It seems like Psychonauts 2 could be one of the best games of the year. Hopefully, the positive reviews of Psychonauts 2 draw more people to the title because it doesn’t seem to have the same mainstream appeal that other big AAA games releasing later this year have. It does make sense, however, that many console owners might not have played the original Psychonauts as it was released more than 15 years ago.
With just a few days left until the release of Psychonauts 2, there might not be time for fans attracted to it to play through all of the original game before its sequel launches. For those looking for the Cliff Notes, this is what players will need to know from the original to get up to speed before starting Psychonauts 2.
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Where is Psychonauts Set?
Psychonauts is set at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp where children are sent for the summer who are working on honing their psychic abilities. Those that desire to become full-fledged Psychonauts get the opportunity to work with counselors Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello, and Coach Morceau Oleander who are all highly skilled Psychonauts themselves. The game is mainly set in the various areas of the camp; however, the third act takes place in the asylum just across the lake.
What is a Psychonaut?
The Psychonauts are an elite group of psychic warriors who prefer to use their brains over their brawns. The Psychonauts have plenty of supernatural powers at their disposal which allow them to tackle problems in a handful of different ways but more often than not by entering the brains of those who they’re fighting. There are eight powers that players unlock over the course of the game in the form of merit badges. The powers included are pyrokinesis, telekinesis, clairvoyance, psi blast, levitation, invisibility, shield, and confusion. Players don’t end up seeing a true psionic fight between experienced Psychonauts until the later moments in the game’s story, but it’s clear from the way that each camp counselor is revered that they’re truly powerful warriors.
Ford Cruller is one of the most powerful Psychonauts in the world and is stationed at the camp, however, due to being mentally wounded in a psionic battle, he lives with dissociative identity disorder when not in the Psitanium-rich area below camp. He acts as a mentor and guide to Psychonauts’ protagonist Raz while also helping lead the rest of the Psychonauts around the globe.
Who is Raz?
Razputin Aquato is the game’s sole protagonist, a psychically gifted child who snuck into Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. He comes from a family of circus acrobatic performers who were cursed to die in water by a psionic which is why he was forbidden by his father from going to the camp to further hone his abilities. While there, Raz proves himself to be a worthy contender for the Psychonaut program, certainly more capable than many of his peers in the eyes of his Psychonaut counselors.
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Raz is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz who is perhaps best known for his voice work as Billy in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Zim in Invader Zim. Horvitz has returned to voice Raz in Psychonauts 2. A pretty down-to-earth character, Raz is often the voice of reason in the many wacky situations that he finds himself in, but, on more than one occasion, has gotten in trouble for reading the minds of his peers invading some of their privacy.
Who are the Other Major Characters?
The rest of the Psychonauts cast is just as memorable as Raz himself. While partly due to the distinct art style, the supporting cast of the game has a lot of personality that’s expressed in the relatively short amount of time spent with each character. As mentioned above, Ford Cruller plays an integral role in the story as he helps give Raz his start as a Psychonaut by furthering his psionic abilities and being a voice in his ear whenever he needs it, literally. The other Psychonauts also give Raz plenty of encouragement with Sasha Nein as a standout who gives Raz training in secret before his and Milla Vodello’s abductions. Coach Oleander becomes one of the central antagonists after stealing a majority of the camps’ brains in an attempt at world domination. After being cleansed of his evil ways during the climax of the game, he’s reinstated as a Psychonaut.
Two other campers influence Raz in a major way throughout the story: Dogen and Lili. Dogen and Raz quickly become friends after the two meet up at the start of the game. Despite Dogen’s shyness and social issues, Raz becomes attached to him. Because of their bond, Raz discovers Oleander’s plot to steal everyone’s brains and as a result, saves the world. Lili becomes Raz’s girlfriend after the two read each other’s minds and discover that they both have feelings for one another. Raz’s father looks like he’s going to be playing a bigger role in Psychonauts 2. In the original, he showed up at the end to pick Raz up from camp and help fight the final boss inside Raz’s psyche. He reveals to Raz that he too is a psionic but buried his powers after the incident regarding the Aquato family curse. He seems to be an important part of Psychonauts 2 based on the game’s trailers, but not much information was given on him or the rest of Raz’s family until the brief scenes towards the end of the game. Hopefully, more answers will be in the sequel.
Where is Psychonauts Available?
The original Psychonauts is available on the PS2, Xbox, and PC, however, today, it’s perhaps most easily accessed using Xbox Game Pass. The HD remastered version of the game is available for download on both console and PC versions of the service so those looking to play the game before diving into Psychonauts 2 don’t need to track down a used copy.
Psychonauts 2 launches August 25 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.