85%PC

It surprisingly holds up great even now. The story itself is fairly basic, but there's fun world building and a whole lot of really unique characters. The animation is very solid and not stiff like one would expect from that era. Each mind you get to explore has a personal style themed to it and they explore wildly different ideas. Even some fun way of trying out your new powers with the scavenger hunt.

The only negative I have would be the mechanical side, movement and actions can feel clunky and not always working properly. And the audio quality not being fully consistent with some voice lines.

It will be interesting to see the improvements made in Psychonauts 2. You can really feel that this game was made with love and dedication, it oozes charm.

60%PlayStation 2

Psychonauts is a weird game. On purpose, but not only. It's like the dev team spent years on refining the world building and only two weeks working on the gameplay. Or like they knew for sure what they wanted to tell, but not the kind of game they were making. Before playing, and giving its cult aura, I thought Psychonauts was kind of a Mario or a Banjo game for Sony/Microsoft kids. Although I still thinks that's part of the aura, I couldn't have been further off the mark. Because a Mario game is all about the gameplay ; every idea has to serve this purpose, which means controls has to be, not only smooth, but perfect. In this regard, Psychonauts wouldn't have made the cut at Nintendo's, we can even consider it the complete opposite of a Nintendo game, as the controls are, not bad, but sluggish. Very, very sluggish. As if Psychonauts had become a platformer by accident. I thought at one point that maybe this was the beginning of something that would never have come to fruition, a different vision of 3D platforming that wouldn't have caught on due to lack of commercial success. But thinking about it, the accident theory seems more likely.

Because, well... I have to say it at some point: despite being a festival of ideas and despite having one of the craziest level design of its time, Psychonauts is not really fun to play. And to be honest, I am surprised to be surprised. As much as I love most games written, directed or produced by Tim Schafer when he was working for LucasFilm, they were often brilliant despite gameplay flaws and (very) unintuitive things. The exact same goes for Psychonauts, except it's much more annoying in a platformer than in a point & click.

70%Xbox

A decent enough platformer with a good story. I think the Milkman Conspiracy is overrated, but the level that's a play was great. Ultimately though I don't think it does enough in the gameplay department to be more than a 7/10.

80%PC

[GOTM thread repost]
I didn’t start save stating until the last area of the game. Would I have been able to clear it without it? I think so, but it definitely would have taken me a lot longer. Particularly after I had cleared the first section of the meat circus and saved to pick it up the next day, only to find that loading put me at the beginning of the level (luckily I had a backup).

From my own experience the controls were a bit iffy when it came to platforming. I often slid off platforms unintentionally and thought some spots were just unreachable, but it was usually a height/gliding issue. Never did fully master telekinesis… the command is simple but either I couldn’t grab it, it didn’t land, or it just dropped. And there was that time where I got the garbage can stuck to Cruller’s head.

But I did like the game. It was a creative little adventure and Raz is a likable character. I’m surprised how dark the lore got; how simple the slideshows were somehow added to how eerie it was. Maybe because there was no background sound but the effect would have been different if it had been animated. And the levels were successful psycho therapy for the most part, a lot of NPCs are better off mentally by the end. I’d play this again, but I wouldn’t want to go into the last level without save states. The sequel is still on the backlog for now.

80%PC

Warm fuzzy childhood feeling. Interesting characters and skills <3 Sheegor. Decent gameplay and good difficulty. Liked both female and male protags. Final area Meat Circus wasn't as bad as people said.

90%PC

Excellent adventure platformer. Reminds me a bit of Banjo-Kazooie collect-a-thon but not in a bad way. There are few things to find and I personally managed to find ~80% of everything on my very first playthrough and I did not do any backtracking which is always possible for completionists. Note that there is a point of no return at the end of the game but the PC version has an autosave that creates a savepoint at that moment in case you forget.

The music is fun, the dialogues are extremelly well written and the voice acting is excellent. Sure, the controls and camera are not perfect, it's a 2005 game after all. But it's easily managable. I've read stuff about a difficulty spike at the end of the game. I don't agree with that. I think the difficulty progresses well throughout the game. Yes, it's a little bit more difficult, but not to the point where it breaks the game. If you work your way through the game while trying to find as much as possible, you will get to the end of the game with enough lives and life bars to make it through without any problem. It took me less than 7-8 tries to figure out what to do. Also, the final bosses were not hard at all but it works with the game and provides a fun and satisfying ending.

100%PC

This is only not just perfect game in the all time game history this is one of the perfect artwork in the all time art history.

70%PC

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ1dlpo148U8JPxYh7Ky01JFaB9dYD2A8

80%PlayStation 2

https://youtu.be/fJjzvmk5MjE
https://youtu.be/LfcaqkCtSwo
https://youtu.be/3Tl0535k_IY
https://youtu.be/qtn1rv8SsY8
https://youtu.be/dbIhjvzvH5c
https://youtu.be/gOv9LRlpYmE

90%PC

So much character in this game, however I could have done without "Meat Circus"

80%PC

I didn't expect such an involved story for such a delightful adventure-platformer. It's not deep or anything, but it's makes for a genuinely engaging narrative to comb through while you're going through the amazingly crafted levels (albeit, mostly because of their design and art), despite tripping a few times over the game's weird physics engine.

Aside from the few hiccups in the controls department, this is a must-play for anyone that wants more of the absolute classics such as Jak or Klonoa. Every character is charming, and most of them receive the perfect amount of on-screen time to fall in love with both their personality and early CN/Nick likeness. The levels and their entry-points never feel awkward because all of them naturally fit in the narrative, and consequently not a single one falls into filler territory.

60%PC

Игра хорошая, но что-то я в ней уже под конец задолбался. А так легкая и приятная. Но в какой-то момент надоедает лезть всем в мозг.

80%PC

Very good and well-put-together game, but oh my God I have some serious problems with it. Some levels last way too long, it's easy to get lost even with the fast travel, the first half of the Meat Circus level sucks ass (though the obstacle course on were surprisingly not that bad), and getting 100% is an exercise in torture.

Beyond that, though, I really enjoyed the characters, humor, and creativity - in terms of atmosphere, this game nails it. All the level themes are unique and fun and the amount of content, worldbuilding, and dialogue is staggering. It is a truly unique and one-of-a-kind game that I think everyone should play through at least once, provided you're willing to put up with most of its frustrations.

85%PC

I’m sad I didn’t grow up with this one cause it was a very fun game I would’ve loved. Creative, witty and a nice little surprise of a game, as in I didn’t expect it to be that good.

80%PC

Bom jogo mas muito datado e algumas partes desnecessariamente difices

80%PlayStation 4

This game always goes on sale for a couple of $ and I wanted to play the sequel so I picked this one up. It's a good platformer with the kind of writing expected from Double Fine.

Story - 9/10
Music - 7/10
Graphics/Art Style - 8/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Overall - 8/10

The story and characters are definitely the strongest part here. It's a lighthearted story about a bunch of kids in a summer camp. I really liked the first half of the game that takes place in the camp. The asylum area was also good but I wish we spent more time in the camp. The characters and dialogue are humorous and witty. Also the concept of exploring the brain with figments, memories and baggage is unique and well executed.
Music was alright, it was mostly a background thought so I don't remember much of it.
Art style mostly holds up besides being a bit blurry. But the colours and varied environments were good.
Gameplay had strengths and weaknesses. While I liked most of the levels, they weren't equal in terms of thrill and fun. I liked the unique levels like the Napoleon game, Mila's dance party, and the milkman's conspiracy but weren't a fan of fishpolis and the last meat circus level. The controls didn't age well. While it's playable 80% of the time, it can sometimes feel jank and locked. Also there were some bugs and performance issues. The powers were cool to use.
Overall it's a good platformer with a strong characters, but I'm looking forward to the sequel more.

75%PC

There's hardly another game like Psychonauts 1/2, which is true for the majority of Double Fine's products. If you like any other game by Tim Schaefer, you should definitey play this one. A mix of action adventure and platformer with quirky characters, surrealistic level design, and good story, the game aged pretty well. Aside from the final mission which has a lot of platforming and is really a pain to play due to a horrible camera and clunky controls.

Surprisingly, Psychonauts also works great on modern PCs and supports widescreen, and also both Xbox and PS controllers via Steam input, though pre-rendered cutscenes are pretty low res by today's standards, and thus look worse than the actual gameplay sections.

Other than that, a great game, but if you are turned off by the visuals, just play the sequel: it's obviously better in terms of controls and graphics, and also features numerous gameplay improvements.

70%PC

Great for an old game. story is deep.

70%PC

Un videojuego de culto de la época de PS2 por su originalidad, universo caricaturesco y plantel de personajes. En efecto, es muy original y tiene una personalidad única en ese sentido. Pero lo bueno de su originalidad contrasta con un plataformeo irregular, una cámara que no ayuda en momentos de exactitud milimétrica del salto y una acción (que a veces es incluso mas protagonista) algo mediocre en el disparo.
Le tenia muchas ganas desde hace décadas, en concreto, desde los últimos años que jugaba a la play2 por su buena critica y considerado una joya oculta del sistema. Me ha parecido un buen juego, siendo incluso muy bueno en los momentos en el campamento donde puedes interactuar con todos los niños y profesores, perderte por un territorio lleno de secreto muy bien escondidos. Lo disfrute y mucho. Luego las mazmorras del juego que son las diferentes mentes a la que entras, son muy diversas, siendo algunas muy plataformeras y otras muy de acción (todas sin sobresalir y alguna algo tosca de jugar).

90%PC

(пиратка)
я до сих пор молочника боюсь

85%PC

Great platformer that executes its concepts and ideas wonderfully. Its fun, has witty and great dialogue and the levels and collectibles are fun and great too (even the last one). On another note, the reason why this isn't rated higher is due to how difficult it was to get running on a linux/steam deck with me having to run it through proton and use a specific config for the controllers to work as it didn't detect controller inputs normally; all this despite the game listed as being able to run linux. Anyway great game.

70%PlayStation 2

Psychonauts is overrated. Still a good game though.

100%PC

Recommended
If you want to be entertained, buy this game. You will be engrossed in a fun story, explore everything over and over as the world evolves with each increment. The amount of detail put into this game was incredible and any shortcomings are drowned out by the sheer amount of positives.

70%PC

A fun game but you can notice that the game has not aged that great. Still okay to play but all the gameplay feels old. 70/100.

70%PC

Very Good - The beginning is actually the worst part and I could never really get to like the artstyle very much. However, the midgame shines with brilliant humor and great creativity. The various mind worlds are very distinct and memorable, even though some puzzles in them were a bit too convoluted for me.

90%PC

I really loved the art style of this game, but I couldn't get one item to 100% the game. The worldbuilding was phenomenal, and I loved the story. Really cute, but wrapped around a great 3D platformer with nifty mechanisms. Probably one of my favorite adventure games in recent memory.

75%PlayStation 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_mGzJ-4Eo&list=PLUwwgmStZikAMb2dHpHiMtxd20U0mRmKt&index=134&pp=gAQBiAQB
My Psychonauts review

80%PC

great game. has some issues due to aging but nothing a little nostalgia can't fix

70%Xbox Series X/S

Super creative and funny, but the gameplay can be very frustrating (not in a good way).

80%PlayStation 4

So fun and creative, deduct one point if you are playing the Playstation version though, crashed somewhat regularly.

90%PlayStation 4

It's an epic game, the second half made me really sad due to personal irl experiences, loved that it made me feel something tho. Talk to all the camp kids, it's totally worth it.

70%PC

Cool game conceptually, but the game feels dated.

55%PC

I think I just don't really fw 3d platformers unless they have interesting movement, it's def on me cause the game seems well made and funny.

80%PC

Psychonauts

--- [Player Base] ---
☑ Casual players
☐ Hardcore players

--- [Is it for mature players?] ---
☑ Everyone
☐ Mature

--- [Story] ---
☐ Doesn't have it
☐ Bad
☑ Average
☐ Good
☐ Fantastic

--- [Graphics] ---
☐ Really bad
☐ Bad
☑ OK
☐ Good
☐ Beautiful
☐ Masterpiece

--- [Difficulty] ---
☐ Easy Peasy
☑ Easy to learn but hard to master
☐ Medium
☐ Hard
☐ Dark Souls

--- [Timelength] ---
☐ Really short ( 0 - 2 hours)
☐ Short ( 2 - 8 hours)
☐ Average ( 8 - 12 hours)
☑ Long ( 12+ hours) (If you want to collect everything)
☐ Endless

--- [PC specs] ---
☐ Toaster
☑ Average
☐ Solid Medium
☐ High end
☐ Unoptimized

--- ---
☐ Full price
☑ Wait for sale
☐ Don't do it
☐ Free

--- [Bugs] ---
☐ Game itself is a bug
☐ Lot of bugs
☐ Few Bugs
☑ Nothing

Gameplay
Psychonauts is a platform game that incorporates various adventure elements. The player controls the main character Raz in a third-person, three-dimensional view, helping Raz to undercover a mystery at the Psychonauts training camp.

Raz begins with basic movement abilities such as running and jumping, but as the game progresses, Raz gains additional psychic powers such as telekinesis, levitation, invisibility, and pyrokinesis. These abilities allow the player to explore more of the camp as well as fight off enemies. These powers can either be awarded by completing certain story missions, gaining psi ranks during the game, or by purchasing them with hidden arrowheads scattered around the camp. Powers can be improved — such as more damaging pyrokinesis or longer periods of invisibility — through gaining additional psi ranks. The player can assign three of these powers to their controller or keyboard for quick use, but all earned powers are available at any time through a selection screen.

Review
I remember this classic when I was a lot younger but wasn't bothered to touch on it... boy was that a mistake! Psychonauts is one of those games where you can play it over and over again and find something new or just plain funny. The grapthics aren't the best but what do you expect from a game thats 13 years old? I would buy this game on sale due to how old this is, unless you can spare the small fee.

Incase you're not aware, Phychonauts is having a sequel which is tba 8.5/10

90%PC

Replayed after a decade or so before getting the sequel soon-ish. Still holds up with solid platforming, level design, and writing. The meat circus actually isn't as bad as I remembered as long as you're not running above 120 fps, which caused some weird physics issues, making a specific jump impossible.

85%Xbox

Great characters, voice acting, graphics still good despite it's age, but tricky platforming particularly the last level!

100%PC

Love it, love it, love it! I literally played 10 minutes of this game and fell in love. From the moment the intro started, the funny jokes and great voice acting to the interesting gameplay and player freedom, I am IN LOVE WITH THIS GAME! Apart from being hilarious, the dialogue between characters is just great writing, IMO. The game is guaranteed to make you have a good time. It's just too much fun not to play. The camera basically fights you and the graphics, though unique and artistic, are nothing to write home about (especially if Gen Z is the only one home), but it is so worth it cause everything else in the game is just a beautiful surprise! They put an impressive amount of love and care in this game that it shows in all the little animations and things you can do in the game.

PROS:
- Knock your socks off funny!
- No hand holding. Figure it out!

CONS:
- No hand holding. Figure it out! LOL

50/10 Cause it's just that good

85%PlayStation 4

Funny world with bunch of silly characters. The platforming parts of game can be sometimes a litle bit frustrating. Can't wait to play the sequel.

90%PlayStation 2

Very comical

Good
- the game has a great sense of humor
- dialogue is comical.
- the art design and environment is bizarre. Made me want to continue to see what crazy world and scenario I will end up in next.
- the abilities were cool to use. Every character and NPC had voice lines and unique reactions to abilities you'd use on them, which was unexpected detail.

Bad
- the camera can get very wonky and the view could be obstructed by the environment, making platforming annoying.

95%Xbox

Excellent plateformer 3d avec des mécaniques originales proposant un univers inspiré de la pâte artistique de tim burton.
Les personnages sont décalés et attachant avec la possibilité d’´explorer leur psychique pour changer leur perception du monde et leur caractère.
Les différents pouvoirs permettent de renouveler les phases de plateforme, les énigmes et les combats.

85%PC

I AM THE MILKMAN MY MILK IS DELICIUS

80%PC

Controls are kinda meh but it's visually intriguing and the different worlds and characters are very nice. I think this is one of the best games from its generation, and almost 20 years later it's still a game that holds up surprisingly well. Worth every hour I spent playing this and I can't recommend it enough!

85%PC

Such a weird game. Felt like playing a Tim Burton movie. Game had it's problems, but the uniqueness and charm makes it super memorable.

85%PC

Great story-driven 3D platformer. More focus on smart level design and character development, rather than pure platforming gameplay. Highly recommend.

85%PC

easy in the top 5 of my fav platformers

80%PC

A 3D platformer that does a lot of things at once and does not excel at every one of them.
1) Collectathon: There are soooo many figments scattered throughout the levels that it’s almost like if a Mario game asked you to collect every coin in a level. And this is not the only thing you need to collect in each level.
Apart from that you have other collectibles in the “main world”. I feel like they went a bit overboard on this aspect just because that’s what was expected of these type of games at the time.
At least you get nicely rewarded by unlocking some delightful art.
2) Puzzle: Most of the challenge comes from figuring out which ability fits a certain situation, and you will unlock many throughout the adventure. Some of these “puzzles” are well designed and others are more obtuse, but the game does provide a very thorough hint system in the form of bacon (yes, no mistake there).
A lot of times you will feel like you are playing a “third person graphical adventure”, and a very good one at that.
3) Platformer: This is where most of my frustration with this game came from. The physics are kinda floaty and sometimes the camera makes it hard to judge depth.
This is more evident when you use the levitation ability which lets you jump so high that sometimes you’ll wonder whether you are taking the intended path. Again, a product of its time.
These flaws are more than compensated by the charisma of Raz and the many other characters that compose the cast of the game. Their dialogues are very funny and well written.
Another thing that elevates this game is the artistic direction. The physical portrayal of various mental disorders and traumas is very well designed. It all has a “Tim Burton Saturday morning cartoon” vibe that I really dig.
As a whole, I found the game concept very original and enjoyable, even if a bit chaotic at times. I hope that the recently released sequel has polished out most of the flaws I mentioned while keeping the heart and humor of this entry.

95%PlayStation 4

Masterpiece. Quite possibly one of the best 3d platformers of all time, definitely one of the best of it's generation.

90%PC

Did not expect how it ended and kept me surprised. Pretty fun platformer

Played On GPD WIN MAX 2 6800U

90%PC

Very funny game, great experience.