Psychonauts

95%
Game Brain Score Based on 12,656 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • humor
Psychonauts Game Cover
Psychonauts has a group of unforgettable characters in an imaginative setting that unfortunately takes place inside a middling platformer. It could be a great cartoon, but as a game, it's far from perfect.
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A Psychic Odyssey Through the Minds of Misfits, Monsters, and Madmen. This classic action/adventure platformer from acclaimed developers Double Fine Productions follows the story of a young psychic named Razputin.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Cloud
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Play​station 2
  • Play​station 3
  • Xbox
  • Xbox 360
  • Xbox Game Pass
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

95%
Audience ScoreBased on 12,656 reviews
story1,755 positive mentions
grinding160 negative mentions
  • story3,360 mentions

    The story of *Psychonauts* is widely praised for its creativity, humor, and depth, weaving a narrative that explores themes of mental health and personal growth through the lens of a quirky summer camp for psychic children. Players navigate the minds of various characters, each with unique backstories and challenges, which adds layers to the overall plot and character development. While the gameplay mechanics may feel dated, the engaging storytelling and memorable characters make it a standout title in the platforming genre.

    • “The overall art style and story are what make this game great.”
    • “The story is great and at times very funny.”
    • “The story, the characters, all the collectibles, the music, the art direction, the gameplay... it's all great!”
    • “The story isn't too special as far as plots go, but the character development more than makes up for it.”
    • “The last quarter of this game is just a nightmare...jumping all over the place between different story lines and characters...it really is very demanding on your patience.”
    • “The story is probably one of the better ones I've seen in a 3D platformer.”
  • gameplay2,215 mentions

    The gameplay of *Psychonauts* has received mixed reviews, with many praising its creativity and variety across different levels, each introducing unique mechanics tied to the characters' psyches. However, several players noted that the controls can feel clunky and dated, leading to frustrating moments, particularly in platforming sections. Overall, while the gameplay may not be groundbreaking, it is often seen as enjoyable and engaging, complementing the game's strong narrative and humor.

    • “Overall, this game is rich in story, fun gameplay, comedic writing, and a whole heap of visual style.”
    • “Superb voice acting, memorable characters, interesting plot, tons of humor, gameplay is fun and not repetitive due to the variety of different and really unique levels.”
    • “The gameplay combines platforming, puzzle-solving, and psychic abilities, offering a unique and engaging experience.”
    • “The gameplay is inexcusably bad at points and there are times when it's just straight-up irritating to play because of all the different sound effects and crying noises congregated in one place.”
    • “The gameplay loop feels brutally unforgiving, where a small mistake can send you tumbling down, forcing you to redo massive sections of a level.”
    • “The gameplay feels dated and a bit janky, some levels are just poorly executed and a lot of the systems (the levels, collectibles and upgrades) feel unnecessary, but when a game is this charming, those things are all too easy to forgive.”
  • humor2,194 mentions

    The humor in *Psychonauts* is widely praised for its cleverness and charm, blending dark themes with whimsical, surreal comedy. Players appreciate the witty dialogue, memorable characters, and the game's ability to tackle serious topics while maintaining a lighthearted tone. The unique art style and imaginative level design further enhance the comedic experience, making it a standout title that resonates with both nostalgic and new audiences.

    • “The game is still surprisingly solid and intuitive, and while it isn’t exceptionally refined mechanically, it more than makes up for its shortcomings and age with increasingly absurd and memorable design concepts and the fact that every inch of the game’s world is drenched in this deliciously insane surrealistic cartoonish sense of humor.”
    • “The humor and writing are on point; the game just oozes creativity and life.”
    • “Psychonauts is a charming, funny, and well-designed game with a wide range of gameplay and tone that precludes any sense of boredom.”
    • “The humor can be very American (not funny), but overall had some great moments.”
    • “Unfunny, unremarkable, and ugly to look at.”
    • “I think this game was supposed to be funny, but it is really not; also, it's boring and repetitive.”
  • graphics1,653 mentions

    The graphics of *Psychonauts* have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while they are dated, the unique and stylized art direction helps them age better than typical graphics from the same era. The game's quirky, cartoonish visuals, reminiscent of Tim Burton's aesthetic, contribute to its charm and creativity, making it a memorable experience despite some technical limitations and occasional graphical glitches. Overall, the art style is often praised for its originality and ability to enhance the game's narrative and humor, even if the graphical fidelity itself may not meet modern standards.

    • “The graphics still hold up today, mostly thanks to the unique art style.”
    • “The game features a vibrant and visually stunning art style that brings the bizarre and whimsical mental landscapes to life.”
    • “The graphics are dated for sure, but that's easily overlooked as part of the art style.”
    • “Graphics have aged terribly.”
    • “The graphics, while dated, don't look terrible, due to the expressive art style.”
    • “The graphics might seem a little worse for wear at first.”
  • music519 mentions

    The music in "Psychonauts" has received mixed reviews, with many praising its catchy and whimsical nature that complements the game's quirky atmosphere and diverse levels. While some tracks are memorable and enhance the overall experience, others are criticized for being repetitive and short, leading to a sense of monotony during extended gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant aspect of the game's charm, contributing to its nostalgic and immersive qualities.

    • “The soundtrack is superb, from the opening background music to each level's design; the themes blend together to truly make an immersive world to enjoy and explore.”
    • “The music ranges from catchy and upbeat tunes to haunting melodies, creating a unique auditory experience.”
    • “The music is fantastic! It perfectly complements the game's offbeat and whimsical atmosphere.”
    • “I wouldn't say the music is bad, but the tracks are super short, around 40 to 60 seconds long — and they loop constantly.”
    • “The music also feels a bit lacking and is nothing to write home about.”
    • “The soundtrack is repetitive.”
  • emotional189 mentions

    The emotional aspect of "Psychonauts" is deeply woven into its narrative, exploring themes of mental health, personal growth, and the complexities of human emotions through whimsical yet poignant storytelling. Players engage with various collectibles like "emotional baggage" and "figments of imagination," which serve as metaphors for addressing trauma and insecurities, creating a unique blend of humor and heartfelt moments. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to tackle serious issues while maintaining a lighthearted tone, leaving a lasting emotional impact on players.

    • “At its core, Psychonauts is a 3D platformer, but it’s less about hopping from ledge to ledge and more about leaping from emotional trauma to deeply buried insecurities.”
    • “Psychonauts weaves a captivating and emotional storyline that touches upon themes of self-discovery, friendship, and personal growth.”
    • “The humor is delightful, but there's definitely a solid emotional core as well.”
    • “The story was incredibly dull and the plot was poorly executed.”
    • “I felt no emotional connection to the characters or their struggles.”
    • “The attempts at emotional depth fell flat and felt forced.”
  • grinding173 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game has received significant criticism, with many players finding the tasks tedious, repetitive, and often frustrating. While the story and characters are praised, the grind-heavy missions, particularly those involving collecting items like arrowheads and figments, detract from the overall enjoyment, leading to a sense of boredom and annoyance. Despite these issues, some players still appreciate the game's creativity and humor, suggesting that the grinding may be manageable for those who approach it casually.

    • “Obviously the plot is not that complicated nor original, but it was well balanced and not tedious at all (hope you get the reference) all along my 15 hours of gameplay.”
    • “Collecting everything wasn't too tedious but getting to level 101 was a pain.”
    • “It’s rarely frustrating, although it can be, and collecting everything isn't as tedious as it sounds.”
    • “The story and characters are amazing, but they’re buried under layers of poorly designed, grindy missions that feel like glorified fetch quests.”
    • “Then there are other missions I've done where I've progressed the mission and all, just to get to a 'locked' phase and oh surprise I have to spend over an hour grinding arrowheads through a pretty much stupid little minigame feature in order to get the item I need.”
    • “Psychonauts was fun at first, but a few levels in it stopped being fun and became tedious and repetitive.”
  • character development153 mentions

    Character development in *Psychonauts* is widely praised for its depth and creativity, with many reviewers highlighting how the game explores characters' backstories through unique level designs and emotional narratives. The quirky and often unconventional character designs, reminiscent of Tim Burton's style, contribute to the game's charm and help convey the personalities of the characters effectively. Overall, the combination of engaging storytelling, memorable character arcs, and distinctive visual aesthetics makes the character development a standout feature of the game.

    • “The character development for Raz is so good.”
    • “The method of character development through literally exploring the minds of characters and learning about their memories and motivations through their 'emotional baggage' and interpreting the scenery around you... it's brilliant, both from a storytelling and game design perspective.”
    • “Great character development and back stories of the people you mind read (there are other characters I would love to know more about, but you sadly don't).”
    • “The character designs are woeful, the humor often misses the mark, and the controls are quite bad.”
    • “The gameplay and story are just average, but there is no character development, and the story is about government abuse of children, which I feel warrants a higher ESRB rating than the game currently has.”
    • “The character design tends more towards cartoony characters whose appearance gives you a good outline of their personality, and the environments vary widely from traditional platformer areas to mind-bending levels that twist and turn through every axis.”
  • atmosphere140 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique and immersive qualities, blending whimsical and surreal elements that enhance the storytelling and character interactions. Despite some dated graphics, the art style and soundtrack contribute significantly to the game's charm, creating a rich, colorful world that players find memorable and engaging. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making it a must-play for fans of creative and narrative-driven experiences.

    • “The atmosphere, the characters, the story, and the attention to detail at every point of this game makes you realize how ahead of its time this game truly was.”
    • “The atmosphere is also top notch, so many areas are still etched into my mind, from the milkman’s mind to that little room in the camp store with the TV in it, each area feels so humanly crafted, so personal.”
    • “The atmosphere it delivers is truly magnificent and the cartoonish nature of everything compliments the whimsical nature of the human mind.”
    • “The graphics obviously cannot be compared to recent games, but I think it adds to the bizarre Salvador Dali-Tim Burton-esque atmosphere.”
    • “This is probably the textbook definition of a 'hidden gem.' In terms of story and atmosphere, the game has a level of demented charm that you really don't see a lot of anymore in games, movies, or cartoons nowadays.”
    • “The atmosphere, aesthetics, level design, and characters/character interactions are all top notch.”
  • stability106 mentions

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting a variety of glitches and bugs that can disrupt gameplay, particularly on Mac and Linux systems. While some users experienced significant issues such as freezing, graphical glitches, and inconsistent controls, others found the game to run well on modern hardware with only minor bugs. Overall, the game's nostalgic charm and engaging content often outweigh the technical shortcomings for many players.

    • “It's an almost bug-free experience.”
    • “It runs great on modern hardware and runs perfectly.”
    • “I would highly recommend this game to anyone and it runs great on PC for anyone wondering.”
    • “The game is full of glitches and bugs.”
    • “There's a lot of minor glitches, inconsistent mechanics, and unintended consequences that really add up over the course of the game.”
    • “Game-breaking graphical glitches make it unplayable.”
  • replayability78 mentions

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players noting a lack of incentive to replay due to linear storylines and limited content, while others highlight the presence of collectibles, hidden items, and engaging gameplay that encourage multiple playthroughs. Many reviews suggest that while the initial experience is enjoyable, the desire to replay varies significantly among players, with some finding it highly replayable and others feeling it lacks depth for repeated runs. Overall, the consensus indicates that while replay value exists, it is not universally strong across all aspects of the game.

    • “Great game with a surprising amount of depth and replayability.”
    • “The game has a lot of replayability; I could beat the game 10 times and still want to play it more.”
    • “There's tons of things to do, lots of replayability (and not just for more dialogue, heh).”
    • “It just felt like unfortunate filler to give more replayability to what is admittedly a pretty small game.”
    • “10 dollars for a roughly 10-hour experience with very little replay value is a bit of a bad deal to me; I can excuse it for the level design and concepts the game experiments with alone.”
    • “The only bad thing is a low replay value after you beat the game.”
  • optimization57 mentions

    The optimization of the game varies significantly across platforms, with smooth performance reported on modern PCs and consoles, while users on Mac and older systems experience notable issues such as stuttering, crashes, and graphical glitches. While many players enjoy the game without major problems, others highlight a lack of optimization for modern hardware, particularly on Windows 10, and express frustration with unoptimized cutscenes and inconsistent performance. Overall, the game is generally well-received for its gameplay and story, but optimization remains a concern for some users.

    • “It runs smoothly at 60fps with no signs of performance drops, works great with my Xbox One controller, looks very nice and with no major issues I can think of from my experience.”
    • “It runs smoothly on PC without installing mods, has controller support and logical keyboard controls, levels cooked with imagination, classic American summer camp atmosphere, decent characters and fun gameplay.”
    • “On the technical side, the game runs smoothly without any problems in modern systems and I haven't encountered any bugs on my playthrough.”
    • “The optimization for Mac is terrible; objects disappear and the graphics act weird. The game is great, but I didn't play more because of the glitches on Mac.”
    • “Be aware that Psychonauts is not optimized whatsoever for modern PCs!”
    • “Another issue is that this game isn't very optimized on the PC. There are ways to try and mitigate that, but it would probably be better to get this game on a console if you can.”
  • monetization9 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game is praised for its absence of microtransactions, DLC, and other modern monetization practices, which contrasts sharply with contemporary AAA titles. Reviewers lament the game's poor advertising and lack of recognition, attributing its underappreciation to a marketing campaign that misrepresented its content. Overall, the game is celebrated as a unique gem that prioritizes artistic integrity over profit-driven strategies.

    • “No microtransactions, no season passes, no DLC, no broken servers.”
    • “The work of a dying breed of developers who cared for the art form of gaming, in lieu of microtransactions and psychological tricks to keep the dopamine rushing so you'll buy more of their stuff.”
    • “Playing this game also made me contrast with what is wrong with modern AAA gaming: focus on graphics, bad DLC and microtransaction practices, multiplayer excessive focus, day one patches, and so on (although the game crashed a few times).”
    • “It didn't get the attention and recognition it truly deserved, due to horrible commercial advertising it shared around the day it launched.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

85% average critic score

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Play time

16hMedian play time
19hAverage play time
10-24hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 33 analyzed playthroughs

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