The pins, which can be mixed and matched for different results, felt especially needless, particularly when you do need a little boost. While chasing upgrades for Telekinesis, Psi-Blast, and Pyrokinesis are essential to keeping pace with the lean difficulty curve, the rest can feel a little expendable.
Those collectibles also function as a resource that helps Raz rank up, upgrade abilities, and purchase pins to augment his powers. It's impossible to anticipate where Psychonauts 2 will send you next or what it will have to say when you get there – about the human experience or our connection to those that occupy space around us. Crawl out of that nightmare and you'll fold into a delicate papercraft world of self-reflection and actualisation. Just as the comic vibes begin to fade, you'll tumble down the rabbit hole of alcoholism and isolation. A Brain in a Jar, voiced by Jack Black, becomes your guide through late '60s psychedelia. Playacting a celebrity chef in a cooking show, filmed before a live-studio audience of anthropomorphic ingredients, feeds naturally into a Marble Madness-inspired sprint through a filthy bowling shoe – the former encapsulating the antagonistic energy of Hell's Kitchen and the latter nailing the trippy visuals of the head-trip from The Big Lebowski. They are abstract, absurdist, self-contained adventures that feel perfectly placed and paced.
The same can be said for each of the brains that you astrally project into and attempt to repair. The reward is massive it's heartfelt and humanising, full of moments that are uniquely Double Fine, and action that would struggle to be replicated outside of the narrative conceits made by Psychonauts' premise. It's a high-risk level for Double Fine Hollis' Hot Streak features bespoke artwork and soundscapes, purpose-built platforming and mini-games, and numerous opportunities for quiet concession and contemplation. The world itself is a reflection of Agent Forsythe's shattering psyche, a funhouse exploration of addiction and anxiety, after Raz accesses his mentor's mind and inadvertently severs her mental connection between risk and reward.
In it, Razputin Aquato – circus acrobat turned Psychonaut-in-training – tumbles into a stage that seamlessly combines the perilous energy of a high-roller casino with the latent trauma of a hospital ICU. That resolve is palpable in one of Psychonauts 2's earliest missions. Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
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