How does it compare to the first one?

[YΛҠ SĤΛ√ƐŔ]

I've played the original and was absolutely in love. But I'm holding back till Halloween (because more time).
But meanwhile: Is the sequel better than the first one? How long does a first playthrough take? Is there a bummer lvl like the meat one in 1?
Are we able to use the powers more extensively? And are there new ones?

[The Nothing Man]

id suggest not trying to compare its a setup for a let down

did you play the VR one?
its nothing like the original.
i cant use VR due to vertigo so ack to me

there are many new features listed!
so check em out in reviews!
combat is more fluid as is platforming I read..
Cant say for sure I dont have it .. yet

but ty about the first one! was a pleasure being a test pig for such games..
esp after that it lead me to telltale so TY double fine! miss ya all !!

[YΛҠ SĤΛ√ƐŔ]

Originally posted by Kaldire:

id suggest not trying to compare its a setup for a let down

did you play the VR one?
its nothing like the original.
i cant use VR due to vertigo so ack to me

there are many new features listed!
so check em out in reviews!
combat is more fluid as is platforming I read..
Cant say for sure I dont have it .. yet

but ty about the first one! was a pleasure being a test pig for such games..
esp after that it lead me to telltale so TY double fine! miss ya all !!

haven't played the VR one, even tho i own a vive
the set-up always requires preparation here (moving furniture)

i've been a gigantic fan since Grim Fandango released
Double Fine is def erm ..double fine

I'm wondering now if Psychonauts 2 was on kickstarter before. I've invested in Broken Age for example, but it has been so long ago, can't really remember.

[WeissRook]

Originally posted by YΛҠ SĤΛ√ƐŔ:

Originally posted by Kaldire:

id suggest not trying to compare its a setup for a let down

did you play the VR one?
its nothing like the original.
i cant use VR due to vertigo so ack to me

there are many new features listed!
so check em out in reviews!
combat is more fluid as is platforming I read..
Cant say for sure I dont have it .. yet

but ty about the first one! was a pleasure being a test pig for such games..
esp after that it lead me to telltale so TY double fine! miss ya all !!

haven't played the VR one, even tho i own a vive
the set-up always requires preparation here (moving furniture)

i've been a gigantic fan since Grim Fandango released
Double Fine is def erm ..double fine

I'm wondering now if Psychonauts 2 was on kickstarter before. I've invested in Broken Age for example, but it has been so long ago, can't really remember.

The VR game is a sit-down play space (part of the reason why I was okay with getting it, my place is too small to have room-size play space). No need to move furniture.

The game is technically better all the way around, from graphics to controls. There is a flashback for the major point in the VR game (since it's part of the overall Psychonauts story and it leads directly into Psychonauts 2).

There are a couple daunting levels, especially in the first playthrough. There's a bit more to explore, and there's a lot of backtracking like the first game. However, you're not completely locked out of the 'real world' like the first one at the end.

It took me 27h to 100% the first run, with help on a single figment in one of the larger levels.

There have been technical glitches for some people, but I didn't experience any of them, so the game played great and I pushed through it in like 3 days because I couldn't put it down. I haven't done that on a game in a REALLY long time.

You keep most of the powers from the first, but the glide with levitation is nerfed a bit. There are a few new powers you'll earn on top of that that help exploring. On top of that, you can also 'level up' the powers, as well as customize them with 'pins' you can buy from a shop that's accessible all over the overworld (minus one large area, but it's easy to go from there to a place with quick shop access).

The story is more cohesive, and while the areas are just as varied, they don't seem so randomly varied.

And Psychonauts 2 was on fig, which is like kickstarter, but operated a bit differently.

[YΛҠ SĤΛ√ƐŔ]

Many thanks!

[<flashmoZZg>]

It's fantastic. If you loved the 1st one, you'll love this one. It's bigger than the 1st and looks amazing. It took me about 25~ hours to 100% it.

[Froot Loop Lux]

Personally I think the second one is better than the first. The character development and storytelling are a little more "grown up" in a way. Like the first game came out in a time where the big thing was to make games that were more focused on being wacky or even gross looking than about on things like world building and storytelling that kinda thing and it's a product of it's time. Like you go back and play it now and it's very obviously a game from the original Xbox generation not just in visuals but in just the games design and writing.

Which isn't bad! It's still a thrill to play even if some of the jokes don't still land like they did. But the sequel, for me, took the most important things about the original that made it endearing and memorable and put them in a world that's a little more real. The characters aren't all just one off jokes you play through then forget about. Even when you finish their mental worlds you still care about those characters when you see them again. That I really appreciate.

Like, the game doesn't take itself seriously BUT it takes it's characters and it's world seriously. Does that make sense? It really is a worthy sequel. I finished the story last night and I'm gonna go back and get the rest of the achievements and probably...replay it honestly. The characters are just really really great.

[Senor Cardgage]

I personally think its better overall, its much more polished than the first and even leaving aside the 15 years of graphical improvement things like the animation in particular is much better in the sequel and hits the mark that I think they were always going for in terms of being a playable cartoon. The story is a lot better, I don't mean to denigrate the first game but when you got past the colourful characters its a pretty by the numbers bad-guy-wants-to-take-over-the-world plot, and the characters generally weren't given the biggest amount of depth. The sequel is more mature in that regard, characters are much deeper and more complex, including returning ones (especially Ford) and they really make good use of the delving into people's minds concept to give people a lot of development and establish their connections to each other. It just hits harder on an emotional level and there are lots of unexpected twists and moral quandaries I didn't see coming for a Psychonauts game. There are a lot of new characters and its cool to see things like Raz's family but some of them don't get a ton of screentime.

The platforming is generally a lot smoother and there are less annoyances than in the first game, but it might have at the cost of some of the most creative parts of the first game, it probably doesn't quite reach the heights of something like the Milkman Conspiracy in terms of having a bizarre scenario with unique gameplay built in, overall its a standard 3D platformer when you peel all the layers back, but it is a good one and I think its more fun to actually play than the first game.

I also want to mention the combat, I didn't care much for it in the first game, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed it here, there's lots of enemy variety with new elements introduced almost to the end and they do a good job at making you use a wide variety of your powers to approach different combat situations. Its quite dynamic, especially for a platformer, and I almost think its a shame there wasn't more of it and more difficult encounters. In that light its probably worth mentioning that the game is quite easy, if that's any concern, though I remember the hard parts in the first game more being the frustrating kind of hard rather than the fair kind.

[Homeless.]

It's overwhelmingly positive for a reason. Great game, great sequel

[GAMING_Alligator]

If you liked the first one you'll like the second one too. It's basically more of the same, and more polished too

[Collato]

It's defiantly one of those, "does everything the first one does and more." I can say that the sequel is defiantly paced better, in the first one I was a bit annoyed when having to do all three asylum patients' levels one right after another, but in 2 there is a good bit of mandatory real world gameplay in between each mind level.

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

There's a lot to like of this game as a sequel in terms of gameplay and storytelling, but I do feel like in some ways this game is a step backwards, especially when it comes to level design and the darker tone.

Most of the levels in P2 are fun and just as memorable as the first game, but they suffer from two big flaws in how they were designed. Whereas the first game had various types of layouts and set-ups for the course of the level, they still were able to be replayed from beginning to end when revisiting it. Neither of these aspects applies in the sequel; instead, each level is mostly linear or full of three pathways that are all on-rails with absolutely no way to backtrack through them normally. You have to swap areas or even single rooms with the Teleport Bug, which ruins whatever flow the gameplay had going.

For the other issue and without spoiling the story, I would describe the first game like a Don Bleuth film whereas the sequel feels more like a Dreamworks film. Both are great at what they do, but you can definitely tell some of the edge and grittiness of the original was lost in making this new adventure.

[Collato]

Originally posted by Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic):

There's a lot to like of this game as a sequel in terms of gameplay and storytelling, but I do feel like in some ways this game is a step backwards, especially when it comes to level design and the darker tone.

Most of the levels in P2 are fun and just as memorable as the first game, but they suffer from two big flaws in how they were designed. Whereas the first game had various types of layouts and set-ups for the course of the level, they still were able to be replayed from beginning to end when revisiting it. Neither of these aspects applies in the sequel; instead, each level is mostly linear or full of three pathways that are all on-rails with absolutely no way to backtrack through them normally. You have to swap areas or even single rooms with the Teleport Bug, which ruins whatever flow the gameplay had going.

For the other issue and without spoiling the story, I would describe the first game like a Don Bleuth film whereas the sequel feels more like a Dreamworks film. Both are great at what they do, but you can definitely tell some of the edge and grittiness of the original was lost in making this new adventure.

For the most part yeah, but I feel like for the level design they did that intentionally for an easier way at collecting missed collectibles, just like the first one no real reason to replay levels other than missed collectables since most of the obstacles are no longer there. And yes, defiantly not as dark a tone, the only level I can think of with a somewhat dark tone is tomb of the sharkophagus but I think there's a good amount of dark themes such as alcoholism, mass genocide, sororicide, etc

[X037]

Story-wise and character-wise it's quite disappointing and feels detached from the setting and the atmosphere of the first game. I'm halfway through and find myself ever less motivated to carry on. Gameplay-wise it's solid. I will complete it eventually of course, but it's very much below what I expected it to be.

If you like the first one, you should play this. But I sincerely do NOT rtecommend buying it for it's current price. Far from worth it!

[Zixinus]

From the standpoint of design, it follows the previous game very closely.

The storytelling and environments also serve to more closely follow a given storyline rather than the more "random" creativity of the first game. The story is also more serious, albeit not overly so. There is still creativity and humor of the previous game, but it now serves a broader theme and narrative rather than what we seen in the previous game.

The game is also more tightly designed, so you have less powers than the previous game. There are two new ones but several "extra" powers from the previous game are missing. Also, some of the powers are nerfed, levitation has limits on how far you can go and is no longer as floaty, so you can't half-way fly around the map like in the previous game. The new powers are more situational and not as interesting.

So if you wanted a sequel that is "twice as crazy as the first game" then you'll be disappointed. If you wanted a sequel then it is still worth the name of the game, you'll be happy.

[Adam]

The platforming is dramatically improved compared to #1. Obviously the graphics look much nicer and the feature set is more modern.

The adventure game aspects are reduced in focus. There's not really any point you'll get stuck for what to do. Combat is better, but still not great.

The writing is generally good, although it doesn't quite ever get as funny as The Milkman Conspiracy from 1. The quality of levels are more consistent than 1, which had a few stinkers (it's mostly pretty good here).

Overall, I don't expect it to be everyone's favourite in the series, but it is very good.