Psychonauts 2 is the very, very long awaited sequel to Psychonauts, a game about a kid who ran away from the circus to go to a psychic summer camp. It was a quirky 3D platformer of the kind that existed back in the day, but which pretty much disappeared.
Come 15+ years later, Psychonauts 2 was one of maybe two (if you’re generous) 3D platformers to come out in 2021. How times have changed.
Set immediately after the first game and the VR-only Rhombus of Ruin (which isn’t necessary to play, as the game does a recap of what happened during that game), you get to Psychonauts headquarters, only to find out that you are not, in fact, a “real” Psychonaut, but actually an intern. But trouble is afoot (or is that abrain?) at HQ, and as things go on, you uncover a bunch of new secrets that tie back into the first game, as well as expand the universe of the series.
Psychonauts 2 is a 3D platformer which alternates between real world segments, in a hub world, and going into people’s minds and exploring their mindscapes. These levels are where the real meat of the game is, and are both varied and creative… sometimes.
See, the problem is, this game varies between “this is a really cool premise for a level” and “this is just a trip through memory lane… again”. This is a problem, because some of the levels are, frankly, only okay. For every level where you go into a quirky cooking show or fight your way through a hospital that is also a casino, there’s a level where you walk through a bunch of quilts and see memories, or walk through a long hallway that consists of a bunch of memories and the locations they took place in.
This is particularly odd as some of them are of very significant people and events. The first game’s levels were not always the best, but they often had very memorable premises; however, many of the levels in this game are pretty forgettable, even if the game is a bit improved mechanically.
The humor of the story as well feels weaker. The first game was very Saturday morning cartoon and was very silly, and while this game is also silly, it deals with much darker subjects – like fictional Eastern European dictatorships – that the game ends up dwelling on for a very, very long time. The first game had some darker subject matter, but mostly was lighter and more quirky; this game spent too long in the darkness, I think, and suffered for it.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with more serious games – I’ve liked a number of them over the years, after all!
The problem lies in the fact that the game is fundamentally relying on a bunch of rather silly character designs and a rather silly world, so throwing in too much serious stuff feels like the game is at odds with itself, as you have a bunch of silly-looking characters talking about something that was essentially genocide in a game that isn’t really sure if it is for kids or not.
All that being said, I thought that it was an interesting experience overall. I did guess the major plot twist very early on in the game, but a number of the levels were interesting, even if some of the others failed to really deliver as interesting of backdrops. The overall platforming was okay, though not amazing – the game is easier than the first game, and more consistent in its difficulty, with nothing like the first game’s Meat Circus floating around to cause you trouble. You have infinite lives and an enormous amount of health if you bother buying the upgrades and searching around a bit, and as a result, the game itself is actually very easy overall. There are some pits you can fall into, but I rarely fell in for any reason other than trying to make jumps I wasn’t supposed to be making.
The powers you get in this game are decent, but the limit of having only four equipped at once is annoying; you basically always need to have the levitation power equipped due to the float it gives you, and once you get the time power, it is so good that you’d be a fool NOT to have it equipped. That leaves you with only a couple power slots to play with for most of the game, and as a result, some powers ended up getting used far more than others, though all of them were useful at least sometimes.
The platforming was decent, which is an accomplishment for a 3D platformer, but it never really rose to the level of something like Super Mario Odyssey. Still, it is okay, and better than games like A Hat in Time or Yooka Laylee.
Overall, this is a decent but not amazing sequel to an older game that had its flaws but also its positive quirks. I liked it well enough, but it’s not the “must play” game that I think it seemed like it might have been at one point. Still, if you did like the first game, this is good enough that it is worth getting; if you haven’t played the first game, and you like 3D platformers, this might be worth a look.
3.0