A young boy with an unexplainably high level of psychic talent mysteriously shows up at a summer camp designed for aspiring psychics to train during the summer. The young child, whose name is Raz, is granted permission to remain in the camp until his father comes to pick him up; nevertheless, the timing of his arrival coincides with some very odd events. As time goes on, it becomes clear that someone is messing with the campers’ minds psychically, and Raz is the only one who can put a stop to it. In order to figure out what is going on and who is responsible for the recent incidents, Raz needs to project himself into the minds of a number of different people.
Psychonauts is a 3D platform game featuring a gameplay style that deviates significantly from the norm. The game’s different levels are represented by the characters’ internal universes. Each planet is a reflection of the character of the person whose psyche it represents. This frequently leads to the development of one-of-a-kind and strange creations and has an effect on the gameplay style. For instance, the psyche of a giant lungfish is depicted as a large city inhabited by fish people, in which Raz himself transforms into a monstrous creature that is capable of destroying entire buildings; the psyche of a mental patient is depicted as a massive board game, in which Raz must command armies in order to defeat Napoleon, etc.
In addition, there are many gameplay components and objectives that are shared by all of the levels. These involve Raz against the standard foes, which are not very numerous, beating the level bosses, gathering currency, “figments of imagination,” which are required to increase his powers, as well as bonus things like entire sets of the character’s memories and other objects. Many of the game’s puzzles require Raz to use his psychic abilities, which he gains in a more or less predetermined order throughout the course of the game. These abilities range from fighting skills such as Psy Shield to telekinesis (the ability to move objects without touching them) and clairvoyance (the ability to read the minds of other people).
The camp itself acts as the “center” of the game, in which the player can explore, interact with characters, look for hidden regions and goods, and so on. The player can also look for other things.
