Psychonauts 2 Preview: An Inventive Platformer That Should Meet Fan Expectations

Psychonauts 2 has been one of my most anticipated games for years at this point. As a longtime fan of Double Fine, a sequel to 2005’s original Psychonauts was something that I had hoped would come about long before the studio ever announced the project back in 2015. And while it has been a long road to get to where we’re at now, with said sequel finally releasing next month, it very much seems like the wait is going to be well worth it.

After having played about five hours of Psychonauts 2, mainly of which centered around the game’s opening areas, the thing I’m most surprised by is how similar to its predecessor it feels in nearly every way. Sure, tech has advanced quite a bit over the years so it’s expected that the sequel looks much better while boasting grander scope. But outside of these factors, everything else is so familiar in the best way. Characters remain charming, dialogue continues to be witty, and the level design is likely some of the most inspired I have seen in a platformer in quite some time. It’s almost as if Double Fine immediately went from finishing the first entry to then working on Psychonauts 2 without any sort of decade-plus break between installments.

Speaking more to the world design found in Psychonauts 2, this is the aspect of the game that I have kept dwelling on after my preview session. Anyone who has played the original title knows that Double Fine is capable of putting together some levels that are quite out there, to say the least. This sequel, even in its early hours, makes some of the most outlandish levels from the first game look banal by comparison. Perhaps my favorite level was a mix of both a hospital and a casino, which led to some truly bizarre, yet inventive, sections of gameplay. All of this makes me confident that Psychonauts 2 will have areas on par with classic locales from the first game such as the beloved “Milkman Conspiracy“.

Some of the new gameplay additions that I came across in Psychonauts 2 were a ton of fun to utilize as well. One new ability that Raz can utilize allows him to jump between associations that characters might have in their mind. Essentially, this power lets Raz not only bounce around to specific locations at a fast pace, but the puzzles that Double Fine has created in tandem with this ability are inventive and unique. This feature is yet another really smart idea that ties back in with the notion that every level takes place in a different character’s head.

Platforming in a general sense also still feels great in Psychonauts 2. Most platforming-focused abilities that Raz could use in the original game have made their way over in this sequel, so on that front, there’s quite a bit of familiarity. Levels are still filled with tons of different collectibles as well, meaning that if you’re a true completionist, you should be able to make plenty of return trips to previous locations. Even in this preview phase, I was doing just that for myself.

That being said, not all gameplay mechanics in Psychonauts 2 seem up to snuff. Combat is still the one aspect of the game that I think might be a bit lacking. Despite having a number of abilities at your disposal that you can use to dispatch foes, many of your attacks feel a bit clunky. I’m not sure if this is something that will improve or not over the course of the game, but even if it doesn’t, this might not even be a big problem. Combat encounters were pretty limited in the time that I spent with Psychonauts 2.

Perhaps this also shouldn’t be surprising, but the early hours of Psychonauts 2 also did a great job in pulling me into the story that it’s looking to tell. In a general sense, the game picks up mere moments after the events of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin and it capitalizes on that spin-off’s ending quite well. After getting off to a fast start, Psychonauts 2 then sets the stage for what the narrative is going to evolve into from that point onward. Combined with the aforementioned excellent character writing, it makes me believe that the full story is one that will consistently be engaging and fun to see play out.

Coming into 2021, Psychonauts 2 was quite possibly the game that I was most looking forward to in the calendar year. To say that I had high expectations for this title would be somewhat underselling it. So to now see that Double Fine seems to be at the top of its game when it comes to Psychonauts 2 makes me that much more eager to experience the full thing.

Psychonauts 2 is slated to launch next month on August 25 and will be releasing on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Stay tuned to our coverage here at ComicBook.com around the game’s launch as we should have a full review to share with you at that time.