I'm probably biased because it was the first one I ever played. There are certainly major flaws in the game: the icky combat system, the deemphasis on puzzles in favor of fighting, the invincible ghosts that start scary but gradually become annoying, the repetition of levels without enough changes to make playing them a 2nd time fun, some level of backtracking, and of course the mandatory escort quest that could easily have been fixed with a "wait here/follow me" button. That said, what there is to appreciate about the game is probably the best out of all the Silent Hills. The writing is great, as is the atmosphere, which is something that can really only be done in the medium of video game. It probably has the scariest monster design in the entire series, and it's not even a boss enemy. And of course, the concept is fantastic, providing a sense of claustraphobia in what is ostensibly your safest environment balanced with the danger of actually being in the other world, and is very imaginative and imaginable. There was clearly rampant talent involved, but the gameplay missteps really hard; so the question of if this and other games are worthwhile then, at least for me, hinges on whether or not the highs are high enough that it draws me in and makes me forget (or at least overlook) the lows. For me, that answer is yes, but for other people, perhaps not. Either way, it's certainly a worthwhile game, and if the alternative is to spend another 12 hours in Destiny, then it'll be worth the detour.
Psycho Mantis: war is caused by FILTHY COOMERS
If you're like me and love: - psychic powers - things that are comedy on the surface level but then use that to delve into more emotional stories - surreal artstyles - character-focused rather than plot-focused writing , then you'll enjoy Psychonauts 2 (and 1). That said, here are some of my bigger nitpicks, which hopefully they'll address if there's a Psychonauts 3: - The gameplay has barely changed, so some of the more dated mechanics like precise platforming that's hard to make out when you're zoomed out this far; or the targeting mechanics for aiming psi blasts and telekinesis; or the camera being a bit finnicky around walls, those are all still in there. - The collectibles minigames also feel more like a relic. There's too many of them, especially figtments, and while I'll get as many as possible, they're not fun and just feel like an obligation, which detracts from the actual good parts. - Controls are inefficient: it uses the four shoulder buttons, one of which should always be Levitation, and the other 3 you have to keep opening a menu repeatedly to swap. Most significantly, the story is very unfocused; by the time I've gone through the fifth mind, it started to feel like I was losing the thread of what was going on in the real world, in order to go through another representation of someone's mind. That someone being a character we haven't seen up until now, and who isn't really developed other than "we need them to open a door we have to get through" or something. And one time, it was three people to open one door. I liked parts like exploring the casino or meeting with your family, but those are few and far between, and there's very few consequences to the real world. I guess what I'm saying is the main plot feels like a part two of X in a bigger story: a part two that's been stretched out to a whole game, and which needed more substance than all these characters we're introducing individually. Anyway, Raz and Lili's new outfits are SICK.
