Psychonauts

Picked up this gem just recently. While the platforming itself is rather bland and the controls are a bit janky, this game just oozes with creativity. The writing is fantastic and hillarious, even unimportant side characters are interesting and memorable, and the clever little nuances to the brilliant and varied level design just blew my mind. If the creatively bankrupt triple-a-industry got you all jaded and cynical, you need to do nothing but play this to restore your faith in the medium.

Would be 5 star and could be my favorite game of all time but dropped the ball hard at some point Note: First time I tried this game it turned me away hard because how frustrating the first level is but don't do what I do because it gets much better Pros: + Levitation power is awesome + Metroid like elements where new powers give you access to things you couldn't reach before Cons: - Poor story that missed a great plot twist oppurtunity - Some really really really tedious parts especially towards the end - Feels dragged on after some point - Beating the game leaves you in a weird state where you can replay some levels but can't go back to camp?

If the camera were more user friendly I would give it 5 stars.

5/5 despite no nostalgia. Surprisingly solid game.

If people ask me what kind of game proves that video games can be artistic, I'd point to this 3D Platformer. It starts out like a Saturday morning cartoon, and not one that you'll particularly enjoy into adulthood. You get thrown into an open hub with the usual collect-a-thon stuff, and it's a little janky on top of it all. The first stage isn't even all that interesting, and has some pretty frustrating sections. It doesn't make a very good first impression. That's okay, though, because some of my favorite games get off to a bad start. Things start to get a bit better once you get to the second stage, but as time goes on, you start to notice all of those collectibles improving your basic abilities! That's right: they don't exist just for their own sake, and the reward isn't just one extra area at the end if you've wasted hours of your life getting EVERY SINGLE ONE; they have value that helps you out along the way. The main premise of the game is to explore the minds of others, which can range from creepy to downright hilarious. It's all really well written, though, and some of the areas are jaw-droppingly gorgeous. It even touches on mental illness a bit, and while it's in kind of a goofy way, there's still something to it. I'm not a big fan of 3D Platformers, but this is a worthy exception.