Psychonauts 2, the long-delayed sequel to the original cult classic, was a worthy successor to the first game, and it retained the narrative conceit of using psychic doorways to journey into others’ minds. Hollis Fortsythe’s “Casino Hospital” stage provides an excellent example of how Psychonauts 2 combines gameplay and unconventional storytelling, as well as character development from the inside out. The sequel approaches serious issues with more care than the 2005 original, but the added empathy only adds to the depth of the story and its themes, without lessening the game’s humor.
Psychonauts 2 picks up directly after the VR-only bridge title Rhombus of Ruin, which was a direct follow-up to the first Psychonauts. The game rewards players who played the Psychonauts games in order with callbacks to Coach Oleander’s short-lived plans for world domination in the original game, and Dr. Loboto’s development in Rhombus of Ruin. The newest game is much more than a nostalgic victory run, however, as it introduces new characters whose inner worlds are just as compelling, and new mechanics to interact with their psyches directly.
Hollis is introduced as the acting director of the Psychonauts agency, as former director Truman Zanotto appears to be recovering from exposure to Psillirium during his kidnapping, which was pictured at the end of the first Psychonauts and detailed in Rhombus of Ruin. After the hero, Raz, aids agents Sasha and Milla in interrogating the deranged dentist Loboto in Psychonauts 2’s tooth-filled opening level, to find the mastermind behind Truman’s abduction, their best lead points them to an elite, high-stakes casino and resort called the Lady Luctapus. Hollis is initially unwilling to take Raz, a young, relatively inexperienced Psychonaut trainee, along for the dangerous mission, but after some peer pressure from his classmates, Raz tinkers with her mind, in an example of one of the sequel’s novel new mechanics.
Casino Hospital Shows Psychonauts 2’s Integrated Storytelling
Along with Raz’s existing psychic abilities, like Levitation and Pyrokinesis, he gains the ability to make “mental connections” between concepts while projecting himself into someone’s mind. In-game this serves as a form of transportation, as Raz flies from one floating thought to the next in a psychic version of the “flying barrel travel” of Donkey Kong Country titles. The in-fiction purpose of this Psychonauts 2 ability is to connect certain concepts to alter someone’s thoughts, with a simple early example toggling whether Hollis likes, or dislikes, cilantro. In order to change her mind about taking Raz and the other trainees on the mission, Raz makes a mental connection between the notion of “Risk” and the concept of “Money,” which persuades Hollis to bring the youths along, but also inadvertently awakens her latent gambling addiction.
Raz decides to go back into Hollis’ mind to correct the changes he made to her psyche when her newly rekindled obsession with gambling threatens to jeopardize the safety of the mission, and likely bankrupt the agency as well. This sequence goes well beyond a surface-level exploration of Hollis’ emotional baggage in Psychonauts 2, and thoroughly develops her as a realistic and sympathetic character while introducing the strange mental juxtaposition of a Casino Hospital. Hollis began as a researcher at a neurological hospital, where she created pioneering techniques for operating on the brain, but a superior took credit for her work. This background in the medical field, combined with her real-world presence at the Luctapus casino, creates the disturbing inner world where the medical practice is portrayed as a high-stakes game of chance that is rigged so the house always wins.
Raz is forced to complete a series of challenges to win the abstraction of “3 gazillion dollars” in order to access the “high stakes room,” where Hollis has walled off her deepest convictions. This is accomplished by succeeding at a series of rigged gambling halls, which involve some of Psychonauts 2’s most clever puzzles. These gambling dens are themed after things like a pharmacy, a maternity ward, and a cardiology wing, each of which reveals more about Hollis’ personal trauma, while also lampooning the medical field in the process. In the maternity ward, a self-described “filthy rich” couple aims to “win” a baby as a status symbol, hoping it will fill some void in their hearts, and care for them when they are older. The pharmacy level features a rigged pinball game, where the pill can never reach the patient’s stomach, but the player is encouraged to continue tossing pills at the problem, regardless.
Raz Helps Hollis Find A Healthier Outlook In Psychonauts 2
By making healthier mental connections, Raz is able to do the impossible and win the unwinnable games. By connecting Hollis’ concept of “Share” and “Feelings,” her heart literally returns to the right place in the pinball machine, making the game winnable, while also encouraging her real-world self to rely on others more instead of keeping her concerns bottled up. Connecting “Defiance” and “Effective” in the maternity award lets the imaginary couple win the “baby roulette,” but also eliminates some of Hollis’ emotional baggage in Psychonauts 2, specifically her feelings of hopelessness, which likely began in her medical career when her work was stolen from her. The cardiology game, a rigged horse race of sorts, leads Hollis to accept the concept of “Help” from others. The end result is that Hollis comes to accept that defiance of a cruel fate or a corrupt system is possible, but only if she shares her feelings and seeks help from others around her.
Raz is heavily chastised for manipulating Hollis’ mind in the first place, as she notes the Psychonauts are not out to force change on others, but to “help them battle their own demons.” This illustrates the mental health theme that Psychonauts 2 articulates more clearly than the prior games: that mental health is not about forcing change on someone, but rather, helping them become the person they want to be. Hollis had an understandable cynicism about the medical profession, and as a woman whose work was stolen by a man in a position of power, was left with the notion that defiance is futile. After a second journey of mental concept connections in Psychonauts 2, Hollis obtains a healthier, more optimistic outlook, and is able to share her concerns with others, and rely on her friends and allies instead of trying to take on the world alone.
