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Psychonauts 2 physical copy4/6/2023 ![]() As a psychic, Raz journeys into the minds of other characters and resolves their mental trauma by exploring their inner minds and supporting them in defeating the negative thoughts that manifest as bosses. The sequel stays true to the formula of the first game by making a 3D platforming experience that focuses on storytelling. Unlike Double Fine, which has undergone a lot of change in recent years, Raz feels preserved in time. “But who knows? You know what, that’s the thing with art, you never know why you’re making the choices you’re making.” To be clear, Schafer didn’t intentionally write Raz’s story in relation to the studio’s situation, and there are no references to Microsoft in the new game. “We used to be the coolest kid in summer camp - and now we’re the smallest kid in the giant headquarters,” Schafer said. In the studio’s early days, it was a scrappy operation started by ex-LucasArts developers in a garage-turned-office space in San Francisco. Raz’s story just so happens to parallel that of Double Fine, in a way. Raz gets bullied by other psychics and gets assigned the role of intern. When he shows up, he faces a “new kid on the block” scenario. It’s a vast, corporate, futuristic campus that’s a far cry from the rustic, scrappy atmosphere of the camp. When Raz arrives at Psychonauts HQ, he’s quick to see that it isn’t anything like the summer camp he attended in the first game. Polygon played a preview of Psychonauts 2 on the Xbox Series X that included the first four hours of the game as well as certain other sections. The sequel picks up directly after the events of the VR game Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, which was set after the events of the first Psychonauts game released in 2005. The game’s story also marks a life change for the protagonist of the series, the intrepid young psychic Razputin “Raz” Aquato, who ventures into the big official world of the Psychonauts HQ for the first time. ![]() ![]() Psychonauts 2 marks a new chapter, a unique juncture in the studio’s history. Microsoft acquired the company in 2019, and now it’s looking like blue skies are ahead for Double Fine. Perhaps that’s because his studio is in a more stable place. That’s over five years since it was first announced as a Kickstarter campaign at the 2015 Game Awards.ĭespite these issues, Schafer had a noticeably bright tone when talking about the game’s impending release. After three delays and financial struggles on the part of the studio’s prior publisher, Psychonauts 2 will finally come out on Aug. “No matter how many years you’ve been in game development, there’s new challenges, new teams, new technology, that makes every game its own unique challenge,” he said. This time around, though, there were new obstacles to navigate, Schafer explained. Turns out, developing the title became a “five-year roller coaster.”Īlthough it had taken five years to make the first game, the team had learned a lot, and Schafer felt they were all more prepared to take on the sequel. When the company announced the sequel to its cult hit Psychonauts, founder Tim Schafer thought making the game would be a “two-year cakewalk,” Schafer told Polygon in a recent Zoom call. Between publishing deals falling through the cracks, layoffs, multiple game delays, and a lawsuit involving two of the largest video game companies in the business, the team has had to deal with its fair share of instability. Double Fine Productions is a studio that knows the ups and downs of game development all too well.
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