Psychonauts 2 stands with the Final Fantasy VII remake as the two games that had truly dominated my interest as I went into E3 this year. The original Psychonauts has always stood out because of how full of originality and charm it is, in a way that no other game could really match. What I saw of Psychonauts 2 has shown me that Double Fine hasn’t lost sight of the creativity that made Psychonauts so unique, as they seem to have doubled-down on it in the absolute best ways.
The presentation starts with Raz, Lili, Sasha, Milla, and Oleander diving into the mind of Dr. Loboto, the crazed dentist from the original Psychonauts, in order to find out who hired him to kidnap the head of the Psychonauts back in The Rhombus of Ruin. What starts as a quirky but fairly standard mission for the Psychonauts quickly becomes a nightmarish journey through a trippy office building that is interwoven with teeth, gums, and spit. It sounds gross, and it is, but in a wonderful way that only Psychonauts could pull off.
As Raz chases Loboto, he comes across the mad dentist’s doubts and regrets; two concepts that are personified as flying creatures being pulled down by anvils labelled “Doubt” and goopy, sticky monsters that leave a mess wherever they go. It’s like if the “Mental Baggage” from the first game was an enemy, and represented more specific thoughts and fears. It’s the kind of weird but clever symbolism that Psychonauts does so well, and it seems to be just a taste of the endearingly off-beat humor that the series specializes in.
“I imagine that this is exactly how the series has always been meant to look, as I don’t have a single complaint about how wonderful it looks.“
After travelling through doors sealed by teeth-zippers and various other disturbing abominations, Raz has to burn a number of portraits in order to venture deeper into Loboto’s mind. This is where Psychonauts 2’s quality-of-life changes started to make themselves readily apparent, especially when it comes to Raz’s psychic abilities. The formerly slow and somewhat useless pyrokinesis is now an area-of-effect blast that quickly burns everything in a set perimeter around you. PSI projectiles are no longer numbered, and now have to simply cool-down after frequent use. Levitation looks smoother than ever, and now allows for Ninja Gaiden-esque wall jumps. Even melee combat looks better than the meaty slaps of the first game, as it actually looks like Raz is repeatedly punching his foes instead of comically bonking them. There are a ton of minor but noticeable changes all-around, which is incredibly promising.
Visually, I can’t overstate how whimsical and engrossing Psychonauts 2 looks. The original Psychonauts has a very distinct and imaginative style, which is part of why the game could tackle abstract (and straight-up strange) concepts so well. Psychonauts 2 keeps this trippy but delightful style, while making it absolutely gorgeous. I imagine that this is exactly how the series has always been meant to look, as I don’t have a single complaint about how wonderful it looks.
Even though it felt like it would never happen, Psychonauts 2 is indeed coming out next year. Going off what I’ve seen at E3, the sequel is everything fans of the original could hope for and more.
