#Psychonauts 2 new game plus how to

The characters are all interesting and there is a surprising amount of dialogue and discussion between Raz and the other Psychonauts. It lets you explore some really imaginative locations – and minds – all of which feel authentically spy genre with their own truly weird twist. You’re brought into a conspiracy of international psychic espionage where you must find a mole with the Psychonauts themselves as well as prevent a secret society from raising their wicked leader from the dead. The story of Psychonauts 2 is equally as strange and engaging as the game's art style. Once you unlock the quarry, you’ll find loads of places to explore and distract yourself from any objective you’re struggling to comprehend. It can feel a bit like an adventure game in this regard, but thankfully, you’ll normally have a few side missions you can focus on that lead you in the right direction more often than not. Another asks you to find a spare brain for a postal worker but doesn’t remotely tell you where you should start looking. Instead, you have to just go and ask the cafeteria. If you’ve been using the clairvoyance ability, you might have found someone with bacon on the brain and seek him out only to discover he isn’t the solution. One early example has you searching for bacon. These are often easy and linear enough to be tackled head-on, but sometimes you can be left wondering just what to do.

#Psychonauts 2 new game plus how to

Often, Psychonauts 2 can set you a task and leave you to work out how to accomplish it. Some of the puzzles you’ll encounter can be a little harder to interpret, though. Getting caught out by some of the bruisers that appear in other people's minds can be pretty damaging, though you’ll also have plenty of health if you spend a little time respawning. Each arena is frantic, asking you to keep moving between tabs and psy-blasts. There is also combat that asks you to retool your traversal skills into weapons. There are so many different types that it can be a little confusing to know what you’re picking up and what you’re meant to leave behind, some of which are impossible to reach until you return with new or improved abilities. You’ll also be discovering dozens of different collectibles as you explore the inner workings of your enemies and colleagues. This can be a little overwhelming for new players, but the game is not too demanding and gives you ample opportunity to make mistakes and experiment. Most of these powers are also introduced earlier on, having been unlocked and discovered in the original outing. While running, double jumping and climbing are the staples of any game platformer, there are plenty of other psychic abilities for young Raz to get to grips with in Psychonauts 2. Rooms change as you explore and return, often becoming less fixed and real and forcing you to utilize the varied skills of a Psychonaut.

You’ll often find yourself looping back for one reason or another, but the start is never the same. Levels are often circular or repetitive on paper. This weird dreamlike design exists beyond the art direction too. Unlike Inception, which desperately holds on to its cool heist thriller motif, Psychonauts 2 quickly changes things up with meeting tables that transform into tongues and doors that appear as lips and teeth. It’s impossible and brain-bending and yet exactly how you might expect dream exploration to go. You’re constantly spit out into the sink but always seem to end up back in his mouth. An early example is a dentist: when you enter his thoughts, you find yourself inside an office in his giant mouth as it gets examined by another form of him. These levels break all the rules and are so much fun to explore. While inside the mind, you are subject to dream logic and surrealist, absurdist vistas. Psychonauts, for the uninitiated, is a 3D puzzle platformer that revolves around a group of psychic secret agents that have the power to infiltrate the minds of others (and each other) to investigate, interrogate, and somewhat worryingly attempt to rehabilitate. It's absolutely fantastic to explore, and that is before you get into the brain diving that mains up at least half of the adventure. It fits perfectly with the character design and narrative, with strange sci-fi contraptions and a very deliberate lack of straight lines. The rest of the world encompasses that strange spy aesthetic that references something you probably don’t know. Every character looks vaguely like a nightmare or warped memory of someone else, yet you’ll love them all the same. The sequel effortlessly maintains the Tim Burton-esque quality of the art design, with strange, gangly yet lovable characters depicted with bizarre colorings and bonkers fashion.