![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() If you do it within the time limit you get a bonus item, and this creates an Overcooked-like time crunch that encourages you to figure out the most efficient path between each kitchen tool through the criss-crossing paths that make up the level. Here, you’ve got to take ingredients – who are also anthropomorphic audience members – to various parts of the stage to be chopped, boiled, blended, or fried. Then there’s the aforementioned game show level. Nothing in Psychonauts 2 overstays its welcome. It’s a mechanically complete and visually stunning level that lasts for all of maybe 30 minutes before you’re onto the next thing. Their mental world takes the form of a city on the verge of annihilation, with bowling pin-shaped citizens shouting ‘the end is nigh’ while you ride a bowling ball along a treacherous course, Marble Madness-style. One level puts you in the mind of a familiar character who’s now managing a bowling alley – and repressing the memory of losing a romantic partner. This is classic Nintendo level design, where you’re introduced to a mechanic, asked to use it in increasingly challenging ways, and then whisked away to something fresh. You’ll find levels built around straightforward platforming challenges, others loaded with puzzles to solve, some with open-ended exploration, and still more built around clever minigames. Each has a clear, consistent, and distinct aesthetic, and they all offer varied pacing and mechanics. Raz doesn’t have the freewheeling flow of Mario, but he jumps where you want him to, and the levels are built smoothly around his abilities.Įvery single level in Psychonauts 2 is a winner, too. The characters were delightful, but the controls were mushy, so getting to each new story beat felt more frustrating than it should have. The art style was inspired, but the level structure was a bit undercooked compared to some of its contemporary platformers. Structurally, it all feels very familiar.īut the original Psychonauts had a feeling of ‘this is good, but’. There’s emotional baggage to be sorted by finding the appropriate luggage tags, figments rank you up over time for improved abilities, and memory vaults that contain illustrated versions of a person’s repressed memories. Raz still has many of the same abilities he had in the original game, and the mental worlds are built in similar ways, with the same sorts of collectables. While it’s been well over a decade since the release of the original Psychonauts, the sequel picks up just days after its ending, and only minutes after the conclusion of Rhombus of Ruin, the VR interquel. Another character’s social anxiety and self-imposed isolation has created a mental world where their friends offer judgements like “slightly better than a mouthful of nails” on a high-stakes cookery game show. You’ll meet an alcoholic whose mental world is a literal ocean of regret with piles of empty bottles just below the surface. Where the previous game’s mental worlds were essentially caricatures – a wargame in the mind of someone who believes he’s related to Napoleon, or an endless dance party in the mind of a swinging ’60s spy – the levels in Psychonauts 2 are built from more relatable concerns. Psychonauts 2 is still absolutely a comedy, but the issues it deals with are grounded in an understanding of mental health that has evolved and matured over the 15 years since the original. ![]()
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