Psychonauts 2

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It's really fucking good so far. Nearing the end, but I gotta sleep. Feels roughly the size of the first game, maybe a bit bigger. I don't think there has been a level I've disliked so far, and only one boss that I found a tad tedious (but I think it was bugged). The art direction and writing have really impressed me so far. I really can't think of any major grievances I have with it, just a few tiny things.

Idk I could not give a shit about the content warning, I think those kind of things make people irrationally angry. I mean I don't think it's necessary for them to be in games, but I'm not bothered when they're in. If it makes you concerned there is some kind of political spin to the game, I don't think there is one whatsoever, at least not that I've seen.

Also, runs just fine on Linux. Just go with the default compatibility layer, don't need to force a specific proton layer or anything (actually, doing so will break the game, when I tested that I had to reinstall the game). The only problem I've seen so far with performance that I think might be an issue with the compatibility layer is that the first second or two in a new environment / scene will have a low framerate. Though that might not just be limited to Linux, dunno. But I'm running with an nvidia 2060 max-q and consistently getting 120+ fps on high, so it's pretty well optimized in general.

Oh yeah and the music is absolutely amazing again. If you like the OST from the first game you'll be really happy with the new OST.
 
I enjoy reminding myself that other people are suckers for paying money to play games.

Especially good ones.
 
Finished. It was great. Some annoying bits here and there, but the levels were fun, the characters (at least the Psychic 6) were interesting, and the hub is really cool.
Looks like Double Fine might make it after all.
 
Tim Schafer made me avoid playing any and all of his games after the "sock puppet" incident. I am still pissed off at him, even to this day. At best I might pirate the game if possible, but I still refuse to give that asshole a single red cent.
 
Just_a_Bored_Guy said:
Finished. It was great. Some annoying bits here and there, but the levels were fun, the characters (at least the Psychic 6) were interesting, and the hub is really cool.
Looks like Double Fine might make it after all.
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Just finished it as well. Really enjoyed the whole game. Just 3 thoughts about the ending that I' curious your thoughts on. These aren't really major spoilers, for anyone who hasn't beaten it, but I'm gonna spoiler it anyway.

First, I thought the final boss battle was really cool, I just wish it had gone on longer. Honeestly in general I wish the ending lingered more. I don't feel like it was a rushed ending, just that I wish they had sat with the characters a bit more after they defeated Maligula. Like in an orchestra concert (particularly for pieces with quiet / emotional endings), the conductor will keep his baton up for a a little bit after the final note, letting the sound fully leave the air and sit with the silence for a moment, before resting his arms which then signals the crowd to applaud. I feel like they just missed that, and that kind of rolls into my second point.

Can Lili be found in the post-credits world? I can't find her, and it really feels like there should be some last talk between her and Raz. If there isn't one I honestly will be a bit disappointed, it feels like there really isn't remotely any closure there. This also rolls into my third point.

There really should have been some post-credits talk with Dion, unless they have a third game planned (not impossible). The last conversation I think Dion and Raz had was Dion telling Raz the family would be better off without him, and there really is no resolution to that. It seemed like such an obvious narrative point to come back to, a Chekov's gun, that it feels weird that they didn't address it. Maybe I missed a scene but I feel like I've been pretty careful about trying to see everything, although I do plan on playing it again soon.

In general I just wish they had wrapped up things a little better for the ending and let it sit a little more than what they did, even if they plan on making a third game. I don't really know where a third game would go though, it feels like all the major plot points set up from the first one have been wrapped up.

Okay, those are my nitpicks about the ending. In general I thought it was really good though. The writing was still really great and the story felt really complete and well thought out in some really interesting ways.

The game does get pretty sad at some points. Some of the ideas they're tossing around can be pretty heavy, but they handle it in a really great way.

I really liked Helmut's level, I think the way they presented sensory overload and dissociation was really cool. Also, another thing they did with the Helmut level was display a therapeutic technique for trauma therapy, what's known as rewriting a trauma narrative. When Helmut goes back through his painful memories and writes a new story to them, where he finslly processes them and comes to term with the truth of those memories, that's rewriting a trauma narrative. I was honestly kinda floored at how well they encorporated this idea so naturally into the writing, it was really cool.

Also, as other people have already said, that final part of the Ford Cruller levels was pretty depressing. I feel like there really is a lot of stuff in this game where if you fully sit with what it's bringing, the ideas it's bringing underneath the humour, it can be pretty fucked up at times.

Okay, that's enough writing for now. If you have a passing interest in the game, play it, it's really fucking good. If you're an A&H poster and get triggered by the mere thought of Tim Schafer, maybe sit this one out.
 
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I'm glad people are happy with it, I wasn't sure what to expect from modern Double Fine. I'll wait 'til it gets some patches and goes on sale, but meanwhile I grabbed the original on Steam for 99 cents to refresh my memory.
 
I watched Synthetic Man's stream while playing Psychonauts 2 and the impression I got was, overall, the game is very good despite some SJW pandering and too many cutscenes. Seriously though, Tim is really hammering that message of "rich people bad".
 
I am legitimately shocked at how good it is. I was worried by the really long development and Tim's... uh, "personality"... but so far the game is great and the agenda is not pushed to the front of the game like I thought it might be. It's nice when things are good, kind of forgot what that feeling was like.
 
I tried to play the first one like three times and just couldn't get into it for some reason. It felt boring and the art style didn't bode well with the PS2 era graphics in my opinion. This one feels like such a major improvement. The gameplay is still kind of basic 3d platforming and collecting shit, but the art, the characters, the world etc all make up for it.

I expected absolutely nothing from modern Tim and only gave it a try because of the gamepass but now I am kind of retroactively mad at people who still keep bringing up this trigger warning or accessibility shit like it means anything (even though I was one of those people to do that).
Took them to actually make a good game for me to realize how gay it is to define the product through this kind of petty garbage.
 
Dirty Diamond said:
Tim Schafer made me avoid playing any and all of his games after the "sock puppet" incident. I am still pissed off at him, even to this day. At best I might pirate the game if possible, but I still refuse to give that asshole a single red cent.
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Can you refresh me on what happened?
 
Kiwifag said:
Can you refresh me on what happened?
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Once again, I remember getting pissed at him over this shit, but now it just feels like you have to be a fucking sped to get your panties in a bunch over something like this.
 
I'll stop shilling it after this post, but I believe it's on GoG and shit, so consider pirating. It's genuinely the best thing to come out this year. At least for me.
 
Game seems good. Doesn't improve much on the original's formula, but level design is still pretty solid and unique. It's pretty long, it's not one of those games you can finish in one afternoon.

Still has a few problems tho. For one, I think the game is trying to dumb itself down to a 'game journalist' difficulty; health popups are all over the place, and death will just put you at the last checkpoint (with full health), so there's no real penalty for dying.

Lacks a little bit of polish, though. For example, you can bypass some events with the fast travel system, which causes the game to freak out. And camera/edge detection is off sometimes. New mechanics are well incorporated, but nothing I haven't seen done before/better.
 
Just finished it. Very happy about the game overall. Very few complaints and frankly in terms of political bullshit it is not nearly what people were worrying might happen. There's one homo romance, and it's the kinds of fags that are normal instead of the lisping pedos, and one particular line which is played for laughs and even if it wasn't would not be completely inaccurate given the obvious countries it's alluding to. Definitely hope there is a third game but only if they give it the same amount of time and thought they gave 2.
 
I'm at the start of the game and was confused by them saying "Dr. Loboto's lair" when talking about the events of Rhombus of Ruin, I chalked this up to a mess up on the writing team's part or something like that.

But later down the line, we learn that it was in fact his lair and that he was the creator of the fish people. This feels like a retcon to me because it seemed that he was only hired by the fish people to do the job and we never really see his interest in creating life before the flashback in Psychonauts 2, I guess maybe Sheegor but she's an igor and they aren't normally the creations of their masters.

If it is a real retcon then it was only really done so the plot could go forward but tbh it's not a too big one, I just noticed it and found it interesting enough to bring up.
 
wtfNeedSignUp said:
So apperantly there's a puzzle with a typewriter and it censors "harmful" words?
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How will I ever be able to spell the name of my favorite ever french republic?
 
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