Review: Psychonauts

A criminally overlooked gem from 2005, Psychonauts is an action platformer based on a brilliantly unique concept: you play as Raz, a young psychic who accomplishes real-world objectives by diving into different characters' minds and exploring their often-troubled psyches as you attempt to stop a shadowy plot.

I got this game a couple of years ago through one of the first Humble Indie Bundles, along with Amnesia, Braid, Limbo, Bastion, and some other stuff I never played (just those four were plenty). Amnesia wouldn't on my laptop so I had an excellent excuse to not play it (I did, but later and with friends. Horror games are a lot of fun played in a group setting, actually). I had already played Bastion and Braid and loved them, and Limbo was also awesome. But since everyone and their dog has written about those games, I thought it would be fun to write about the game I had never heard of upon starting it up but found myself being completely sucked into almost immediately. So here I am (and here you are, I suppose).

The game's a platformer (like Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro) so most of the game is you running around the world exploring and navigating the different levels. Sounds pretty normal, but there's the twist: each different level takes place in a different character's mind, so each environment is completely distinct. And I really mean "distinct" here, not just each level using the same assets in different colors. An example: one level takes place in the mind of a paranoid-schizophrenic. His mindscape is like a dark, twisted version of a 50's suburb, with crazy spiraling streets, guys in trenchcoats all over the place, and a shadowy conspiracy that only he knows about. Another character (who happens to be one of the instructors at the camp) is a dancing fashionista who's inner psyche is a giant party.

Not only do the levels vary tremendously in terms of their appearances, they also all feature distinct mechanics that really lend a sense of identity to each one - in one level, you have to stop a bull running amok through a Mexican town by defeating different luchadors and collecting different paintings (this is the world of a depressed Hispanic painter)  and in another you assume the role of the director of a play (this is the world of a crazy actress with delusions of grandeur). All of these little worlds are totally unique and have their own secrets and collectibles hidden inside, and they all serve to flesh out the the characters beautifully. These characters - and the environments in general - are all rendered in a unique, cartoony style. This style makes it instantly recognizable in the same way games like Limbo and Braid are easy to identify because of their art.

The way in which you interact with these compelling, vibrant areas is brilliantly executed as well: Raz has access to a number of psychic powers that he obtains gradually as you level up (a tried-and-true device excellently adapted: you gain experience not by defeating enemies or completing quests, but by collecting figments of characters' imagination that are scattered throughout their mental landscapes) that all facilitate interesting gameplay, ranging from levitation and pyrokinesis to clairvoyance and invisibility. Just like with the dialogue, your ever-expanding bag of tricks has wide-ranging applications in a number of situations, including ones you may have encountered in previous worlds. This kind of design really encourages backtracking for all the right reasons: to find out more about the characters and their motivations and personalities via brilliantly drawn slideshows contained in "memory vaults", to access hidden areas, or just to get more resources.

Besides the environments and mechanics, the writing is another aspect of this game that elevates it - it's consistently excellent at both making you laugh and care about the characters. Every one of Raz's fellow campers has a unique line to say about nearly every item you can get, and even ones you technically shouldn't be able to have, making for a wonderfully rich cast of people with unique personalities and motivations. The jokes are clever and sharp and the plot is interesting and deep without being too twisty for it's own good, and the voice acting is uniformly excellent, especially Steven Horvitz as Raz.

All of these disparate parts all add up to make a game with a singular vision, which is something I love. Games like Spec Ops, Braid, and Bastion are all collections of different assets acting together for a single purpose and to get across one "main point", which is something that you don't see outside of indie games nowadays. Psychonauts doesn't share the ludo-narrative or meta focus that those games do - rather, it's just a damn good game entirely focused on being a damn good game.

The art is great, the writing is great, and the gameplay is great. What's not to love? it's available on Steam and XBL Marketplace for way cheap. You owe it to yourself and, more importantly, to the industry to support projects like this.