Psychonauts Review (Dr. Qyurryus)
I played both 1, Rhombus of Ruin, and 2 back to back, and excluding RoR, the two games are *very* similar and act as an extension of one another. This is why this review will include my general opinions about both 1 *and* 2, while pointing out some differences between them. Generally though, if I didn't mention which entry I'm talking about, then I'm talking about both.
Story & Writing:
This is the series strong-point by far. Every aspect of the game feeds into the story, including: level-design, combat, abilities, etc.
The story itself in it's base form isn't something we've never seen before: superpowers, gadgets, spies, etc. It's the way the story bleeds into every nook and cranny of this game, the way the writing can pull off seem-less transitions between childish humour, adult drama, or sometimes in between with adult comedy.
All the characters are well written, and are some of the most memorable I've seen in any movie, show, or game.
After playing this series, All other similar games' stories (Jack and Daxter, Ratchet and clank, Sly Cooper) feel one-dimensional and basic. Especially after playing Ratchet and Clack: Rift Apart, which felt very child focused and not very enjoyable or engaging for anyone above the age of 10.
Between the first game and the second , I feel both are as strong as one another writing wise, and although the first one has a very good story, the sequel ups it by just a bit.
Level-Design:
Since most of the game takes place in different people's minds, the level design feels like a continuation of the story, but without the writing. You can see the world through the person's POV and delve into his psyche to figure out what are his internal problems, motivations, etc. Everything in the level is a hint into the subconscious: the characters, the walls, the gimmick....
every level has it's own unique gimmick which can be minor or major. It can range from for example: 1-the floor is lava, 2- giving you a new ability and the whole level is built around this ability (which you can now use in other levels of course), or 3- completely changing the way you play the game.
In this aspect, I think both 1 and 2 are equal, though 2 is bigger and offers more.
Combat & Powers:
Combat is serviceable, although there is a definite improvement with the second game with more enemy variety, while the first game only had censors of the small, medium, large and range variety, three of them basically occupying the same role.
Although, with the introduction of more enemies in the second game, some of them have a specific way to fight them and although I didn't mind most of them, some take almost no damage expect with pyrokinesis which is very slow and tedious.
Lock-on was extremely well-done in the first game, and it's absolutely horrendous in the second one, you might as well not use it in 2.
as for powers, both games have the same core abilities with a few specific powers for each game. The main point I would like to talk about is the differences in 3 of the main abilities between the first and second game.
Psi-blast: Is a basic shoot ability in both games with a charge mechanic, in the first game it's ammo based, while in the second game it's 3 shots (you can also upgrade to 4, feels pretty much the same) and then a cooldown. Both have their negatives, in the first one when you have a lot of ammo you basically dont need any other power, but when you're out you have collect drops one by one which is tedious and breaks flow. In the second game, it's rechargeable so it can be used in the platforming like the other abilities, but it has more down-time than shooting. I feel there is a middle ground here.
Pyrokinesis: in the first game it was lock on based, which makes it free-range, as long as you can lock on you can use it, but it was also mostly a single target attack, in the second game it's an AOE with well defined parameters but only a fixed range. Also both require a wind-up. I feel also, there is a middle ground here and you can also remove the wind-up but give it a slight recharge time.
Levitation: It was by far, way more fun to use in the first game than in the second game. It had higher jumps, more control and just better movements in the first game. While I understand why they nerfed it, since you can break the game with it and they had to be very intricate in their design with the first game to make sure this doesn't happen for the most part (it still did), but in the end, it is less fun to use in the second game.
TL;DR: Fantastic action-platformer with genre defining story, writing and characters.