iβm curious, for my psychonauts followers, whatβs your guysβs favorite and least favorite level from either of the games?
(yes, this is just an excuse for me to rant)
personally, i think my favorite would be millaβs dance party! now let me explain, because i feel like ive seen it get a bit of hate before π
i think millaβs mind stands out as an odd one to a lot of people because itβs the only mind where you arenβt given a problem to solve. youβre just meant to complete millaβs course, get your badge, and get out. thereβs not really a narrative of someone having a mental problem that raz helps them overcome, like almost every other level in the game. but i think that in of itself is very interesting.
i cant for the life of me find where this was said, but millaβs level is supposed to represent a healthy personβs mind. i think having that frame of reference in this series is important, like think about it: you never see a healthy personβs mind in this series, except for milla. that makes her mind unique to me, and itβs interesting to see that concept explored, even if the level doesnβt really focus on that. itβs probably because, if i recall correctly, the original idea for her mind was scrapped. sooo im assuming they had to come up with another idea really quick for her but shhβ¦her level is still coolβ¦
also, iβve seen people complain about collecting all of the figments in that level. which. yeah no that was painful. BUT. iβd argue that finding all of the figments in any of the levels in pn1 is just as painful π the camera filter that they give you at the end of pn2 to see all the figments is a GODSEND i feel like we donβt appreciate that enough. but yeah, collecting the figments is painful because youβre looking for bright lines on a bright background and a lot of them are on a race track, which makes it really obnoxious.
but. playing psychonauts 1 in general is painful. one time i nearly soft locked myself because i was using the boat on the lake and i accidentally wedged myself between two rocks and almost couldnβt get out. then on my first playthrough i think i did actually soft lock myself by getting raz stuck permanently falling in place on a piece of geometry in the milkman conspiracy, and i had to reload my save. losing your mind due to jank is just part of the experience when playing psychonauts 1 it would not be the same without it
but i love millaβs dance party because i love using levitation, i think its so fun, and i like doing all of the platforming in that level with the lev ball, and the look of it is just so fun and colorful and the music in the background goes like πΆhemenejewenawompβ¦huahuaunnghh yeaAAeahEAhhhβ¦πΆ it just scratches my brain right
OKAYYY thats enough about my favorite, now to my least favorite. i think my least favorite would be strike city from pn2. i had to look up the name of it.
itβs my least favorite because i genuinely always forget that it exists π and i think thatβs because the theme of the level is very weak in my opinion. thereβs too many conflicting ideas. youβre in a bowling alley, so thereβs bowling balls and bowling pins. but then ford is also spraying a bowling shoe? okay. so thereβs germs everywhere. sure. and weβre in a city. because the germs dying is like an apocalypse movie thing that would happen in aβ¦city? on paper it doesnβt sound too bad, i just think in the actual level everything feels too disconnected. the germs and the bowling and the city just donβt feel cohesive with each other, it kind of feels like itβs all just slapped together into one level.
and besides, weβve already HAD a level based around a city! it was lungfishopolis! so when i think βpsychonauts city level,β i think of lindaβs level, because that oneβs much more iconic, and part of that is due to its cohesive theming.
i donβt think iβm alone in this opinion, cause i swear, i have never seen ANYBODY mention anything about this level, like ever π do you even remember that it exists??
i think it also gets overshadowed by fordβs other levels, which in my opinion, are a lot more solid art-wise and plot-wise. all thatβs revealed in the bowling level is that ford and lucy were in love. which yeah, thatβs important, but the realizations of βford couldnβt reach out to lucy before she died (she didnβt die, but you know)β and βford had to witness lucyβs descent into madness and what raz does in this level reflects lucyβs terrible atrocitiesβ is a little bit more memorable, at least to me.
i just think itβs such a shame, because i really like this level from a gameplay standpoint! i remember having a lot of fun with this one. i really liked the βlevitation ball but biggerβ mechanic that they added in psychonauts 2. like millaβs level, it was really fun to go through the level and do all the platforming. i justβ¦wish i could have anything more to say about it besides βoh yeah, that level. i wasnβt really crazy about its art direction. it was really fun though! wish i could remember its name.β
those are just my thoughts, though! iβd love to hear what any of you guys think! maybe thereβs a strike city lover out there. or maybe thereβs a millaβs dance party hater out there somewhere. i had to physically restrain myself from ranting about other levels in this game btw itβs currently 2am as i am typing this help (posting it later π)
