Double Fine
Psychonauts

In this same section, or more precisely in its comments, there has recently been talk of a genius in the video game genre. I'm talking about, for those who haven't understood, Tim Schafer. This man, comparable to his namesake Burton in terms of crazy situations and over-the-top characters, has produced one masterpiece after another, never missing a beat.

It would take pages and pages to talk about the legendary LucasArts graphic adventures where he cut his teeth, or the visionary afterlife of Grim Fandango, or even the more recent ode to Heavy Metal "Brutal Legend"... As an ideal representation of Schafer's madness, however, the choice of which game to discuss is very simple, and I'm clearly talking about Psychonauts.

There are few ways to describe this strange platform that do not include the word "masterpiece". From the sound to the character design, from the gameplay to the incredible humor, each component of Psychonauts has something incredibly artistic.

But let's proceed in order.

The story of Psychonauts, as silly as it may seem, is very simple. The protagonist of the story is a boy named Razputin, and initially not much is known about his past. We know that he escaped from the circus where his father performs, that he has a great predisposition for psychic powers, and that he is willing to do anything to participate in a sort of summer camp for aspiring secret agents with paranormal powers, trained to enter the minds of enemies to elicit their secrets and fears.

The first part of the game takes place entirely at the camp and serves as a big tutorial for the more advanced stages. Traveling into the minds of the professors (inhabited by their nightmares and passions), Razputin must learn new powers and try to complete the training before his father arrives. Between missions, it will be possible to visit the camp's facilities and meet its quirky students. Here, you can listen to silly dialogues, tackle side missions, and prepare for future mental journeys.

Although up to this point the game progresses amusingly, it is about halfway through the main story that Schafer starts to get serious. Due to more or less defined plot requirements, our hero is forced to break into an old abandoned asylum. Still inhabited by its strange patients, this eerie structure is where Psychonauts truly takes flight.

The journeys into the warped minds of some of the most memorable characters ever created create a continuous series of insane and nonsensical situations. Among persecution manias, troubled pasts, egocentrism, delusions, and total lack of self-esteem, Razputin will have to "cure" the patients by seeing the world from their perspective. The entire adventure will only end after solving every patient's issues and unveiling the mysteries of Raz's past and that of the game's main antagonist.

As if the delirious design of levels and characters wasn’t enough, the game is also filled with references, parodies, and hidden backstories. Even in minds that seemingly have no problems, there might be hidden dark secrets, and sometimes it will be necessary to inspect the levels to find traces of them.

Described this way, Psychonauts might seem like a game completely devoid of flaws. Like anything, it clearly cannot be defined as perfect; the loading times bothered the more uncompromising players, the lack of an Italian translation was remedied by an amateur team a few years after release, and many found the last level alarmingly difficult (if you are not too accustomed to platformers, you might indeed have some trouble)... But none of these flaws ruin Psychonauts in any way, whose sharp and mad soul allows one to forget the game's shortcomings. To quote one of the numerous reviews that praised it, allow me to say that anyone who doesn’t fall madly in love with the characters and humor of this game must be considered soulless.

One question remains to be asked. If Psychonauts is all this, why is it so unknown?

What made it an experience for the few, and what many considered the game's biggest problem, was the shameful lack of advertising that hit it at the time of release. Despite being one of the very few platforms released for Xbox (besides, of course, the PC version), it was talked about far too little, and it turned out to be a semi-flop despite more than positive critical reviews. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find physical copies, but it's much easier to download it at a very low price on Steam... But it's definitely worth buying.

You will hardly find more shamelessly underrated games in the entire history of video games.