Psychonauts

It's a shame this game was a commercial failure at launch. I feel a lot of people back then missed out on something really special here. The animations are pretty insane for the time. You really don't even see facial animations this good in 99% of modern games. There is so much unique dialogue throughout, even when reading signs. The game also lets you hit anything and anyone you want. It's funny, for not being some massive open world game, it's a lot closer to making you feel like you can truly do anything. As for the aesthetics, taste in art is subjective, obviously. However, I feel like they've come up something unique, yet familiar here. It's a sort of 50s Americana, cartoon style, with a bit of a painted clay figurine look that's quite enjoyable to me. Gameplay-wise, I wouldn't say it's full of some completely industry changing mechanics that you'll think about for the rest of your life. That said, what is here is very competently done. I don't remember ever feeling frustrated with the controls. More than that, I think the level design is really where most of the fun in gameplay is to be had. Every "mindscape" had something unique that kept an otherwise simple gameplay style from getting old quick. I'll finish off by saying that there are a few minor annoyances. One is from the game being locked in 4:3 aspect ratio, something that is almost seamlessly fixed with one mod. The other is common to a lot of games of this era and before, which is that there is some stuff that you must do at very specific times in the game if you want to 100% complete it. The game gives you no real indicators for this, The completion rate might not be that big of a deal to you, but I do think it's a shame to miss out on voice acted cutscenes because of it. Anyways, with all of that said, the game was very clearly a labor of love, and I'm happy to have finally played it.

really great for its age also for the price i got it for even better

The game by itself is very good. The lore, the free roam mechanic, the story, the secrets... But its an old game and it shows. The boss battles are shabby almost as if they werent fully completed. The mechanics and abilities are very thought out and are very well implemented in combat. The platforming is very well planned but some obstacles require some deep thinking since the game doesnt give you some specific guideline. You can always use bacon for agent Crullers help but sometimes you have to figure it out on your own. I recommend saving before going onto the elevator to the top of the asylum since the game locks you out from free roam after that point, I didnt do this and now I cant get the other achievements without starting a new game. But after 20hrs of gameplay I want to play it all over again. The game leaves you longing for more so I will definitely play tge sequel. Very much recommend!!