Notes on Psychonauts

More proof that everything Tim Schafer touches is gold.  My expectations were very, very high, so I was a little nervous at first, playing the first couple of hours...the mechanics were a bit too derivative of Jak & Ratchet, and it was maybe not quite as funny as I remembered Tim Schafer being.  But then I got to the lungfish brain and I was sold.  Even funnier than I remembered Tim Schafer being.  It's genius.  A hot genius injection.  There's a thing about Tim Schafer games - they're not just funny, they're clever, they all have original puzzles, and you feel clever when you solve them.  Much like the time travel setup in Day of the Tentacle created the opportunity for a slew of time travel related puzzles, the psychic powers of Psychonauts lends itself to psychic puzzles.

[Sign you've been blogging too long?  I know I wrote a Notes on Grim Fandango once, talking about "functional fixedness", but it seems like Google never indexed it...?]

I look at this game, and I know it's been in development for a good long time, but it's still unbelievable they pulled it off.  There are a lot of levels and they all have their own look and feel and they're all highly polished...I play it and I think, "This must have been really expensive."

I wonder why Microsoft bailed out on it?  It's the best Jak & Daxter-like game I've ever seen...so I'd expect a high quality Xbox version of one of those games to do about half what they do on the PS2, if Microsoft put marketing muscle behind it.  Maybe half of Jak & Daxter just isn't enough to be profitable?

Now that Double Fine is with Majesco, they can hit the PS2 also, and make more money, but then they lose out on the Microsoft marketing muscle.  (I assume there are no TV ads for Psychonauts, and I haven't been to a videogame retailer lately but I imagine they don't have pride of place.)  Still, I expect Majesco will be profitable, Double Fine will be profitable, and the only losers are Microsoft.

Comments

[Jeffool]

http://gamedevleague.blogspot.com/2003_09_21_gamedevleague_archive.html

Dear sir, never doubt the Google.

[Jake]

There was apparently at least some amount of television advertising for Psychonauts- people spotted ads for the game running on MTV and G4. I never heard anyone reporting on seeing one during Adult Swim, but that's where I was expecting them to pay to run them. I wonder if the marketing blitz (or whatever you'd like to call it :)) will have run out of steam by the time the PS2 version ships next month?

[Brett Douville]

I'm with you, this is some fine gaming. I just started last night, so I haven't gotten to the lungfish brain just yet (I'm a completist, so I dragged myself all over the basic braining to get all the figments :).

I'm loving the art style -- it's like seeing Ice Age after all that Pixar, just nice to see something completely offbeat. There are lots of things I'm liking and very few I'm not.

I'll be posting my own notes on it soon.

[Joe old timer]

I like the game, played the demo, watched all the trailers and level video clips. I liked the developer's previous works (at least most of it -- didn't like Full Throttle very much.)

I doubt Psychonauts will sell well on any platform. It's too complicated for children, too mild for teens / adults, and the character / art designs are visually repellant.

The game will appeal to old time adventure / action players, but unfortunately they make up a small (and declining) portion of the market.

It's art for art's sake, and I think it must have been a pet project of Microsoft's Ed Fries. It was dropped when he left the company.

[Viridian]

I can't help but disagree - my ten-year-old daughter played through most of it over the last three days and didn't seem to have any trouble. And too mild? This is the WEIRDEST game I have ever seen, to the point of creepyness at times (oh, lord, now I'm imagining a Tim Schaefer horror game. I'd never sleep again). And yet, the ending is actually very sweet.

I really like the game (even if the final level is arbitrary and frustrating, grrr, grrr...I expected Schaefer to do better). I would love to see another game with a slightly older Raz.

[Edmundo]

I think it's not a game that would sell well to hardcore gamers, but instead it's for anyone else who has a current console liying around would, and they would love it. Hopefully, they'll hear about it and check it out.

[Joe old timer]

Mild compared to "God of War", for example.

Glad to hear your daughter liked it!

[baccardi84]

There is a tv ad, and it's pretty good. It's like a movie ad, but works well for this videogame. It presents the story with you being the main character (i.e: "In a world where blah blah blah, you must stop blah blah blah).

I thought it came off nicely, and will bring a whole new type of player into games.

[Zack Hiwiller]

The ad runs constantly during professional wrestling, which is the only TV I watch anymore (save your snide comments :-)). I am surprised it is getting pushed so much. It is definately on my TRY list.

[Viridian]

Anywhere online we can view these commercials?

[Gideon Stocek]

This game was awesome. The only problem is the final level. Which is poorly balanced. But other than that Tim Schaffer is most definitely the milk man.

[Obi Busta Nobi]

Although I agree Tim Schaeffer is a major talent and a force to be reckoned with, I still cringe a little when a game is credited to one individual for its success. It sort of diminishes the efforts by some of those others involved in the project. My 2 cents....

[Paul Du Bois]

Did you figure out the hedge maze gate puzzle in the Milkman Conspiracy? I thought it was so obscure that nobody would get past it without gamefaqs.

[Viridian]

I didn't find the gate puzzle very hard...if one gate is open, they are both open. Run through the right gate to get in, then jump over it to get out. The middle gate will still be open. Took me two seconds.

Of course, I've been playing adventure games for as long as there have been adventure games...

[Brett Douville]

The crow's feather also gives you a hint. Get the bird's-eye view with clairvoyance!

[Alan Dennis]

Joe Old Timer,

I have to disagree as well. I've been evangelising Psychonauts to quite a few people and everyone I've infected with my fanboy glee has ended up being completely fascinated with this game.

I think calling this game "art for art's sake" is selling it short. I honestly it's an example of what games can be, if done right. This game goes beyond the standard pop culture cookie cutter games. Perhaps that's why you think it won't sell well, and that thought definitely has some weight behind it. However, the fact remains that it is fun, clever, interesting and downright entertaining.

There's a chance it might not sell well but for the good of the industry, I hope that it sells incredibly well. Otherwise, it would prove just another nail in the coffin in an form of media that is growing less and less interesting with each year.

[JeffL]

Just wanted to note that in it's weekly "Must List," Entertainment Weekly listed Pyschonauts as the first "Must" and had a nice little pic of Raz & the gang. A bit of (I assume) free publicity that will, I hope, go a long way.

[Paul Du Bois]

Assumption is correct; neither Majesco nor DF lobbied for the EW piece. It was a pleasant surprise... certainly better than finding this data for April '05 (http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=47070&highlight=psychonauts).

XBX PSYCHONAUTS $640,731 12,912

[Bacon]

Shit about those numbers, but I still have hope for you guys. Both my uncle and my nephew were rapt watching me play it earlier today. People like it. It's brilliant. A slow burner maybe, but a wide appeal is definitely there.

[Lee]

I'm in the Milkman Conspiracy world. I am stuck at a point where I can't get in the graveyard (can't find flowers to get in), the phone pole (can't find what gets us me in there) and the area through the sewer with the guy shooting at you (Ford told me to use my shield, but I guess I don't have something, yet, because the shield doesn't do a ton). So, I'm running around in circles trying to figure out what I missed. Can you help? Thanks.

My 2 cents: this game is great.

[Rob]

I'm Stuck at the Milkman part. I found the graveyard and i can't find the flowers or anything else, i'm stuck. Usaully in the game it takes me a while to figure out the secert passage of enemies weakness but i've been running around in circle and i just can't figure this one out. I guess i'll keep trying; Someone please help me!!!!

[Jamie Fristrom]

www.gamefaqs.com, dudes.

[madison declare]

your game is wayyyy betore then any author game.And i hope you win tim schafer!