Psychonauts 2-Interview: Weird dream worlds make psychological problems playable

On the 25th of August Psychonauts 2 is on. The action of the new Platformer of Double Fine closes directly to its predecessor. Once again we take control of the young razputin Aquato, shortly Raz. He could finally fulfill his dream to join the psychonauts. This is a secret organization that needs to dive into the confused, surreal thought worlds of different people, the Mental Worlds to solve their mental problems. Even the heads of other psychonauts enter them.

The origin of unique worlds

Without people whose heads serve as a destination, there are of course no mental worlds. As in the first part, the basic ideas come for these characters of Series Director Tim Schafer. "Each of them has a unique story and fears where Raz has to help," explains Lauren Scott, Senior System Designer for Double Fine.

One of the main tasks of the designers' inside of Psychonauts 2 was to make these characters and their Mental Worlds. However, they especially wanted to ensure that the worlds are comprehensible.

Empathy is the focus: "We focused completely on how it is to dive into someone's mind and see how unique the brain is every person," says Lisette Titre-Montgomery. She has worked as a kind of director to psychonauts 2.

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Tim Scherer wants to make empathy for game mechanics.

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For example, the new level of Compton Boole has arisen, one of the founders of psychonauts. He has problems with self-doubt and suffers from strong fear of condemnation from his direct environment. "We wanted to ensure that we reflect the aspect of conviction and generate an atmosphere that triggers anxiety," says Scott.

That's why Double Fine has decided for a game show in his brain in which a strict time requires us panicked to decisions. At the same time and condemn three goats, dressed as a judge * inside, which say constantly mean things.

"There you have to deal with the same feelings, problems and topics, which also feels the character, in whose head you are. Our main goal was to reflect all these topics in every facet of gameplay," says Scott.

Psychonauts 2 would like to deliberately look oblique

These worlds are presented in a unique graphic style, which already awarded the first psychonaut. Neither characters nor levels are absolutely symmetrical, but weird, a bit oblique, bang-colorful and seemingly aroused arbitrarily.

For this style concept, Double Fine has its own name: Wonk. "That comes from 'Wonky', so wrong," explains Titre-Montgomery. "Exactly this asymmetry, the unevenness and apparent arbitrariness ensure that the worlds feel like dream landscapes. That's why we wanted to return to the Wonk concept for Psychonauts 2."

Leaning dream landscapes, that can sound confusing first. Whated, the assumption would not be wrong because psychonauts 2 are also creatively exhibited apart from the graphic style. So we maneuver in a section through a headquartered office complex and must jump in the next over X-ray pictures and pears - in classic sidescroller-manner. The change from the third to the second dimension is a new feature.

Nevertheless, we will probably not lose the overview in Psychonauts 2. The developers have protected against: "In each world you will find a uniform design language, for example for things like swings or trampolines," assures Titre-Montgomery.

Since the individual worlds differ greatly from each other, such significantly marked objects should provide orientation. "In every brain, they look different, but they always have a form factor that makes them intuitive, where you have to go."

Also the opponents harmonize with the levels

How almost all platformers also offers psychonauts 2 plenty of opponents. In contrast to other genre representatives, however, they are more than just ongoing obstacles. For their appearance and their skills reflect the worries and problems of the persons, in whose pear we immerse.

So that this combination of opponents succeed in inside, characters and their Mental Worlds, Double Fine focused on concrete mental phenomena and, according to Titre-Montgomery, the question: "What is a clear, visual representation of such a phenomenon?"

An answer is about the opponent type remorse. These are flying insects that carry an anvil with outstretched arms. When the team thought about how the feeling of remorse would manifest in an opponent, mosquitoes immediately fell. Titre-Montgomery: "Just like remorse, mosquitoes are small things that buzz over your head and nerve you." And the inspiration for the anvil was found quickly. "Rereree is like a weight that floats over your head. Sometimes she falls on you, slows down and may hurt you."

Thus, even the opponents * in psychonauts 2 pursue a similar design approach as the Mental Worlds: "We tried to keep the concept of all opponents as succinct and clear as possible," says Scott.

An misery meets the next

After a concept like this is worked out from remorse, it has to put the Combat team into practice, so the designers 'inside and developers' inside, which worry about fighting and the combat system. First, some questions in the room stood: Which purpose should the weight fulfill in combat? How should flying influence the behavior of remorse? And how does remorse harmonize with other enemy types?

Especially the latter question was central because of their variety and challenge alike. "We wanted to make sure that opponents interact with each other in an interesting way. Thus, interesting combat scenarios with different approaches should arise," explains Scott.

That can look like this: In one-counter-one-duel with remorse we learn quickly how we should deal with the flying vermin and his falling weights. It becomes more complex as soon as Psychonauts 2 remorse with a second enemy types gets dropping on us, for example, doubts. These are monsters leaving mucaspuders who slow us. "Because even in real life, there are doubts and feel somehow sticky," says Titre-Montgomery.

Suddenly we have to think well, as we are best proceeding or whether we should first eliminate doubts or remorse. Luckily, as in its predecessor, Raz can rely on various skills, the PSI POWERS. They allow him to hover for him, which he can dodge the mucolopfs, or let him fire telepathic projectiles that shoot the disturbing insects out of the sky.

Psychonauts 2 became strange automatically

With all the strange opponents * inside and confused mental worlds there is a guess. Namely that Double Fine consciously waived established design decisions so psychonauts 2 is as strange as possible.

But the team did not have to. "Rather, the game told us if something did not fit," recalls Scott. "There were moments in which we have thought about certain modern design elements. But that was like a square log in a round hole to push - or rather into a 'Wonky' hole."

So it seems like players * inside the original should not worry about the loss of his identity. Rather, the psychonauts 2 has snapped this identity by itself and clung to her. Once again, a platformer awaits us with surreal brain worlds around which each fiber of the game was carefully built. And a generous portion of pitching.

This article is part of our hero * Indoor ThemsWoche , which is still running until August 13, 2021 and presented you daily new articles around the topic of video game characters. All products released so far can be found here in our overview.