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Psychonauts
Text Review
Psychology – it's about getting into the mind of the patient. If psychology were this cool, we wouldn't be as messed up as a species because problems would be easy and super fun to fix. Psychonauts is widely regarded as a straight up platformer along the lines of Super Mario 64, but with a few years of hindsight. I'd say this game also has more in common with the Metroidvanias of the world which, of course, also have strong platforming elements. Regardless, time has proven this game has gone down as one of the best games in the 5th generation, but one of the most commercially overlooked as well.
The game takes place at a summer camp for kids with psychic abilities in a world that appears to have been designed by Tim Burton, Salvador Dali and Neil Gaiman's lovechild. I don't mean that as a knock, it’s one thing to rip someone off, but it's another to take those influences and make something of your own. This is exactly what Scott Campbell and Tim Schafer pulled off. It's an effective, creepy-but-cute vibe that resonates with you between sessions. The character designs and animations are memorable, living in what feels like a fully realized world with lots of detail, even though you never truly leave the camp. You can complain about a flat texture here and there if you want to be lame, but it's a prime example of creating a rich atmosphere which in turn becomes a huge part of the overall experience.
You play as a runaway kid named Razputin (Raz for short) who is part of a circus family ashamed of his psychic ability. Raz came to the camp on his own to train with other kids like him and become a Psychonaut – which is something like a sanity-law enforcement agency, I guess. The story is basic video game stuff – gifted maverick kid discovers evil plot that must be thwarted, but the focus is really on the characterizations of Raz and the other NPCs in the game. That's the beauty of a game like this, the story acts as a vehicle for your character to do cool stuff and that's exactly what you get to do in this game.
As you start out Raz doesn't have many psychic abilities to use. He can perform a double jump and a psychic punch off the bat, but most of your powers will be gained throughout the game. Similar to some of the post-SOTN Castlevanias, your character will level up with experience. Experience is not gained in battle however. Experience is gained by collecting the myriad of items that can be picked up throughout your explorations, mainly Figments, Psi-Cards and Psi-Cores. Collect as many of these as possible to continue your advancement, and you will gain more abilities as well as making current abilities even stronger. Without these abilities, you will not be able to access parts of each level, so backtracking with new abilities does indeed have its payoffs.
While you're in camp you will have access to Sasha Nein's Brain Tumbler which is sort of the “hub world” where you will have access to other people's minds. Once in the tumbler, a series of doors is presented to you, each representing a different person's mind. Inside each door is a unique and fantastically designed level. The variety in these levels really shows off the love and creativity that went into making this game. They're not just pretty to look at either. These levels provide challenges and environ-”mental” puzzles (sorry, my bad) that never get cheap or boring. It's hard enough to where even hardcore gamers will get frustrated, but it's so rewarding to keep the momentum of the game going.
With rock-solid platforming and incredible level and artistic design, it's a real shame this game didn't sell like hotcakes. This is exactly the kind of game people always said they want more of, but when it is released no one but the critics seemed to care. I'm not sure how much Majesco's marketing dropped the ball on this game, but I seem to remember hearing plenty about this game so I know it got lots of free marketing. Oh well, it's one of those industry travesties that hopefully we all learned something from. This is a great game that transcends age and puts you into an incredible world that you won't want to leave. If you like video games...and if you like FUN, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
- David Crosson
Developer: Double Fine
Publisher: Majesco
Platform(s): PC, PS2, Xbox,
The game takes place at a summer camp for kids with psychic abilities in a world that appears to have been designed by Tim Burton, Salvador Dali and Neil Gaiman's lovechild. I don't mean that as a knock, it’s one thing to rip someone off, but it's another to take those influences and make something of your own. This is exactly what Scott Campbell and Tim Schafer pulled off. It's an effective, creepy-but-cute vibe that resonates with you between sessions. The character designs and animations are memorable, living in what feels like a fully realized world with lots of detail, even though you never truly leave the camp. You can complain about a flat texture here and there if you want to be lame, but it's a prime example of creating a rich atmosphere which in turn becomes a huge part of the overall experience.
You play as a runaway kid named Razputin (Raz for short) who is part of a circus family ashamed of his psychic ability. Raz came to the camp on his own to train with other kids like him and become a Psychonaut – which is something like a sanity-law enforcement agency, I guess. The story is basic video game stuff – gifted maverick kid discovers evil plot that must be thwarted, but the focus is really on the characterizations of Raz and the other NPCs in the game. That's the beauty of a game like this, the story acts as a vehicle for your character to do cool stuff and that's exactly what you get to do in this game.
As you start out Raz doesn't have many psychic abilities to use. He can perform a double jump and a psychic punch off the bat, but most of your powers will be gained throughout the game. Similar to some of the post-SOTN Castlevanias, your character will level up with experience. Experience is not gained in battle however. Experience is gained by collecting the myriad of items that can be picked up throughout your explorations, mainly Figments, Psi-Cards and Psi-Cores. Collect as many of these as possible to continue your advancement, and you will gain more abilities as well as making current abilities even stronger. Without these abilities, you will not be able to access parts of each level, so backtracking with new abilities does indeed have its payoffs.
While you're in camp you will have access to Sasha Nein's Brain Tumbler which is sort of the “hub world” where you will have access to other people's minds. Once in the tumbler, a series of doors is presented to you, each representing a different person's mind. Inside each door is a unique and fantastically designed level. The variety in these levels really shows off the love and creativity that went into making this game. They're not just pretty to look at either. These levels provide challenges and environ-”mental” puzzles (sorry, my bad) that never get cheap or boring. It's hard enough to where even hardcore gamers will get frustrated, but it's so rewarding to keep the momentum of the game going.
With rock-solid platforming and incredible level and artistic design, it's a real shame this game didn't sell like hotcakes. This is exactly the kind of game people always said they want more of, but when it is released no one but the critics seemed to care. I'm not sure how much Majesco's marketing dropped the ball on this game, but I seem to remember hearing plenty about this game so I know it got lots of free marketing. Oh well, it's one of those industry travesties that hopefully we all learned something from. This is a great game that transcends age and puts you into an incredible world that you won't want to leave. If you like video games...and if you like FUN, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
- David Crosson
Developer: Double Fine
Publisher: Majesco
Platform(s): PC, PS2, Xbox,
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