According to Polygon, Double Fine Productions has just released a new gameplay trailer for "Psychonauts 2" as well as a final release date.
Fresh off of his recent successes of the first "Psychonauts" and "The Rhombus of Ruin," Razputin finds himself at the Psychonauts headquarters- also known as the Motherlobe. Once again, the fate of the free-thinking world is at stake as a mole within the Motherlobe is plotting to resurrect a psychic mass murderer known as Maligula. The trailer showcases more footage of the Motherlobe and the madcap mental worlds that Razputin and his colleagues must traverse.
In addition, Razputin's family, Truman Zanotto, and Dr. Loboto also make appearances.
Just like the first game, "Psychonauts 2's" story is penned by "Grim Fandango" writer Tim Schafer and "Portal" writer Erik Wolpaw. Richard Horvitz is slated to reprise his role as Razputin and Jack Black is confirmed to play a part. Accompanying the slick visuals and funny dialogue is Peter McConnell's jazzy orchestral score.
The first game
"Psychonauts" was originally released in 2005 for Xbox, PC and PlayStation 2. The game centered around a young acrobat named Razputin who escapes from the circus to a summer camp dedicated to training children with psychic gifts. The game was originally supposed to be an Xbox exclusive title published by Microsoft.
However, a regime change within the company led to that partnership being severed. Fortunately, Majesco was willing to take a gamble on Double Fine's unique title and agreed to publish it. The game was a critical darling but a commercial flop. While Double Fine managed to survive the game's low sales, Majesco was forced to abandon big budget projects or else face bankruptcy.
Despite this, the game managed to garner a cult following, prompting demand for a sequel. After the success of "Broken Age's" Kickstarter campaign, Schafer had the idea to fund a sequel with both crowdfunding and a publisher.
Starbreeze Studios was originally slated to publish the sequel with the help of revenue generated by crowdfunding, but the publisher found themselves in financial trouble, leaving the fate of Schafer's follow up an uncertainty.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Microsoft bought Double Fine Productions decades after withdrawing support of their debut title. This partnership proved to be a boon to Double Fine, as the studio almost lacked the budget for boss fights. After years of bouncing from publisher to publisher, it seems relieving that the studio now has a permanent home.
A lot has changed
Quite a lot has happened since Tim Schafer's crowdfunding campaign for "Psychonauts 2" launched back in 2015. For 3D platformer fans, the initial announcement was like an oasis in a desert. With the exception of Mario and Sonic, this genre was pretty much abandoned by triple A publishers for many years. However, with the advent of crowdfunding and remasters, 2017 saw a resurgence of this type of game.
Playtonic's "Yooka Laylee," Activision's "Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy," and Gears for Breakfast's "A Hat in Time," garnered enough revenue to show that this genre was far from irrelevant.
Since then, publishers have been more willing to take a gamble on character-based action platformers, and now the genre isn't quite as scarce as it was during "Psychonauts 2's" announcement. With all that in mind, the newest trailer for "Psychonauts 2" manages to retain Double Fine's distinct style, which will undoubtedly help it stand out from the likes of other efforts such as "Sonic Colors Ultimate" and "Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart."
Despite being a Microsoft title, "Psychonauts 2" will be released on the platforms promised during its initial Fig campaign such as PlayStation 4, MacOS, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.
