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Psychonauts 2


HandsomeDead
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The long awaited sequel is here!  And it's generally a decent follow-up.  It takes place right after the original and it's like it's never been gone.  It just confidently does being Psychonauts.

 

It feels a bit tighter than the original but it's basic fighting and platforming for the most part but it's appeal has always been the imagination of the world and how it takes mental well being and makes these charming worlds out them and from what I've played so far it continues to do a good job of that.  And with these new fangled graphics it makes it look really nice too.  They really lean all of it into the art style they made in the original and I think it comes out well, it's a nice game to look at in a weird way.

 

All Double Fine have done is make a Psychonauts game for 2021 and that's all I wanted, and that's all we got.  Neat!

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Did the first section last night. After having just played some of the original it feels loads better IMO. It’s no Mario, but it’s a big improvement. Actually feels ok to play now. Combats still a bit funky, but it’s better. Throwing stuff about with psi is a lot more fun now. 

 

Really enjoyed the opening. There’s a real confidence to it and you can tell theyve had a decent budget, it’s almost set piece like. Some of the visual tricks have been cool and the way it jumped from gameplay to that in the seat procedure scenes seamlessly worked great.
 

Visuals are simple but really fucking crisp and sharp so look great. As Handsome says the real joy is found in the impressive worlds which hopefully keep up the quality & benefit from the extra hardware power.

 

Looking forward to playing more. 

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I played past the first boss fight and finished up the casino world. I think it’s fantastic so far. I’ve never played the first game so there are references/jokes I’m not getting. Bacon is a thing in Psychonauts I take it. 
 

It has fundamental platformer gameplay, which is solid and enjoyable. Especially the grapple hook power that connects ideas. Feels great and a very original way to use something like that. 
 

My only thing I don’t like so far is swapping between the powers. I wish there was a better way to hot key them instead of going in and out of the menu. It’s a very light problem, but it does exist. 
 

Think @mfnick found the best word to describe it and that’s confident. Whether it’s the varied gameplay, how fast the levels change, the different themes to the levels, the presentation. Nuts and chaotic but the game doesn’t care it throws it at you anyway.

 

Really impressed and like it a lot. Apart from being a 3D platformer I really had no expectations or idea about this game, so maybe that helps I’m not sure, but completely surprised and impressed. This game’s awesome so far. 

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I also started this today, only managed to get in around 45 minutes though and I've not even finished the tutorial yet but I like what I've seen.

 

Like @Maf I've not played the first game so the recap before this game starts was appreciated. Its been a long time since I've played a game of this type but it's a nice change of pace. Looking forward to giving it some more time.

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I put this on at 2pm this afternoon and thought I’d spend a couple of hours with it. It’s now 9pm. And that’s a Monday.

 

I’ve cooled on it a little bit. The main draw for me to the game is the levels. They’re linear, uniquely themed, very stylish. The platforming action is Ok, a bit clumsy, but this game thrives on the absurd concepts and ideas. The gameplay is good, but secondary. It’s very much a tourist game. Come for the sights and easy going silliness. No question it’s the best part of the game. The last level I just did was themed around a reality TV cooking show. How many times have you seen that before? I like this a lot. 
 

The part that’s not as good are the open world areas/zones. These are more big, open, exploration focused jungle gyms which is where the game is now trying to rely more heavily on it’s gameplay, which it can, but it’s definitely not it’s strongest suit.

 

I did spend around 3 hours in the Quarry and the Questionable Area hunting down the collectibles and completing side missions (Except Lily’s fungus mission. If anyone solved that drop the answer in the thread, please). So I still like it. But it’s a lot less engaging creatively and more taking advantage of my collectible OCD.

 

Yeah. Cooled on it a bit, still think it’s excellent. 

 

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@Nag playing a cutesy Platformer 

 

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I don't really have a history with Double Fine games at all, I remember trying to play the OG Psychonauts about a year or two after it released on the PC I had at the time and again trying to play it when I got my new PC in 2014 and couldn't make it past the first two/three hours as it is just so incredibly slow and filled with the seemingly endless tutorials that were popular at the time. It just bored me shitless and I threw in the towel after only a few hours, I never understood what all the fuss was about surrounding it to be honest, it just seemed like a relatively by-the-numbers 3D platformer with shitty platforming and combat. It's not until Broken Age a long time later when I actually decided to try another one of their games and that was painfully boring is well.

 

Fast-forward to a dreary Friday night in Northern Hampshire and I found myself starting up Double Fine's long awaited sequel to the OG Psychonauts, Psychonauts 2 (unsurprisingly). I was shocked (but not that shocked) to find out it's a relatively by-the-numbers 3D platformer with shitty platforming and combat, filled with a confidence verging on arrogance and a brashness that I really didn't expect to see before me. It's ok, but not great in the slightest, the platforming and combat have improved from what little I can remember of playing the OG game, the visuals and environments are lovely, colourful and inventive in all the best ways but the platforming and combat just isn't tight enough to feel fun at all. When I'm playing it I almost feel like I'm on auto-pilot going through the motions picking up all the various different shiny bits and pieces strewn in the bucketload throughout each handcrafted level. 

 

The tutorial is one again seemingly never ending but not as dull or boring as the first game thankfully, after entering and existing someone's brain (which gives you a nice idea of what the worlds will be like for the rest of the game) you finally end up back at the Hub (not that Hub) thinking the tutorial is over and the game 'proper' will start, but, no, you're handheld through the various inner workings of the Hub before you can finally get back to the good stuff and do some more mind wandering. Me being me I had to explore every inch of the Hub to see if there were any collectibles and treasures to pick up (spoiler alert, there was) and I do like the Men in Black like vibe to it but I just can't help but feel everything is filler here and I was just gagging to get back to the Matrix.

 

The game did go up a little in my estimations during and after the Casino level. The environments here were really vivid and beautiful with nice touches like the 'heart' race and X-Ray platforming section along with seeing the very real consequences of messing about with brain chemistry. The representation of very real mental health concerns and conditions during this level felt really well done as well, I feel like I understood the person in question much better and the worries etc. She has to deal with after finishing it. I hope the levels from now on are all pretty similar to this as it's reminiscent of the Palaces from Persona and really well handled.

 

If I had to pin it down to how it feels for me it's a mix between Persona, Inside Out, Alice: Madness Returns, Monsters Inc. and Conker's Bad Fur Day with a little bit of Men in Black and Austin Powers thrown in there too. It's not bad and I don't want to slag it off too much, it's just a relatively rudimentary collectathon style Platformer, I love collecting shit don't get me wrong but the level and game design here just feel dated to me. I can only play it for a couple of hours before having to turn it off, even then I'm looking at the clock from now and then which is never a good sign. I do not get the 'humour' at all either, it hasn't made me laugh even once, it's just not a funny game in the slightest for me.

 

I'll carry on for the time being, I'm far from bowled over by it (as mentioned above) but after the Casino level I've started enjoying it a little more so hopefully I keep going back into minds and haven't got to spend much time in the Hub.

 

Pics to follow

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On 30/08/2021 at 13:57, mfnick said:

I just finished the Casino world last night. Enjoyed it, like how it mixes the environment up and the mind link ability is just satisfying to use. 
 

Mr & Mrs Rich characters were just excellent. 

 

Voiced by Elyse and James Willems of FunHaus (who are big Psychonauts fans).

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I'm in a casino level on this and, to my utter horror (since I've been looking forward to the game for a long time), I honestly feel it's starting to get on my nerves. I'm just not feeling it at all. It's not making me laugh, there's no real challenge, the squeaky American voices are tearing into my eardrums like buzz saws...

 

I don't know. I mean it's basically like I imagined it was going to be so it's hard to put my finger on the problem, other than I've just stopped liking 3d puzzle platformers.

 

I am recovering from a bad case of covid, so it might be that. It's taken me a week to even contemplate picking up a controller. 

2 hours ago, Nag said:

makes me think of Tim Burton stuff more than anything.

And it might be that. I can't bear most of his unfunny bullshit.

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I wouldn’t say the game is funny either, but it has made me laugh a couple of times. Mainly the personality isn’t coming through with the humour it’s more the absurd places the game goes. 
 

Since everyone is past the Casino bit, that 2D side scrolling X-ray section in the hospital, then once you’ve rewired the persons mind to want money you repeat the same section but all the X-rays turned to playing cards. Stuff like that its really cool for example. When in character’s minds the game is good at being absolutely strange and light hearted at the same time. The way they lean harder and harder in to each absurd theme is great as well.
 

Those parts do a good job of being weird, original and personality filled and I really like it. If the personality of the game is putting people off though I can’t imagine there’s much here to keep enjoying. 

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5 hours ago, Nag said:

 

I'd say this is pretty far from cutesy in a lot of ways... makes me think of Tim Burton stuff more than anything.


Yeah it’s definitely Burton-esque. The guy right at the start (can’t remember the name) looks just like one of the weird Scientist dudes from Nightmare Before Christmas. Just a nice surprise seeing you play a colourful Platformer is all 😘

 

More pics:

Spoiler

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2 hours ago, bellow said:

I'm in a casino level on this and, to my utter horror (since I've been looking forward to the game for a long time), I honestly feel it's starting to get on my nerves. I'm just not feeling it at all. It's not making me laugh, there's no real challenge, the squeaky American voices are tearing into my eardrums like buzz saws...

 

I don't know. I mean it's basically like I imagined it was going to be so it's hard to put my finger on the problem, other than I've just stopped liking 3d puzzle platformers.

 

I am recovering from a bad case of covid, so it might be that. It's taken me a week to even contemplate picking up a controller. 

And it might be that. I can't bear most of his unfunny bullshit.


Yeah I completely agree with the squeaky American VO, it’s just a bit too chirpy at times and too sure of itself for me, I’d like it so much more if they were taking the piss out of one another. 
 

Sorry to hear about the COVID too, hope you make a full recovery man 😘

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I'm near the end and I have been getting more frustrated at the combat and some of the level design.  It's like it gets a bit frustrating to explore.

 

I think I've found it funny.  Probably not the dialogue so much but there's good visual gags and just how they interpret mental issues in the mind worlds amusing.

And I dunno how Raz's voice actor can still do the exact same voice 16 years later and it only sound like it was done in the same session.  Thats wild to me.

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This is the weirdest game ever. I don't know if I love it or hate it. I'm treading a fine line where, on the one hand, I'm aghast at the visual wonder the game is constantly offering, while on the other hand I'm slightly annoyed that I now have to 'play' these beautifully drawn levels - because playing this game is this game's Achilles heal. And that's a rather odd position to hold when discussing a videogame.

 

It just feels ever so slightly 'off.' Everything is a bit hit and miss, the platforming, the collecting, the bizarrely unattractive combat, the actual way Raz makes his way thru the world, even the two steps it makes you take to collect currency, when one would have been fine. It's like they played mario galaxy and then said: 'hey, let's make something as beautiful as that, but a bit shit...'

 

Yeah, that's harsh. They just needed to tighten up the gameplay. Raz doesn't control that well, and we live in a gaming landscape that now has Ori in it. 

 

And yet the game is compelling. I'm still playing it. I don't want to stop playing it. I just don't know why.

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I finished the music festival level and the post office level this morning. Still having a great time with this game. It’s been ages since I’ve played a game like this, it definitely feels very PS2 in terms of how it plays and how to progress, it’s really refreshing. 
 

I’ve just been given a point of no return warning though. I finished up all the side missions except the Scavenger Hunt mission, and cleared most areas too. There are certain things I can’t get yet because there’s clearly one more power to get which will be shrinking/turning small or something to get through these letter boxes. So unsure why it is saying “Finish up your business” before the next level. 

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21 hours ago, Maf said:

clearly one more power to get which will be shrinking/turning small or something

 

I have this power. I was sort of saving some upgrades because I knew it was coming.

 

I agree with the PS2 thing. This is old school. In fact I've just done a boss so old school you just know you've done that exact thing in a bunch of platformers (in fact I remember more or less doing 'the thing' just a couple of months ago when I replayed Mario galaxy on the switch.

 

I still love and hate it. More love, now. It seems to me the type of game where a second playthru might be the more gratifying one. I hope there's a new game +.

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I’ve got that power now too. That might be my favourite character in the game 🤣

 

Two things I think also deserve a shout out about this game. First one is the music. It’s not hummable, or even memorable, but the way the music is used is excellent. Really helps set the scene, particularly in the levels themselves. It’s really well used.

 

The second thing is the video game trick of walking through a door or archway and being in a different part of the map. Loads of games have done this yet I’m struggling to think of an example. This game is best in class at it, though. Maybe it’s the 4K60 that gives it an extra sense of smoothness and being seamless but walking through a thing, or around a corner, and being somewhere completely different is really cool. 


I do find this game hard to play in long bursts. I’ve settled in to playing one level at a time then turning it off. I’m not sure why though because I love nearly everything about it. Perhaps I’m getting old and I find the constant level switches and all over the place ideas a bit exhausting. There’s not a bit of the game I haven’t liked, though. I just can’t play a lot of it in one go

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Maybe the exhaustion is coming when you always have to do the same thing multiple times, like there's always 3 things to collect, 3 books, 3 clues, 3 recipes to concoct etc....also, the bosses seem to be structured around doing the same thing 3 times, with only minor variations. And fecking hell, that cooking one went on forever.

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I think the exhaustion comes from the fact that the levels are very long. I like the boss fights, collecting and how original the level ideas are. But I think on the whole I preferred the levels that were shorter, like the 3 Ford levels, or the cooking level I also liked. Opposed to the Gardening level, which despite being cool goes on a very long time. 

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