Psychonauts (2005)

Microsoft needs to resolve the fact that you can’t remote play Xbox or Xbox 360 games. This can’t be a technical limitation, especially since they’ve managed to add Psychonauts to Game Pass streaming. While Game Pass streaming can be convenient it can it currently hold a candle to console remote play in terms of general stability and loading speeds.

Just completed my playthrough of Psychonauts. The core idea - of jumping into people's minds and exploring them - is great, and the levels reflect that very well. Each mental world is unique, and almost feels like a separate game of its own. That is also the biggest problem with Psychonauts. The progression of the game feels very disconnected, because you're going back to square one with each new mental world that you enter. You have to discover the mechanics of that specific level (mostly through trial and error), and once you feel like you have a grip on it, the level is over and you're thrown into the next one. It's like a series of learning curves, and none of them really feel very rewarding at their respective ends. I'm still not entirely sure how I got through the Black Velvetopia level.

Beyond the main gameplay, there is an avalanche of collectibles. I don't think I've seen so many collectibles in a game. There are even different types of collectibles, and I had to go back and refer to the game's manual to figure out what does what. The collectibles do influence the gameplay by helping you rank up and so forth, so they're not entirely useless.

The art style is rather weird and not very pretty, but I got used to it over the game. The story is actually straightforward, but it takes a lot of time to get going and is then delivered in a very disjointed way. The script incorporates a lot of humor, and some lines had me laughing out loud. The platforming gameplay is serviceable, but some sections have frustrating difficulty spikes.

So that's Psychonauts in a nutshell. It's built on some great ideas, but unevenly so.

I really want to love Psychonauts. Its storytelling, voice acting, humor, ambition, and creativity in working with a concept in a video game medium are all 5/5, or close to it.

But damn, is this game sure not fun to play. This is just not a good 3D platformer. Stiff controls, bizarre choices in abilities and how they're used, and levels designed to be as tedious and frustrating as possible -- to the point of near-unplayability in the last few levels. I ended up Youtubing the last part of the game, because enough was enough. It's a real bummer, because the levels are so imaginative, and it's clear the creators put a lot of thought into them. You play as a psychic child named Raz who enters the mindscapes of various other characters in order to help solve their mental problems, so each level has a completely different look and feel to it befitting that person's mind. It's such a great concept to utilize for a video game, and I really wish they could've stuck the landing for it in terms of gameplay. You often have quest-based puzzles to work out in the style of a point-and-click adventure game, but you generally have a bunch of annoying enemies to constantly deal with while doing so. It's absolutely annoying. The two genres just didn't mesh well unfortunately.

I feel like if this were a Telltale type of game, I would've enjoyed it a ton more. Exploring the worlds in everyone's minds and solving some puzzles along the way could've been delightful. But instead we got a lot of wonky combat and unpleasant platforming. Perhaps this will be improved in the upcoming sequel, which I'll still keep an eye out for because I do want to know what wacky nonsense Raz will get into next.

On a whim, I decided to pick up Psychonauts (it was like $2) on PS4 and finally play it. I really haven't played many 3D platformers, and need to go through some of the classics.

Finished the first couple levels (army land, floating cube). The platforming is... not the greatest. But the amusing dialogue--both in terms of writing, and in voice acting delivery--is great, memorable stuff. Really feels like I'm playing through a 90s Nickelodeon cartoon, albeit one that's working with a much more clever premise than you'd actually get in a kids' show.