Psychonauts 2: More Games Like This, Please 

what other 2005-2006ish game needs a sequel? I can think of quite a few...

Psychonauts 2 restored my faith in video games. What an absolute gem. It is only the 2nd game I have purchased AFTER beating it through Gamepass. It's that good.

Psychonauts 2 is absolutely one of the best games I've played this year. Glad to hear you echoed the same sentiments as I did when I was playing through. As for favorite characters, aside from Raz who is fantastic, Bob Zanotto was a standout character for me. His story was emotional and relatable.

Psychonauts 2 is one of the best games I have ever played. The way it handles mental issues and never makes fun of them is amazing. And somehow it still finds a way to make you laugh but not at the expense of the mind you’re in. I love how Raz is a kid and he doesn’t get some of the stuff he is seeing, but as an adult you see the problems with abuse, alcohol and depression. Absolutely fantastic game and experience. A must play.

"You can tell what they're going for, totally fine..." Double fine. Missed opportunity for a clever wordplay, Jake.

This is the EXACT game that I needed. I'm a teacher for 8 hours a day, then I come home to coursework, and when I'm done I want to sit down and play through this EXCELLENTLY crafted story with fun gameplay that doesn't bust my chops or beat around the bush! It takes me back to my first playthrough of Psychonauts in 2010, while making me super excited to see what's next! Compton Boole and Helmut Fullbear are my personal champs btw. Thanks for talking with us, Jake!

Let's just say I couldn't stop playing until I saw the credits... 12 hours in one sitting, and it was totally worth it. I love this game.

My kids love it. They got so intrigued by the story that i have to stop play my game and spend some time playing with them to progress the story…

I play a lot of games, I don’t finish a lot of games, on Sunday after 2-3 days of playing I finished Psychonauts 2. It was fun, funny, and had I thought a pretty damn good story with a little twist. Oh and I’m not generally a platformer type gamer either but this game was and wasn’t a true “omg if I miss that jump or don’t have perfect timing I have to start all over again” platformer game. So yeah, 2 snaps up in a circle!!!

I wanna buy this 3 times just to support double fine and Jack black so we can get a brutal legend sequel

This game is my GOTY, maybe I'm officially an old person, but it's exactly what I needed right now. I've been playing it with my kiddo and it's been great. And the mental health themes are wonderful and occasionally hit ya in the heart. I'm hoping we get a third game in the franchise. It gushes charm.

I love the little goofy side characters who don’t really matter in the long run but are quotable as hell and just a whole vibe themselves. That being said, my favorite is Nona

That Jack Black sequence really gave me hope for an eventual Brütal Legend 2

Every new brain is a delight to explore. Loving this game. Ford Cruller was always a favorite. Happy to get some backstory on him.

I’m so happy to have good old fashioned single player game without any online or battle royal bs. Def need more games like this. I haven’t played first game but they are doing a great job to catch you up on events that happened before.

One of the best games I've played this year.

I adore both the first and second game, i could gush about it for ages, there's such a "goodness" that's hard to define but I think Jake does a pretty good job of expressing and articulating it.

It's interesting you make the ratchet and clank comparison because that's what I had in my head while playing. Looking back I think rift apart was an overhyped tech demo for the ps5. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it but it didn't innovate whatsoever on it's core identity and lacked any meaningful moments. This led to it feeling very flat to me compared to psychonauts that's just dripping with story and emotional development; whether it be through the dialogue or the more subtle level design. Moreover, despite the lower budget and hearing no mention of it whatsoever I feel the instant loading of new environments within certain brains when crossing through certain doors or thresholds was executed a million times better than rift apart which felt more like a gimmick than a new tool to flex their creativity like the folks at doublefine.

It was such a joy to find out 1) That this game was finally done, and 2) It was available for free on XBL Game Pass. Thanks Jake!

This game is so much fun. We definitely need more of these style games making a come back.

I 100%'d this game yesterday and even got all the achievements. Totally worth the extra hours. Such a good game.

Absolutely incredible, havent felt this feeling in years and honestly thought id started getting too old for video games. Sam Boole is bloody hilarious, but cant get over Jack Blacks sequence as psi king. Great stuff.

I played Psychonauts as a kid and loved it, over time I played it again and again and again. It's my favorite game of all time, so I was anxious and excited for them to return. Couldn't be happier with the result

this and other recent releases makes me think that videogames are finally maybe maturing into a place that has somewhat healthy and respectable indie and double A markets, and not everything has to focused on big triple A releases all the time

My favourite levels so far are definitely the 60s drug induced levels, the music is amazing!! And the colours and art style are just so, awesome!

It's everything I ever drempt of in a psychonauts sequel, loved it

Double Fine is legendary. Love most of their catalogue

This game is honestly fantastic. I understand the hype Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart got, and rightfully so its really really fun, but this game feels like a better implementation of an old franchise being brought into the modern age without losing its core identity. I bring up Ratchet, as it's a beloved retro franchise that had to change the tone of the series very much over the years to make the brand more accessible. Glad to see Psychonauts hasn't changed a bit of it's core and just makes it better for a modern audience. It genuinely deserves to be in the game of the year conversation just as much as Rift Apart, for what it lacks in technical performance (which is still very good) it more than makes up for in its extremely clever writing for its dialogue, story, and gameplay systems. Jake said it best: we need more games like this. Hope we get some more in the future from any company willing to make em.

This is the most I've actually truly enjoyed playing a game in years. Part of that may have been how long I waited but still. It is an amazing game and I just want more

I'm playing it on my XSS from GamePass and I love it. I felt myself like a genius when I finally found the "very special fungi" for Lilly, and I laughed so hard on the food boss. There's so many memorable moments and interesting mechanics. It has platforming, puzzles, visuals, story, combat, exploration and everything is done great. It's so good.

One of the VERY rare times I have no disappointments with a game.

If you’re interested in Double Fine, I HIGHLY recommend their Amnesia Fortnights. Every once in a while, they would do this game jam thing where everyone in the company stops what they’re doing and anyone (no matter how small their job) is able to pitch an idea for a small game. Whatever 2-3 games get the most votes, the company splits into teams led by the people who pitched the winning ideas and spends 2 weeks making those small games. They’re awesome and they can lead to full games or mechanics that they utilize for other games. For instance, one of the 2017 winners was “The Gods must be Hungry” where you play a chef that slides on rails and cooks for the gods using giant kitchen appliances (an idea that you can see utilized for the Compton’s Cooking level in Psychonauts 2). They made a documentary series out of a few of the different Amnesia Fortnights that were released on RU-vid. They’re definitely worth a watch if you’re interested in the game development process.

Can’t stand the wait to play this game. I have to carve out some time for this because I fell in love with these characters with Psychonaughts back in the day. The comedy and the art and the crazy unique story were all amazing.

Just finished 100%ing the game. I’ve completely enjoyed it. A great 💎 Xbox has. Definitely a solid GOTY contender. Hopefully everyone can try it out.

I was initially put off by the "tim burton esque" graphics of this game and almost skipped it, but thanks to it being on Gamepass I had literally nothing to lose, so i tried it, and discovered real quick just how high the quality of the writing and humor was, and the graphics are actually quite good on my RTX 3070 equipped PC. Im now a Double Fine fan which is Ironic because I actually audibly sighed when Microsoft bought them, because i never played their games. I didnt know what i was missing

I'm so glad this is actually out after all these years, not only that but it's also just as good if not better than the original. As the years went by and double fine went into money troubles needing to have it crowdfunded it was super close to be a major disappointment like shenmue 3 or duke nukem forever. Don't know how tim Shafer and crew managed to keep their sh*t together til the end but they did and then some. Hats off to all of the team, hope they see some nominations or wins come this years game awards 😁👍

Sam’s smile at the end gave me a solid laugh!

Definitely been enjoying this game! Almost done with it! Kinda sad that I'm almost done with it. Really fun and entertaining game!

Great video Jake; I was planning on playing it eventually but you mentioning the recap of the first game and saying how good it is; it’s one of my top priorities now.

I’ve honestly waited sooooo long for this game to come out and it really feels like the TTYD to the original paper Mario in scale. I played the original as a middle schooler and imagined what a sequel would be like and this has surpassed my expectations.

You're totally right about the music! The action sequences sounds a lot like Michael Giacchino Incredibles score and then the motherlobe lobby music sounds like a Randy Newman Toy Story/Monsters Inc score

New fan of your channel! Love your take on this beautiful gem! The Sensorium was probably my favorite area! It had everything I wanted in a level, beautiful vibrant environment, goofy lovable characters (I definitely stan Fullbear lol) and it was just the most fun area for me personally! Keep up the great vids!

It’s absolutely amazing I’m loving Psychonauts 2. I never played the first one but just downloaded it. But I totally agree we need more games like this. The level design art style everything is just so psychedelic and beautiful. Being someone who has suffered from mental health and addiction issues I’m really enjoying the story.

As a 8-9 year old kid I never fully “felt” the original psychonauts until I came across the vault in camilla’s mind. That really made me think more about the themes that were being explored.

I am a little past halfway done and It's the wonderment of being like a kid again. Perfectly encapsulates the first game and so much more.(And yes we need more awareness of mental health) Bravo DOUBLE FINE.....BRAAAAAVO.

Great video. John Barry did all of the James Bond scores, up until the 90's. Plus he did hundreds of other amazing Action/Sci-Fi/Drama/etc scores. In the middle of Psychonauts 2 right now. I like it so much more than the original so far, and I was on the QA team for the original lol. Favorite new character is definitely Sam.

I'm really happy this game turned out as good as it did. I just finished it to 100% completion, and I'm quite sad to see it end. I backed Psychonauts 2 back in 2015 and had been looking forward to it for a very long time. It feels very rare to get a big game with this much personality and heart, and I hope we don't have to wait another 16 years for a follow-up.

i am so happy to hear this game getting good reviews. ive waited far to long for a sequel and i cant wait to pick it up

Jake you are the absolute best. No disrespect to the rest of the crew over there at gameranx but I refuse to watch a video without you in it, I’ve never heard someone who not only is so passionate about video games but also so damn good at informing people and being real about games. You are easily the best gaming review / info / thoughts guy.

I really wish people would explain what is "rough" about Psychonauts 1. I just played it for the first time last week and it's GREAT. I honestly prefer the platforming in 1 because of how high and far you can jump with the levitation ball compared to 2. People keep saying the first 1 is "rough" without explaining why and I don't get it. Play the PC version if you can, as it runs at 60fps and in widescreen.

I really liked the collaboration you, Alanah, YongYea, & that dude I'm unfamiliar with had the other night. Good stuff, as per usual.

the "eye" is one of the best games levels i ever play, i hace to sit straight the moment it started, i was amaze by the colours, the forms, the music pulls you in and i experience at the same time that zen moment of flowing trhow the level using plataforms like i have always play the game and felling the need to stop and explore and just breath the world in.. im gonna remember that level for years from now

I think you kind of nailed the assessment of this game. I played the original maybe a couple years after it came out. A coworker said I needed to try it and loaned me his copy which I absolutely loved so I was very excited to hear the sequel was coming out. I'm a couple hours in and so far its great. Similar to what you said I think its a straight foward "oldschool" style adventure platformer that is really refreshing to play in this day and age.

the audio editing on this one was phenomenal 👏🏻

Game is amazing, takes me back to when I used to watch ed edd n eddy and afterwards play games like sly cooper and whiplash

Just picked this up. I have been having a platformer itch and this is what I been needing

The fact that this game not only lived up to the previous game but exceeded it is amazing. I am really hoping for a Psychonauts 3 and/or a remaster of the original Psychonauts.

This game is GOTY.

i loved the voice over work to connect the studio recorded dialogue and the stuff he added during editing. haha!

Nice to play a game that was also a passion project again they are getting rarer and rarer

I think this is probably the game I was most excited for in 2021 and definitely my favorite so far

Love this game! Been playing it for about a week now, love the new areas you find. Don’t want it to end!

Been playing on XBox One X - it’s an amazing throwback done right. It’s gorgeous in its own way and feels like a true continuation of the original.

I remember getting to the world of Bobby Zanotto, and it was one of those rare moments where I literally just put my controller down and had my mouth wide open at just how beautiful and creative the world was, it looked so well like I was playing a Pixar movie.

Never played the original but hearing you talk about it and seeing the game footage really makes me interested

Love talking video games with u Jake

Bob is the realest character I’ve ever seen Bob is my fav character

I missed out on the 1st game but I LOVED Psychonauts 2. Every single level was exciting to enter and the plot, themes, and dialogue were all super interesting. It's rare I don't skip cutscenes and speed through dialogue but I didn't with this one cuz I loved it so much. And it subverted my expectations several times.

I've been streaming this the last couple weeks and honestly? I loved how they approached mental health, and I realized last session that I miss FUN games. When it comes right down to it, it's just a lot of fun but not silly. Love it so far! 😁🇨🇦💜

This game was great, I enjoyed playing it the whole time, but idk when, pretty early on I saw someone else say "it's a game about healing" and that colored my view, like it's not about fight some big boss, it's about a bunch of different people coming to terms with their pasts and healing past/through it. Also the PSI-king level has the best music in the game

100% agree. Finished it in 3 sittings and loved every minute of it! Anyone sitting on the fence, just take the plunge. Worth every cent.

i’ll definitely ask my parents for this game for christmas. it looks amazing

I finally bought the first Psychonauts so I can start from the beginning. It went under my radar growing up, so can't wait to try it. Thanks for the video man ✌🏽

Psychonauts was my favorite game of all time. WAS. Psychonauts 2 is now my favorite game. I can’t wait for psychonauts 3 and I hope we are lol still here when it comes out in 16 years.

Psychonauts 2, the Crud, Kena, keep in coming! Loving these 2021 games.

9:02 something I'd like to add to this is that the reason it's a really great level is because it works within the context of the game, especially when you look at the fact that the different senses represent a different character in the game, it's incredibly trippy but also incredibly creative, those panic attack fights were the worst though

Would love to see another brutal legend game

I just finished playing both of the games for the first time and they amazing. The first one was funnier to me, witch made it very worth it, but the second one is so creative with the areas and the technology to make it work. None of them look the same and there is always a cool twist on basically all of the areas you visit. Personally the food and the plants ones were the ones I most enjoyed. Thx for the recommendation =)

I haven't finished it but I really like it. I hope they do a sequel to Brutal Legend.

I heard about the first game a couple of years ago and I picked it up but didn't play it until about a year ago and I was surprised that I finished it, I really enjoyed it and when heard part 2 was coming out I was interested but didn't think it would be as good as it is and I'm really enjoying it at about 5-6 hours in, raz and cruller are my favourites so far but there are more that I haven't met yet so I'm looking forward to getting to know them

I like the Back to the Future comparison, guess where Tim Schafer used to work? That's actually really on point!

I haven't beat it yet, but im in love just like I was in 2005. It's seriously the best game I've played this year. It has such a nostalgic feel and I can't get enough. DLC maybe??

Never played Psychopaths, and after playing 2, it reminds me of my favorite childhood game ever: Sly Cooper. And this is exactly how I wish Sucker Punch should make a new Sly game.

I played on the PC with Xbox game pass. I loved this game so much. It was well worth the wait. The first one was so much fun. I was about 15 when it came out and I fell in love with Raz and Lilly but then it just ended and I thought it wasn't going to have a new entry for the longest time. But like I said it was worth the wait.

It is so far the best game of the year. The level design is second to none. And love the characters. Fantastic examples of mental traumas, guilt, addictions, love. And even though the story was straightforward, I was genuinely impressed with some twists i didn't see coming. Played this on the series x with gamepass. Buying it this week. 100% agree work like this needs as much support as possible. Up there with team cherry and supergiant games

My favs: the Questionable area (great to explore and lots of cool verticality), Psi King's Sensorium (love the music reference and the psychedelics), and Fatherland Follies.

I love the original Psychonauts and it made me an instant fan of Double Fine. Not all of their games are my cup of tea, but they've got some really good ones.

Psychonauts 2 is the best 2021 game i played, is a solid plataform game, a master piece in level designer and art in general, has a strong and empatious history, and the characters are awesome.

I personally enjoyed the game very much. I 100% the game on PC. One of my favorite characters was the grandma her storyline was interesting and had a great twist towards the end. I definitely recommend this game to all of my friends to play it. One of my favorite games of this year so far it definitely made the top 5 games on my list of games this year, shoot I would go to saying it number 1 and or 2 on the top 5. I think we need more games like this in the future.

I played it on the PS5 and my top 3 characters are Raz, Sam, and Fullbear for completely different reasons. Raz because he's a cinnamon roll that needs to be protected. Sam because I didn't think a Boole could get any weirder. Fullbear because his story was so tragic.

Definitely agree that we need more games like this. Good old action platformer. It seems that this type of game is going extinct, since not even the Playstation (which was THE platform to get if you like these sorts of games) seems to have these games anymore.

I'm loving this game. I played the original and fell in love with the art style and charm. It reminds me of a book from my childhood called The Stinky Cheese Man. If you're interested in Double Fine games I definitely recommend Broken Age. Seems like a kid friendly point and click adventure from the jump but it becomes so much more. Jack Black is in it too.

Waiting on my halo edition xsx to arrive in Nov before i play. Super excited

Psychonauts 1 and 2 are the best things that ever happened to me

Waited 16 years for an amazing sequel, loved every second playing it. Although the cutscenes run my PS4 like a jet

finish the game last night! i totaly understand when you said it feels like a game! its just crazy how awesome it is. havent been this mind blown from a sequel since blade runner 2049.

I just starred the first last night and got hooked spent all night playing. Lucky for me they have a part 2 and both it fast!! I hope 2 is as good as 1.

I have been waiting for this game forever and it does not disappoint…a big Double Fine fan!

It's a masterpiece gamers!

Jake, you're always amazing and I, for one, am glad you reviewed this game. My Hubby really enjoyed most of the first one. It got too intense in the last bit. But we both love Double Fine games - Costume Quest (1 and 2) were a delight. We'll be buying this game tomorrow. Thanks!