Mmm, brains.

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Green Gibbon!
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Mmm, brains.

Post by Green Gibbon! »

I honestly never would've thought that, when all was said and done, the Xbox would end up walking away with the single best game of this console generation. Perhaps it's a little bit early to be making such a decree, but even Wanda and the Colossus and Okami will have their work cut out for them trying to follow this act. Of course I'm talking about Psychonauts, which I realize is also out on PS2, but I believe that console is so grossly incapable of handling this game that I am ruling it out of consideration.

I have so much praise to level at this thing I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with the obvious: the game is pretty. Dynamically so. It looks like the bastard child of a three-way orgy between Tim Burton, Paul Klee, and Pixar Animation Studios. It's like a nightmare you would've had as a child (very appropriate, thematically) toned down enough to be accessible so that while you're never put off, you're never totally comfortable, either. It's simultaneously inviting and unsettling. The fact that the game is graphically capable of conveying such a dynamic style is also a huge triumph. After 4 years (and barely a month till the release of the console's successor), we finally have an Xbox game that looks like what I thought Xbox games were supposed to look like. The architecture is extremely detailed (texture maps don't do any more work than they should have to) and the lighting is out of this world. The environments are rich and surreal, and while the game sticks to 30fps to pull this off, I think it would've been an appropriate aesthetic choice even if 60fps had been possible.

Not only does the game look unique, it is constructed in unique ways. While at the root level the whole thing plays like a sort of platformer-puzzle-adventure game hybrid, the worlds and their structure is not quite like anything that's ever been done before. This isn't your usual forest-stage, fire-stage, water-stage schtick. One early level is played entirely on a giant cube: small chunks of course pop out of the cube's faces as you approach. Another stage is like a long, average city street that's been twisted in space, while one of the later stages takes place on the board of a giant Stratego-esque combat game. Most cleverly of all, each of these worlds takes place in the head of one of the game's highly memorable cast members, which allows for some very interesting character development. Not only are the levels themed according to the character in question, but the more you explore, the more you're apt to learn about your host. There's some incredible structural cohesion going on between the game's elements.

The surreal and clever stylings even carry over into the floating collectible objects integral to any self-respecting platformer. You don't even really "collect" them so much as jump through them. Figments, as they're called, are paper-thin, neon-colored doodles that float around the stage like apparitions, constantly reminding you that you're in a dream world. They're themed to represent the individual's fears, desires, and general emotions, but are often placed in the context of the level design itself for quick visual gags. Everywhere you look, you find evidence of the loving care that went into structuring every aspect of this game.

If I had to find some flaws to bring to light, I would say that entering cutscenes is occasionally awkward, if only because the game is so conducive to exploration. In one instance, for example, I was hopping around some rocks not far from the main pathway, but as I crossed the trigger point for the cutscene, Raz magically appeared on the pathway for the events. As soon as the cutscene was over, he magically appeared back to where I was on the rocks. An on-screen map would've been nice for at-a-glance reference in the camp area... it's no big deal once you know your way around, but it's easy to get lost while exploring for the first time, especially since the architecture is so surreal. Also, background music tends to skip during spoken dialogue, though I wonder if maybe this isn't a problem with my aging, first-generation Xbox? Regardless, these are such quibbles that were this a lesser game, I probably wouldn't even have noticed them.

Minor issues aside, the game is beautiful, surreal, witty, clever, and remarkably well structured. While most of the elements fit comfortably into established genres, it wasn't painted by numbers. I'm ready to call this the best game of this console generation (so far), effectively conceding that it is better than Ico, which is not a praise I hand out lightly.

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Post by Segaholic2 »

I really need to get this game.

Hey, EBGames.com has it for $30 instead of $50. BOUGHT.

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Post by Esrever »

Psychnonauts is the fucking business. I bought my Xbox specifically to play it, and I regret nothing. It's certainly one of my favourite games of this generation, although I think I'd have trouble arranging it, Metroid Prime and BG&E into any particular order of preference.

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Post by Popcorn »

So you're not talking about Stubbs the Zombie then.

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Post by Esrever »

That's what I assumed he would be talking about when I saw the thread title. Needless to say, I was incredibly confused when I read the first couple of sentences of the actual post.

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Post by Green Gibbon! »

It's my own way of dealing with the emotional damage caused by watching Raz kiss every brain he picked up. I found that continuously disturbing.

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Post by Esrever »

So, does anyone here have the dedication necessary to get the 100 percent ending?

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Post by Green Gibbon! »

I did it. There's more than one ending?

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Post by Esrever »

Apparently you get an extra cutscene. I believe it has Lucy in it? I never did it, so I've never seen it.

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Post by Green Gibbon! »

Oh yeah, that. It's nothing special. It isn't part of the ending, you can just view it at any time from the memory menu.

You know I spent, like, 3 hours running circles through Black Velvet trying to find the last few Figments?

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Post by Neo Yi »

I need that game, pronto.
~Neo

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Post by Senbei »

I was waiting for someone to write about this.
Does anyone know how the PC version compares? I don't want to bother with an X-Box...

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Post by Brazillian Cara »

You only got the game now? It was, like, released 3 months ago or something like that.

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Post by Delphine »

Dude, I can't even tell you how many games and DVDs I have sitting on my shelf, still wrapped, untouched for months. Some of us just don't have any goddamn time.

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Post by The T »

Delphine wrote:Dude, I can't even tell you how many games and DVDs I have sitting on my shelf, still wrapped, untouched for months. Some of us just don't have any goddamn time.
You should keep them wrapped up and sell them on eBay in 50 years.

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Post by shadowspast »

Senbei wrote:I was waiting for someone to write about this.
Does anyone know how the PC version compares? I don't want to bother with an X-Box...
the pc versions graphics are basically the same (if not a little worst)

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Post by Esrever »

Majesco had a neat refer-a-friend promotion going on for awhile. If you owned Psychonauts and then convinced a buddy to pick it up too, they'd mail you a free tshirt and a card deck. They were actually really cool and sent me two of each because I harrassed my comic's readers to get it.

It's pretty sweet to have an official Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp t-shirt, but honestly, I just felt lousy that the game was selling so poorly. I swear, it's BG&E all over again.

There's some neat Psychonauts concept art at the link below. It's one of the only places where you can see the game's original protaganist, Dart:

http://www.razputin.net/?page=multimedia/images/concept

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Post by chriscaffee »

This game is probably a runnerup.

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Post by The Doc »

I saw an episode of Cheat dealing with Psychonauts. At first, I only watched it because Kristen Holt is the host of the show and I really, really wanna fuck her, but watching everything about the game was awesome, and the game seemed really surreal with almost a "mature kiddy" feel.

GiGi, have you happened to find the one Easter egg of the picture of the chick? Apparently, one of the game designers decided to immortalize their fianceé by hiding a photo of her in the texture. I've never played the game and it's been a while since I've seen this episode, so I don't remember what level it was in, if it was a specific level, but I remember that you have to be climbing a skyscraper near the wall and you have to really force the camera to the right into the wall to see it.

Now, isn't that fucking romantic or what? I tell you, I feel like humming You're the Inspiration right now.

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Post by Green Gibbon! »

I just felt lousy that the game was selling so poorly. I swear, it's BG&E all over again.
Of course it's not selling well, it's way too clever and creative. People are starving for mediocrity and willing to pay for it, but they get intimidated by good stuff that's smarter than they are. That's why I've turned my back on the whole stupid industry.

Didn't poor Ancel get stuck doing the King Kong game?

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Post by Popcorn »

Green Gibbon! wrote:
I just felt lousy that the game was selling so poorly. I swear, it's BG&E all over again.
Of course it's not selling well, it's way too clever and creative. People are starving for mediocrity and willing to pay for it, but they get intimidated by good stuff that's smarter than they are. That's why I've turned my back on the whole stupid industry.

Didn't poor Ancel get stuck doing the King Kong game?
It may help ease the pain to hear that Wander and the Colossus topped the Japanese charts last week. I'm interested in seeing how well it's done in the States. You can, however, write it entirely off the UK charts; Britain's video game sales figures are arguably the most depressing of all.

Did you ever play Grim Fandango, or the Monkey Island games, Gibbon? I heartily recommend you do so.

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Post by G.Silver »

In the small town where I live, I would have assumed no one would be buying Colossus, not even the rather large college population who I assume mostly buys sports and FPS titles, but it turned out the game sold out the day it arrived. (I got the last one in stock) I don't know if the game is going to be a lasting seller or anything, but that suggests to me that word got out about it, at least.

(This is a place where single copies of Ikaruga and Ninja Five-O languished about on the store shelves for months before disappearing..)

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Post by Adam Adamant »

Green Gibbon wrote:also out on PS2, but I believe that console is so grossly incapable of handling this game that I am ruling it out of consideration.
Accepting this, but also the fact I'm not going to buy an XBox, do you think the game is still worth getting for PS2. I read some reviews which said the game was good but not *so* good, so I wasn't going to get it but everyone here seems to love it. I thought the premise sounded excellent though and the game would have been really good if the production matched.

Though I don't trust Esrever, I really didn't think BG&E deserved the acclaim it got. It was good, but really not that good. It was average in so many ways, only the mildly interesting but unusual story seemed to make it stand out.
Last edited by Adam Adamant on Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Segaholic2 »

Popcorn wrote:Did you ever play Grim Fandango, or the Monkey Island games, Gibbon? I heartily recommend you do so.
Or Full Throttle, for that matter. All highly recommended.

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Post by Green Gibbon! »

It may help ease the pain to hear that Wander and the Colossus topped the Japanese charts last week.
I wish I thought that was going to last longer than one week. I'm sure whatever Pokemon or Dynasty Warriors games have been released recently will resume their top positions after this momentary lapse.
but it turned out the game sold out the day it arrived.
When a game like that sells out, it's usually because the store just didn't receive many copies in the first place. If it's in an out-of-the-way area, they may have been shipped as few as 3 or 4 copies. (If a single copy of Ikaruga lasted for months, I imagine it's because anyone hardcore enough to want to play Ikaruga had already imported it for Dreamcast. Either that, or that hilarious quote from IGN they slapped in the center of the cover deterred prospective buyers. "Frothing demand" indeed...)
Accepting this, but also the fact I'm not going to buy an XBox, do you think the game is still worth getting for PS2.
I haven't seen the PS2 version at all, but taking into account what I know about the hardware and what I know about Psychonauts, I would say that you really, really don't want the PS2 version. The PC version might be comparable if you have a strong enough system, and I'm sure the prices on Xbox 1 units will drop drastically over the next year as Microsoft pushes the 360. But I think I would probably avoid the PS2 version.

Also, BG&E was awesome, you nimrod. Flawed, but awesome.

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