Psychonauts

I had only ever heard about Psychonauts twice before I played through it myself. The first time was when I found it somewhere on at least one "best video games of the decade" list a couple of years ago. The second time was when Sweeney posted about it a year and a half ago. Sween's big point, and one that I'd have to agree with, is that regardless of execution or success, Psychonauts was a game that tried so many different things. There were probably about ten or eleven levels, so to speak, and each one was wildly different than the others, for the most part. There was a groovy dance party featuring a race. There was a level where I had to assist some kids putting on a play by switching the scenery and the lighting around. There was a level where I was a giant Godzilla-like monster wreaking havoc on a city. There was an obstacle course put on by a boot camp instructor. The game also had a quirky but undeniable sense of humor and a unique art style to boot. Without question, Psychonauts was one of the most relentlessly experimental games I've ever played. Unfortunately, that may have been the biggest reason I didn't absolutely love it. A few too many of the various aspects of the game never really converged into a satisfying cohesion for me, and while almost every individual part of the game was well-made, the parts never added up to become more than their own sum. In a strange way then, despite packing so much into one game, Psychonauts feels incomplete. The ending seems to beg for a sequel, as the game winds back up post-climax on one of those "uh-oh, my help is needed somewhere else!" type cliffhangers, but due to the poor sales of Psychonauts I just don't think that sequel is coming. Ultimately I'd give Psychonauts four out of five stars; the four stars come from being so unique and interesting, but the lack of a fifth reflects on some missing polish that could have vaulted this game into "elite must-play" status.