Psychonauts

[Gurgleflob]

I bought the Humble Indie Bundle V a while ago and have installed a couple games from it (I have a download limit of 60 gigs on my internet so I'm waiting till July to install the rest), and there's something about Psychonauts that just keeps me from playing for more than 20 minutes or so before I get bored of it. It could just be because I'm playing on my PC and I don't really like the environment it's in right now (or the computer for that matter) but I feel like I'm missing out on something by not playing this. Does it get better when I get a bit deeper into it? I hope it's just me and the game does get better, because I was really looking forward to getting this.

 

[dimensional]

Very over rated game but I did enjoy it quite a bit, I thought it did improve later on but the collectables really really pissed me off I hate missing stuff so had to collect everything and that drove me to stop playing the game as it felt like a chore. I did go back and finish it a few months later and it was good and quite fun just not great.

 

[The_Lost_King]

I don't like it. The only time I had fun was when me and my friend were laughing at the "Assassins" holding their guns the wrong way and everything else in the milkman conspiracy.

 

[thebakedpotato]

I liked it well enough. I found the story to be engaging and campy. The levels to be interesting and enjoyable to look past the clunky combat. However I can totally see where you're coming from.

On the final boss. After 20 minutes of dying over and over on the endurance course part of it... Eh. Too angry.

If you didn't have fun. Hey you got other games in the deal too

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

I actually really liked Psychonauts, the whole game is so cheesy, but if you're just running through, you're gonna miss out, there's a lot of dark humor and hidden personality. Like the squirrels who are trying to convince the kid to murder everyone, the stuff the lungfish citizens yell out in the gagalor dream and pretty much everything the G man say in the Milkman Conspiracy.
Basically, if you like Invader Zim, I'd suggest pressing a little more, you might start enjoying it. If that's not your thing then quit while you're ahead.

Also yeah... the Meat Circus is traumatizing, I never actually finished the game because of that final level, I got up to that point and rage quit.

 

[Zhukov]

I found it... alright, I guess?

It had a certain charm, but the mechanics were really dodgy and the art style, while not bad by any measure, wasn't really to my taste.

I kept playing until I got to the theatre level. There was some puzzle involving swapping stage sets. Then the game started bugging out something fierce and I was glad for the excuse to stop playing.

 

[WinstonJEC]

I had psychonauts on the xbox when it came out and I absolutely loved it! I downloaded it for the pc recently and I had an awesome time remembering all of the funny and quirky parts in the game. And yes the game does get better, although there is a rather ridiculous difficulty spike at the end.

 

[chimeracreator]

I adore the game, but I have a gamepad on my computer. I'm guessing that playing it without one would be pretty painful as the controls can be clunky at times. The last part of the game is insanely difficult and ever after beating it four times when I replay it I still die a fair amount on that part.

As for the game's quality it just keeps going up. That said I do advise you talk to all of the kids at every chance you get because some of them are hilarious, and don't bother with the scavenger hunt because it isn't worth it.

The only REALLY poorly thought out mechanic they introduced was the connect a ton of arrow heads quest you need halfway through to get the cobweb duster, but everyone makes mistakes.

Also a general tip: Don't bother using levitate as one of your three power buttons. You can just jump, select the hover option and then switch it over to get the ball under you when you need it.

 

[auron200004]

While I will concede that the actual "game" part of the game isn't quite as excellent as it could be (especially when compared to today's standards), I tried this game a bit late (early 2011) and I found it to be a genuinely enjoyable game. Between the art style (which, for me, always reminded me of Nightmare Before Christmas, especially the character models), and the sense of humor that was right up my alley, I loved the game.

The game does get more enjoyable later on, but, as many will tell you, the difficulty in the final world, the Meat Circus, is quite an extreme jump higher than the rest of the game. However, at least this happened to me, the hardest part of it (the platforming part while a character is tossing knives at you) gave me unlimited lives, so it didn't mess with me too terribly.

For me, this game won my heart in the very first scene with these lines:

Raz: My name...

Coach Oleander: Starts with a D!

Raz:...is Razputin.

After it had won me, I enjoyed the entirety of it from beginning to end, but that's just me.

 

[Rad Party God]

I liked the game, it's not on my "best of all time" list, but it's certainly a very solid platformer and it also happens to have the funniest story I've ever seen in a platformer (sorry Conker's Bad Fur Day).

Due to it being a console port, I highly recommend you to play it using a controller, specifically an Xbox 360 controller (it even vibrates!), but I also managed to finish it with the standard Mouse & Keyboard configuration, wich is quite comfortable after getting used to it for a few minutes.

I don't know wich part you are, but yeah, the game has a kinda slower pace than other platformers, but give it a chance, play it for a bit longer, it certainly won over my heart at the intro, but I can't blame you if you simply don't like it.

 

[Asita]

It's a decent enough game, but I can see where people might not enjoy it. For me, part of the charm was a certain nostalgic feel to it. Long story short, its general graphics, atmosphere and humor reminded me of games back in the Nintendo 64's heyday, which appealed to me.

Though to echo some of the others before me, the completionist award is not worth it, so don't feel obligated to hit level 100 (or 101 if you care to suffer through the basic braining 'attack' game until you gain a level). And if you do feel the need to do so...seriously, use a guide to find the figments.

I found it... alright, I guess?

It had a certain charm, but the mechanics were really dodgy and the art style, while not bad by any measure, wasn't really to my taste.

I kept playing until I got to the theatre level. There was some puzzle involving swapping stage sets. Then the game started bugging out something fierce and I was glad for the excuse to stop playing.

You wouldn't mean the texture bug would you? Raz whites out, set pieces disappear, etc? I got that a few times, albeit later in the game. Actually had a surprisingly easy workaround of just minimizing the game and then bringing it back up again.

 

[Elamdri]

I bought the Humble Indie Bundle V a while ago and have installed a couple games from it (I have a download limit of 60 gigs on my internet so I'm waiting till July to install the rest), and there's something about Psychonauts that just keeps me from playing for more than 20 minutes or so before I get bored of it. It could just be because I'm playing on my PC and I don't really like the environment it's in right now (or the computer for that matter) but I feel like I'm missing out on something by not playing this. Does it get better when I get a bit deeper into it? I hope it's just me and the game does get better, because I was really looking forward to getting this.

IMHO you can't judge Psychonauts without playing the Milkman Conspiracy.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Meh, different strokes for different folks. Just because most people like it doesn't mean you have to. I will say though that if you have a gamepad then use it. The controls just work better with one, and the last level is really awkward to do with a mouse and keyboard.

And to people complaining about meat circus, just out of curiosity, did you get up to the net climbing part? OH GOD IT WAS SO HARD

 

[Lil_Rimmy]

Ok, I'll read through this thread in a sec, but I just want to say that PYSCONAUTS IS MY OFFICIAL BEST GAME EVER. I am not kidding. It is really awesome. Well, except of course for the last level, Meat Circus.

Seems like every awesome game has some big flaw. ME3s ending, Pys. Meat Circus that kinda stuff.

 

[Tanis]

I guess it's not JUST you, but I do feel you're missing 'something'.

Probably one of the BEST games I played on the PS2.

It's like Suda51, weird as hell but COOL.
The game play is, average, but it's the well thought out level designs and 'quirky' story that makes it a keeper.

I will admit that it hasn't aged all the well, jokes wise, given that there's freaking MULDER from X-Files in it, and the jokes tend to be from 'that era'.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I'd advise (if you gave one) playing it on a gamepad. The PC controls are not the best. That said, it's a Tim Shafer game, and therefore one of the few games that I'd consider to have good writing and not just good writing [small]foragame[/small].

 

[chimeracreator]

Seems like every awesome game has some big flaw. ME3s ending, Pys. Meat Circus that kinda stuff.

The meat circus is hard, much more so than a lot of the rest of the game (then again I also had trouble with the movie star's final boss fight) but it isn't the worst element in the game. I still say that belongs to the designers deciding you need to spend twenty minutes collecting arrow heads to get to the juicy part of the milkman conspiracy immediately after you finish a truly awesome level. All it does is break the flow, and that's bad game design in an otherwise wonderful game (imo).

 

[Bagged Milk]

Psychonauts is massively overrated, the combat kind of sucks and the platforming can be annoying at times. That being said, it's one of my favorite games of all time. It's hilarious, and has a really cool art style but I'm one of those "misty eyed 'games r art' hippies".

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Great game. I bet the people who don't like it or think it's overrated probably like piles of junk like Mass Effect or Crysis.