Psychonauts

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.

Does not work on steam deck. Camera is in a constant spin and despite originally being on consoles it did not support my controllers at all. Other games with keyboard input have not had this issue. A very disappointing experience.

game is good but borderline unplayable.

can't customize controller bindings, controller doesnt even register properly. due to this camera is incredibly buggy and not usable. Alongside the game crashing and/or freezing after loading screens, where the game continues on but you're stuck looking at a jittering loading screen.

All in all I had fun but there's too many technical issues for me to continue playing. Probably gonna give an emulator a shot.

Absolutely one of the best video games ever made. A funny, challenging and endlessly creative experience.

Over a Decade Later, still a great game:

Psychonauts is a game that has been out for over a decade, and in that time it has stood the test of time as a great game. To this day this game remains one of the best 3D platformers I've played, the controls feel satisfying and polished (even though this is an early 2000's game) the writing is comedic yet deep, and the music is better than most modern games. Even most of the problems people have with the game, like the requiring of seemingly optional abilities and items to get to later levels, or the some character designs being hard on the eyes did not bother me at all, I am very aware this is subjective and purely my tolerance for things like that, but I enjoyed the game, and I think you should try it out and see if you enjoy it too.

This game did not work on my steam deck. The camera kept spinning and it was unplayable. So please be aware if you are planning to play it on a steam deck.

Because of that steam deck issue, I played it on my desktop PC and it was great.
The level designs are very creative and I really liked how they tried to tackle mental illness in a very creative way.
Platforming and collecting is fun and engaging too.
I really recommend this game.

It's a little dated, but the imagination is tangible. There are so many creative and interesting ideas thrown your way. So many memorable and interesting characters are brought to your attention. There are some poorly telegraphed puzzles, and some dysfunctional ones. a lot of the jokes and concepts have aged really poorly. But this is a weird and wild journey that everyone should experience at least once.

What an amazing 3-D Platformer and such a good PC port too. This is definitely one you shouldn't skip. I bought this in preparation for the new one but fell in love with it right away. Nuanced dark humor, great art style, and a mix of platforming and light combat.

There is only one issue. If you're going with 100% completion, there are a few missable achievements, but hey, some might just find an excuse to play the game again. Almost a flawless masterpiece. Now I believe why it's considered a classic gem. Solid "9/10"

I enjoyed the game a lot. It has decent platforming and a bit of action. The story and characters are really good. It may be an older title but it's still worth your time. I feel like it has aged well.

Pretty good overall. I really enjoyed the game, especially because of its dark humor and interesting premise. Each level has its own unique and distinctive feel, and the whimsical art style pairs nicely with the themes and challenges. That said, there is some jank that can take away from the experience, and the frequent cutscenes that interrupt moment to moment gameplay can get pretty annoying.

When it comes to gameplay, there were a lot of things I liked, but there were also some rough spots, Some of the platforming felt a bit off, and the combat system is pretty basic, lacking much depth. Still, I can overlook these issues because this game is one of the most original and creatively designed 3D platformers I've played in a while.

It’s definitely made me curious about the sequel!

I'm really glad I played it, though it has a few imperfections. A fun, deeply creative game!

If your game holds up after almost two decades of it releasing, I think that means you've succeeded as a developer.

Not a bad game but, there are definitely better platformers out there. The setting is good though.

It's defined as a 3D platformer but, the platforming in this game is so rare that even FromSoft games contain more platforming than this, to be fair. The sense of humour is just standard animation sense of humour and the sheer amount of cutscenes started to kill the immersion for me, at some point. Even if I skip them, combined with the lack of platforming, I started to get bored around the half of it.

I had to drop 4 games in a row. I'm sad tbh.

in someone's cruel, malformed world, this game is called Normalnauts

Psychonauts is a good time, just kinda sloppy. The most endearing and unique part of the game compared to other platformers is definitely the characters and story and the general 2000s Cartoon Network aesthetic. It's all really fun and the dialogue is pretty entertaining to listen to. All the psychic powers are really cool to play around with too, even if some of them don't feel as utilized as others. The general platforming though, the controls and moment to moment gameplay is kinda mediocre. The controls don't feel as smooth as the genre's best and I think some of the level design can have pretty poor visibility and clarity in the environment. The platforming can just be very basic at times. The bosses are also often really boring or obnoxious to deal with. The mutant fish boss for example just drags on for so long. All the unique qualities of the game helps it rise above a lot of it's shortcomings, but I still wanted a little something more. I'm hoping the sequel cleans up the gameplay and bring it up to a the level that matches the series' other best qualities. I'm interested in more of this!

Dopest fucking game of its decade. Play this shit. Idk about the 2nd one who cares? Buy and Play Psychonauts or Ernest Hemingway yourself. Ernest Hemingway, by the way, was a transgender faggot writer from the mid-20th century who was obsessed with Africa due to there being so much AIDS and darker shades of peni to slap him in his big santa claus cheeks. Fuck Ernest Hemingway. Play Psychonauts. Play Psychonauts. Play Psychonauts.

Very good game with some definite warts. There is no doubt that this is an older game with some of the issues it suffers from, but if you are going to play it you know it is an old game so you shouldn't expect modern design. I had a very good time with this for the most part. There were moments of frustration, but nothing that made me think about stopping or taking a break.

My biggest gripe would be the inventory/power system is cumbersome and you can't avoid that. As long as you stick to the critical path and play it for a casual fun action/adventure/platformer I think you are in for a good time. The creativity is tremendous. If you pus yourself to collectal all or even collect most, I think you will ruin your time with the game. The collecting is the worst part of the game, don't waste your time, the payoff is not there and it will water down your experience.

I'm very excited to play the sequel now.

If you really like Nickelodeon cartoons I'd suggest watching those instead of playing this. The game constantly stops for dialogue and cutscenes, with its admittedly charming characters, but I much prefer to play my video games than watch them.

After a couple hours I started skipping all scenes and eventually figured this game just wasn't for me.

A great example on how to make a great family game for everyone to enjoy, it's a fun platformer with cool psychic abilities to spice up the gameplay and it has great humor, definitely recommend it!

This game is peak Small Circus boy wants become good psychic and fights lawyers who stamp you with giant stamps, also every girl in the camp wants to kiss one of the boys idk why

This game is beloved for a reason, give this absolute gem a go.

One of the funniest games ever made play this and then the sequel which is just as good.