In Psychonauts 2, the Tooth Is Stranger Than Fiction

By Ryan McCaffrey

Though it’s been nearly a decade and a half since the original Psychonauts, not much has changed in the world of Raz and the other psychically gifted campers. That’s because Psychonauts 2 picks up just a few days after the events of the first one (though the highly enjoyable PSVR interstitial Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin managed to crowbar directly between the two mainline titles). Truman has been rescued from Dr. Robato, and it begs the question: was there a mole operating within the Psychonauts, and if so, who hired him?

If you fondly remember the 2005 cult classic from the original Xbox (and later other platforms), as I do, you’ll feel right at home in the sequel. The art style retains the same cartoonish, almost claymation charm, though of course texture detail, resolution, and just about every other technical part of the visuals is substantially improved now that we’re two generations removed from Raz’s debut.

The voice cast has all returned as well, and so when creative director Tim Schafer began playing, watching Psychonauts 2 felt like putting on a comfortable, broken-in pair of slippers.

Raz jumps into Robato’s mind to try and find out who the mole is. The ruse is on as Raz uses his psychic powers to try and trick Robato into getting comfortable and giving the information he needs. It’s, as Schafer put it, an “in-brain psychic caper.” The Psychonauts have tried to convince Lobato that he’s won a tropical vacation, but he has to get the vacation request approved by his boss. So you, as Raz, follow him, but not getting too close, lest you get found out. “Just remember your basic braining, soldier!” It’s a tutorial, but a clever one.

Before long, though, Lobato figures out the ruse, and suddenly Raz is at the mercy of Lobato’s mind. Things take an M.C. Escher-like turn, with Raz left to walk onto the wall…which is the floor. It’s a 2D platforming section. Lobato is huge and Raz is tiny while walking on the ceiling. Raz falls down, and Murray – another Psychonaut – gets pinned down by a giant tooth. It’s here that the entire level takes a decidedly dental turn, with “dental doors” having to be unzipped in order to pass through (picture a zipper, but where the teeth on either side are actual teeth. Gross, right?).

A little rubber-stamp-happy enemy starts chasing you as the illusion further warps, and you must defeat him. A bunch of chattering teeth bad guys come bouncing towards Raz. You’ll need to use double jumps and combo attack to fend them off. Raz goes through gross mouth hallways, battles a set of flying teeth with a cigar hanging out of its mouths named Frankie who speaks with a Brooklyn accent, uses pyrokinesis to burn posters with messages telling Roboto not to tell anyone who hired him as the mole.

There’s platforming over dental tools, rolling down a twisty downhill path on a telekinetically generated ball, and the demo ends with a shadowy creature talking to Roboto, threatening that he’ll have to deal with…her…if he talks to anyone. And on that mysterious note, the demo ends. So it seems Psychonauts 2 will offer plenty more about what made the first a cult classic: polished action-adventure combat and platforming, charming gameplay, a colorful art style, and an intriguing and goofy story – this is Tim Schafer, after all.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.