4.5/5 ★ – Endless_backlog's review of Psychonauts 2.

22hrs The first Psychonauts is a game that I somehow missed growing up, so I didnt have the long 16 year wait that a lot of fans did after only playing it last year. Despite that, I couldn’t help but be blown away in the standard of graphics used here and thought the visual art style was beautiful for the games theme and tone. The game begins by following up directly from the events of the original (and a VR special), as Raz has became an employee of the Psychonauts, albeit disappointingly for him only as an intern. With the head of the Psychonauts Truman Zanotto rescued and his capturer Dr Loboto under supervision, the hunt begins to find the true mastermind behind the abduction. Believing there to be a mole within the camp, Raz and the others begin their investigation. Fearing that Maligula, a powerful evil force believed dead for twenty years is still alive and responsible, Raz seeks out the original founders of the Psychonauts, the Psychic Six, to discover what really happened years ago. This is where we step into the incredible level designs we saw previously as Raz enters the minds of other characters and we get the opportunity to play in a vast variety of settings. Fortunately, they are just as fun as ever, with each world not only differing in appearance, but also on play style and with a subtle reference at various themes. There’s plenty of heavy subject matter implied but not spelled out, from alcoholism, drug use, gambling addiction, anxiety and PTSD. I think this is what really separates this series from other similar looking platformers, as despite its cartoony appearance, there’s a lot of sensitive material that a mature audience can appreciate. The opportunity to delve into the minds of the characters not only gives us an insight into their struggles but also into what dominated their thoughts. This really gives us the chance to understand our characters and the priorities in their lives, and as a player, gives us an excuse to play some wacky level designs. From a world set in a Bowling lane with germ civilians, to a cook off that puts you against the clock to chop, fry and boil living ingredients in a game show, you never know what to expect next and that is part of the excitement. As for the gameplay the abilities that Raz had return but with some new additions. Being able to assign four of them to their own button meant switching between them was smooth, although did require you to change up your Arsenal frequently depending on the enemies you faced. What really impressed me was how these abilities were utilised for both platforming a level and during combat. Connecting random thoughts inside someone’s mind to formulate an idea that progressed the story was also used to physically grab and pull enemies. Slowing time allows Raz to jump through spinning fans and also take on new enemies known as “Panic attacks”, frantic monsters that can only take damage when slowed down, much like how controlled breathing aids them in real life. Many of the original cast return and we get to explore their characters deeper, particularly Ford Cruller. There’s plenty of new introductions with Razs family and the Psychic Six playing a big part, with none other than Jack Black performing voice acting and singing as he takes us through a psychedelic trip in the mind of a former rock star. Raz will also meet the new group of interns, although I personally didn’t connect as well with them as the others and thought they didn’t offer a lot to the story. That’s kind of the problem with the selection of characters, there’s just too many that don’t get enough screen time and it’s harder to establish many of the new ones. However, the voice acting was solid throughout, with Raz maintaining the confidence and yet sometimes naivety of a 10 year old, and the humour never really missed. Overall I thought Psychonauts 2 done a great job of developing the story we started previously and it was a joy to play. Everything from the art style, game mechanic variety, adult humour and crazy level designs make it hard to put down. Its whole concept is something that really stands out amongst other platforming games and I’d love to see the creative minds behind it get the opportunity to continue this journey now that it has been reinvented in the modern console era.