Psychonauts

fav childhood game, nostalgic and still good. humor is A+

Favorite game of all time, had it back when it came out for PS2, loved it immediately

9.5/10

This is a great game. It's imaginative and intelligent, and the variety of worlds is pretty good. The game has some flaws, but really the strength of the games imaginative elements is so great that the game far outshines the small flaws in the game. If imagination fuels your enjoyment of gaming, you should try it,

It's getting older now, and some of the mechanics of it aren't holding up in the modern gaming arena, that's the only real problem with it.

Old gem, some small parts haven't seen time so well, but overall it's a charming and creative experience that every action adventure platformer enjoyer should play.

But more than that I enjoyed the characters & narrative with it's sense of humour.

All the small details that Double Fine went the trouble with back in the day were what enhanced the experience the most for me. I was so often positively surprised just trying stuff out and finding hidden interactions and character lines that many could miss, but they still went the trouble to add them.

Saw the Psychodyssey documentation too, I'm a big fan of Double Fine now.

it's fun, great game. the writing is great, voice acting is great, art style is great.

i already almost beat it, but the game wasn't being recorded by steam because i made the shortcut directly from the exe rather than a steam shortcut, so i'm replaying for achievements and i'm still having a good time, i don't feel bored even after playing through already.

I love this game !

It is an old 3D plateformer, it can be sometimes tricky but it sure is a fun adventure.
100% the game was alone kinda fun compared to other games with collectibles (you can easily go back where you need to be and there are several guides that can help).

I've known this game pretty recently (2018-ish) and really am a fan of it, fun characters, great dialogues, awesome French dub, really clever level-designs and ideas.
I also love the "going into the others' brain" mechanic, it shows how traumas and psyché quand affects our behavior and beliefs.

Love it, give it a try ;)
I highly recommend to do the 3 Psychonauts games (2nd one : "Rhombus of Ruin" in VR)

good game 10/10, im not done with it yet but everyone should play this game

I had heard about Psychonauts from the 'cult classic' articles for years. I bought it on steam around 2012 I think and only finally got to it in 2024.

Well worth playing, the visuals, gameplay and story all hold up surprisingly well. The story, setting and characters are unique, the humor well done and was well worth every minute I spent with it, even nearly 20 years post release.

i consumed a LOT of psychonauts content on youtube before actually playing the game for myself & that still didn't stop me from really enjoying my time. the controls may not be perfect & the visuals may not be everyone's taste, but the characters have so much personality! also, the humor is just *chef's kiss*; i think the game does a pretty great job of knowing when to take itself seriously but also knowing when to laugh at itself. even tho the game is a platformer & a collectathon, i really appreciate how different all of the levels are from each other. playing this game 2 decades after it released, i can understand how this game grew to be a cult favorite

I really like everyone’s characterization. They may or may not be realistic, but they are believable and interesting. The mechanics are novel, if not a bit frustrating. The combat worked well enough, but I didn’t feel very satisfied when I took someone down. And those censors in Sasha’s mind specifically are really annoying. For me most of the mechanical enjoyment came from the puzzles.
That being said, this game is very charming and I have a good time any time I run it. Like genuinely it might be one of my favorite games from charm alone.

Psychonauts is a cult classic platformer with amazing writing and unique ideas, a cool story and characters that are genuinely fun and charming. Its combination of funny interactions and unexpectedly serious moments is truly special. Psychonauts stands out for its peculiar art style but also for tackling deeper topics such as empathy and loss while remaining light-hearted.

Unfortunately, it's held back by some scenes that fall short, middling gameplay, frustrating controls and a couple boring sections. 8,5/10

Great ideas, great mechanics, great maps (except first 2) and great designs. Only problem... and with problem I mean a huge problem, is that it lacks execution in the story. If you want to platform into crazy places and play with new original concepts no other regular game has, great, then you SHOULD DEFINITELY play this game. Although if you are into the story, or simply do not like bad story to interrupt you at the middle of gameplay, this might be a problem.

I would recommend this game only to people who play and enjoy without ever going too deep into it, just people who go into it for the fun of. But if you are more about appreciating a game, the story, the mechanics, you will find a lot of flaws and it will be hard to ignore during the gameplay. Some examples are heavily undeveloped characters which the game hopes you like just by their superficial design, unnecessary tasks that the story could skip but the game forces you into said path (plot tools to connect the world instead of having good continuity), and a lot of meaningless reasons to force you into a characters' minds without logic other than "we don't know how to develop characters so we'll just force you to help them as a mandatory task even though you don't know them".

This is a game to enjoy, not to treat as a masterpiece. Only two worlds I liked, and the others would equally good or better only if they were lone levels and not mandatory parts of a half baked storyline.

This game has a cult following for a reason. It serves as a relaxing collectathon but also a moderately challenging action platformer. I got it on sale for 5 or 6 dollars but so far I've sunk more time into it than my dozens of other Steam games. If you're thinking about getting it at all, I say just go for it.

best game ever i crode.... but punchy punch minigame will go to Hell

Incredibly stylish and creative, but unrefined and occasionally obtuse. Having tons of superpowers is fun, but it's tedious to have to constantly switch between them.

The story left me a little overwhelmed, but the overall concept is very fun. I'm not interested in playing the sequel.

a lot to love about this game. psychonauts gives me a sort of nostalgia for experiences I've never had. it reminds me of playing crash bandicoot on the arcade machines at the mall. it has the feeling of old media in the best way. the story holds up well and is hilarious. the stylized graphics don't feel too dated. it has a lot of expected jank that comes with a 20 year old game, in controls, camera movement, level design, and to get it working on steamdeck, but it did not cast a huge shadow over the beautiful creativity and absurdity of the game. if only one thing is certain, it's that I'm not going to forget psychonauts. an unforgettable, one of a kind game. this game made me frustrated at times, but it was well worth it.

Some Janky Controls and unfinished combat

But hilarious story and jokes , gorgeous levels , unique Art Style That Makes The Game unforgettable

Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact fucking thing over and over again expecting
shit to change. That. Is. Crazy.

This game is incredible. I loved nearly every minute of it, apart from a few level design decisions. Super solid platformer, and the story and especially the dialogue is filled to the brim with charm.

I yearn for the days where games were so unintentionally but so beautifully camp

Second time I bought this game and I just can't recommend it enough to those who haven't played it. One of the finest games ever made.

Played this for the first time in 2025. Great, fun and still good looking game! So many different, creative levels!

This game is an absolute blast, and one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. Like it feels like a kids game and then you get held at gunpoint by a suicide bomber, everything is completely unhinged.

If you’re a completionist it can be a pain, but far better than other games.
Easy 9.5/10 (8/10 if you’re a completionist)

8.5/10

This review is directed at story and character driven gamers. Here are the things you can expect: full English voice dub with excellent acting, well written main story and characters, interesting set pieces and creative world design, and a lot of hidden dialogue and character interactions to find.

This game is honestly much better than I anticipated. Being such an old game, 2005, I expected the dated graphics and gameplay to make it much less enjoyable, but the quirky and loveable characters, well written dialogue, full voice acting, and all the little tidbits of hidden information like the billboards, talking to the classmates between missions, etc., made for a gem of a game. This game reminds me a lot of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas with the balance of comedy and seriousness and the interesting cast of characters: irony is that Tim Schaffer, yet another Tim, creates similar creative and compelling worlds to explore.

I loved the theme of each person's mind and getting to know their traumas and what made them break psychologically. It wasn't as deep or nuanced as actual psychology, coming from someone who has their master's in psychology, but it was very well made for the layman and does represent a plausible and interesting perspective in a colorful and mostly lighthearted way: they obviously had a good sense of what it takes to cause psychological issues but kept it a little more family focused in the presentation - usually cartoon stills you find hitting the jumping around piggy bank.

I will say, in spite of my life for the game, the platforming sections could be really frustrating at times. The worst offender was the circus setting in the final act where you have to protect a character by getting to the platform before they die, then they move to another platform and do the same thing. Getting through three areas of that was frustrating because I was too slow and kept having to repeat the sequence. Likewise, there were many other areas in the game with creative platforming levels but frustrating mechanics forcing me to repeat them a lot. The bosses were great: very creative and interesting. The issue with the bosses is primarily a trial and error where they often need very specific things to happen to beat the boss: you have to think creatively. This can be cool, but also frustrating as there is a lot of trial and error and not necessarily a lot of direction.

Pro tips: use the bacon to get advice often. Consider using a faq for frustrating areas to save yourself the insanity - irony I know. And talk to everyone between major missions. Their is actually a lot of missable dialogue between the characters and using the bacon to get advice between major plot points. It was fun to explore and find these hidden scenarios and dialogues, though I admittedly didn't realize I was missing anything until about 1/4 to 1/2 through the game, which is a bummer. Also, try using the different tools you find on the characters, as well as your powers! They have unique dialogue and reactions to many of them, and this is another thing that made it fun to explore. The areas are relatively small in the real world, mostly involving speaking with people and finding Psi Cards and other collectibles, but the stages when you enter into people's minds are more complex and interesting.

Overall a great game I highly recommend, in spite of the dated graphics and platforming aspects. I feel this game was ahead of it's time and recommend to anyone who enjoys story driven games, great characters, excellent writing, and zany but interesting scenarios.

May very well be the most inventive platformer of all time. Darkly funny with a genuinely thoughtful take on the subject matter of human psyche at the same time. It holds up, you won't regret it

best childhood game from the days of G4 if anyone remebers that tv show but the game is sill a master blaster of a game it the 90s calling me back lol

This is an amazing cult classic 3D action platformer with a timeless art style and interesting ideas. Simply put, it is incredible, in my opinion, and unlike some other games in the same age range, it has really stood the test of time. It is absolutely a MUST PLAY if you don't mind old classics.

Pros:
- Awesome story and humour;
- Great art style and visuals;
- Fun gameplay;
- Wonderful soundtrack;
- Great optimization;
- Good controls;
- Memorable characters;
- Amazing level design;
- Awesome voice acting;

Cons:
- Weird difficulty spike at the end;
- Needs some tweaking to run properly on modern machines;

A charming game with great writing and character designs that is dragged down by its gameplay. Still would recommend. It has me curious for the sequel.

Excellent game overall! Dated graphics and controls but still playable to this day!

Overall 9.5/10.

The good:
+ Really great and fun narratives and storyline
+ Areas all feel specially-made, especially the Milkman Conspiracy
+ Skills are all unique
+ Dialogue is hilarious and witty
+ RPG elements are simple but great
+ Really cool BGM

The bad:
- Graphics aren't too great and look outdated, but fortunately don't get in the way of a good experience
- Controls and camera may be outdated and difficult for some people
- Crashes sometimes

ive never played this until now, and i definitely see the hype. though it is DEFINITELY a game from the mid 2000's. it could definitely use a remake.

Genuinely one of the funniest and best games I've played. The characters are charming, the levels are imaginative, the abilities are fun, and I just love everything about it. Genuinely have such a strong positive view of it that I've considered learning to speedrun it. I highly recommend it! Cannot wait to buy the second one when I have the funds.

While there is plenty of jank and odd mechanics, those get drowned out by just how good everything else is, the platforming and writing are amazingly done, along with just the sheer creativity oozing outta every mind and their themes and associated level designs. Genuinely awe-inspiring to me.

...I think I played a lot of this before Steam was tracking playtime. Expect I've played about 15 hours or so.

Got stuck on what looked to be the last island and couldn't finish the game (got bugged). Maybe they fixed it.

I enjoyed it in 2007?

Pretty fun adventure game. I do sometimes get stuck but its an easy to problem solve, over all 7.5/10 adventure game. The game is targeted towards kids so to a teen/adult it may seem easy but the game is enjoyable.

This game is so much more than the initial 15-45 minutes give it credit for. I spent 21 hours and could easily spend another 10 getting all collectibles and re-playing favorite moments. I thought this would be too childish for me and I was pleasantly surprised by the adult themes. I struggle with mental health and somehow, little moments in this game made me feel validated and joyful.

Love this game! It's so weird but the story and characters are deep and intriguing nonetheless. Also Raz is a little shit and its hilarious.

An astounding symbiosis of theme, level design and visuals, my only gripe is Psychonauts is far overdue for a refresh to improve compatibility with modern systems.

On steam deck, the controls were haywire for me, until forcing Proton Experimental and resetting the game's native keybindings.

HAPPY 20th PSYCHONAUTS!!!

What is there to say that hasn't already been said about Psychonauts? One of the best-reviewed, least-played gaming masterpieces ever made. It STILL makes me laugh on my 7th and 8th play-through. Fond personal memories of Boy Scout camp and rumors of monsters by the lake hit right at home with this wonderful tale of psychic kids at a summer camp for freaks and geeks. It's perfect character design, world design, and writing.

I will say this as a side-note: If you plan to play this game on a Steam Deck (and you should), you will need to setup a community configuration from the integrated workshop, as well as download some button label replacements. I don't remember the name of the specific guide, but it's all right there in the recommended workshop guides and it is worth it to experience this masterpiece on the go. For everyone else on PC, the game runs perfectly well with any plug-in controller.

this game is amazing my one complaint is that it is only partial controller support on a game that came out on the original Xbox but besides that this game is so fun and underrated

Decently competent PS2-era platformer with a great story and hilarious writing that tackles topics like mental health and trauma. You can get it for dirt cheap when it goes on sale, too.

Even if the game is old, its still really fun and imaginative. Highly recomend

as a person with OCD, ADHD, Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, and Schizophrenia, i can confirm that this game is definitely mental
jokes aside, i'm enjoying psychonauts, and i think you will too. don't let the fact it's 20 years old steer you away, it still holds up quite nicely

Considering it came out during the tail end of the PS2 Era, it's actually held up incredibly well, it even has native 1080p support! No patches required.

Don't bother trying to play this on Steam Deck. It says that "All functionality is accessible when using the default controller configuration," but that's just a straight-up lie. I managed to get the game working after over an hour of futzing with the controller settings and in-game button mapping, and it was a blast!

But when I came back to the game after closing it, the game seemed to have forgotten all of the settings that worked yesterday and I couldn't even get past the "Press [button] to begin" prompt on the title page. Even if I connected a different controller.

Not worth the headache to get working, especially after I was told by Steam itself that using a controller would work.

it's a good, fun game- but it's age is showing... some things are very awkward to use (like your inventory)

I got it on sale for under $1 and honestly I'd say full price is still a value when it comes to price/hour of entertainment

This game starts off pretty slow…at first I did not reallt get the point of the game and where it was going. After a few hours and beating Sasha’s brain tumbler I started to understand the game. It got really fun to explore the map and see the cutscenes of all the characters acting goofy.

I got hooked to the point where I wanted to 100% the game. but no one fucking told me that once you go past the asylum you are not allowed to go back to campbase. so now I have to start a whole new save file inorder to be able to do it.

If it werent for that this game would be an easy 10/10 but ill give it a 9.5 just cuz i cant go back to base after i beat the main story.

Nice platformer , its nice , the game was made in 2005 still it looks good in my beefy PC. 100 percent recommend to all .

This is an incredibly solid platformer.

It's very charming due to it's very surreal art style that sets it apart from pretty much any other game I've played, and also due to it's very funny and sometimes pretty unhinged script, seriously, there's so many things I would've never expected to hear from a game like this, and I love it.

Tons of gameplay variety too, with all the powers you get through the game, so many things in this game have multiple ways to solve them, allowing you to experiment and see what works and what doesn't. The powers you get are all unique and interesting too, with all of them having great utility.

It's also pretty surprisingly dark in many ways, with it tackling some quite mature themes you really wouldn't expect, and actually being somewhat scary in some parts. It gives the impression this game had no shame in being what it wanted to be, and I have a lot of respect for that.

Level design is suuuper solid too, with it only sort of faulting in the very end with some frustrating timed challenges the game throws at you, but, overall, everything is pretty damn well constructed. Loads of puzzles in them that really get you thinking too (Thank god for the bacon when you inevitably run out of ideas tho).

And the story is pretty alright, it's nothing TOO crazy, but it does leave you wondering what's going to happen next quite often, and I like that.

Overall, this is very VERY good game, one that I really enjoyed my time with and cannot wait to see what the sequel has in store!

One of the best 3D platformer collecting games ever. The story is inspired, the characters memorable, and the art direction is visionary. It's a cult classic for a reason and you should play it. Right now, go.

fun surreal game, like if courage the cowardly dog had a game made by insomniac. Just an amazing and fun 3d platformer with decent combat, fun comedy, and great art.