KickStarter Psychonauts 2

[Unkillable Cat]

I paid 1 dorra to play it on gamepass.
Froze on the intern pamphlet menu after the first level. Is it too much to ask to get a functional video game on release these days?

Are you sure it froze? Me and <3sRichardSimmons found that the tutorial aspect of the journal mandates the default control-settings while turning the pages - so if you can switch to that during that section, you should be good.

Finished a good session now. The outdoor areas are like the Whispering Rock maps, except about six times bigger. The Quarry is mostly just water, but the Questionable Area? (yes, that's its real title, question mark and all) is huge and crowded with platforms and stuff. You'll have to take your time in these areas.

Good pointers for other players:

# Get to Otto's Lab on the Quarry map ASAP and talk to him. He gives you a device which works very similar to the Dowsing Rod in the prequel and allows you to spot and unlock paths of progression.

# When upgrading Psi-Powers, make it an early goal to max out Mental Connection. The top-tier power on that also unlocks paths of progression, mostly in mental worlds.

I've accessed two new mental worlds. The former is the smallest one yet (even smaller than the theater-level in the original) but it's all timed events, and I wasn't that fond of its themes (the bossfight was a joke). The one after that however (keyword: bowling) was really good, but FAR too short.

And now I'm gonna ask if anyone has solved a sidequest that's bothering me: I've been tasked with finding a 'very very special mushroom' close to the waterfall in the Questionable Area, but I can't find it - only mushrooms that "aren't good enough". Any hints?

 

[Ghulgothas]

And now I'm gonna ask if anyone has solved a sidequest that's bothering me: I've been tasked with finding a 'very very special mushroom' close to the waterfall in the Questionable Area, but I can't find it - only mushrooms that "aren't good enough". Any hints?

Spoiler

Atop. Almost certain you need the power from Yellow Submarineville first, will verify soon.

Unkillable Cat That's what does it, confirmed.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I paid 1 dorra to play it on gamepass.
Froze on the intern pamphlet menu after the first level. Is it too much to ask to get a functional video game on release these days?

Using mouse in that menu does that. We need use either only keyboard or a gamepad.


P.S. Fuck pillinko

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Came across an interesting bug: In the mental world of the Mote of Light, there are three mini-boss battles. I did the first and second one without incident, but when it came to the third I was sent back to the post-battle arena of the second battle after winning.

Once again I seem to be stuck. I think I'll call it a day.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

First hands-on impressions:

# Character animations are much improved over both Psychonauts 1 and Rhombus of Ruin. Also far more detailed. Oleander never had that facial scar until now.

It felt strange at first but it does look like a Pixar kind of movie now.

On Oleander, he did have the scar, although it was very blurred:

Original:

Upscaled:

# You can have four Psi-powers active and ready now, instead of three from the original.

I miss being able to attack while on top off levitation globe. And I just finished yesterday an 100% playthrough of Psychonauts 1. P2 is very similar but you have to re-learn some button patterns. I played with Kb originally, but since then I have a Dualshock that I use with some platformers.

# Rats are a common theme now. Harold the rat is there, and you learn Clairvoyance via a scripted scene with him, but that's not all. There are rats and ratholes in other places. If you use Clairvoyance on these other rats, and then 'guide' them towards their holes, they'll dig up whatever goodies are in the holes.

I felt I missed some cutscene since I never heard about harold before. And Raz talking to him mentioning his name as if they were already introduced almost made me restart the game and see if I missed anything. This game doesn't have save anywhere like the first.

# What do I mean "battle arena"? Enemies appear in certain sections, in waves, and the game won't let you progress until you've dispatched of them all. That's right, you must fight. Have fun with that.

It introduces new mind-themed enemies. The original had the censors only. And nightmares.

Pretty much every Psi-Power has been nerfed, even though Raz just worked his butt off three days ago to learn and hone them. By far the worst affected in this regard is Levitation. Now you can only keep that floating balloon going for so long. Want to regain that ability? Get ready to spend 'Intern Points' (read: Skillpoints) on... Clairvoyance, oddly enough, as that's where the 'Unlimited Psi-Powers!'-upgrade is kept. You get one Intern Point every time you rank up, and that 'Unlimited power!'-upgrade requires Rank 102. Purchasable Pins then help you customize and fine-tune your Psi-Powers further.

Yes. Levitation jump bounce isn't as high as in the first game. The fact you can't attack while rolling is also annoying after coming just after playing the first. Maybe it's the meteorite presence in the whispering rock camp.

remember the weird green little dudes in the original game that teleported you around in the mental worlds? They're nowhere to be seen.

Current opinion? Psychonauts 1 got better as it progressed, so I'm not going to write this one off anytime soon. But that said, it is having some teething problems at the start though, and cautious players might want to hold out for the first patch or two before committing to the game fully.

These green snak were in the first game as fast travel between sub levels, or distant points inside a level. I feel that level structure in P2 is linear and smaller, which make them less necessary. Having just finished PS1, I missed a fast travel system at the asylum tower like how you have on whispering rock camp. There's a point of no returnt at the top of the tower, and I'd love to return those brains I've just collected in Ford's lab. I said I did a 100% playthrough but I actually missed one cutscene, and I can only see it if I replay the entire game. I plan to do so later with the Upscale texture mod. P1 could have a post endgame playthrough for you to finish the side activities.

Since we're in 2021, I guess P2 won't have these limitations. I'm enjoying the game, it runs perfectly on my rig with everything on maximum. I miss some adventure game elements, like using items on different spots, but the game is really just like the 1st one in general. Also, I didn't check, but looks like all voice actors returned to replay their roles from P1.

 

[Ghulgothas]

The Cook-Off is definitely this games lowest point. After that the Mental Levels start hitting a good stride and maintain a nice standard of quality, at least to the point I've gotten to so far.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

# Either I'm missing something big, or Double Fine did; remember the weird green little dudes in the original game that teleported you around in the mental worlds? They're nowhere to be seen. And that's actually a HUGE PROBLEM because after I finished the 'Maternity Ward'-section in the third brain I went back there to try to nab all the collectibles in there... and I can't get back out. I can't trigger an exit condition. Killing myself does nothing, I just keep respawning at the start of the section. What, I should just load an older save? Psychonauts doesn't have manual saves anymore, only auto-saves that save after every section.

EDIT: Nevermind, found it. The distance needed to trigger the activation prompt on 'the door' is so short you literally have to put your nose up against it.

Well, just played some more, and we get these green little dudes back if we go back inside previous explored minds through the unconscious collective, and we receive the smelling salts, so we can leave a level anytime

 

[Mauman]

So I got this game on game pass and I'm enjoying it quite nicely. The exploration is good and I'm finding myself liking the characters for the most part. The combat is also ok.

I was slightly worried that the writing might be obnoxious due to "questionable" things that Ole Timmy has said in the past few years, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. At the very least, the writing crew at double fine seem to know how to write

Spoiler

gay

characters WAY better than Bioware as they don't come off as either a caricature or a moralistic club to the head but rather fully fleshed out characters.

 

[Cyberarmy]

So I got this game on game pass and I'm enjoying it quite nicely.

Yeah, same here. Not the greatest game ever but a nice throwback to golden era of gaming when even the smallest, game was enjoyable and kinda refreshing.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm still stuck, but based on my experience I can give a helpful suggestion: Before entering a new mental world (or you suspect that you're about to) quit the game, go to your USERS\%USERNAME%\APPDATA\LOCAL\PSYCHONAUTS2\SAVED-folder and make a backup of everything there.

If something goes wrong in that mental world (like happened with me, where I'm unable to progress due to being stuck in one place with no exits) then just go in there and delete your saves, then restore from the backup.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I'm still stuck,

Can't use salts to escape a fresh brain map?

 

[Darth Slaughter]

I'm still stuck,

Can't use salts to escape a fresh brain map?

You can. But to access it, it's from the main menu.

 

[Black Plague]

I'm still stuck, but based on my experience I can give a helpful suggestion: Before entering a new mental world (or you suspect that you're about to) quit the game, go to your USERS\%USERNAME%\APPDATA\LOCAL\PSYCHONAUTS2\SAVED-folder

%LOCALAPPDATA%\PSYCHONAUTS2\SAVED

 

[Riddler]

Played the first three levels and the game is nice enough and I'm having a good time but it isn't remotely as well designed or written as the original.

Perhaps things improve but I kind of doubt it. Still, considering the general state of gaming this feels like a breath of fresh air!

 

[Darth Slaughter]

I'm still stuck, but based on my experience I can give a helpful suggestion: Before entering a new mental world (or you suspect that you're about to) quit the game, go to your USERS\%USERNAME%\APPDATA\LOCAL\PSYCHONAUTS2\SAVED-folder and make a backup of everything there.

If something goes wrong in that mental world (like happened with me, where I'm unable to progress due to being stuck in one place with no exits) then just go in there and delete your saves, then restore from the backup.

Just click the "exit brain" option.

It's grayed out because I was inside a brain which was part of a main quest I was supposed to follow. The thing is you get this just before talking to Lili to ask her about the intel you found in the casino mission. Sasha stops you and reaquaint you with the brain tumbler from where you access the unconscious collective.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Darth Slaughter This post has been a while coming, because of your inability to process future posts (in this thread) from a certain post you hyper-focus on, and base many of your posts on.

My current problem is with the autosave-function, which is hyperactive in this game. A hyperactive auto-save is perfectly fine, as long as it works properly. WHICH IT DOESN'T, in my case.

I can easily leave the brain. And re-enter it. The problem is, that my entrance within the brain is always the same, and it's a soft-lock. I can't leave that particular section I'm stuck in.

And I hate to do so, but based on your inability to provide any assistance (except far too late), I'm gonna have to ask you to shut the hell up. Only reply when you have something tangible to contribute.

 

[Ghulgothas]

All done, will be going back to 100% all collectibles. It's good, maybe even great. Not the level of cult-perfection like the original, but not a half-done scam of a game either. And after 10 years of nothing, 6 years of doubt and skepticism and too damn many pages of edgy parroted bullshit, that's all it needed to be as far as I'm concerned.

Combat is far more deep, along with every power being specialized against certain enemies. No more dominant strategy with Melee and Psi Blast anymore, hot-swapping powers is essential. Though the newfound diversity of enemies isn't fully used since most of them are confined to instanced combat arenas now. Outside of a few who're used as regular hazards, would've been nice for them to be around and used in-tandem with their environments more.

The number of 'true' levels is diluted somewhat with many being divisions within the same overarching world, splitting up the collectibles that would compose a 'full' one between each-other. But none of them feel cheap, it actually does come across a deliberate division to allow for more varied and creative set-pieces for the platforming. They're all pretty good, too (Save for one in the beginning and at the end).

I second Unkillable Cat, the game is paced wonkily for it's first bit. Once it hits its stride after the second Full World it maintains a consistent bar of quality all the way through.

I never got softlocked, thankfully. But I did see some T-Posing characters in a place they weren't yet meant to be, I think the Sensorium is where most of this games instability is currently. Keep an eye-out for that patch.

Spoiler

There is no Milkman-Whoring, or any shallow masturbatory memberberries to the original that'd get in the way of the original being it's own thing. Some call-backs do pop up as figments, which is way better and more creative imho.

 

[deama]

So, can someone actually tell us if the game is fun to play and feels good / entertaining enough to spend money on, or do I need to waste a ton of time pirating it to check for myself?

"Waste a ton of time pirating it" = clicking on a torrent magnet and then clicking an executable

Game's alright, I wouldn't spend 60 dollars on it, though. Plus, if you have Game Pass it's available there.

You forgot the part where it takes 2 hours to download it, then another 2 hours to unpack the retarded ultra-compressed installer.

And then several more hours to figure out whether you actually like it or not.

 

[garren]

Sooo... the game seems ok? No overt agenda pushing either?

 

[deama]

So did they expand on the power overall? I've been reading that they nerfed them across the board and allocated "perks" or whatever to relearn some nuances in using the abilities?

 

[Bohrain]

Finished it, was a pleasant experience overall. Only bug I encountered was the one where it stops taking inputs altogether if you inspect two unique items in your inventory. Given how many levels there were and how unique they look, the amount of effort they had to put on making the assets alone is insane. I also didn't guess who the ultimate villain was, even though I was able to guess who the mole was, writing at least succeeded in that aspect. I won't be doing a 100%, the floating squiqqles blend into the environment too easily and since the levels don't really follow normal geometry it's unusually difficult to keep track on where I already looked. Definitely a game worth playing on gamepass, wouldn't pay 60€ for a platformer though.

 

[Sore Loser]

.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And finished Psychonauts 2. Warning: Long post ahead, avoiding major spoilers to the best of my abilities.

Currently I'm 10 figments away from 100% completing it, and they're all in the same horrible world. I'll get back to that eventually.

Anyway, overall feeling? It's good. 9/10 is a very accurate rating for the game. How does it compare to the original? It's very similar. It's pretty much the case as with Thief 1 vs Thief 2 - Thief 2 has the better engine and is therefore less painful to play, but Thief 1 is more versatile and therefore the better game to play. More in-depth analysis can come later, and will make for some interesting discussions.

Regarding the woke-factor

I noticed four things:

1: There's a homosexual relationship in the game, complete with a marriage proposal. This being Psychonauts it gets weird of course, but all things considered it's not that big an issue. The story isn't warped because of it, it's just one of the things that happens in the background of the story (so to say), but it still feels forced as it's an introduced element to a character that doesn't do anything for or against him.

2: Anita Sarkeesian gets a nod in the credits as "Consultant".

3: The interns, a.k.a. 'the new kids'. I said it before and I'll say it again, they are the entire woke/diversity-agenda of the game. And the game suffers because of it. They're written badly, they're portrayed badly, and they don't leave a memorable impression. I recall Morris as he's a wannabe radio host in the world's cheapest hoverchair, and I remember Sam because she's absolutely the most unlikable person of them all. It takes effort for me to even name the other four. Generally I just tuned out somehow whenever one of these characters got involved... and they get involved, because they're regularly pressed into the player's face. They're pushed further to the front than Sansha and Milla were in the first Psychonauts-game.

(Meanwhile Quippie, Mirtala, Dion, Hazie, Donatella, Augustus and Nono (the granny) comprise Razputin's family, and even though most of them are variations on Raz, they're each their own persona with notable character traits.)

4: Heterosexual relationships are being repressed. One of the key things about Razputin is that he found himself a girlfriend, Lili. One would imagine she weighs heavily on Raz's mind... and heart. But no, the game almost brushes her aside the first chance it gets. She's there at the start and at the end, but otherwise she's pretty much a background character like Milla, Sansha and Oleander.

Want more proof? Sansha and Milla's relationship. We know she loves him (but we aren't told how he feels about her) and while they're clearly very close, we never get to see any more of it. Oh sure, lots of Psychonauts-staff gossip about them, but nothing else happens.

There's also a couple of background characters around at the Motherlobe that do get together in the end, but if you skip using Clairvoyance on them you won't even notice it.

That's it. If you think that's too much then obviously you don't buy or play this game. But for a 2021-release to have this little wokeness is borderline Heresy for the SJW-crowd, and I predict that members of the alphabet-squad will bitch about this game soon enough... or once they actually beat the game.

Graphically this is an upgrade in almost every sense. They retained the look and appearance of the original, and improved upon it with modern-day technology. That High Dynamic Range will come in handy. Watching Raz's facial expressions is a joy.

The audio also gets an upgrade. I like the Psychonauts-soundtrack overall, but most of it gets recycled for the sequel and then improved. Some of the new tracks are awesome, and the 'live' rendition of the Meat Circus-tune is actually an improvement. On the downside I noticed a few SFX-sounds are clearly taken from one of those old old audio libraries. The sound of a door closing from UFO: Enemy Unknown is present in this game.

The levels... the progression is not a linear incline as in the original. The game lists 12 mental worlds, but the truth is that some of them are smaller and shorter than what we're used to. "Gloria's Theatre" is small but takes a little time to get through. By comparison there's a mental world in the sequel that's larger in size than that, but takes only 10 minutes to get through. In fact, one character gets four mental worlds to himself (three guesses as to who) and they're all fairly simple affairs. The last two worlds are little more than corridor setpieces meant to tell the story, leaving the three "midgame" worlds to pick up the slack - and they do so quite well as they're massive in size.

More on the midgame-worlds

The first of these, "Brain-in-a-Jar", also happens to be the best Psychonauts-level ever made, IMO. This level alone has to be seen, heard and played to be believed. (My opinion on this may change as I'm still reeling from the sensory overload this world provides.) The other two mid-game worlds are plant- and bee-based, respectively. The bee-based world is loads of fun as it offers challenging terrain-traversing, entertaining characters and memorable set pieces (and some funny jokes!) but it really kicks things up a gear once you reach the exterior map.

The plant-based world... irked me. It looks harmless and appealing at first, but once you go 'underground' it takes a sharp turn for the worse. Gameplay-wise it's 90% done-to-death timed precision platforming - and thematically it's probably one of the darkest worlds in both games, and one that breaks a certain mold from a writing perspective. Even the character associated with this world lacks appeal and interest - he and his world are just in there because the story demands it, which is sadly the same case as with the cookoff-world. What the plant-world and the cookoff-world fail to do is advance or contribute to the story in any meaningful manner.

Yes I know, that sounds contradictory. How can a world be put in the game because the story demands it, and yet contribute next to nothing to the story? Because the game's story isn't about Razputin and his friends, as much as it is about Ford Cruller, "the old gang" and their past deeds. All but one of the old gang get a visitation by Razputin in this game, and two of them are just done horribly wrong. I could write a Wall 'o Text on this subject, and probably will do at a later date.

The writing... is good, but has clearly declined a bit.

Let me give you an example

In the first game we see a Mysterious Stranger give Razputin a pamphlet advertising the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, which is what makes Raz run away from the circus and abandon his family. It's only the core motive driving Razputin forward as a character in the entire game, so it's kinda important. Psychonauts 2 spends considerable time going through how each member of the Aquato-family deals with Razputin running away AND revealing that he's a psychic... but then later on the Mysterious Stranger's identity is revealed... and it's just Wrong. It feels Wrong, because it doesn't make any sense. How could this person know that the summer camp existed in the first place? How did they come into possession of the pamphlet? It gets worse if we explore why the Mysterious Stranger gave Raz the pamphlet - that's when Tim jumps the shark, story-wise.

Fortunately that's the only time Tim does so in Psychonauts 2, but that incident, combined with what I said above about the "midgame"-worlds, shows a clear decline in writing. Keep in mind Tim has had 16 YEARS to get the story right... and yet we get this?!? I'm making a case of this because the writing in Psychonauts 1 was so brilliant, and since the same guy is writing both games, one would expect at least the same level of writing. But sadly we don't.

Final recommendation? It's the same as before. If you liked the original you'll like this, but I can understand if you're hesitant to fork over $60 for this. It's still good enough to spark memorable events and jokes, and hopefully will offer a truckload of discussions here.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I’m still only about halfway through, but I agree with almost everything that UC said. I’m not sure I would say PSI King’s Sensorium is the best level between both games (Waterloo World would get my vote), but it’s very, very good. Also Jack Black gives a surprisingly great and nuanced performance as the PSI King, maybe the only time I’ve ever heard him not just Jack Black being Jack Black. The woke stuff doesn’t bother me, although the homosexual relationship (which I’ve so far seen only implications of) had me pondering the implication of the game being set in the 80s at the height of the. AIDS epidemic.
The one thing I will say is that the game overplays its hand with reveals. I had figured out the identity of the PSI King almost immediately, and I’m pretty sure I know who the mole is. It’s not terrible, but it does make Raz look a bit dumb that he can’t figure it out too.

 

[Ghulgothas]

To everyone whose beaten the game, please rank the Mental Worlds according to your perception of their quality (Whatever Reasoning). I want to gauge opinion.

Spoiler

1. The Sensorium. Natch, most visually impressive while being the most conceptually consistent while also retaining that little bit of presentational subtlety. Black Velvetopia's proud successor.
2. Cassie's Collection. Big, thematically consistent and rich in style. Also introduced my favorite new enemy.
3. Cruller's Correspondence. A good, compelling conclusion to the trio of Ford-Worlds. Disappointed it ended so abruptly.
4. Fatherland Follies. More for what it could've been than what it is, the Mind of a Narcissist is one of those give-me ideas for a Psychonauts level. The premise of a fucked-up Theme Park ride is genious and would've unseated the Sensorium as my #1 if it had as much depth as the larger levels in this game.
5. Strike City. No strong feelings, really. The building narrative within Ford's worlds started becoming more prominent here.
6. Loboto's Labyrinth. Still disappointed they spent the opportunity on having a whole Mental World for Loboto in the Rhombus of Ruin. A combination of that games representation with this one's imagery given some more depth would've been a great first-impression, as is it's merely a visually impressive walk in the park.
7. Ford's Follicles. Not because I dislike it, the Trio of Ford's Worlds do a good job of building on-top of each-other in more ways than one. This one just had to be a bit more muted so the others could be better, nice visuals though.
8. Lucrecia's Lament. I admit, the Flea Circus and rendition of the Meat Circus' theme caught me by surprise. The Knitted Woods were another perfect thematic representation, but suffers from just being a corridor. Should've just made two dedicated Nona/Maligula Worlds with the Sharkophagus level rolled into the latter. Let them be direct juxtapositions to each-other.
9. Hollis' Hospital/Hot Streak. Felt forced, felt one-off, felt lacking in lasting impact. Nice visuals and presentation I guess.
10. Bob's Bottles. Like Follies, a mind waterlogged with chronic alcoholism is another perfect idea for a Psychonauts level. Sadly it just didn't have the conceptual consistency or any sense of edge or depth, missed opportunity.
11. Compton's Cook-Off. The restrained size of Gloria's Theatre without the characters, conceit or writing that made it compelling.