Psychonauts 2 – Review and opinion about the game [XSXS, XOne, PS4, PC]

Tim Shafer has been waiting a long time to introduce Psychonauts 2. The first part hit the market in 2005, and although the initial information about work on the sequel appeared in 2012, it was only a decade after the premiere of the first part that we received our first preview of the game. At that time, Double Fine Productions did not expect the support of a large publisher, so the developer relied on the help of fans – more than 24,000 players decided to donate more than $ 3.8 million to create the item. Since then, a lot has happened, the studio has joined the Microsoft family, and the story has expanded thanks to the money donated by the American giant. As a result, a game has been created that fans of the first version cannot ignore, and at the same time an adventure that can encourage a whole series of new fans. But let’s start from the beginning…

Psychonauts 2 is a complete continuation

Double Fine Productions doesn’t forget their achievements to say the least, so you should realize that from the start Psychonauts 2 is a complete continuation, Which continues the previously displayed threads, while the gameplay can also stimulate memories. The main character of the adventure is again Razputin Aquato, who has made it clear from the beginning that he still remembers the powerful forces discovered in the first story. For this reason, it is better to approach the game knowing what happened in the first part or even when playing the title from 2005 – the developers give the plot of the story in the form of an animation at first, but if you do not have the opportunity to play the first adventure, here you will only get a series of Hard-to-connect events. The movie set is an iteration for players who have known the productions for years and need a specific cheat sheet.

Returning to the story was necessary because The peer-reviewed work of Psychonauts 2 begins after the end of the first story, And once with the team they rescue the chief Psychonauts. Already at this point, the developers have shown that they are not going to mess with people who haven’t read the first installment. After a while, the main character goes to the headquarters of the organization, where he learns that in fact not all of his past achievements are appreciated and that he is not a full member of the organization. Instead, he is awarded the “Apprentice” badge and must prove his worth to the Psychonauts.

It turns out that the first opportunity to pretend appears rather quickly – we receive information about the “mole” in the headquarters of people with supernatural abilities. In the beginning, our protagonist does not have the best relations with the other young minions of the School of Telekinesis, plus he has to face the mysterious and extremely powerful Mligula Galochio, the main antagonist of the production. The story is amazing in many ways, and it would take a good 12-15 hours to complete – but I’m not convinced that it’s worth approaching the element without any knowledge of previous events, because throughout the story Raz encounters many friends and the authors don’t really care about translating individual themes. The protagonist participates in dialogues that are often somewhat related to the adventure that began in 2005.

However, what distinguishes Psychonauts 2 reviewed from many products in this genre is that it offers a full range of emotions. The screenwriters made sure the new proposal was funny at every turn (once with humorous comments on events or big breaks in premieres), while the Double Fine Productions title tackles many challenging topics related to death, trauma, and mental illness, and the developers get the job done on the Totally. Every issue is treated with due respect. The Tim Schafer team knows when to joke which is really cool, but it also poses serious problems. However, I must point out that it is useful to get acquainted with these difficult topics if you know English well. Unfortunately, the game didn’t get a Polish subtitle, so even though we’re getting a colorful 3D platformer here, if you want to delve into all the threads, you need to have a good knowledge of an additional language.

Psychonauts 2 focuses on the broad possibilities of the main character

As I mentioned, The reviewed Psychonauts 2 is a continuation not only in terms of story, but also in terms of gameplay, Because at the beginning of the adventure, the developers give us well-known skills – telekinesis that allows you to throw objects, the ability to create a special ball for fast travel or hovering in the air, “shooting” with PSI-Blast or, in addition, after a while, the arsenal was expanded Raza for more powers, among which I can distinguish, among other things, the slowdown of time, the option to create a double connection and a mind that allows you to control other people’s thoughts.

It looks really interesting on paper, and both abilities fit into the concept of the presented world, but the creators could not quite tame the console. In Psychonauts 2, all skills have been cast on Triggers and Bumpers, So you can easily guess that exactly half of the buttons are missing to access the full range of the main character’s abilities. As a result, we often have to jump into the menu to swap powers, which is a bit frustrating at some point to be honest. On the one hand, the team made a good decision, offering players familiar games and expanding the possibilities of the main character, but after the first few hours I had the impression that this element could be better solved. Of course, the development of abilities is not forgotten – here we can use not only gained experience points, but also special modifiers, thanks to which we significantly affect skills.

W Psychology Pioneers 2 It’s not that we’re just fighting and using abilities, because, as befits a typical 3D platformer, Raz systematically beats up the post-twisted locations. However, the main character is not a nimble tiger or another lombax, and from time to time I had the feeling that the elements of the prepared platform lacked the proper fluidity. It is easy to jump into the abyss or miss the exact place, because the protagonist does not always make our moves perfectly. The problem doesn’t appear at every step, but having had the opportunity to play all the most important titles in the genre in recent years, I quickly felt that Double Fine Productions could apply more to this aspect. At the same time, I must stress this: the title runs even at 120 frames per second on Xbox Series X | S, but I didn’t encounter any errors during the game. The Tim Schafer team has taken the time to bring a great adventure to market.

Although I realize the platform sequence could be improved in several places, I can’t complain about the difficulty level and the player not holding hands – The Psychonauts 2 reviewed isn’t just another entry where we see a large arrow on the screen that reads “Go here” from start to finish. The studio is somehow based on a slightly old school experiment, during which the player first and foremost discovers which direction to go or what to do to move the story forward. Solving prepared puzzles is often easy, but there are also puzzles that require a brain move. Developers often do not provide a solution to the problem and I have the impression that here too, good command of the English language is a must.

Psychonauts 2 is a unique experience

The issues that make it Peer-reviewed Psychonauts 2 is a truly unique experience, and there are levels to it without a doubt. Continuing maintains a specific art style, which may not appeal to everyone, but in the end, everything fits into the game’s assumptions and allows us to go to several excellent locations. As you know, Raz is one of the agents of the aforementioned organization, which is certainly very eager to jump into other people’s minds, and every such journey is a real roller coaster of different emotions and idiosyncrasies. From the introduction, we feed on multiple images that Christopher Nolan will not shy away from in the continuation of “Inception”, the frequent change of perspective, surprise opponents or duels with huge and powerful bosses make the title worthy of applause. Looking at the framework, you can not talk about the character of the next generation at all, which is greatly influenced by the time of creation of the item, but all the shortcomings were compensated for by the design and amazing spots – this is definitely one of the strongest points of the game.

In Psychonauts 2, the base of the Psychonauts is a very important location. At this point, we can meet many characters, and thanks to the conversations we get the necessary information about the main plot or get side quests that allow us to proceed to the next actions. Double Fine Productions took care of many amazing moments, while the dialogues and threads are so extensive that they can distract us from the main part of the plot – then the platform game becomes an adventure game and allows you to explore this interesting world further. levels.

Psychonauts 2 is an excellent continuation of the game, which many underestimated

The developers from Double Fine Productions confirmed their art by bringing to market another item that will delight their fans. Tim Shafer introduced a new adventure, a Psychonauts 2 is a title that expands the concept of its predecessor in many ways. The first place took years to be appreciated by the wide audience, while thanks to Microsoft’s concept, many players had the opportunity to learn about Raza’s story from its premiere. Some of the flaws in this exciting diamond are the lack of localization, but hopefully, players’ actions will have the desired effect.

If you need an old-fashioned 3D platformer that impresses with locations and events – Psychological pioneers returned to the salons!