Psychonauts 2 lost its edge

[CDI Mario]

In comparing Psychonauts 1 to 2 you find out that Psychonauts 1 was really dark in some points which made some things really funny.
in psychonauts 2 everything feels softer. no more insanity jokes. we only get lol so random jokes. No more telling Squirrel to see you in hell. no we can reference blowing up squirrels from the first game tho. no Insanity, no its all just repressed stuff now. Boyd Cooper would not be in Psychonauts 2 because he doesnt fit the game. hes funny, Psychonauts 2 is not that funny, Its Silly

[Codester]

it does seem less dark/unnerving and more just whacky and zany. I'm hoping the back half of the game gets darker, cause that's how it was in the first one. I'm about halfway through right now.

[CDI Mario]

Originally posted by Codester:

it does seem less dark/unnerving and more just whacky and zany. I'm hoping the back half of the game gets darker, cause that's how it was in the first one. I'm about halfway through right now.

the first game started off with Dogen obliterating squirrels because they were calling him a murderer. this game starts with raz getting his clothes stolen. from what ive heard it doesnt get much darker.

[Snakebite262]

There's still plenty of dark humor and serious subject matters. Just because they're not grabbing for the low hanging fruit doesn't mean it's lost any of it's charm.

[Conker]

posted this in another thread but iam also copy / pasting it in here

yeah i feel the same

psychonauts 2 is alright in comparison to psychonauts 1
the nps are annoying and boring at best
(sadly not even the funny annoying like bobby zilch ... just plain boring / annoying)

overall it feels like a huge slog to play this game
even the storytelling / levels feel bland af although the art design is superb
guess its because the nps and dialogs

P2 definitely lost the special something along the way

i do like this game but there is not the same vibe that I really enjoyed from the first

this is definitely not the sequel I was hoping for

[Astral]

It hasn't really. The edge is still there in a lot of the subject matter it covers. The jokes are a bit different sure but there's a lot of stuff in there that does strike into darker territory (jokes about people having an affair for example or the whole conversation after you give those rich people their baby in the casino stage)

It's still there, it's just less obvious and in your face and there's nothing wrong with that.

That and since the release of the first game, we've learned a lot about mental health, in particular the importance of taking people's mental health seriously. The world has changed since 2005 and as a result so has the game and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Astral]

Originally posted by Codester:

it does seem less dark/unnerving and more just whacky and zany. I'm hoping the back half of the game gets darker, cause that's how it was in the first one. I'm about halfway through right now.

The back half of the game does get darker I can confirm. There's a pretty solid plot in there with some twists I really did not see coming. Granted I don't think it gets AS dark as the first game but considering the type of story they're telling here it doesn't really need to. It still gets plenty dark enough though

[Nidstang]

That's unfortunate...
That 2000s edge is all but gone today. I was hoping this would scratch the itch that Ratchet And Clank refuses to nowadays.

[Bubingus]

Agreed. Game and world is still a blast to play and explore but the vibe of the game is very different. Exploring the camp felt like at any corner you'd find something strange and off. This one feels more like I'm playing a Dreamworks movie. Not a bad thing, but not what I was expecting.

[Nedly Dedly]

Originally posted by VividValkyrie:

That and since the release of the first game, we've learned a lot about mental health, in particular the importance of taking people's mental health seriously. The world has changed since 2005 and as a result so has the game and there's nothing wrong with that.

The ♥♥♥♥ are you talking about? People have always taken mental health seriously. Psychonauts 1 actually covered these topics PRETTY seriously, despite the crazy visuals, dark humor and being all wacko and bucko. Really, shut up with all this stupid pseudo-moral ♥♥♥♥.

[PlebNC (UK)]

Early game has you rewire a person's brain for your own selfish purposes that causes them to become a compulsive gambler.
That's pretty dark.
Also makes Raz qualified to work at EA.

[Nedly Dedly]

Originally posted by PlebNC (UK):

Early game has you rewire a person's brain for your own selfish purposes that causes them to become a compulsive gambler.
That's pretty dark.
Also makes Raz qualified to work at EA.

Which character is the talk about?

[SimonSays]

Originally posted by Nedly Dedly:

The ♥♥♥♥ are you talking about? People have always taken mental health seriously. Psychonauts 1 actually covered these topics PRETTY seriously, despite the crazy visuals, dark humor and being all wacko and bucko. Really, shut up with all this stupid pseudo-moral ♥♥♥♥.

Actually it really is only in the last few years that discussion of mental health has become less taboo - not that society wasn't talking about it 10-20 years ago when the first game came out, but really it is only been in the time since the first game that it has become okay to talk about without fear of getting labelled by your friends, co-workers or family.

Even when I was in school, it was the start of the attention disorder age where they started treating kids in school with Ritalin - it wasn't something that anyone really talked about openly and some of my friends who were on it would hide it from the general school population for fear of being ridiculed or bullied.

Topics like PTSD (general, veteran, etc.) were just not talked about - or considered a major health crisis.

Thankfully the discussion has moved on from those days - and people are able to deal with these issues with less fear of ridicule.

Regarding the general humour of the game - I have noticed it is slightly more empathetic and understanding of the subject matter it is dealing with and so the humour is a little less "edgy" than the first game (but really only slightly - it isn't like the first game was full of cynical dark humour, I mean Tim Schafer is a lot more optimistic than say Dan Harmon so I don't think it makes sense to have expected a much "darker" game).

From what I have played so far (I just finished the Casino level), this game has all the attributes of the first game covered with better narrative pacing and more empathetic characters. The level design is so far as good as the first game - the visuals are definitely an upgrade, and the general trippiness has also been embellished in the best way possible.

[Tim, the Enchanter]

Originally posted by Nedly Dedly:

Originally posted by VividValkyrie:

That and since the release of the first game, we've learned a lot about mental health, in particular the importance of taking people's mental health seriously. The world has changed since 2005 and as a result so has the game and there's nothing wrong with that.

The ♥♥♥♥ are you talking about? People have always taken mental health seriously. Psychonauts 1 actually covered these topics PRETTY seriously, despite the crazy visuals, dark humor and being all wacko and bucko. Really, shut up with all this stupid pseudo-moral ♥♥♥♥.

What alternate reality do you live in where people have always taken mental health seriously? It is heavily and well documented that it has not been taken seriously by majority of society till the past decade or so. Hell, large parts of society still think badly of anyone with mental health problems or want to just ignore them.

[lieutenantkirtar]

Later in the game, at night, the game does get darker. They did a similar thing in another game.

[Runic Tunic]

Idk. Personally I felt it still had it's dark moments. Go through most of Ford's mind (especially the barber section) and tell me that doesn't have pretty dark undertones. I think it's just different. The darker stuff in the first one was mostly relegated to each mind we explored and focused more on blatant clinical mental illness, while in P2 it's more about the more common hardships of life and loss, and it's a a bit more subtle/intermingled with everything else going on.

Some of it is nowhere near as intense as Boyd for example, but it's still pretty intense. I mean, in the first half we explore a insane lobotomized individual, rewire and completely screw up another person's mind, and by the second half we're met with Ford's crippling loss of self, loss of a loved one, and the horrible things he's done for that lover. A lover who is a literal mass murderer.

I also liked most of the characters. Only wished we spent more time with some of them. The main story drove so much of the game that the side characters and interactions didn't get as much limelight as I would have liked.