#PSYCHONAUTS 2 REVIEW A JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION FULL#

The controls are spread logically over the Xbox pad (or the PC gamepad you must employ to fully enjoy it), it has an enormous campsite hub area full of things to climb, things you can't climb yet and hidden depths home to pick-ups, a nice progressive system of accumulating tools, health and unnecessary trinkets, a very well-masked structure that marks out the plot without settling into a predictable rhythm, and more lovely level ideas than Andy Warhol's aborted attempt to design elevator doors. The platform game underneath would have been fine without it.

The humour isn't an excuse for a weak or entry-level platform game, either. I didn't even WANT a friendship bracelet. Learn Telekinesis, accidentally pick up your mentor, and he'll say something like, 'Yes, very good, now let's try picking something up that won't kill you if you make it angry.' That's fine.

Psychonauts undoubtedly comes close to reaching the levels of saturation-humour achieved by other games on Schafer's best-of list - and more or less everything sees you coming. It illustrates not only how far Double Fine has gone to make sure that everything you can poke has a feather waiting to tickle you back with, but also how well the developer understands gamer behaviour - and preys upon it. It made us spit Diet Coke all over the wall, but anybody who clicks 'Yes' will be robbed of the laugh. The thing that's great about the above joke is that most people won't see it. The man who made games like Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango so fantabulous has returned in a different genre with similar design principles. It's a laugh-out-loud, Tim Schafer moment. Gosh, we thought, what if this is a significant breaking point, and we'll lose access to all that's come before? Maybe it's asking us because it knows we might need more time? Maybe we should save first, and then agree. Playing through this, our gamer senses kicked in. It takes place after a few hours and a pivotal plot event, and - modified a bit to save spoiling it - starts something like this: 'Are you ready to join me?' With an option of two responses.

There's a bit in Psychonauts that, for us, captures the spirit of the game in a single exchange. People keep saying to us: 'Ooh, I like the sound of Psychonauts, but I wish it wasn't a platform game.' But more on that later.

Psychonauts 2 review a journey into imagination