![]() ![]() The Motherlobe and its surrounding area is an open hub that's ripe for exploration. It's rich with lore, introduces a great new supporting cast, and its reach only grows as your adventure continues, constantly presenting new and exciting opportunities for discovery. Soon after, you'll be let loose into Psychonauts HQ, The Motherlobe, a wide-open area that's ripe for exploration, worldbuilding, and optional (but highly encouraged) character interaction. Of course, Loboto quickly finds out what you're up to, and so begins a merry chase through his twisted mind, which is overflowing with horrifying depictions of corporate bureaucracy and teeth. Razputin "Raz" Aquato, now a top PSI cadet after completing his training at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp and saving the Grand Head of the Psychonauts, has been recruited to embark on an Inception-style mind-heist with his fellow cohorts to extract vital information from the dastardly Dr. (Don't worry if you're fuzzy on the details of the original game and subsequent VR entry - Double Fine included a helpful recap at the start of Psychonauts 2 that quickly brings you up to speed.) The long-awaited sequel to Double Fine's 2005 action platformer picks up shortly after the events of the first game and VR one-off Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin. It’s bursting at the seams with empathy and understanding for its world, characters, and the player themself. It’s one of my favorite games of 2021, and serves as proof that even after 16 years, Psychonauts has always been a story that was worth revisiting. ![]() It’s bursting at the seams with empathy and understanding for its world, characters, and the player themself.Īfter the emotional rollercoaster that was 2020 and the realization that the foreseeable future may be just as treacherous, Psychonauts 2's central lessons are ones that I think we've desperately been needing to hear. Psychonauts 2 unabashedly wears its heart on its sleeve, unafraid to be vulnerable and, at times, downright saccharine. It's kind of goofy-looking from the outside, but far more complex once you peer beneath its soft, mushy surface. That’s fine – the more people that play the game the better – but a hard mode would’ve been nice as well.Psychonauts 2 is a lot like a brain, which is fitting given the game's premise. What might also rankle some is that after all the fuss about the game having an invincibility mode it’s actually really easy, even if you never touch the accessibility options. It’s absolutely supposed to look the way it does, but most characters look like a cross between a Muppet and Frankenstein’s monster, which is probably not going to be for everyone. It would take a long time to spoil all the strangeness and surprises in Psychonauts 2 but the only other thing we can see putting people off is the unapologetically ugly art style. ![]() Psychonauts 2 – fighting is only a small part of the game (pic: Microsoft)Īlthough the game itself is a substantial 14+ hour experience some of the levels are relatively short and yet feature completely unique set-ups, such as a Monkey Ball inspired stage set in a smelly bowling ball shoe about to be cleaned, where you mingle amongst the doomed population of germs, whose world looks like 1950s New York and has a show tune style soundtrack, and who react to impending Armageddon like they’re in a period sci-fi movie. It’s all much more complicated than that that and involves people with odd names talking about other people with even stranger names, that you’re never quite sure are someone you’ve met before or a reference to one of the earlier games. Well, occasionally there are references to spying, but you never really get to see what anyone does under normal circumstances, as the plot revolves around a mole at the agency, the kidnapping and return of its leader, and the resurrection of a decades-old enemy from the dead. Psychonauts 2, perhaps unwisely, picks up immediately after the events of the first game, and its VR spin-off Rhombus Of Ruin, as protagonist Raz starts his first day as an intern at international spy agency Psychonauts. The studio was founded by Lucasfilm alumni Tim Schafer and so even though the plots are usually either inconsequential or overcomplicated (or both in this case) the writing of the characters, and their voiceovers, is always top notch. Double Fine excel in two main areas: dialogue and unique ideas. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |