New Psychonauts 2 gameplay video dives deep into Raz's mind

The E3 2021 excitement from this past weekend might have died down, but Microsoft didn't get that memo. In a new "Xbox Showcase Extended" stream today, the publisher went deeper on the biggest upcoming games on its roster, not the least of which is Psychonauts 2.

Double Fine founder Tim Schafer walked us through a new deep-dive look at the long-awaited sequel with new details on a few levels we've seen in the past. The first is an early level in the game, the mind of Dr. Caligosto Loboto, the villain of the first game that Raz has befriended in the time since. Raz is digging into his mind to extract a piece of information hidden within and is going to jump on a lot of nasty-looking teeth to do so.

Schafer also touched on another early level in the mind of the Psychonauts' director, Hollis Forsythe. This level is meant as a tutorial (for both Raz and the player) for a psychic power new to the sequel called Mental Connection. Raz takes the experiment too far and starts messing with Forsythe's memories by implanting an infatuation with gambling, Inception-style.

The most exciting location for fans is probably Raz's return to the Whispering Rock summer camp from the first game. This is apparently where Raz will have to come to terms with his own past, including his family's water curse and its past with the Psychonauts agency.

All exciting stuff that, arguably, Schafer is saying almost too much about! Charming stories are part of what makes Double Fine games special, so I don't want to be too familiar with Psychonauts 2's plot points going in.

Psychonauts 2 is finally releasing on August 25.

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.