque Psychonauts 1. Here you have some gorgeous 3D visuals on modern hardware, popping and making the unrealistic characters look like humanoids out of a Pixar film. Raz, Sasha, and Milla all return with great acting jobs and are again, interesting characters. I wasn't too crazy on the new additions to the game like Bob and Hollis, but thats a small knock against the otherwise great cast.
I'm glad I was able to play this game and add it to my 2021 gamelog.