"Psychonauts Rhombus of Ruin" is an upcoming PlayStation VR exclusive that serves as the direct follow up to the critical darling commercial failure that was Tim Schafer's "Psychonuats." When last we left Raz, he and the rest of the camp counselors were called to save Truman Zanotto, Lilli's father and grand head of the Psychonauts. The game was revealed at E3 2016 where players where introduced to the tutorial level. Another level was revealed at the Double Fine booth in PlayStation Experience and I got my hands on it. This game also serves as the prequel to the upcoming sequel, "Psychonauts 2."
Deviating from the original title, "Rhombus of Ruin" is not a platformer.
It's a first person puzzle game where Raz must use the abilities from the first game to solve problems. The tutorial section showcased at E3 picked up where the first game left off; the newly designated Psyconaut Raz and his colleagues on the plane to save the recently kidnapped Truman Zanotto.
Clairvoyant Capers
In this scenario, Raz must utilize his clairvoyant powers to find out where Truman's kidnappers have taken him. Since Truman is tied up, Raz's only hope is to jump into the perspectives of the kidnappers in the lair to gather clues and solve puzzles. In another twist, Raz is unable to use his psychic powers such as levitation or pyrokinesis. He can only project and interact with other objects and people.
The puzzles work pretty well and they require you to move your head just to see if there's anything in the room that could help.
The only downside to this section is the limited abilities and the lack of any other characters for Raz to play off of. But these are petty niggles to what looks like a neat hybrid of graphic adventure titles and VR.
Also, fans of the first game will undoubtedly have fun returning to the world and characters they fell in love with, but the uninitiated might find themselves confused by the in-jokes sprinkled throughout the game. That's not to say that the game isn't funny on its own merits; it is. But it definitely helps if you've played the first game.
Release date
"Psychonauts Rhombus of Ruin" is slated for a 2016 release on PlayStation 4.
