Psychonauts 2 review: A mind-blowing second act

It’s been over 16 years since the first Psychonauts came out in April 2005, and just shy of six years since Psychonauts 2 was revealed at The Game Awards in December 2015. We have been waiting through crowdfunding, console generations, the acquisition of Double Fine by Microsoft, and so many more things that gently nudged this much-anticipated sequel back. It may be a lot of time to wait for a game as charming and quirky as Psychonauts 2 to arrive, but was it ultimately worth it in the end? I have to say… I entirely think so. Psychonauts 2 is a well-expanded sequel to the first game with tons of personality, solid platforming and action, and a great story with a memorable cast of new and returning characters.

For them, it was only days

When last we left off in the Psychonauts franchise, Razputin “Raz” Aquato - a circus acrobat with the gift of psychic powers - ran away from his family’s troupe to join a camp hosted by the Psychonauts, an organization of secret agents utilizing their psychic power to keep the world safe. The Pyschonauts’ Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp was a place for children to learn to control their powers and perhaps, one day, become a Psychonaut themselves. Unfortunately, the experience was soured for Raz when one of the Psychonauts, Coach Oleander, hatched a plan to steal brains and take over the world. Raz made friends with the other campers to stop him, proving his worth, and soon after, engaged in an impromptu mission to rescue the head of the Psychonauts, Truman Zanotto, from the maniacal unlicensed dentist turned amateur brain surgeon, Dr. Loboto.

He and the other agents were successful in their mission and Psychonauts 2 picks up right where that left off, literally a few days after the events of both the original game and its VR follow-up, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin. The good news here is that you don’t have to worry about playing those games to get started on Psychonauts. Double Fine included a very good “previously on…” section to get you caught up with the story whether you’ve played Psychonauts or not. Not to mention, the animated sequence is a great lead-in and reintroduction to Psychonauts’ trademark quirk and charm.

The important thing is that Raz and the other Psychonauts agree that a crackpot like Dr. Loboto couldn’t have captured the head of the organization on his own. He had to have had help, and for someone as important as Zanotto, that help had to be on the inside. It’s an uncomfortable realization that one of the characters you know or will come to know is a mole. Moreover, Razputin’s digging around inside Loboto’s head warns him of a terrifying presence known as Maligula. She was a powerful psychic that was once a threat to both the Psychonauts and the world whom was fought and thought killed. She might be gone, but her terrifying presence lives on, and it seems someone is trying to bring her back.

That sets up the two main threads of Psychonauts 2, which are finding the traitor within the organization and investigating/stopping the possible return of Maligula. It makes for a very compelling arc throughout all of the game, even as Razputin is officially accepted into the Psychonauts organization (as an intern) and seeks to become a full-fledged psycho secret agent. There were characters I wanted the traitor to be, characters I was worried it might be, and the game kept me guessing for quite some time throughout. All of this is well-aided by a stellar soundtrack full of James Bond-style guitar and plenty more variety for whatever situation you happen to be caught up in. Snappy and well-delivered dialogue also brings energetic and cartoonish life to the whole thing.

Right up to the end, the finish is quite well-handled with the exception a few details that felt shoehorned in. This game goes out of its way to answer nearly every loose end that has remained since the first game, which is great for the most part. If it ended here, it would be a good franchise bookend, but it also feels like there’s room for further games or material based on some post-game conversations.

Brain spelunking & psychic acrobatics

Psychonauts 2 is more than just a good story. It’s an action-platformer with a lot of versatility due to its very premise alone. There’s an overworld in which you can explore and move the plot along. However, returning from the first game, Psychonauts 2 is also full of levels in which you dive into the minds of various characters in the game to discover information or sort out their problems. They offer some of the most interesting scenery and varied interaction as you solve each character’s mental gauntlet.

I think one of my least favorite parts of the first Psychonauts was how finnicky the controls could be sometimes. 3D platforming often has this problem with feedback and context, but I think they really nailed it down in Psychonauts 2 for the most part. Raz Aquato is a circus boy with psychic powers. He can do a lot to move around the environment including double jumps and floating, ledge climbs, tightrope walking, trapeze swinging, and more.

Much of the game’s level design is also smartly designed to give you a generous or just barely enough amount of leeway to get past obstacles. Generally, it knows what you’re trying to do and magnetizes towards an interaction like a ledge grab or rope swing automatically, which I highly appreciate. I only occasionally had moments in which I felt I put in the right moves only for Raz to plummet to his death, but the only punishment for this is losing a miniscule amount of life and trying again. That’s also a nice thing.

Then there’s the psychic powers. You’re a Psychonaut after all. Much of Raz’s powers return intact from the first game, including Levitation (for double jumps, slowing a fall, and faster ground movement), Pyrokinesis, Telekinesis, PSI Blast, and Clairvoyance. Joining these powers are some really fun new ones, such as Mental Connection. This one allows you to locate hanging “scattered thought” points in the overworld and in brain levels and zip between them to reach otherwise unreachable places. Time Bubble is also awesome. In exploration it can slow fast moving obstacles to make them traversable (such as spinning fans). In combat it can also slow foes and open them up to attacks, so it’s a great utility ability. As you go, you’ll also collect upgrades for your Psychonaut Rank that give you points to spend on power upgrades, so the whole arsenal becomes an increasingly evolving toolkit.

Speaking of combat, Psychonauts 2’s brain levels are chockfull of foes you must contend with. I wouldn’t say this game is big or flashy on combat, but it does make you utilize your powers effectively. Telekinesis is great on Censors because it stuns them temporarily. PSI Blast is great on regrets because they’re flying around and hard to hit otherwise. Each enemy has a weakness associated with defeating them the easiest way and dealing with swarms of different foes will have you changing your powers regularly to overcome them.

I think that’s another interesting win for Psychonauts 2 is that it makes many of your powers feel useful throughout the game. There were, of course, some powers like Levitation that I would never unequip, but you can only have four powers equipped at a time for ready use and I would find myself moving through all of them frequently in both combat and exploration. Nothing fell by the wayside outside of its introduction and level in which it was used most. Each level and the overworld contains a wealth of collectibles that will upgrade your Psychonauts Rank and give expanded looks at the story. That means not only exploring levels to the fullest, but also going back to older levels and areas with powers and abilities you didn’t have before is encouraged. Even so, it can feel like a bit of a tedious collect-a-thon if you want to 100% the game.

I really praise Double Fine for the level design too. The brain levels are incredible in how they challenge you to use your powers and platforming, not to mention just being utterly compelling to explore. Not to spoil anything, but I think one of my absolute favorites was a brain level that I can only describe as if The Beatles animated film, The Yellow Submarine, was a Psychonauts level. Each level challenges you in extremely interesting ways to utilize what you have and overcome its unique gauntlet, but they also serve as the drapery for some of the funniest, most emotional, and outright darkest moments the game has to offer. I won’t lie, the new set of brain levels made me laugh, cry, and twisted my guts with realization at some key points.

I also finally have to give props to accessibility here. Psychonauts 2 lets you adjust its difficulty by degrees with modular options like invincibility, no fall damage, and easy combat, but it also has handy features like a font adjuster, UI adjuster, camera shake and vibration disable options, and colorblind mode. It’s not the most I’ve ever seen in accessibility for a game, but it feels clear that Double Fine and Microsoft wanted to make sure a wide audience could enjoy this game however they wanted. All-in-all, with everything above, I’d say there’s good reason to check it out and adjust it to your liking.

A long time coming & worth the wait

It’s wild to think how many years of development are here in this game, but the end product is undeniably polished and top-to-bottom good gaming. The dialogue is well-written and delivered, the story is riveting throughout, and the use of platforming and powers to traverse a vast variety of funny, ridiculous, and sometimes disturbing mental worlds is fantastically solid. It feels like the doors are open for more in this universe, and that prospect is exciting, but if there isn’t another Psychonauts game ever, then I feel confident in saying Double Fine did right by this series with Psychonauts 2.

This review is based on a digital copy supplied by the publisher and played on PC. Psychonauts 2 comes out on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on August 25, 2021.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.