You’ll also get everything that’s included with our Psychonauts 2 “Motherlobe Edition ,” including a lenticular o-sleeve, a premium die-cut sticker pack, six art cards, and a digital download of exclusive behind-the-scenes development concepts. This marks not only the first time Psychonauts has been printed on disc for Xbox One, but it also marks the first time a backwards compatible Xbox game has had a disc release for Xbox One… EVVVVERRRRR!! For the Xbox One version, you’ll get Psychonauts & Psychonauts 2 on one disc and two discs, respectively. The PlayStation 4 version comes with both Psychonauts & Psychonauts 2, each on their own disc. Now, we’re honoring these two games with a supreme Collector’s Edition worthy of its own merit badge. Developer Double Fine released Psychonauts 2 in 2021 and more than lived up to the first game’s legacy, earning a fair share of “Game of the Year” nods along the way. It’s a worthy sequel and an easy contender for game of the year, and an absolute must play for anyone who likes Pixar movies or platformers in general.With its sharp writing, quick wit, lovable cast, and figment-chasing gameplay, 2005’s Psychonauts garnered a well-deserved following that only became more ravenous for even more Raz-powered adventures. I wish there were more boss battles and that they were more interesting and varied, but, as a fan of the first game, I’m incredibly happy with Psychonauts 2. Regardless, Psychonauts 2 is an incredible game that manages to not only maintain most of what made its predecessor so beloved, but also improves on all of its gameplay systems while still staying faithful to them. The ending left me wanting, as things wrap up quite quickly, but every major character gets new dialogue once you beat the game, even if some of these don’t offer as much closure as I wanted. I didn’t 100% it, but beating it and exploring to my heart’s content took me about 18 hours. Most of them can be summed up as “Raz must dodge a giant enemy standing outside the arena” along with “you hurt them by shooting them.” They’re still interesting, but they alone feel like a step down compared to the last go-round, at least as far as mechanics go. The only nitpick I can really hit Psychonauts 2 with is that the boss battles are infrequent and somewhat underwhelming. Others, such as clairvoyance and levitation, are much the same, although levitation has new facets, and Raz can’t glide indefinitely anymore. These all have charges, so you can’t spam them incessantly, however. Marksmanship has a faster rate of fire and feels more immediate. Pyrokinesis creates fire over an area, as opposed to burning a single target after a while. Telekinesis is now for throwing objects at enemies to stun them, instead of simply tossing the enemy itself. Psychic abilities have all seen a big overhaul as well.Ĭertain powers, such as invisibility and confusion grenades, have been removed altogether, but the returning powers have become far more effective. The combat isn’t extremely complex, but it’s exactly where it needs to be. He also no longer strafes and dodges based on lock-on, and instead makes use of a dodge button to get out of the way. He attacks with psychic hand projections, but the combat is extremely smooth and responsive in the sequel, as opposed to the clunky three-hit strike of the past. The abilities Raz uses are very much similar to the first game. I suppose the story direction pivoted in the last few years. Truman Zanotto, who was clearly awake and talking at the end of RoR, is now comatose due to said retcon. Raz has finally made it to the Psychonauts headquarters, only to be surprised by getting made a mere intern after he ended up stopping Oleander’s brain tank world domination plan. Psychonauts 2 picks up immediately after Rhombus of Ruin (although it gets part of its ending jarringly retconned), which itself picked up directly from the first game. This isn’t just one of the best games of the year, it’s one of the best 3D platformers in existence. Thankfully, Psychonauts 2 not only successfully captures all of the character and zany joy of the original, but improves upon nearly every aspect of its gameplay and narrative pacing. Psychonauts is truly beloved for many great reasons, so the odds of Double Fine being able to live up to all the hopes fans were pinning on the sequel seemed like quite the tall order. But a little over a decade after the original release, a Kickstarter popped up that thankfully proved me wrong. For a long time, I didn’t think we’d actually ever get a Psychonauts 2.
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