It's been 16 years since players last went to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp and learned the true power that Raz possessed between his ears. Through his ability and his new friends, Raz was able to save the camp, and likely the world, from being taken over by tanks piloted by childrens' brains. Now, having been awarded the rank of an official Psychonaut, Psychonauts 2 will see Raz take on a much bigger threat as he learns more about his favorite heroes. Psychonauts 2 has been in the works for some time, and the trailers have shown it to be a worthy successor to the original.
In 2018, the first Psychonauts 2 trailer dropped, and many fans could hardly contain their excitement about the beloved franchise making a comeback. Double Fine has been very consistent about keeping fans up-to-date on the game, as the series of trailers that have been released provide new looks into the evolved mechanics and mental worlds. What has been shown so far likely pales in comparison to what fans will experience in the full game, however. With the release less than a month away, there is likely only the launch trailer left to be released when the game comes out.
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In this trailer, Ford Crueller narrates everything that has led up to the moment that Raz arrives at the Motherlobe in Psychonauts 2. Crueller warns that Raz will need to be careful and watch the ground that he treads on, as some brains are left broken. The trailer briefly recounts Raz's friends and family that will be seen in this game as well, deepening his lore outside of his psychic abilities.
This gave fans a first look at how the gameplay would remain similar while still evolving from the original Psychonauts. It all takes place at the tutorial level of the game, where the player enters Loboto's mind in order to find out who sent him on his dangerous mission.
In this psychedelic trailer, Raz enters a brain that appears to have been in some form of stasis in a jar. Inside he encounters a world filled with music and trippy neon aesthetics reminiscent of the 1970s. Raz is transported through this magical world as the music plays in the background. He also learns the power to manipulate time, stopping an object in front of himself in order to provide an opportunity to cross a gap. Raz is taking on new kinds of enemies in the trailer, too, with god-like beings seemingly playing with him near the end.
The action trailer shows a lot of the combat and movement that will be accessible in Psychonauts 2 while also giving fans a few brief looks at the levels they'll get to play. A portion of the trailer features Raz on a bowling ball, eventually squashing someone, while another shows him and his family doing acrobatics.
This trailer has a noticeably different tone than the others, taking a more solemn approach to the task facing Razputin. Raz encounters the presence of Maligula and discovers the fear she keeps among the ranks of the Psychonauts due to her following. Outside of that, the Second Head of the Psychonauts tells Raz in passing the goal of the group is to help people deal with the mental health issues their facing. They don't want to change the way people think, just help them to come to terms with what they're feeling.
Fans have been hoping and waiting for a sequel to the original game for over 16 years, and their patience is going to finally be rewarded soon. While it's taken a while for Double Fine to find the time to make this title, the trailers have set it up to be one of the most monumental games of the year. If it can live up to the hype, Psychonauts 2's story and visuals will bring a lot more fans over to the series and Double Fine as a whole.
Psychonauts 2 will launch on August 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.