YMMV / Psychonauts 2

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• Accidental Innuendo: There is a conversation between Norma and Augustus where she's teaching him pyrokinesis, but the praise she gives for his little effects comes off as though she's trying to flirt with him. While you learn later on that she was just trying to spy on the Aquatos because she believed they were Delugionists, it's still a bit uncomfortable to listen to.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Like the first game, the game's premise naturally lends itself to this:
  • 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 Heel–Face Turn, or was he just saying that so Sasha would think that and let him go free?
  • In Bob's mind, we see a visage of Otto who speaks passive-aggressively about Bob and mentions that he imagined Helmut "would have gone for somebody... taller." Some fans read this as jealousy for Helmut's feelings, but it could just as easily read as him thinking his friend could do a lot better then someone who is outwardly so shy and seemingly-unimpressive. This is complicated by the fact that this isn't really Otto himself and this version of him could be completely off-base from reality; it's quite obvious that Bob's perception of his relationships have all been badly warped by his own self-loathing and insecurity.
  • Picking off of this, the game has a recurring theme of examining how characters look in the minds of other people, with many characters' minds having mental versions of their friends and loved ones that could either shed light on their Hidden Depths, be totally incorrect and say much more about the person themselves, or somewhere in-between.
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • 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: (upon looking at the mural of Ford in the postgame) I don't know if I should be angry or sad about what you did, Ford. Maybe I'll figure it out later. When I'm not ten.
  • After his level, Helmut seems remarkably well-adjusted for having spent 20 years as a Brain in a Jar with no stimulation or sensory input to the point of completely shutting down after being violently murdered by Maligula. Though given how optimistic he naturally is, it's likely that he's focused entirely on the joy of getting a second lease on life and reuniting with his friends and his husband so any angst he may be feeling is pushed away by it.
• Annoying Video Game Helper:
  • Raz himself can be this on occasion:
    • 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. Doubly so if that reason happens to involve listening to dialogue that Raz is now talking over.
    • If you attack an enemy being shielded by an Enabler, Raz will inform 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.
  • 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.
• Award Snub: Despite getting rave reviews and being considered one of the best games of 2021, Psychonauts 2 didn't win any of the five categories it was nominated in at the 2021 Game Awards. In particular, the snubs for Best Narrative and Best Art Design in favor of Guardians of the Galaxy and Deathloop, respectively, ruffled quite a few feathers online, and the outcry over the game winning nothing was enough to briefly get the game trending on Twitter. This is especially notable because it did win the X-Play Game of the Year award.
• Best Boss Ever: Truheltia Memonstria is a fight against a three-headed giant plant while sailing on a door in the middle of a raging storm. The gameplay is simple but fun, as you swap between "lanes" and attack with Telekinesis and Psi Blast, while helping Bob break out of the Moth's cocoon in between phases. In addition to being a great fight, there's also the Catharsis Factor of seeing Bob give the Moth a much-needed takedown after how unhelpful and condescending it's been throughout the level.
• Best Level Ever: The game begins at the peak of level design from the previous title, and only goes further from there.
  • 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 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 Cel Shading and strong environmental design, with a dose of fascinating world-building 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.
  • Compton's Cookoff has Raz playing Overcooked!, and while there's a timer, it's only there to give a bonus if Raz beats it. The thing that really sells it is the enthusiastic way ingredients want to be boiled, fried, chopped up, and pureed. Topping it off is the Pig Chopper who suddenly becomes conflicted over chopping a pig — one that's his grandson.
  • Returning to Whispering Rock in Ford's mind is a Breather Level, allowing players to enjoy returning to Where It All Began.
  • The Questionable Area is widely considered to be the best part of the general Hub Level, being an amalgamation of interesting landmarks, having some great verticality, and working as a sort of Nostalgia Level to the Whispering Rock campsite from the first game.
• Complete Monster: Gristol Malik, Gzesarevich of Gulovia, is the true identity of Nick Johnsmith and is The Mole within the Psychonauts. As a child, Gristol enjoyed his decadent lifestyle and had zero concern for the suffering of his countrymen at the hands of Maligula. When his family was forced to flee and Maligula was seemingly killed by the Psychonauts, Gristol grew to hate his father and the Psychonauts, blaming them for his fall from power despite still living in luxury. Learning that Maligula was still alive, Gristol began concocting a scheme to regain his lost power. Having Dr. Loboto kidnap Truman Zanotto, Gristol put his brain inside of Truman's body, while also severely conditioning Loboto so he would be too scared to expose Gristol. Gristol then manipulated events within the Psychonauts, and when they attempted to seal Maligula away within Lucrecia Mux's mind, Gristol sabotaged the process, unleashing the unstable Maligula while intending to use her destructive power to conquer Grulovia and regain the power he feels entitled to.
• Continuity Lockout: While this is a sequel to the original 2005 game, there is also an Interquel; Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, which was released as a VR title in 2017, continues on immediately after the first game ends, and its events are not ignored in this game's plot, meaning the game assumes you're familiar with the plot of that game. The game does not explain the events of Rhombus of Ruin too much outside of a six-minute recap video when you first boot the game up (and that only gives the basic story structure and a few specific details), but that's about it. It can be quite confusing for returning players who didn't play Rhombus of Ruin to know what Psilirium poisoning is and why it's affecting Truman, as well as who Harold the Rat is, a character who debuted in that game.
• Crosses the Line Twice: This game tackles serious subjects in so many of its levels that it's to be expected there are moments that qualify.
  • Hollis' Hot Streak is this in literal spades! After Raz triggers a chain reaction of bad ideas in Hollis' mind, her mindscape changes from a calm and orderly hospital into a chaotic hospital-themed casino symbolizing her new gambling addiction. Not enough seeing doctors literally gambling on the lives of their patients, what if we were to tell you the maternity ward is turned into the roulette room where people literally gamble just to have a baby? Or that the rich couple only wants one so they can file for tax breaks and have a spare set of fresh organs to eventually use?
    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, unnecessary defibrillation. And said patient (justifiably) complains the whole way through.
  • As mentioned before, "Compton's Cook-off" has you forcing the Pork Chopper machine to slice up his own grandson. Plus, there's an egg who's super proud that you just boiled his dad and grandma in the previous rounds. In fact, all the ingredients look forward to the gruesome ways Raz cooks them with much excitement.
  • There's a whole level featuring germ citizens who are ready to embrace their extinction (i.e. a spray can of disinfectant) that's about to happen to their city with loads of enthusiasm. Becomes even better (worse?) if you interpret it as an allegory to an actual mass-murdering event that happened in the game's lore.
  • Random NPC conversations will sometimes be this; a man and a woman meeting in secret to discuss something they're keeping from the woman's husband...turns out they're planning a surprise party, which he deserves because...he was so understanding about their affair.
  • One of the Paper People in Cassie's Collection is the Pretzelmeister's daughter, who says her papa fell into the pretzel machine. But not to worry, it was his secret wish! That's why she pushed him! And if you look nearby, you'll see books titled "Pretzelland Murders".
  • If you visit Helmut and Bob after clearing "Bob's Bottles" by the Feel Mobile, you can hear them talking about what they've been up to.
    Bob: You blew your brains out?!
    Helmut (in Nick's body): Right through my nose!
  • Raz enters the flea circus portion of Lucrecia's Lament by landing on, and squashing, his flea counterpart. Normally killing your own Alternate Self and finding yourself covered in their remains would be horrifying, but here it's hilarious!
  • In the area of Fatherland Follies that recreates Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, one of the figments in the area resembles Clem and Crystal. Where is this particular figment located? On the roof of one of the cabins, of course.
  • The fate of the Big Bad: The Psychonauts permanently detaining the missing heir of a dictatorship to hide the truth about Maligula from the world and avoid blowback from Pro-Malik loyalists? A shockingly morally gray act for the mostly-heroic Psychonauts. Handing him over to the local Mad Scientist to basically be a consequence-free guinea pig? Lovely Black Comedy. Hollis and Sasha being completely blase' about this being his fate and having to Verbal Backspace into saying he'll be getting therapy when Raz and Milla are (rightfully) uncomfortable about this? Hilarious, especially since Gristol is such a Hate Sink it's hard to argue he doesn't deserve it.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • Heavy Censors, renamed from the Strongarm Censors of the first game, have gotten even tougher - they're now Lightning Bruisers that take out much more punishment, can charge at you for an uppercut, and most of their attacks take out at least 1 unit of health, including their fast and large projectiles. If you haven't nailed down how to dodge or use Levitation to avoid their punches, these guys will make quick work of you. Worse, dodge won't help you if they hit you mid-dodge. Unlike most games, dodging isn't "auto-miss"; it's just a quick way to escape.
  • Panic Attacks are an apt descriptor for an enemy if there ever was one - they're incredibly fast, more durable than their slender frame suggests, can dodge your PSI Blast projectiles with ease, often teleport right in your face and swipe at you for several chunks of health, throw their own quick projectiles and are very difficult to keep track of during a fight with other mooks. You're intended to slow them down using the Time Bubble PSI Power in the level you first encounter them, but it only lasts long enough to damage about a third of a Panic Attack's health bar at best and the Time Bubble takes a while to recharge before you upgrade it, leaving you to deal with them at full-speed half the time you're fighting them. Say goodbye to your Dream Fluffs if you have to face two or more at once...
  • Enablers straddle the line between this and Goddamned Bats. On their own, they're annoyances whose swift melee attacks push you away without damaging you and who are easily set on fire. But they're never on their own—they're enablers of bad thoughts, making any other enemy they choose invulnerable for a short time. That means they need to be killed first or set on fire to distract them, and their melee attack makes them incredibly difficult to approach. Ordinary mooks become Demonic Spiders in their presence, and anything on this list gets really scary as long as this thing's on the field. And also, they constantly spout out rhyming cheer routines to encourage other enemies.
    Raz: Stupid Enablers and their stupid, but well-constructed rhymes!
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • Compton Boole's hypersensitivity to noise and poor reactions to being overstimulated bring to mind some of the symptoms of autism. Possibly even schizophrenia considering how he constantly heard voices that are implied to not have been there to begin with. Alternatively, those are also symptoms of PTSD, and the battle with Maligula certain left scars on the Six.
    • Exploring his mind, the first enemy you encounter is a hostile Judge. Beating this Judge activates the rest of his mind — a high-stakes cooking show where the three judges (manifestations of Ford, Forsythe and Otto) are constantly putting him down. When Raz tries being confident on his behalf, all it does is escalate things. This implies that he suffers from extreme anxiety and depression, believing that the world around him is judging him and that any attempt at asserting himself will only end with making these problems worse. A mix of his telepathic abilities and his best friend Cassie retreating into the woods certainly didn't help.
  • Like the rest of the Booles, Sam is a tad unstable. In her case, she shows a notable lack of empathy towards her animal helpers, often subjecting them to Black Comedy Animal Cruelty and seemingly not understanding why her actions are wrong. However, she's more extroverted than Compton or Dogen and manages to socialize more as a result.
  • Gristol Malik possesses a grandiose sense of self-importance, apathy to those he perceives as inferior (both on class and ethnic lines), his Self-Serving Memory, an entitlement towards luxury and the admiration of others, and his manipulative tendencies (while overlooking less predictable or long-term factors) all point to him having Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
• Disappointing Last Level:
  • To some, Fatherland Follies is a bit of a letdown. It's not a bad level on its own merits and wraps up multiple plot threads, but it doesn't feel very climactic, especially compared to the Meat Circus from the first game. And then Gristol ends up being a total Cutscene Boss. Fortunately, the Final Boss that comes after is appropriately climactic, but it's still a bit of a shame.
  • The preceding level, Lucrecia's Lament may also be this. It's a very short and linear level with most of its collectibles in obvious locations (outright handing you all 5 Emotional Baggage at the very end), and mainly serves to give some final exposition on Lucy's brainwashing and life with the Aquatos, and we don't get to explore her time in the Grulovian War, or her reign of terror as Maligula afterwards as that aspect of this person doesn't resurface until the level's end.
• Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: Even taking into account various gameplay improvements over the original, such as a better combat system, Raz feeling more weighty during platforming, and scrapping the Video-Game Lives mechanic in the first game, some players still find the gameplay itself just okay compared to the narrative, which serves to address mental health issues in a more tasteful and nuanced way, provide greater characterization for old and new characters alike, and even redefine previous plot and character threads without destroying what made them good in the first place.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Sam Boole is well-liked for being related to Dogen and also her absolutely hilarious lines and Black Comedy moments, especially when making pancakes at the Questionable Area.
  • The PSI King/Helmut Fullbear, for his psychedelic, larger-than-life character, being voiced by Jack Black and starring in the game's Signature Scene.
  • Lizzie Natividad is a popular character in the fandom for her cool goth design, edgy personality and the fact she winds up acting like a big sister to Raz.
• Even Better Sequel: Critical consensus is in agreement that the game manages to retain (and even improve in many aspects) the clever writing and memorable characters found in the original while also introducing a number of quality of life improvements to the platforming and combat.
• Fandom-Specific Plot:
  • There are more than a few fan works dealing with the idea of Raz getting depression or trauma from the amount of stuff the poor boy has gotten thrown at him in just a few days, mainly because of the revelation that he's related to a war criminal and that Ford attempted to cover up that fact because he wanted Lucrecia to go back to the way she was before. Many people like the idea of Raz going batshit and becoming a new "Maligula" because of the pressure of learning his relation to Lucrecia or the idea of him as a Stepford Smiler slowly falling apart trying to fix everyone and shoulder their burdens.
  • Since Otto Mentalis is the only Psychic Six member that Raz doesn't go into the mind of, a few people have written their own stories speculating what Otto's mind could look like.
  • The "Raz Vodello" plotline, which deals with Raz being targeted by the Deluginists in hopes of recreating Maligula and ending up under the care of Milla and often Sasha as well. How exactly they come to adopt him varies from story to story, but the most common version is that Milla was sent to kidnap him in order to protect him and her motherly instincts kicked in, leading her to take him in.
• Game-Breaker: The Brain Drain pin for Mental Connection applies a powerful Life Drain effect to any enemy grabbed with said ability, rendering most fights trivial once you equip it due to how quickly it restores portions of your health. You do need to be Rank 56 before you can equip it, but it is possible to attain that rank around mid-game to late-game if you search hard for collectibles.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Cassie's different archetypes is an exaggerated version of traditional archetypes outlined in Jungian-era psychology. For instance, her "teacher" persona represents the "Caregiver" archetype, being a patient and nurturing mentor who gifts Raz with the ability to summon his own archetypes, while her "Counterfeiter" persona represents the "Outlaw" archetype, who strives for liberation and independence.
  • In the Whispering Rock area of the final mind, if Raz goes back toward the cabins, he shrinks down. The cabins use forced perspective to seem far away, as many other theme park rides do; instead of being physically far away, they're just small, and if he goes back toward them, Raz shrinks to match them.
  • The flowers that mark the way to each memory bottle in Bob's Bottles are marigolds. In several cultures, marigolds are associated with remembrance of the dead, grief, mourning, and loss. But in other cultures, they represent romantic love, ideal couples, and hope.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • Enablers. As long as they aren't stunned/on fire, they will make one non-Enabler enemy completely invulnerable and also give them a damage and speed boost. Trying to defeat them in melee combat is annoying as they will actively run from Raz and their attacks, while not damaging, also knock Raz away. Fortunately, they can be stunned by thrown objects and interrupted when set on fire, easing the annoyance they create.
  • Bad Moods always appear out of nowhere, and in order to beat it, you need to use Clairvoyance, but that only works AFTER it tries to launch its big attack at you (which darkens most of the screen. Fun!), making them a major distraction in any battle since you'll be busy trying to dance around to find its weak point.
  • The exploding bulb plants located around the Green Needle Gulch and their annoying tendency to blow up in Raz's face when he gets close enough.
• Good Bad Bugs: While levitation was significantly nerfed compared to the first game, it is still subject to an infinite flight glitch. By repeatedly ground pounding while levitating, Raz can clip inside the levitation ball and fly freely, allowing the player to reach areas which are normally inaccessible. However, this is prevented from becoming a Story-Breaker Power by requiring the "Limitless" ability, which itself requires Rank 102, making it only possible to pull off the glitch in the postgame.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • 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 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.
  • Norma teasing Raz about his "girlfriend" in front of his father is a lot less funny once it's revealed she thought "girlfriend" was Raz's code for Maligula.
  • Loboto whimpering "No, Mommy, I didn't bend the spoons!"—a funny Non Sequitur if taken by itself, considerably less so after remembering Loboto's backstory from Rhombus of Ruin.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • 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.
  • This wouldn't be the last time Tru Valentino voiced a boy wanting to go to a casino despite being told it's a very bad idea.
• I Knew It!: A common fan theory was that the Hand of Galochio — the hand that would try to drown Raz when he touched any water — was not the result of an actual curse, but Raz's psychic powers acting psychosomatically to family superstition. After the reveal that Ford had planted a brainwashed Maligula in his family as his grandmother, along with an enforced fear of water to ensure her hydrokinetic powers would stay hidden, he reveals that the theory was correct.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: The Big Bad, Gristol Malik, has zero redeeming qualities and is a megalomaniacal would-be conqueror, but is liked for being an interesting villain, while Greater-Scope Villain Maligula Galochio turns out to be a sympathetic villain in a lot of ways by the time the game has concluded. Fellow intern Norma, on the other hand, is far more despised by the fanbase for being a bully to Raz. She takes his clothes from the original game and forces him to do a scavenger hunt to get them back. She constantly makes fun and undermines Raz every chance she gets, including in front of his family after they come to visit. And when Raz is about to save the day, Norma goes behind his back and snitches on him, which in turns causes Truman to interfere and stop Raz, triggering the final battle of the game. Lampshaded in-universe when both Raz and her sister Lizzie call her out after beating the game.
• Love to Hate: Gristol Malik is the most horribly irredeemably evil character in the series, but is liked by many for being an interesting villain.
• Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize: It's not hard to deduce that the mole in the agency is the never before met character voiced by the biggest star in the cast, Elijah Wood.
• Nausea Fuel:
  • The final boss of Compton's Cookoff involves the three goat judges repeatedly projectile vomiting, complete with retching noises. And then Raz obtains ingredients from said vomit in order for Compton to make his final batch of dishes, which he proceeds to force feed to the goats until they explode. Delicious. There's an attempt to lessen the grossness — the vomit is bright purple or pink, and the judges themselves are hand puppets (after the first two explode, you can see the hand inside) — but it doesn't help much.
  • Loboto's Labyrinth is very gross, especially the zipper-like teeth doors that not even Oleander can look at without gagging.
  • Ford's Follicles features swarms of giant headlice that make skittering and squelching noises, cling to Raz and prevent him from jumping, and are completely immune to all his psychic powers (not even Pyrokinesis works). To anyone who's had a particularly bad lice infestation as a kid (or as an adult - Sasha's line about getting lice from a group of school kids is painfully relatable to anyone who's worked with children), this might bring back instinctive itching.
  • Strike City is also quite disgusting, being a literal germ city inside a bowling shoe with yellow/green-ish air and some parts being filled with slime that coats Raz's bowling balls should he roll over the slime, which then prevents him from jumping with the ball.
• Porting Disaster: The PC version on Xbox Game Pass suffers from this. Despite the game running fine, there are two major problems that plague this version, even on high-end computers that are able to run this game with no issues. The first one is stuttering, mostly because of the game rendering shaders when a new area is loaded, as usual with most games made in Unreal Engine 4. However, since most of the areas of the game are twice as big as the original and load all at once, the stuttering becomes unbearable, especially during combat and platforming. The second one was random crashes, which were pretty much guaranteed to happen whenever you played the game (though this was patched in an update).
• Portmanteau Couple Name: "Fullbob" for Helmut Fullbear x Bob Zanotto.
• Rainbow Lens: 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 father quickly learns to accept Raz for who he is and tries practicing his own underutilized psychic powers, not unlike a non-heteronormative parent coming to terms with his true self later in life and "testing the waters" (pun not intended) with his repressed interests.
  • His mother tries acting like nothing is wrong when she is clearly frustrated and uncomfortable with this new paradigm, her language full of passive-aggressive guilt-slinging and Freudian Slips.
  • 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 younger siblings have no strong opinions about it because they are too young.
  • His grandmother doesn't question Raz, having been "out" as a psychic herself.
• Realism-Induced Horror: The game is Lighter and Softer 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 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.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • The Pin system is generally agreed to have been poorly implemented. Their ability to alter your abilities and general gameplay in different ways is a cool idea. But the problem is that A:you can only have 3 at a time, and purely cosmetic and for fun pins share the same space as pins that actually give you a mechanical benefit, meaning you have to pick and choose (and if you want to make your levitation ball white, you have to use all 3 pin slots on the color change pins) and B:the pins are often prohibitively expensive; if you play through the game normally and get the psitanium pouch upgrades, you'll likely be able to afford about 2-3 of the expensive pins when there are like 20 or so total pins in the game. It's impossible to get them all without grinding for psitanium. The two factors combined together make pins a system you largely can and probably will ignore on a standard playthrough.
  • Right before the Final Boss battle against Maligula, the player is given one last chance to shop at an Otto-Matic machine, but once they get into the fight itself the player is completely locked in with no ability to back out until they win. If Players aren't careful, they could run into real trouble if they forget to purchase Dream Pops or Dream Fluffs.
  • Breaking open objects to get Psitanium or health pickups is really finnicky. Objects may be impervious to Psi Blasts, or otherwise hard to open without losing the health or Psitanium to the void or water.
• Ships That Pass in the Night: Despite no on-screen interactions between them taking place, shipping Norma with Frazie is getting popular in the fanbase due to both of them having a "mean girl" attitude towards Raz.
• Signature Scene: Helmut finally materializing as he sings "Cosmic I (Smell the Universe)", and doing a psychedelic music video with his senses.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The theme for the game show-inspired Compton's Cook-Off shows some heavy influence from real-life game show themes, like the ones to The Price Is Right and Family Feud; the music from the latter is used during the show.
• That One Achievement:
  • "Nest Egg" requires you to completely fill your astral wallet by getting the purse expansion. That is, 5000 Psitanium. You won't come anywhere close to that by playing the game normally, especially when you first get the chance to unlock the purse expansion over other useful items. Even if you 100% the game, and get the "Psimultanium" pin (which doubles the drop rate of Psitanium) you can very reasonably still have about 2000 Psitanium to grind for, making the achievement very taxing to do.
  • "Kingpin", which has the player purchase all the pins in the Otto-Matic shop. As noted under Scrappy Mechanic, most players will hardly buy or use any pins because of how poorly implemented and superficial the system is compared to upgrading abilities.
• That One Boss: The fight against the Gluttonous Goats. You must use Telekinesis to throw the correct food ingredients into a funnel to send them over to Compton, but doing so is a chaotic ordeal as the judges constantly vomit deadly goop all over the arena, which also coats large portions of the floor in said goop. While you can use Levitate to get rid of it, you're not likely to, as trying to Levitate over a similar goop during the main part of the stage hurts you. Not helping matters is that said ingredients aren't revealed until you pick them up, making it all too easy to send the wrong one over with everything else going on. Not only that, but you also have to deal with a wave of Mooks after sending enough correct ingredients before you finally have the opportunity to take out one of the three judges, before having to repeat the pattern twice more. As the fight goes on, the destroyed judges are replaced with an eggbeater and a spatula retrospectively, with the latter capable of flipping you high in the air for some nasty Falling Damage, and the enemy waves also get tougher, including a Judge in the last one. Good luck.
• That One Level:
  • "Bob's Bottles" features some of the toughest platforming challenges in the game. The "toughest" part comes from the myriad of bulb Bobs you meet along the way and how you have to either bring them along (which naturally slows you down) or keep track of the birds carrying them around the alcohol ponds in order to progress.
    • It's also one of the nastier levels to complete for 100% Completion, as the figments are hidden devilishly well, with many perfectly blending into patches of grass, or being in places you'd normally not think to look, such as the tops of palm trees and, for a few of them right in the middle of the "water" during some of the platforming segments.
  • "Cruller's Correspondence". It requires a lot of platforming and the clutter makes it hard to determine where to jump and go. It's a fairly linear level, but you might die missing a lot of jumps.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Otto Mentallis. He is the only original Psychonaut whose mind never gets visited at any point, meaning he ends up the most underdeveloped of them by default. This is justified since he is still 100% operative for his organization, which requires its agents to have their minds safe and sanitized (as seen with Sasha, Milla and Hollis, who have tidy mental worlds under normal circumstances), so the likelihood of him having crippling, out-of-control personal demons is very small to begin with. Humorously, if you examine his mural in the lobby during the post-game, Raz will note that he was the only one of the original Psychonauts whose mind he didn't explore, and says "Maybe someday".
  • Raz's family is not really well integrated in the story (not counting the grandmother Nona, who's massively important), mostly being there to expose their own perspectives about Raz being psychic and having almost no contribution to the plot except for a brief moment in the finale. This is particularly bad with Frazie, who's psychic herself and confesses having trouble revealing it to her parents, with the possibility of her becoming a Psychonaut even being brought up at one point, but those plotlines are not really explored. However, there are strong hints that Sasha has taken an interest in Raz's psychic family members (as well as Gisu taking an interest in Dion), making it more of a Sequel Hook when they stick around HQ.
  • To an extent, the Interns. Each of the Interns has a very distinct personality and their own combat capabilities, which could have easily factored into a wider variety of missions, or possibly played a part when Raz needs to go help the members of the Psychic Six with their psychological problems. But with the partial exception of Norma at the end when she snitches on Raz and nearly compromises his mission with Ford, while they make a strong first impression and play a part in the Casino Mission, their relevance to the overarching story peters out as Ford Cruller's past and the original Psychic Six end up taking over as major elements of the plot at least until the final boss fight. However, they involve themselves in two missions, which is more than can be said than any of the Campers in the first game.
  • Lili is criminally underused despite her Relationship Upgrade with Raz. She barely involves herself with the ongoings of the plot due to being too worried about her father's status while Raz goes around trying to uncover the story behind the Psychic Six alone. Granted, she does play an important role in the final level and even takes out the mastermind by herself, but the general sense is that it's a bit too little, too late as Lili's role was completely secondary until that point, and she doesn't participate against the Final Boss either. However, Lili has a more expanded role in 2 than she did in 1, where she was slightly worth more than a Damsel in Distress.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The game advertises that Raz figures out what the term "Girlfriend" means, but he and Lili barely interact. Lili is focusing so hard on her dad, and they don't save him until the end of the game. Every time Raz tries to bring up the kiss between her and him at Whispering Rock, he always stammers over his words or doesn't say anything at all. Lilli also barely pays Raz any mind or worry due to her concern over her dad save for a hug at the end of the game. There is one throwaway joke about how Lilli didn't want her dad knowing they kissed at a Summer Camp. But after that interaction, they never say anything else again.
  • Otto's experiments on the Psychic Six. For something that had such a big impact on the story, it really has a very small presence in the story barring the Astralathe. Which is a pity because they were in a ripe position to be used. They could easily have been tools wielded by the bosses of the mental worlds, the weapons that helped them cause so much harm. This would have also given the experiments as a whole more of a definite feel, which would have helped sell Lucrecia Mux's downfall. Unfortunately, they're left mostly undefined, meaning that their impact has to be accepted rather than seen.
• Ugly Cute: Sam Boole. Part of her status as an Ensemble Dark Horse is also due to her design, while she is stylized like the rest of the cast, it's her roundness that makes her look adorable.
• Underused Game Mechanic: The first time in Hollis' Hot Streak, Raz has to complete Mental Connection puzzles to mess with Hollis' head, and then he's forbidden from doing anything like that again. Justified in-universe, as it's a major ethics violation.
• The Un-Twist:
  • Pretty much anyone who gets a good look at Maligula can guess that she's Lucrecia Mux due to sharing the same eye and face shape. When Raz starts jumping into Ford's mind and he reads from a letter that Lucrecia is both a talented hydrokinetic psychic and from Grulovia, the game is practically screaming that the two have a connection, to the point that it's not even trying to hide it. Of course, this ends up concealing the true twists, which are why Lucrecia turned evil in the first place, what Ford did with Lucrecia/Maligula after defeating her, who is out to revive her, and how she is connected to Raz.
  • During the final battle, Nona attempts to escape from her Maligula persona in order to confess to Raz that she accidentally killed her sister Marona, something Raz is fully aware of (though the scene may have more to do with her needing to attain closure through the confession than imparting new information).

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