One of the most underrated Platformers ever.
Psychonauts has spawned an infamous legacy over the years. Psychonauts has become known as the good game that sold like crap. That's basically the best was to describe it. Psychonauts was a good game that sold like crap and it's a shame.
After playing through this game, I can say that Tim Shaffer is a genius. The amount of creativity and humor in this game is astounding. It plays like an old school Platforming game from the PS1/N64 days. You play as Raz, a young psychic in training who ran away from his home in the circus to join a Psychic camp.
The gameplay plays like a basic platformer. You use your various pyschic abilities to make it new sections of the levels and beat the bosses. The true gem in the game is the creativity and the humor. You encounter different world by going into the minds of different characters. And needless to say, the different worlds are simply amazing. In one mind your surrounded by conspiracy theorist secret agents, while in another your a Godzilla type monster destorying the fish-people's (yes the fish-people's) town.
The pacing in this game is on the trippy side. Approximately the first half of the game is relatively easy. For the most part, it acts as a tutorial on how to utilize your powers. However, come the second half of the game, the difficulty jumps to the opposite direction. The missions start to become nail bitting hard, and the final mission will definitely cause you pop a blood vessle.
The major downside to this game is the side quest. Essentially, all there is to do outside of the main game is scavenger hunts. That's it. After that's completed there really is nothing to do unless you find humor in setting the squirrels on fire.
That aside, this is a fantastic game that should be played by everyone.
