Psychonauts 2 Review – DIVING INTO GREATNESS!
Psychonauts 2 starts off in an extremely awesome way, by giving you a little video to show everyone what happened in the previous titles. This is awesome as it gives players who haven’t played the original game and players coming back to the franchise the background necessary to understand what is going on. As someone who has not played the first game, I found this incredibly helpful.
Great Continuation
The story continues directly from the previous titles, including the VR entry, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin. Having saved Truman Zanotto, captured Dr. Loboto and encountered yet another bad guy, the Psychonauts leave with their prisoner and head for Psychonauts Headquarters, also known as The Motherlobe. Once there, Raz is jumping at the bit to become a part of the Psychonauts team, when he is given the prestigious rank of… Intern. You gotta love Raz though, even with having very little help and facing a bunch of bullies, his optimism and determination remain resolute. The story then proceeds to follow Raz on his mind-bending adventures.
How Psychonauts 2 Fixes The Problems of The Original… Mostly
The gameplay is honestly fantastic, with one minor criticism. The only negative is that dodging after an attack can be hit-and-miss. Occasionally you can attack and dodge out of the way, however, this doesn’t seem to work all the time. The best option is to draw the enemy in, then dodge at the last moment and follow up with a flurry of attacks. Only, it’s not always so easy… Now onto the positive. Even with the dodging being a little bit – dodgy. The combat is still great, with you being able to pair melee attacks with various psychic abilities to help with taking out different enemies. And yes there are a few new abilities that you will come across as well. The platforming is another aspect I really love, especially with how it changes from a 3D platformer to a 2D side-scroller. Everything feels smooth and the mind bendy transitions are thoroughly enjoyable.
Psychonauts 2 Is An Absolute Triumph
The world design is where this game shines! For those who haven’t played Psychonauts, the majority of the levels are in the characters’ minds. This means there are some definitely bizarre, twisted, and even trippy mental worlds to explore. They are brilliantly done with the transitions from different levels to the change of gameplay; it is all done smoothly and creatively. Not to mention the symbolism of the enemies that happen to be inner demons that we all face in the real world.
Like regret carrying a weight that, get this… Weighs you down, or having to collect drawings of people or things that are “figments of your imagination”. Even “Doubt” spitting out a slime that… Holds you back. There is so much thought, effort, and creativity put into Psychonauts 2, it’s incredible. Not to mention the level designs are well thought out and different to allow for new challenges almost every time. When you have fantastic level design, incredible aesthetics, and a world filled to the brim with symbolism, you can’t help but fall in love with it.
The soundtrack is also incredible, from having a couple of great songs from the Hi-Fives that relate incredibly well to what the Psychonauts are, to having big band music playing in the background. It definitely does a great job of syncing with the game nicely, while also being incredibly catchy.
Decision
This is a must-play for everyone. The story is gripping and creatively written, yet easy to follow. So when you partner that with an awesome world in design, aesthetics, and meaning, and not to mention having catchy tunes playing in the background, it all leads up to an amazing experience for newcomers and returning players.
Excellent
Psychonauts 2 is a game for everyone. Because of the recap about what happened in the last two titles, newcomers and returning players will be able to slip seamlessly into this game. The story is incredibly awesome with a lot of the issues in the gameplay being fixed. Double Fine has lived up to their high standards and made a world just as incredible as the first game. If your fan of the series or never played the original before, this is definitely a game to pick up.
This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Microsoft. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.
