History YMMV / Psychonauts2

* RainbowLens: The way the Aquato Family interact with Raz (and vice-versa) have the feel of a kid who came out to their family (either as non-heteronormative or gender non-conforming), had previously left to get away from their regressive opinions about it, and both sides are struggling to adjust to this new reality civilly.

** His older brother acts out his confused feelings born out of his prejudices and love for his brother as anger, downright using slurs when referring to him.
** His older sister is still "in the closet" and too afraid of coming out to her parents, while grudgingly exploring her powers with Raz when they were younger. Raz and their dad already know about this, but both (after some ballistic rocks to remind the former to stay quiet) respect her decision to wait for the right time.

** His grandmother doesn't question Raz, [[spoiler:having been "out" as a psychic herself.]]
* RealismInducedHorror: The game is LighterAndSofter than the first in some ways, but the mental health warning at the start isn't kidding. While the asylum residents in the first game were relatable on some levels, their mental illnesses were [[TheThemeParkVersion cartoonishly exaggerated]] enough to distance them from reality. The second game's minds deal with issues like gambling addiction, stress, alcoholism, grief, depression, anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD, all portrayed very realistically compared to its predecessor. It's likely at least one of them will hit close to home for players.

* EvilIsSexy: Maligula is undeniably attractive, with long eyelashes, a deep, sultry voice, and a fantastic figure. [[spoiler: It's easy to see why Ford fell for her when she wasn't possessed by her own aggressive impulses.]]

** Zigzagged. [[spoiler:While he initially displays anger at Ford for brainwashing his father and "grandmother" in order to keep his grandmother's murderer hidden in plain sight, which Ford validates but urges him to put off until it's a safer time, as soon as Ford takes him to Green Needle Gulch, the sight of such a historically-important location brings him back to his happy, geeking-out self. He generally remains in good spirits for most of the game thereafter, even during the post-game that Ford assured him would be a safe time to be angry; however, he can still tell Ford that what he did to his family was wrong, and many of his post-game conversations show he ''is'' concerned with how the fallout affects everyone.]]

*** Raz will drop hints about what to do next or how to solve a puzzle if you dawdle for too long. This is great if you're actually stuck and don't know what to do, but extremely annoying if you're taking your time for any other reason and really ''do'' know what to do.

** The PSI King's Sensorium is a gorgeous, moving, and incredibly creative psychedelic thrill ride that pays tribute to the Rock and Roll bands of The '60s and '70s. Raz needs to revive the senses of a brain that's been [[BrainInAJar stuck in a jar for decades]], and he does so by putting together a band made of metaphorical representations of human sense- from vision, to hearing, to touch, and so on. The level is absolutely gorgeous thanks to heavy use of CelShading and strong environmental design, with a dose of fascinating world-building [[spoiler: with the reveal it takes place in the mind of one of the Psychic Six, Hellmut Fullbear.]] And to top it all off, the level is set to a song performed by none other than ''Jack Black'' as mentioned above. It's a stunning level through and through.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Like the first game, the game's premise naturally lends itself to this.

* LovetoHate: [[spoiler: Gristol Malik is the most horribly irredeemably evil character in the series, but is liked by many for being an interesting villain]].

* Love to Hate: [[spoiler: Gristol Malik is the most horribly irredeemably evil character in the series, but is liked by many for being an interesting villain]].

-->'''Raz:''' [[It's just a mental baby... it's just a mental baby...

*** Arguably worse is the cardiology department which is the race track. Only it seems races take place on the EKG screen and seems to be powered by a patient given actual defibrillation.

** This wouldn't be the last time Tru Valentino voiced [[WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow a boy wanting to go to a casino despite being told it's a very bad idea]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** As the years passed between the first ''Psychonauts''' release, there was growing pushback against the game's casual use of the word "gypsy", which is considered a slur towards the Romani people. Tim Schafer would acknowledge this backlash in a 2015 Reddit AMA, stating he was unaware of the word's history and that it would not be used in ''Psychonauts 2''.
** Some of the humor in the first game has become unacceptable in the years since, as mental health awareness has become a more sensitive issue, and was (rightfully) left in 2006. AbusiveParents, which were frequently used in the campers' backstories as BlackComedy, are used extremely sparingly and always PlayedForDrama. Additionally, the few SuicideAsComedy jokes from the first game were removed entirely, as most suicide jokes have drifted into offensive territory.
** In the first game, Raz invaded the minds of the four mental patients of Thorney Towers under dubious consent. While Edgar and Fred had expressed a desire to be helped, Gloria and Boyd couldn't ask for it due to their impairments. While the original game treats the patients with enough respect to make this a non-issue, Raz performing mental psychiatry for people who physically can't say no has implications that are questionable at ''best''. This is driven home especially in the "Milkman Conspiracy" level, where [[spoiler: Boyd Cooper, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero thanks to Raz]], changes from a paranoid gatekeeper to his old arsonist self, as he destroys the building near the end of the story. After that, he flees with the other patients, [[PutOnABus never to be seen again]], and we never know whether or not he changed for the better]]. So in this game, Hollis' levels are dedicated to showing just how badly recklessly trying to affect people's minds without their consent can go, and Sasha explicitly points out to Raz that because of the immense power they hold over a person's mind, the Psychonauts have to respect the boundaries of their patients and be careful not to overstep them. Additionally, almost every mind you enter in the second game is done so either at the patient's explicit consent, a superior's consent, or to prevent a crisis from occurring, which prevents any questionable implications from arising. [[spoiler: The only two minds that buck this trend are Bob and "Truman", but both minds have reasonable explanations for this - for Bob, his plants request Raz's help in curing their gardener in the same way a group of friends might stage an intervention for someone that's suffering from addiction, and it's implied that subconsciously, Bob is the one controlling the plants and secretly desires help through them. In the case of "Truman", not only does Raz have reasonable motivation to enter "Truman"'s mind after seeing how odd he's acting, but Lili asks him to help her dad, which is also presented like an intervention for someone clearly suffering from an unaddressed mental disorder.]] This is intentional, as in an [[https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/05/21/how-double-fine-handles-mental-health-in-psychonauts-2 article]], Double Fine expressed a desire to deal with the topic of mental health in an even more tasteful way compared to the last game.
** In the first game, all of the patients at Thorny Towers (with the exception of Edgar) were fixed by Raz and Raz [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything alone]]. In an age more sensitive to mental health, this could come off as downplaying how hard these struggles can be to escape. In this game, the mind's owners themselves are often participating in the bosses alongside Raz, and in some cases, they're even the ones who deal the final blow (like Compton dealing with the final goat, Bob actively fighting back against the personification of his alcohol addiction, and [[spoiler: Helmut]] even having enough control to incapacitate his trauma entirely, turning it into a CurbStompBattle). Likewise, it's shown that Raz didn't "fix" them, but rather ''stabilized'' them after they were at a severe state - Compton is shown still being rather anxious but much better at holding it together, while Cassie notably tells Raz she's not sure if it's the real her after he helps sort out her systems. This is because issues like those are long-lasting, often lifetime struggles instead of something that can magically be taken care of. And just in case it's not obvious enough, Hollis [[AnAesop outright tells Raz]] that it's ''not'' the Psychonaut's job to "fix" people who are struggling, it's to give them help and support so they can do it themselves, something that every friendly mind in the game ends up doing.
** The final boss of the first installment was generally considered to be pretty underwhelming, as you just run away/block with the shield ability until you power up, at which point you beat the boss up while it cowers helplessly until you run out of energy, and then you repeat until they're dead. The sequel's final boss is a much more involved affair.
** The PointOfNoReturn in the first game was considered by many players to be something of an annoyance, as even though the game lets you access any of the previous ''minds'' you have accessed after that point, anything that you have missed in the real world (such as challenge markers, cards, brains, etc.) is permanently unavailable after that point. While ''2'' also has a point of no return, you can freely access the entire world after you complete the story in order to collect anything you might have missed. In fact, the postgame is ''mandatory'' to reach 100% completion, as you [[spoiler:gain your final ability after the cutoff point.]]
** While there are still [[SequelHook some loose ends]], the story ends much more conclusively than the first game, likely to avoid a situation similar to the [[SequelGap sixteen year]] wait for this one.
** In the first few months, one of the bigger complaints with this game was [[LastLousyPoint the difficulty of finding the last few collectibles within the vast sprawling areas and mental worlds]]. The 2021 November quality-of-life patch helps with this by introducing a new filter for the Otto-Shot in the post-game, rendering the scene in greyscale with any collectible rendered in a rainbow of color. For mental worlds, selections in the teleport bugs were given check marks if everything is obtained in a given area. The patch also adds a bonus repeatable Psychoseismometer for players who've completed Gisu's sidequest, in order to prevent enemy-related achievements from being PermanentlyMissableContent in the post-game.

** If you attack an enemy being shielded by an Enabler, Raz will {{inform|ingTheFourthWall}} the player to attack the Enabler instead. However, getting the Chain Brain upgrade for your PSI-Blasts and attacking the Enabler that way (or any enemy around the Enabler and shielded enemy) will more often than not result in the other projectiles uselessly hitting the protected enemy, with Raz commenting over and over that the enemy is shielded from damage and that the player needs to attack the Enabler.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: When Sasha, frustrated at Loboto's lack of cooperation, struggles to find a way to describe the mad doctor, Loboto suggests "An unlikely friend?". Did he actually hope to be accepted by the Psychonauts after his HeelFaceTurn, or was he just saying that so Sasha would ''think'' that and let him go free?

** Zigzagged. [[spoiler:While he initially displays anger at Ford tampering with Lucrecia's mind to become his grandmother after a "Get mad at me after the mission" line, as soon as Raz goes into Green Needle Gulch, he snaps back to being amiable with him in the next cutscene and stays that way, even during the post-game conversation he can have with Ford. He can still tell Ford that what he did to his family was wrong, however, and many of his postgame conversations show he ''is'' concerned with how the fallout affects everyone.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: In "Cassie's Collection," when Raz returns the Counterfeiter's book to the Librarian, she remarks that she's not proud of that time in her life, because "nobody likes a snitch." Near the end of the game, Norma [[spoiler:accusing Raz of being the mole with absolutely no evidence ends up derailing Ford's plan and unleashing Maligula, an act that Raz, Lili, and even her own sister call her out on.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: The Li-Po document for the first game has a section dedicated to the staff brainstorming names for Raz. One of them is "He's gumby. He can walk into any book." Cassie's Collection involves Raz literally walking into books to get into different areas and find items.

** If you attack an enemy being shielded by an Enabler, Raz will {{inform|ingTheFourthWall}} the player to attack the Enabler instead. However, getting the Chain Brain upgrade for your Psi-Blasts and attacking the Enabler that way (or any enemy around the Enabler and shielded enemy) will more often than not result in the other projectiles uselessly hitting the protected enemy, with Raz commenting over and over that the enemy is shielded from damage and that the player needs to attack the Enabler.

** The Psi King's Sensorium is a gorgeous, moving, and incredibly creative psychedelic thrill ride that pays tribute to the Rock and Roll bands of The '60s and '70s. Raz needs to revive the senses of a brain that's been [[BrainInAJar stuck in a jar for decades]], and he does so by putting together a band made of metaphorical representations of human sense- from vision, to hearing, to touch, and so on. The level is absolutely gorgeous thanks to heavy use of CelShading and strong environmental design, with a dose of fascinating world-building [[spoiler: with the reveal it takes place in the mind of one of the Psychic Six, Hellmut Fullbear.]] And to top it all off, the level is set to a song performed by none other than ''Jack Black'' as mentioned above. It's a stunning level through and through.

** The Psi King/[[spoiler:Helmut Fullbear]], for his psychedelic, larger-than-life character, being voiced by Creator/JackBlack and starring in the game's SignatureScene.

* ThatOneSidequest:
** Getting the Steamer Trunk Tag in Compton's Cookoff, as you need to complete the third cooking challenge within the time limit. Not only does this challenge require the most complex set of steps of the three, but it also has a time limit of 5 minutes as opposed to 9, and you won't have enough time to finish if you prepare the ingredients in the wrong order. Making this more annoying is that even if you ''do'' complete it, you're taken to the level's boss before you get a chance to claim the prize, and due to a bug, the chest ends up locking until the PlayableEpilogue (Double Fine is aware of this issue and plan to patch it later on).

** Raz's archetype. It. Will. Not. Shut. Up.
*** Even the pin that is meant to 'mute' the archetype doesn't entirely keep it quiet. It just speaks in muffled voice lines instead.

** His grandmother doesn't question Raz, having been "out" as a psychic herself.