Psychonauts is a very underrated game that probably no one played 4 years ago. But while I had doubts when I reluctantly bought it two years ago, they were suddenly washed away within the first half an hour of gameplay. Psychonauts is truly awesome, and if you haven?t played it, go down to the store and buy it. It sells for about $15 now.
It?s well worth it. You start off playing as Raz, a child who has psychic powers, runs away from his family?s circus and sneaks in to a psychic summer camp after reading wonderful stories about it. When he arrives he befriends the massive cast of characters and sets off onto his journey.
You are told you only have three days to become a Psychoaut (A Psychic Agent) By one of the instructors at camp, and you delve off into gameplay. The first few missions are short and easy, where you have to do some tasks to get to the end of a level. But what may surprise you is that the levels are inside people?s minds. You run around in their imagination, pretty much wrecking everything in sight. And the level design is surprisingly great too, from the War torn mind of one of your instructors to the mind of a giant hulking lungfish monster where you are Godzilla and you destroy buildings. Each level is unique with its own characters and challenges and puzzles to work out and eventually you?ll reach the end, which makes it a satisfying experience.
Many things stand out in Psychonauts, but the main thing is the design. Each character is moulded perfectly into a real person with outrageous features, a real personality and their own role in the plot. There are hours of conversation with each character, which range from the two slightly suicidal cheer squad friends to the droning, story-telling and boring character who says everything in monotone. Level designs are also extremely creative as mentioned before, also the excellent original music that blends in perfectly with the surroundings, but one thing that the game really does excellent in is humour.
Things like: the brainless children chanting TV repeatedly, things like the paranoid guard having secret agents in his mind that say things like: Look at that woman, she has big breasts, things like being able to set squirrels on fire (Okay, that?s not funny, just fun to do) things like the sensitive and shy Dogen Boole who can blow people?s heads off by removing his special hat. Things like one of the instructors making sure his ass is covered by law before teaching you anything. I could list every single joke inside Psychonauts, but my review would become the world?s longest webpage. There are so many jokes in dialogue and pictures in Psychonauts, and the better thing is that every single joke is hilarious, and not like many games who try oh so hard to be funny but fail miserably. Psychonauts is the funniest game I have ever played and deserves that title completely.
Another thing about Psychonauts that impressed me was its originality. It wasn?t a sequel to a game, it has an incredible storyline that I don?t want to give away, and so many things good about it that I could rattle on about for hours. The battle sequences are great, with Raz?s psychic combat moves being able to set fire to enemies, make them run around in circles wondering what their name is and many things you wish to do with enemies in video games. The Platforming works too, and having small tasks while jumping around acrobatically really keeps the game interesting.
Unfortunately Psychonauts isn?t perfect, and there are some weird things in the game that left me wondering what the hell was going on. Such as the scavenger hunt for extra credit. The places that the items were hidden were almost impossible. Who would ever levitate up onto the supporting beams in the main lodge? Who would ever shoot down a wasp?s nest? Who would ever jump on top of a building, climb and swing their way across a large platform area to get inside a hidden cave? The places where the items are hidden are almost impossible to find. And the game also asks you to do something, without you even knowing what you?re supposed to do. The puzzles are nice, but they could at least give us a clue of what we?re doing. And the difficulty is amazing, for the first few levels you are told exactly what to do, but when you get deeper into the plot you find yourself in extremely hard scenarios that are extremely difficult. Couldn?t they ease us into the hard levels?
Psychonauts is an excellent game that everyone should play. It?s really cheap, is absolutely hilarious, great with artistic visuals on characters and levels, and is seriously an all round great gaming experience.
It?s well worth it. You start off playing as Raz, a child who has psychic powers, runs away from his family?s circus and sneaks in to a psychic summer camp after reading wonderful stories about it. When he arrives he befriends the massive cast of characters and sets off onto his journey.
You are told you only have three days to become a Psychoaut (A Psychic Agent) By one of the instructors at camp, and you delve off into gameplay. The first few missions are short and easy, where you have to do some tasks to get to the end of a level. But what may surprise you is that the levels are inside people?s minds. You run around in their imagination, pretty much wrecking everything in sight. And the level design is surprisingly great too, from the War torn mind of one of your instructors to the mind of a giant hulking lungfish monster where you are Godzilla and you destroy buildings. Each level is unique with its own characters and challenges and puzzles to work out and eventually you?ll reach the end, which makes it a satisfying experience.
Many things stand out in Psychonauts, but the main thing is the design. Each character is moulded perfectly into a real person with outrageous features, a real personality and their own role in the plot. There are hours of conversation with each character, which range from the two slightly suicidal cheer squad friends to the droning, story-telling and boring character who says everything in monotone. Level designs are also extremely creative as mentioned before, also the excellent original music that blends in perfectly with the surroundings, but one thing that the game really does excellent in is humour.
Things like: the brainless children chanting TV repeatedly, things like the paranoid guard having secret agents in his mind that say things like: Look at that woman, she has big breasts, things like being able to set squirrels on fire (Okay, that?s not funny, just fun to do) things like the sensitive and shy Dogen Boole who can blow people?s heads off by removing his special hat. Things like one of the instructors making sure his ass is covered by law before teaching you anything. I could list every single joke inside Psychonauts, but my review would become the world?s longest webpage. There are so many jokes in dialogue and pictures in Psychonauts, and the better thing is that every single joke is hilarious, and not like many games who try oh so hard to be funny but fail miserably. Psychonauts is the funniest game I have ever played and deserves that title completely.
Another thing about Psychonauts that impressed me was its originality. It wasn?t a sequel to a game, it has an incredible storyline that I don?t want to give away, and so many things good about it that I could rattle on about for hours. The battle sequences are great, with Raz?s psychic combat moves being able to set fire to enemies, make them run around in circles wondering what their name is and many things you wish to do with enemies in video games. The Platforming works too, and having small tasks while jumping around acrobatically really keeps the game interesting.
Unfortunately Psychonauts isn?t perfect, and there are some weird things in the game that left me wondering what the hell was going on. Such as the scavenger hunt for extra credit. The places that the items were hidden were almost impossible. Who would ever levitate up onto the supporting beams in the main lodge? Who would ever shoot down a wasp?s nest? Who would ever jump on top of a building, climb and swing their way across a large platform area to get inside a hidden cave? The places where the items are hidden are almost impossible to find. And the game also asks you to do something, without you even knowing what you?re supposed to do. The puzzles are nice, but they could at least give us a clue of what we?re doing. And the difficulty is amazing, for the first few levels you are told exactly what to do, but when you get deeper into the plot you find yourself in extremely hard scenarios that are extremely difficult. Couldn?t they ease us into the hard levels?
Psychonauts is an excellent game that everyone should play. It?s really cheap, is absolutely hilarious, great with artistic visuals on characters and levels, and is seriously an all round great gaming experience.
