The International House of Mojo

While participating in an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit with forty-five other developers (among the tidbits: Wadjet Eye confirmed talking with Brian Moriarty about a Loom sequel years ago, but no legal headway could be made with Lucasfilm), Skunkape loosed a screenshot from Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Remastered:

I might also point out something we failed to report last month: a sweepstakes to win a specialized, Psychonauts 2-themed Xbox console. But we can at least get a look at it:

I guess we could have been quicker on the draw, but you don’t need that thing cluttering your house anyway.

Source: Reddit

When the Germans aren't serving as every other punchline for late comedian and human treasure Norm Macdonald, they're up to making gummy snacks tied in to your favorite Xbox games.

And so they were only doing what their biology insisted when they whipped up this tangy Psychonauts 2 candy. Buy a packet and have it bequeathed to your great grandchildren. It will taste exactly as good when they inherit it as it would now.

Hey, not deploying edible marketing didn't exactly do the original Psychonauts any favors at retail, so you can see the logic here.

Source: Twitter

These days, NME – née New Musical Express – is trying to regain its hip “street cred” with the kids, the type currently reserved for the Instagrams and the Mojos of the world. And what better way to do so than to have a chat with Peter McConnell about Psychonauts 2?

The interview is actually quite excellent, with small tidbits like this:

There’s also some stuff about the Grateful Dead in there which will make elTee question every aspect of his life that has led him to not play Psychonauts.

I also think we missed NME’s Tim Schafer interview, so go read that, too. NME, you might just have what it takes after all.

(But only Mojo has an MP3 of “Brain In A Jar,” from arguably the best level in Psychonauts 2.)

You've read the only review that matters. Now it's time to buy the game* and play it for yourself. Because you see, it's out.

That bears repeating. Psychonauts 2 is a thing now. It's released; it exists. Go ahead and pinch yourself, because this is really happening.

What's Mojo supposed to cover now? That's tomorrow's problem. Because, again: Psychonauts 2 is released.

*Unless of course you were a Fig backer at the appropriate level, in which case you got a key yesterday, but nobody likes a braggart.

It’s that rare time of year decade, where we put on our review boots in a timely manner and share our less than humble opinions. This time we skewer Psychonauts 2, at least if “skewer” means “love, hug, and cuddle with.”

Don’t get used to this type of timeliness, but today, go read our review. (Spoiler-free, too!)

As we stare down the not so unwelcoming maw of Psychonauts 2, I’m feeling a little wistful about that magical period right before the original Psychonauts came out. Who could forget the (very) short-lived Psychonauts web comic by Scott Campbell hosted on the goofy, Flash-powered Majesco site, or the unspeakable dilemma of whether to go in for the EB Games versus the Gamestop pre-order bonus, or Tim pimping Thrik’s fan site (14:00) on camera, or those voyeuristic glimpses of the boozy wrap party, or the MTV Sharts?

Perhaps the highlight of the victory lap was the launch of the Double Fine Company Store, which sold more than the standard issue cheap schwag – it sold floaty pens.

Alas, the world was simpler then. It was before Double Fine hired on Spaff, who since used his Machiavellian influence to convince Tim to retire the company store and sell out to The Man. In short, you’ll be getting your Psychonauts 2 wares from the Xbox Gear Shop:

Still, there’s some neat merchandise there. And while your credit card is being processed, you’ll want to check out this launch video and Episode 6 of Basic Braining, “Pins and Upgrades”:

There's no time to celebrate the ambush return of jp-30, because Spaff keeps cranking these marketing videos out to ensure that Psychonauts 2 supercedes your own family as a presence in your life. The subject this time: Enemies.

The Censors are back in more variations than before, but Psychonauts 2 will also pit Raz against new mental foes known as Regrets, Doubts, The Judge, Enablers, Bad Moods, Bad Ideas and Panic Attacks. And just what are these hostiles all about? That's where watching this video comes in.

If you're looking at all the Psychonauts related deals and wishing for a bit more merchandise, you could go the route of Titolian and just build your own out of LEGO bricks.

Raz by Titolian, on Flickr

Source: flickr

Figments, Emotional Baggage, Memory Vaults and PSI Challenge Markers make their court-mandated return in Psychonauts 2 (occasionally with enhancement), but what of the sequel's all-new collectible items that you've been hearing so much about in the hippest political clubs and Parisian coffee houses? The answers to that question and more can be streamed with prejudice below.

With Psychonauts 2 just days away, the original game and its VR sequel, In the Rhombus of Ruin, are a whopping 90% off on Steam. We don't highlight sales often anymore, but In the Rhombus of Ruin has never dropped this low. Psychiatric action adventures hooo!

Source: Steam

Did you know that in Psychonauts 2 Raz will be getting some nifty gizmos courtesy of Otto Mentallis, a lead engineer and founding member of the Psychonauts? Well, you will after watching this video.

The next Psychonauts 2 preview video is out, and this one concerns Raz's repertoire of psychic powers. After recapping the arsenal that Raz will be carrying over from the first game, we are introduced to three new ones: Mental Connection (which looks very hookshot-esque), Time Bubble (which appears to stun enemies and moving objects), and Mental Projection -- an ability by Raz to produce a paper "archetype" of himself voiced by Rikki Simons (GIR from Invader Zim) who can aid in battles and be dispatched through thin openings. He also may tend to fray Raz's nerves.

Double Fine seeks to keep you restless these remaining weeks before the release of Psychonauts 2 by drip-feeding you a series of preview videos dubbed Basic Braining. The first installment below introduces the interns of the Motherlobe, who include Dogen Boole’s pancake-eating sister.

Meanwhile, if you’re a backer of the original Psychonauts 2 Fig campaign, you’ll have received an email cowritten by some poor dope named Spaff which details the various ways you can redeem your copy of the game, depending on what level you pledged at and which…opts…you opted for.

Congratulations are in order for Double Fine, as Psychonauts 2 has gone gold (that is, development is finished and the game is under glass), and you can go ahead and treat that August 25th release date as scripture.

You might as well keep that Psychonauts 2 high going by checking out VentureBeat’s recent interview with senior systems designer Lauren Scott and lead environment artist Geoff Soulis. And when you’re through with that…well, you’re probably on your own at that point. Nevertheless: Psychonauts 2!

Though Peter McConnell failed to honor the sacred tradition of giving Mojo sneak peek MP3s for a Psychonauts game, we don’t hold grudges around here, which is why we remain deliriously excited about his score for Psychonauts 2, a game which comes out later this month, for goodness sake.

And being above pettiness is really primed to pay off for us, because this score promises to be amazing, with sky-high production values. You can hear that for yourself by listening to a preview of six minutes from the soundtrack, embedded below, which Double Fine and McConnell have presented via Spin instead of us.* It's unreasonably awesome.

*And we have no problem with that.

Source: Spin

We made it.

Source: Double Fine

Double Fine has delivered another seasonal update for Psychonauts 2, a game that began pre-production sometime during the Coolidge Administration. Enjoy below the studio's unflinching Spring 2021 progress report, complete with voyeuristic peeks at the team's Zoom meetings, tantalizing new gameplay footage, and an exciting glimpse at the music recording sessions featuring not only Peter McConnell, but his brothers-in-arms Michael Land and Clint Bajakian.

Oh, and Tim draws parallels between the sequel and Monkey Island 2, showing that he still knows how to push Mojo's buttons.

Beyond that, Psychonauts 2 has also landed the cover story of the latest issue of Game Informer. Digital and...linear?...versions of the magazine can be purchased right here. And do check out this accompanying video showing off one of Raz's new Psi-powers:

The Game Informer preview is apparently the vanguard of an outright assault of incoming Psychonauts 2 coverage, so keep an eye out for that. Amdist it all will be a developer playthrough of the original Psychonauts - now available on Xbox Game Pass - streaming via the Double Fine Twitch channel over the next several Fridays.

And is there even time to mention the open pre-orders for Double Fine's 20th anniversary art book, or the Amnesia Fortnight movie, the trailer for which is below?

Probably not. I mean, I have to stop somewhere.

Update from Thrik: No, it doesn’t stop there! Double Fine has released a video about the game’s accessibility features, which seem to be very extensive — for my part, more so than I’ve ever seen in a game.

You might think the fact that the founder of Mixnmojo works for Double Fine would mean we spend our days backstroking across a comprehensive ocean of exclusives, or can at least be relied upon for up-to-the-second Psychonauts 2 coverage, but such expectations would make you: an idiot, apparently.

Instead, we’re left to scratch around for others' leftovers like a bunch of grubby parasites while our absent father figure returns the affections of other people’s children. But if I could return to my point: Double Fine released some new Psychonauts 2 screen this week, which you can check out below.

While we were at it, we took the liberty of righting our woefully out of date screenshot gallery, so do give that a browse, too.

Need more? Well, how about this new interview with Tim which touts the sequel’s empathetic approach toward mental illness, including consulting with a doctor of clinical psychology? These efforts sure sound like something that sounds good, though I’m equally concerned that the franchise lives up to its orphanage-pancaking heritage.

Speaking of: Should any Xbox owners be itching to give the original Psychonauts a fresh spin as its long-gestating follow-up looms ever closer, they'll note that the game is coming to Xbox Game Pass. A nifty new trailer was created to mark the occasion:

It must be a slow news day: Psychonauts 2 is still releasing in 2021, according to a series of Tweets from the Double Fine Twitter account. It's also "playable."

Not that I understand the follow-up Tweets. Twitter is a surreal place.

It is unclear just when in 2021 the long-awaited followup to the 2005 longgg-and-slowww-burning hit releases.

Source: Twitter