Psychonauts

Psychonauts is one of the few few games that get everything almost perfect. The characters you encounter are quite interesting and varried and each has their own style and personality. They add a lot of flavor to the game. One of the most rewarding acitivites is to see how the various characters react to certain events and situations. Upon finishing a level, it is quite fun to talk to every possible character and try every possible ability and item on them. it opens up interesting dialogs and gives a lot of life to the characters and the Psychonauts world as a whole. The levels are immaginative and very thought out. Each has a different focus and the game feels completely different on some of them. Artistically there are very well done giving each a unique look and feel. Most levels tell a mini story or help you discover something of the past and history of a character. In terms of difficulty more levels are not frustrating and are quite fun even when you don't succeed the first time. The only exception might be the last two levels which feel a little out of sync with the rest of the game, being either bland or frustratingly difficult (however with a little patience manageable). It is worthwhile to collect all possible items in a level even if that is not required to finish the game. The extra challenge give satisfaction and gives you a reason to revisit some of the older levels with new abilities. Collecting everything also unlocks the original material and videos that are included. These are absolutely brilliant! The include original sketches and drafts done while designing the game and you can see how much effort and though has gone into every little detail and how faithfully some things have been realized in the game itself. These sketches and videos contain a lot of surprises and are quite fun to explore. The various abilities you add on as the game progresses are add a lot to the game. Some much more useful than others, but all of them offer up new possibilities of playing the game in various ways. It's also interesting to see how an npc or an enemy reacts when you use a new power on them. It gives many new possibilities of experimentation. The voice acting is superb and adds a lot of atmosphere to the characters and the game. All the characters are well done and the voices add a lot to their personality. The conversations are fun and interesting and like everything else help to add a lot of depth to the game. The game is not very long but it's not short either. It feels just right. The only frustration is that the ending leaves you begging for "Psychonauts 2" and you know that's not coming. The game is fun to replay after a few months or years and doesn't feel old even when revisiting. A little advice, spend some time to set up the control scheme for the game when you start. It allows you to play with any combination of gamepad , keyboard and mouse. I found that after taking the time to configure the game to my liking, the control seemed much more natural and fun. You should also not be limited to one control scheme. I found that in some situations it is more appropriate to use just the gamepad while in others I prefer to use the mouse. The game lets you use both at the same time, so it is easy to jump from one to the other as you see fit. All in all Pychonauts is a very fun and rewarding experience and is the perfect example of how games should be designed and played.

Like I do, then make a exception for Psychonauts. Tim Schafer's genius transcends the genre making this every bit as enjoyable as his adventure games. Not to say there aren't a couple of frustrating points, but they are worth it.

Since all the good things have been already said about this game (and that's why I decided to buy and play it, thank you all), I will only enumerate the things I didn't like about it. There are not important spoilers and perhaps I can help someone who is going to play it for first time. I'm spanish so though I'll do my best in english, you may have to decipher some of my magic translations. Sorry. I hadn't play this game before. Actually, I hadn't even heard of it. My first gameplay impression was not as good as I expected after reading your comments and ratings, and it was not a short feeling. Maybe it's because I don't like so much 3D platform games, but I think it's because there isn't a clear goal at the beginning and you discover too many things that you don't know how to take advantage of. When the good action arrived, it was too late, I already had a bad impression and perhaps I didn't enjoy it all I should. Another thing I don't like is the complexity of the controls. I spent a lot of time until I realized that I actually had the button Sasha gave me. I just didn't know how to open and use my inventory, and that's because when they tell you how to do it (if they really told it) you don't need to use it yet. And when you need it, you don't remember what they said. The same with your powers and assigning them to the keys. It's not easy to figure it out. Or when you have to use the little door to get into other people's minds. I tried everything else a lot of times before I used it. Yes, Cruller can tell you if you ask him... but that's only when you discover the bacon in your inventory and remember something about Cruller's help. A little in-game guide using objects would have been appreciated. And the last thing I didn't like was the point of no return. The same as the last, a big warning explaining the consequences and the special saved game should have been told. I collected all the figments and items in every door and then realized that I could not go back to the real world. I think I won't do it all that again, I'll let it for the next time I play it. The rest of the game, the story, the dialogs, etc. are as great as you all described them, and I'm so proud of reading your comments and playing Psychonauts. New players, download and read the manual from GOG, it's very useful. And don't cross the point of no return if you are trying to collect everything in the game!

I give Psychonauts five stars not because it's perfect, but because the good aspects of it are so good that the flaws tend to melt away. This is a game that everyone should play, even if you do have to suffer through some parts, because the payoff is incredible. Quick background: you play as Raz, who's run off from home to attend a summer camp for psychics-in-training. Obviously a sinister plot emerges, and you have to foil it. The story is wonderful stuff, thanks largely to the great characters (and voice acting). Most of the action is typical platforming, although the psychic power you acquire (telekinesis, pyrokinesis, levetation, etc) do a lot to mix things up. It should be noted that the action is where the game tends to trip over its own feet. Raz doesn't feel quite as "sticky" as characters in other games you might have played, and as such landing tricky jumps can feel very frustrating. What's also frustrating is the fact that it often seems possible to do things that you really can't, meaning that you'll waste quite a bit of time trying to make impossible jumps. This also comes out in the boss battles, which often dissolve into infuriating trial and error (I wound up consulting a walkthrough at several points). But, look, none of that matters. What matters is that Psychonauts is one of the most ridiculously creative games ever made. The premise of entering someone's mind and roaming around is cool enough, but you won't believe the levels to which Tim Schaffer and his team take it. This is some of the craziest level design ever, and I mean that in the best way possible. The whole game features of wonderful aesthetic--sort of the like the Muppets as reimagined by Tim Burton--and it's still visually engaging years later. But it's in the structure of the levels that Psychonauts really shines. In one area, the street twines around without any regard for gravity, and the level reorients itself around you as you jump from one section to the next. In another, paintings come to life as you place them in their frames. My favorite sequence involves climbing up a tower that looks like something M.C. Escher might have come up with after a particularly hard night's drinking. It's one of the most mind-blowing things I've ever seen in a video game, or any other medium for that matter. Look, you shouldn't expect the game to be perfect. It's not. What it is is one of the most incredible uses of interactive space I've ever seen. This one deserves to be played, if only as an example of just how cool this medium can be. At $10, it's a steal.