![]() But even when you should have arms, you don’t, making it a little less immersive than it could have been. ![]() Hand presence is unfortunately nill, as you are a bodiless, handless entity that pops into the minds of other people and species. ![]() It’s not something I got too hung up on though, because most of the time you’re zipping from one cartoony animal to the next, or to the occasional diving suit-wearing antagonist. To that effect, I felt the world’s humanoid characters creep a little too close to the uncanny valley-if only because of how human they acted while still appearing truly bizarre from the 1:1 immersive viewpoint of a VR headset. The character design is nothing short of masterful, not only making good use of color and texture, but also shows great attention to detail in how characters express themselves. The art style totally captures an incredible vibe that actually makes you feel like you’ve stepping straight into a late ’90s Saturday morning cartoon. One of the first things you notice about the Psychonauts in Rhombus of Ruin is just how good everything looks. 'I Expect You To Die 3' Action Revealed in New Gameplay Trailer, Coming Soon to Quest 2 & PC VR Immersion In the end, I found the 1.5 hour gameplay length on the short side, including an abrupt ending that left me a little deflated. Combined with the fact that you’re constantly swept along by Raz’s helpful direction, there’s unfortunately little to no true exploration to be had-a shame considering how inviting everything seems. After a while though, the whole forward push through got a little too paint-by-numbers for me, as you teleport from nodes that always appear on cue, be it a fish that conveniently swims into view or a rat that scurries out from a hiding place just in time. Level design, while only allowing for a straight path through the game, takes you through an interesting assortment of environments. Tossing a roll of burning toilet paper to Coach Oleander in his time of need, image courtesy Double Fine Humor is on the campy side, but it’s the sort of corny dad jokes that make you groan, but also smile a bit too that’s the Psychonauts franchise for you. In the end, I found the puzzles varied, but too simple to really keep my attention. Personally I find this annoying on principle, because if you don’t immediately get something right, you’ll be forced to hear an exclamatory (and entirely unprompted) bit of repeating dialogue to the effect of “I wonder what will happen when I do this obvious solution.” The voice acting itself is very well done however, taking the edge off what might otherwise be a fun-breaking annoyance. Much to my chagrin, Raz the protagonist is voiced, so you’ll always have that helping hand to lead you through each puzzle. Puzzles range from extremely simple (find the code) to a little more taxing, but ultimately pretty easy difficulty level. With the ability to teleport your consciousness to any living being in sight, you’ll explore levels and generally solve puzzles through buttons and levers, but also using some of your other psychic skills such as pyrokinesis and a psy-blast, a percussive surge of psychic energy. In short, it’s basically the plot of an animated adventure you might find in theaters or on Cartoon Network.ĭespite being kidnapped and having your team put under a mind-bending spell by a mysterious nemesis, the game includes only one (very tame) combat situation while primarily focusing on puzzles. With the rescue party’s plane drawn into the Rhombus of Ruin and held prisoners, you find yourself immobilized with only your psychic abilities to reunite the rest of the Psychonauts, reveal the identity of the mysterious kidnapper, and free Truman before the madness of the Rhombus turns everyone crazy. For Raz’s first mission as a honest-to-goodness member of the super hero team, you’re taken into the heart of the Rhombus of Ruin, an ultra mysterious and dangerous part of the ocean similar to the Bermuda Triangle. The story picks up exactly where it left off at the end of Psychonauts-with Raz, Lili, Sasha, Milla, and Coach Oleander flying off to rescue Truman Zannotto, the Grand Head of the Psychonauts. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin Details:Īvailable On: Steam (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows VR), Oculus Home (Rift) Exclusively available in VR, In the Rhombus of Ruin strays from the 3D platformer genre of its flatscreen cousins and harks back to the early days of point-and-click games using a locomotion system that lets you teleport your consciousness into other living creatures. Psychonauts In the Rhombus of Ruin takes place between the events of Psychonauts (2005) and the upcoming Psychonauts 2 due out later this year.
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