After almost 16 and half years, the 2005 Double Fine platformer Psychonauts is finally getting a sequel and it's coming out this wednesday. It'll be out on both PS4/PS5 and Xbox consoles, despite MS now owning DF (though it seems like there's no native PS5 version on launch at least) and PC as well. It'll also be on Game Pass, like is the norm with just about every MS game these days.

• Easy Allies 9.5/10
• Eurogamer - Recommended
• Gamespot 9/10
• Game Informer 9/10
• Gamesradar 4.5/5
• IGN 8/10
• PC Gamer 89/100
• Polygon
• RPS - Bestest Best

I had tried the first game a number of times after it originally came out, but it took me until 2019 to finally play through it on PC. Some of the controls were a bit wonky and certain parts of the game didn't quite blow me away like they probably would've back in 2005, but the story, visuals and creativity with level design still carried the game for me quite well, even if Meat Circus almost destroyed me.

I've been excited for the sequel for a while now and at least based on the reviews, it seems like DF has done a pretty good job with it. Of course, even if there wouldn't have been any reviews for me to read before the game came out, the fact that I can grab it from Game Pass without spending an extra 60€ was going to make sure that I would've tried it anyway.

This has been my big game to look forward to this month. I’m happy to hear that it’s reviewing well. I hope it lives up to the hype because the original is pretty dear to me.

I'm going to play through it with my kids and hopefully it doesn't wreck their minds too much, but also I'm kinda hoping it wrecks their minds just a little bit.

The 9.5 from Easy Allies really caught me off guard.

I liked the original but didn't expect much else from 2. But I guess I'll have to play through Rhombua of Ruin real quick.

For those in need, since it has been a long time between one and two (and even 4.5 years since Rhombus), the game does have a "Previously on" recap.

This thread made me realize that this was coming to ps4. I just assumed with their partnership and the gamepass release that it was exclusive to Xbox but that the ps4 version will run at 60 on my ps5 means I'm buying this immediately and I'm fucking stoked.

I'm excited for this. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit. Until this morning I thought this was on Xbox/PC only, and one game is not enough to warrant a purchase. But today I discovered it's also coming to PS4! Amazing. I kinda question MS's business model - I have zero interest in getting an Xbox when it seems like all the best games come to other platforms. But, can't complain.

@wollywoo: I think I read the the game was originally funded on Kickstarter and PS4 was a platform option at that time. So DF is kind of on the hook to deliver a PS4 version of the game. They're not making a native PS5 version though, and I wouldn't expect them to release any future games on PS platforms. Nice to see them at least uphold their agreement to all the Playstation players out there though - and the MS money I'm sure helped make it an ever better experience for all players regardless of platform.

I'm not gonna watch the QL or really read too much into reviews, but knowing that people are liking it really has my excitement through the roof. I'm still keeping expectations on the lower side just in case, but I just can't wait to get back into the world of Psychonauts. I played the 1st one twice during this pandemic. It really is my comfort food game.

I'm pretty excited to play it. The first game is so long ago that I can barely remember any details about it and just have a general feeling of "I remember liking it" which I want to keep going forward into the sequel. Glad to see Double Fine nail it after all these years.

I was never a huge fan of the first game. I didn't dislike it, but I don't have any nostalgia for it. The Quick Look looked good though. Art looks good. And also action games just got a lot better in terms of combat over the last 15 years. I'm more interested in checking it out now.

I went into this with a fond but frustrated memory of the first and little else, and holy crap it has blown me away so far. The writing, the overall cleverness, the story, the design, it's all just a delight. It's not really all that difficult so far (at least to me) even without accessibility options, and it's to its betterment IMO. Just a really fun time that is bursting with creativity.

This is really impressing me so far. Very creative and unique world design, great writing, and it looks really nice too. Nice to see Double Fine slam dunk this after so many years.

Outside of having trouble with the platforming at times, the game has definitely been a blast so far and even if I had been building expectations for it for 16 years, I'm fairly sure I'd be happy in that case too. Really cool to see such a creative game with a big budget in 2021 still.

Yeah, this game's excellent. Still early on but it's really grabbing me.

Just got done with the “colorful” level (trying to not spoil, I think colorful is coded well enough to not spoil and still people know what level I mean) and it was honestly beautiful.

I’m very happy with this. The gameplay is oldschool and frankly dated (but not bad per se, just has some aspects that have been improved in ways that this game hasn’t used), and that’s fine and I don’t care, because every other part of this game is just so damned likable, even if, yes, there is a little bit of Meat Circus still in the DNA of this.

And the part that shines through is that it’s got heart, and it shows, front and center. You can tell that there was passion poured into it. That even the parts that don’t hit were very much cared about, and the shortcomings are honestly come by due to limitations, not a lack of caring or creativity.

Maybe I’m a sap, or a softy, or a bleeding heart, but I have loved every good and bad joke, every voice performance and every hamboned attempt at a visual flourish (which hit as intended more than they don’t.)

I’m really not looking forward to beating this game. Because that means I’m not in it anymore. Compared to the news in the real world right now, it’s such a relief to life in this kinder, gentler world where trauma is still address, people are still flawed and imperfect, but it can be how they get better and learn and grow.

Games like this are why I like games.

Also, funny enough, I like how the vending machines remind me of the trailer for Beyond the Black Rainbow, intended or not.

Played for a couple hours. Enjoying it so far! Like @tartyron I appreciate its colorful, optimistic world as a nice break from the horribleness of reality.

It's very much Psychonauts 2. It really feels like the game jumped out of 2006 or so - all the mechanics I remember from Psychonauts return, including all the very specific collectibles like "figments" and "emotional baggage", and the writing is also exactly on par with what I remember from the first game. I love 3D platformers in general so I can't complain. I'm really looking forward to seeing what weird and creative worlds they have come up with.

@tartyron: Well said, duder, this perfectly sums up how I feel as well. I too am at that point now where I just don't want it to end (I started the color level last night and stayed up an hour longer than I had intended and then literally thought about getting home to play it all day at work). It's just such a delight.

Just did the color level too and it was a joy. I got stuck in the mail room brain level for a while last night will have another go later.

@bobuk1973: I love the aesthetic of that level so much (particularly as a former mail carrier) but it was def the part where I was like "Oh God the platforming is just okay please tell me this doesn't end with a Meat Circus"

Played this game a bit more and... man, it's something special. GOTY material for sure. The first game is a bit rough around the edges, but this one is very polished.

I only ever played the early camp demo of Psychonauts 1 (pretty sure it was featured in a Demo Derby while Drew was still around as well) a few times so I don't have the intense well of nostalgia for this, but I do have plenty of nostalgia for this sort of game and in that regard it's doing a lot of the right things for me. It doesn't always look pretty, but when it does it's a stunner. And it doesn't always play perfectly, but if it did it would probably be ridiculously easy so I'm kind of okay with that. And it's not always polished to a perfect sheen, but it some ways that just reminds you of the scrappy origins of this Microsoft-published title in a way that's heartwarming.

Lastly, the writing, as good as Schafer's ever been and vocal talent to match. There've actually been a number of times overhearing incidental dialogue and I wish I had a rewind button because I'm not sure I'll ever hear it again. Haven't felt that way since, like, GTA IV maybe? Speaking of GTA, ever since GTA III I've had a real soft spot for authentic sounding but obviously "fake" music and radio and this has some of the best incidental tunes around just based off the pirate radio stuff and the bowling lounge.

Real treat of a title, glad it was still able to get a Playstation release.

Having now 100% it with all the achievements, I really REALLY enjoyed this game. And I was quite surprised at where the story went, definitely didn't expect most of those twists lol. I was particularly impressed with how well the game walks that tightrope between humor, seriousness, whimsy, and even deep currents of dread tension. With frequent breaks, a really amazing game inside and out - and it feels complete, in a way.

(though, I'd always love more dialogue with the characters - and boy is there a lot of dialogue with a lot of minor characters in this game. TK, Shoot, Hit, Clairvoyance, Take a picture with, etc all often do different things and activate a unique voice line or action, even with one-time characters. It's pretty crazy.)

So far I'm enjoying the game, but the platforming seems bad.

Especially the levitation feels really inconsistent, it just pops whenever the game decides you've glided enough.

One thing that I didn't realize it first is that gusts give you more airtime with the balloon float. You can tell this because the balloon gets bigger. If you pay attention to the size of the balloon you should know when it will pop. Agreed that it could be telegraphed better.

Beat the game on Saturday. Bummed it’s over. My final take is that it was really good, especially if you are a sentimental type like me. More gags land then don’t, the length is just about right without overstaying it’s welcome, the platforming isn’t great, and there are aspects of the meat circus that seem spread through the whole game that are a bummer, the music is pretty good if someone generic (the quarry music gave me a sort of Chinese Festival vibe) and all in all I’d call this a 9.5 on the gamespot scale.

I really liked it. It’s not perfect but I really liked it.

@tartyron: I think I'll likely finish it tonight if I had to guess. It's definitely my GOTY so far, but the platforming has slowly started to irritate me as it goes on. It's been too long since I've played the original to properly compare (although I have it downloaded to possibly go back to it when I'm done), but it's really one of the few games where the gameplay is just so overshadowed by how delightful everything else is. And it isn't even that the platforming is outright bad, and thankfully the game is forgiving enough that it doesn't really matter...it's just irritating to say, try to collect something and keep falling because of, for example, how finicky something like the wall jump is. And then you have to go all the way back and do who knows what over again (I was losing my freaking MIND trying to get all of the figments in the library, for example).

I had thoughts of trying to 100% this, but instead I'm just planning to try to get the most out of what I have left and just let the platforming be what it is and try not to let it get to me. As a random aside, so many best new character qualifiers; it's amazing.

@sethmode: Yeah, I tried to get as many of the figments and things as I could, and I saw a few spots where I could go back, but honestly I don't think I have the patience to go back and 100%. Maybe the memory vaults, but other than those, just more ranks isn't going to make that worthwhile. That said, running around in the epilogue is worthwhile in checking in with all the characters after the credits roll.

It has been extremely charming so far. I love all the bespoke levels and creativity with every location having a fun theme. That said yesterday I hit a boss that also reminded me this is a Double Fine game alright with some of that not-so-fun oldschool roughness mixed into the pot. I guess I found it a little jarring to have this laid back and fairly easy game suddenly put timers on you (which admittedly you don't have to beat but how can you let those rewards go by!) all while having kind of finnicky controls for what it's asking of you. Had to restart a few cycles because an ingredient didn't magnetize into the slot I was aiming at and simply fell off the screen. The boss fight being multi-phase but having no checkpoints in the middle also seems to be kind of unexpectedly punishing for this sort of game?

Still minor annoyances aside I am constantly in awe of the presentation and imagination of it all.

Finished it just before my month of Game Pass expired. Slight platforming issues aside, I really, really enjoyed my time with Psychonauts 2. Such a perfect game to play at a time like this, like has already been said by others. Didn't expect to enjoy the story as much as I did either.

While I'm fine(ish) with more realistic, gritty games presenting the majority of what mainstream games have to offer these days, I certainly wouldn't complain if other bigger devs also aimed to create something more colorful and imaginative like this outside of just indie devs doing so.

I wasn't feeling much personal enjoyment with the game, until I got the Mental Projection power. Developers, take note. I'm an easy mark. Just put late 90s/early 00s cartoons in your games.

I haven’t finished yet, but I really like the levels. Each new brain gives me a similar feeling as the Outer Wilds did visiting new planets. I also laughed out loud with some of the jokes, which is pretty rare for me in a game. Having said that, the first few hours after the intro action section feels pretty “filler,” and navigating the map is kind of a chore. In addition, the gameplay isn’t on-par with, say, Mario 3D games, i.e. the platforming can get a little tedious when you’ve played dozens of similar platformers before. The graphics feel very dated, but the unique design within each brain/world makes up for that. I kind of wish we had a “renaissance” of oldschool graphics tied to huge, imaginative worlds that weren’t possible on previous generations, instead of this extreme focus on real life graphics. Anyways.

I also like the depth to the storytelling and the metaphors, which you rarely see in AAA games imo.

Overall, I would give it a 8.5/10, very surprising!

Ive been really enjoying this so far but is odd after the opening scenes feels like it slows down a bit and takes you awhile to get back into the thick of digging into people's brains. I missed the original first time round and beat it back in June and still feel it's held up, mostly because of its depiction of mental health but also variety in level design and look.

@flameboy84 said:Ive been really enjoying this so far but is odd after the opening scenes feels like it slows down a bit and takes you awhile to get back into the thick of digging into people's brains. I missed the original first time round and beat it back in June and still feel it's held up, mostly because of its depiction of mental health but also variety in level design and look.

I personally feel like this is one of the games strengths. It (sort of) flips the 3D platformer concept on its head and to some degree you don't know if what you're diving into is a full on brain level or just something basic.And while I agree with you that the original holds up mostly holy shit the platforming is a nightmare (it isn't MUCH better in this one but at least this one doesn't Meat Circus you).

Finished the game. I didn't love it as much as everyone else seems to. I think it's fine. They do a good job making a sequel to a 15 year old game feel like a sequel, while also bringing more modern gaming sensibility to it. The combat just never really clicked with me though. Especially when fighting multiple different enemies at once that require you to swap back and forth between powers with the weapon wheel. Which also applies to the platforming. Just too much swapping on the weapon wheel for my taste. I don't have too many other complaints outside of that. The rest of the game's pretty solid in terms of music, art, story, acting. It just didn't click with me much personally.

Finally finished this. 9/10 for sure. A few thoughts follow. If there is more complaints than praise, well, that's just my style.

- The game is absolutely gorgeous. More and more it feels like games are getting to the point where technical achievement is not nearly as important as artistic merit, and this game is a great example. No one is commenting on how many polygons are or the quality of its bump-mapping - it's the creativity of the art that's important here. Which is not to say that it's not technically impressive as well. But I played pn PS4, and it's hard to see where PS5 or PS6 or PS7 or whatever would give much improvement on what's here.

- The overall pacing is perfect. You're always moving from one point to another, and generally levels are just the right size to feel meaty and substantial while not over-staying their welcome. There's also good variety to mix things up - in particular the outdoor exploration was perfect for giving a break between story segments. It's all very fluid - things are constantly happening, and it's rare that you go one minute without seeing new voicework or animation.

- I enjoyed a lot of the characters. The psychic six were all very unique and memorable. The interns were great as well, although I wish they had a little more development.

- The story overall was... interesting. I'm really curious to see what others make of the psychological import of the story and the meaning of the in-brain symbolism. But my first impression is that it's a little bit shallow - most of the characters' brains seem to revolve around some very straightforward object-level obsessions, and you're not exactly going to get an MD in psychiatry from this game. Some spoilers follow...

-- In the first game it makes sense that some of the brains you visit are obsessed with particular ideas, like the Milkman or black velvet or Napoleon, since those characters are, well, nuts. But here, why should eg Hollis Forsythe's brain be 100% obsessed with hospitals and casinos? She seems like a very well-balanced type and I'd think there'd be more going on in her brain than what's here. You really don't get a good sense of her personality based on her mind, although there's definitely some interesting stuff there. I mean yes, you messed with her mind, but... why was that so easy to do? She seems like she should have more mental fortitude based on all the dialogue with her outside of her mind.

-- All of the stuff involving Maligula and Grulovia is very interesting, but I wish it had more depth to it. I was a bit disappointed, really, in the final encounters and Maligula's mind. It feels like there may have been a lot cut out here. The ultimate moral lesson seems to be something like "everyone gets mad sometimes, but we learn to shut these feelings out" which is not too interesting. I want to learn more about the war and what lead to Maligula's rage coming out. Here it just seems like Maligula = bad and Nona = good which is disappointing. If Maligula is the type to kill hundreds or thousands of innocent people it seems like it should not be so easy to "heal" her. I'm extremely curious to know what really goes on in the mind of truly evil totalitarian rulers and it seems like this is a missed opportunity.

- Still, I feel I probably missed a lot of the subtext here, and I'm really curious to see others analyses of this game as more and more people finish it. I eagerly await some 2-hr Youtube review that gives in-depth interpretations to each brain's various symbols and to the game's overall themes.

I finished Psychonauts 2 earlier today, and I greatly enjoyed it. As someone coming in with no nostalgia for the first game (and having bounced off it early), I expected to maybe check out a couple of hours of this one. But almost everything worked (platforming was a bit frustrating at times), the level design was terrific, the art design incredible, and it was actually funny! It’s definitely going to be in my own personal GOTY consideration.