Final Thoughts on Psychonauts

I finished it. Woohoo! *fwee~e* Er, yeah. The difficulty curve in the last level or two is like running headfirst into a fucking brick wall after you just went downhill on a roller coaster. And the game controls really kind of suck.

However, you look past the dodgy gameplay and you get a really great game with some amazingly developed characters. I think it's great all of the characters have pasts and histories beyond the game. Hell, when I write a novel this November, I kinda wish I could have characters that well developed.

...Should probably get started on that, then.

Anyways, the levels in Psychonauts consist of you going into a person's mind. And the level design fits the person's past and present. I don't want to go into the specifics, so I don't ruin it for anyone else. But really, I don't feel like I'm giving the sheet amount of thought that went into this enough credit.

Okay, let's put it this way: There's this huge mutated FISH with more character depth and backstory than most of the characters in Oblivion that you'll encounter. Not to call Bethesda out or anything, but they were definitely going for quantity. And I couldn't really help but have the feeling the entire world was focused on what I did - which, it kinda was. I mean, it is a game where you craft your own experiences. But it limits the realism, the immersion of the game. In Psychonauts - yes, there's some limiting factors with the passing of time being entirely reliant on your actions. However, the game captures what I can only describe as characters, real, fleshed-out characters, with some existence outside of the game world, outside of what I was doing.

Even though they don't.

Besides, there aren't a whole lot of games out there that I will actually go back through levels to find fluff information on the characters for. I hate collectibles and I don't give a rat's ass about "perfect" files or whatever. But I really love the little slideshows you get giving you screenshots into a character's life, and the development slides you can get from getting all the emotional baggage sorted.

I really REALLY love the characters in this game.

Aw hell. Either go buy it off of Steam, or go read the Tv Tropes on it, maybe without the spoilers. I'mma stop blabbing on about how awesome this game is.

P.S. Emotional baggage is adorable.

Want to tell this author what you think, but you don't want anyone else to see it? Think she's full of it and need to set her straight? Want to worship the ground she walks on? Well, good luck with that last one, but you can email Chrys at catharticgamer@yahoo.com and at least tell her what you think.