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Editorial contributions to the site by me, I file under the name "The Ramblings of a Moron" for naming continuity, and to warn of non-perfect editorial skills. (Not to mention the high probability of completely moronic things being said.) This is me trying to improve my written communications as well as contribute at the same time. Without further delay:

The Ramblings of a Moron, Articles by Cynagen
This post does not reflect the views, opinions, or stance of Widescreen Gaming Forum and it's staff. It is only of my own, so anything you have against it, PM me or comment.

Hey, wanna show me one of your nightmares? A Psychonaut, the psychic soldier defending the free thinking world from things that go bump in the back of your mind, or using an enemy's deepest darkest secrets to haunt them, is what you strive to become in this game. The newest breed of soldiers, they possess almost god-like powers, being able to focus their energies into mind-bending and amazing feats. These powers, can be used for the greater good of your friends and allies, and to the dismay of your enemies alike.

Psychonauts delves into what only most therapists dream about, picking at your brain hands on, and seeing everything that makes you tick, and to be honest, sometimes, ignorance is bliss. As you venture through your first mission, the training course in your war-vet-camp-trainer's mind, you quickly find out what this game is all about, and sooner than later, just how messed up you are as well. The game is loaded with mini-puzzles and side quests to get you sidetracked, and while they all tie into the main goal of becoming a Psychonaut, they do beg, just how much multitasking do you think you can handle? Between training and leveling up to unlock new powers, you'll easily lose track of time, and sometimes, even if for just brief moments, reality, as you get sucked into this addictive title.

The game's characters are fleshed out well enough not to make them, for lack of a better term, transparent; everyone's story is interesting. The monsters and characters, seem fittingly cartoonish, and while the gameplay does get intense, it's not aggravating. This title has a little something for everyone it seems, from the mini-games that contribute to the end goal, to the searching each and every level for every little thing possible, to the "grinding" and fleshing out levels to further enhance your abilities. Psychonaut's graphics, character design/backstory, and multiple other elements, seem very well planned and executed, but the one thing that has seemed to escape me is audio. It doesn't feel like much was done in the way of audio. Reused windows sounds for some things such as a cricket jumping, a very forgettable background score, and lacking depth any further than sound effects for your obviously cool looking abilities/attacks. It appears to be the only detractor from this otherwise superbly stunning title. This would be a game, that like Portal, I would suggest to all my friends to try out.

Scoring:
Graphics: 8/10 (There could have been a little more done to smooth out character animations.)
Audio: 4/10 (The game's composer could have done something more to enhance this game, but sadly, they did the bare minimum.)
Action: 9/10 (It gets intense, but not aggravating.)
Re-playability: 7/10 (So far, I already can tell i'm going to have to replay this a bit to find all the little things.)
Value to Cost: 7/10 (I haven't looked at the price of this title recently, but it should be it's cost far outweighed by it's value.)
Overall: 70% (The audio is what's really holding this title back.)

NOTE: I may come back to this and rehash the Rambling a bit after I get a bit more into the game, however, I've typically stuck to the original final print of my Ramblings even after delving further into the title, so this may or may not be the final print, please stay tuned.

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Current build: Intel i5-4670k | 32GB DDR3 | RAID0 2x250GB 850EVOs | nVidia GTX980Ti (MSI G1 Gaming Edition) | SoundBlaster Zx | Dell 2405FPW (Landscape, primary) & HP w2338h (Portrait)

I can't help but think the cartoony graphics hold it back a bit too. I mean sure it's a very over the top sci fi premise, but one that has intelligent enough content to warrant more realistic graphics that could possibly elevate it to a more serious and believable futuristic sci fi game.

A neighbor of mine has this title on Xbox and bemoans the fact that he got stuck by a bug somewhere.

I can't help but think the cartoony graphics hold it back a bit too. I mean sure it's a very over the top sci fi premise, but one that has intelligent enough content to warrant more realistic graphics that could possibly elevate it to a more serious and believable futuristic sci fi game.

A neighbor of mine has this title on Xbox and bemoans the fact that he got stuck by a bug somewhere.

But aren't the cartoony graphics part of its own insanity?

I bought this on Amazon for the PC a couple of months ago for five dollars. I can't remember how many times I beat it on my old Xbox...

A spectacular game, as with all of Time Schafer titles. HAd it's drawbacks, as with any other game, but the creativity, humour, and pure wonkiness made up for them. Along with the fun gameplay and pretty good controls.

And its' widescreen support.

PS - Tim Schafer/Double-Fine has another title coming out soon. But only for X360 and PS3. I feel so cheated.

Yes, Tim Schafer has made excellent games. Mostly point and click adventure games.

Psychonauts would have been a great point-and-click adventure game.

It saddens me that I played the demo and actively disliked the game. I like wonky, I like Tim Schafer, I like liking games that the mainstream largely ignored, but Psychonauts is, at its core, a subpar platformer.

The Oddworld series is funnier, more challenging, and just more fun to play.

70% is exceedingly harsh. The game is a masterpiece, up there with Miyamoto's best when it comes to 3D platforming. The inventivess and execution of its ideas make it a (relatively) modern classic of gaming.

I disagree about the audio - the voice work is exemplary (it always helps having brilliant Tim Schafer scripts). The music by Peter McConnell fits perfectly, the eeriness really comes through. Maybe the tunes could've been a little more catchy but it's hardly a massive problem and I never felt I needed to turn down the music. As for the effects, I don't really remember them being that irritating - in fact I just remember them fitting with the rest of the games magical appeal.

However all that is window dressing what Psychonauts excels in is pure gaming, the variety of levels and ideas explored are mind boggling. I don't really want to get into too much detail but you'll never think of Lungfish in the same way after playing one level. At times it can be almost too ambitious in its attempts to offer something varied all the time, but this is more than forgiveable.

As for value for money - seeing as the game is being hawked around everywhere dirt cheap (especially content delivery systems like Steam) or the fact you can pick it up for next to nothing second hand then this is a slice of majesty which no self respecting gamer should miss out on.

Buy it, play it and enjoy it.

70% is exceedingly harsh. The game is a masterpiece, up there with Miyamoto's best when it comes to 3D platforming. The inventivess and execution of its ideas make it a (relatively) modern classic of gaming.

I'm sorry you disagree with my score, I thought 70% was harsh too, but when you do the math, that's what it figures out to be.

I disagree about the audio - the voice work is exemplary (it always helps having brilliant Tim Schafer scripts). The music by Peter McConnell fits perfectly, the eeriness really comes through. Maybe the tunes could've been a little more catchy but it's hardly a massive problem and I never felt I needed to turn down the music. As for the effects, I don't really remember them being that irritating - in fact I just remember them fitting with the rest of the games magical appeal.

It's not the effects sounds that were annoying, just some of the sounds around the camp sounded reused from other places (like I gave in example, a windows XP click sound for the cricket jumping.) The music is what didn't stick with me, and I'm not going to leave that out of an otherwise rave review because frankly, audio is just as important as visual, and gameplay, both of which the game excelled at. This is the reason why audio suffered, there was great quality in the visual, and the gameplay is addictive if this is your style of game, but the audio just doesn't meet the same standards.

However all that is window dressing what Psychonauts excels in is pure gaming, the variety of levels and ideas explored are mind boggling. I don't really want to get into too much detail but you'll never think of Lungfish in the same way after playing one level. At times it can be almost too ambitious in its attempts to offer something varied all the time, but this is more than forgiveable.

This is totally the sentiment here, I love playing this game and all the different things that are in it. It's a huge step away from what is considered the mainstream of gaming right now (first person shooters), and even back when it came out, and that's a merit of it's own, but to execute these ideas in such form is where this game really shines.

As for value for money - seeing as the game is being hawked around everywhere dirt cheap (especially content delivery systems like Steam) or the fact you can pick it up for next to nothing second hand then this is a slice of majesty which no self respecting gamer should miss out on.

Simply put: What is a dream with no sound? A black and white moving picture. And while the content is outstanding, couple the fact that we live in a very much multimedia age, and the missing audio will be a huge detractor.

Buy it, play it and enjoy it.

Agreed! Buy it, play it and enjoy it.

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Current build: Intel i5-4670k | 32GB DDR3 | RAID0 2x250GB 850EVOs | nVidia GTX980Ti (MSI G1 Gaming Edition) | SoundBlaster Zx | Dell 2405FPW (Landscape, primary) & HP w2338h (Portrait)

I loved the game, but honestly I agree with a 70% total.

The audio, such as in the dancing-inducing retro 60's style level or the creepy pop-up girl one later on, is good. However it could've been much better. The retro level for example has a nice beat to it, but after a few repeats of it when you fail, the beats get old real fast, especially since they don't vary much.

It's still a better game than say any of the lego platformers, especially when the camera is concerned.