The Secrets of Psychonauts - Easter Eggs & Hidden References

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  • čas přidán 8. 08. 2024
  • Exploring secrets, great and small, in The Most Excellent Game Psychonauts. For an even deeper analysis, visit: / the-secrets-of-psychon...
    Tim Schafer games are packed with hidden details, and Psychonauts is no different. Discover some of the strange secrets you might have missed in this trippy psychic platformer. With references ranging from sixties spy shows and comics to classic noir and Gothic horror, the world of Psychonauts is immersed in a vast wealth of cinematic and literary sources. Even the iconic soundtrack, composed by Peter McConnell, takes part in the allusion game. You may have recognised the Mozart motifs playing in Sasha’s mind, but a subtle reference to an obscure German electronic artist is more than likely to have slipped by unnoticed. Even the game’s main musical theme is not immediately apparent. And even that pays homage to a mystery science fiction show from the sixties. The sixties may be the unspoken time period for this game. One just has to look at Milla’s mod fashion or the Space Age furniture in Sasha’s lab or that strangely shaped car in the parking lot. The modern references too are retro in taste, harking back to early LucasArts adventure games and almost-as-early Tim Burton stop-motion animation films. Fitting because the game is a dark gothic puzzler candy-wrapped to resemble a cheery Saturday morning cartoon. Look deep though and you’ll find a darkness lurking inside the hearts of all the people and places of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, no matter how sunny they may appear on the surface. It is perhaps this darkness, and dark mystery, that has allowed the game to linger so long in the minds of its many players.
    P.S. For more on strange loops, check out Douglas Hofstadter’s most excellent book Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid.
    If you wish for more content like this, you might like to click that magic ‘Subscribe’ button. Take care and thanks for watching.
    Medium: / curiousarcade
    Twitter: / arcadecurious
    CHAPTERS
    0:00 Opening
    0:17 Kids’ Cabins
    1:40 Basic Braining
    2:24 Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp
    5:30 Sasha’s Underground Lab
    5:53 Brain Tumbler Experiment
    10:29 Sasha’s Immaculate Mind
    14:36 Milla’s Dance Party
    15:52 Lair of the Lungfish
    16:20 Lungfishopolis
    17:21 Asylum Gates
    18:35 Milkman Conspiracy
    20:21 Gloria’s Secret Garden
    21:23 Gloria’s Theater
    24:07 Waterloo World
    25:56 Black Velvetopia
    27:47 Thorney Towers Home for the Disturbed
    29:06 The Lab of Dr. Loboto
    31:41 Meat Circus
    33:51 Ending
    #Psychonauts #Gaming #Secrets
  • Hry

Komentáře • 176

  • @curiousarcade
    @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +55

    CHAPTERS
    0:00​ Opening
    0:17​ Kids’ Cabins
    1:40​ Basic Braining
    2:24​ Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp
    5:30​ Sasha’s Underground Lab
    5:53​ Brain Tumbler Experiment
    10:29​ Sasha’s Immaculate Mind
    14:36​ Milla’s Dance Party
    15:52​ Lair of the Lungfish
    16:20​ Lungfishopolis
    17:21​ Asylum Gates
    18:35​ Milkman Conspiracy
    20:21​ Gloria’s Secret Garden
    21:23​ Gloria’s Theater
    24:07​ Waterloo World
    25:56​ Black Velvetopia
    27:47​ Thorney Towers Home for the Disturbed
    29:06​ The Lab of Dr. Loboto
    31:41​ Meat Circus
    33:51​ Ending

  • @Felix-Felix
    @Felix-Felix Před 2 lety +209

    After fully playing Psychonauts 2 i can say all the questions regarding the people in the totems are fully explained in the second game. This video maker got it right for most of it, except the part about the viking helmet. It's just a regular helmet because the guy likes having it.

    • @MDLuffy1234YT
      @MDLuffy1234YT Před 2 lety +8

      I didn't even know they were there (as in the physical carvings of the seven founders that are only accessible using pyrokinesis) in the first place.

    • @MDLuffy1234YT
      @MDLuffy1234YT Před 2 lety +10

      Also, *everything* is explained in Psychonauts 2

    • @iamfirelord2576
      @iamfirelord2576 Před 2 lety +2

      Wasn’t Lucrecia removed? I haven’t played the second game for a while but I remember Raz not knowing about her

    • @mr.k5857
      @mr.k5857 Před 2 lety +5

      Quick question. Why is Lucretia mux mentioned in the first game when in the second game no one has ever heard of her except the original members?

    • @BeanSparrow
      @BeanSparrow Před 2 lety

      @@iamfirelord2576 the second game was released like amonth so its not that long ago

  • @Chris-mc2dt
    @Chris-mc2dt Před 3 lety +177

    I can’t remember if it’s outright stated or just a detail, but censors play an important role in two non-Sasha levels: Edgar’s censors respawn infinitely while Boyd’s mind lacks censors almost entirely.
    Edgar suffers from OCD, so his censors are constantly sweeping his mind for undesirable thoughts to expel. The repetitive running of El Odio is a more visible sign of his OCD, but the censors tie a central aspect of the game’s mechanics into his characterization.
    Boyd, on the other hand, has lost control of his mental faculties almost entirely, to the point where any mundane from the outside world manifests itself inside of his conspiracies. This matches his lack of censors, showing how his brain is incapable of rejecting thoughts - even the absurd and illogical. Notably, the censors begin to reappear once The Milkman is discovered. Though still insane, he is no longer wrought with paranoia and wild conspiracy theories after this.

    • @UrLeingod
      @UrLeingod Před rokem +8

      Censors are also absent from Linda's mind, which has been almost completely taken over and restructured by Oleander, so her mind's natural response to this foreign invader have doubtless been almost entirely repressed, with Raz having to break them (in the form of the lungfish freedom fighters) out of their prisons.

  • @cresoma
    @cresoma Před 3 lety +313

    12:52
    Adding onto the point of Sasha’s resentment towards Tiffany lamps, the only thing on the table when his mother died was a Tiffany lamp, possibly causing a negative association extremely early on

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +52

      Nice spot ;-)

    • @averyfields8183
      @averyfields8183 Před 3 lety +21

      Sasha when he sees a lamp: *Milla! Where's the glock? I have some issues I'd like to resolve with a lamp!*

    • @katietaylor8314
      @katietaylor8314 Před 2 lety +3

      Meanwhile in Psychonauts 2 there's one on a shelf in his office. I thought that was a nice amusing little touch.

    • @MrMozzie
      @MrMozzie Před 2 lety +6

      @@katietaylor8314 apparently, according to the devs, he doesn’t actually hate the lamps, in fact he loves them, what he hates however, is fake knockoff ones, which are the ones featured in the level

    • @aidansexton47
      @aidansexton47 Před rokem +2

      @@MrMozzie so instead of Sasa thinking the Lamps are what killed his mother, but rather a nice reminder of his mother. Also who likes an knockoff?

  • @TalkernateHistory
    @TalkernateHistory Před 3 lety +157

    I imagine the cockroaches are a sorta reference to Kafka's metamorphosis. Pure Central European angst, which is Sasha's thing.

    • @corvoattano8567
      @corvoattano8567 Před 3 lety +7

      Brilliant

    • @kseniagolubkova6548
      @kseniagolubkova6548 Před 2 lety +7

      idk about other eastern european languages (or any language whatsoever), but in russian we have an expression "cockroaches in one's head" to express some hidden thoughts, motivations or traumas that we just don't want to talk about. Can as well be used in the form of "my cockroaches"

  • @firengel2807
    @firengel2807 Před 2 lety +42

    My favorite detail and symbolism about the game :
    Little Oly trying to protect the bunny and the Butcher trying to kill Raz both say the same sentences :
    "Don't run, Daddy is going to kill you !"
    "Come here little bunny !"

  • @andreassmed2255
    @andreassmed2255 Před 3 lety +91

    One thing I would have loved to see mentioned, is that if you through cheat codes give yourself the confusion granades before completing The Milkman Conspiracy, and use them at Boyd at the gate. He’ll almost reach the conclusion that there's no conspiracy at all and that he's merely suffering from paranoid delusions just the effects wear off, and he goes back to his old incoherent self.
    Also, a couple of his rambling segments are either foreshadowing or references to characters or things in the game.

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +18

      That’s really interesting. There’s a surprising amount of interactions discoverable only by cheating. I know there are a few videos on CZcams showcasing these interactions. But I never got to try them out for myself.
      In the article, I touch a little on Boyd’s ramblings. Some of Boyd's odd words and turns of phrase came from a man who used to hang out in the alley of the old Double Fine offices. Apparently, Tim Schafer would listen in on him then run back to his notebook to jot down his mutterings while they were still fresh in his mind. One of the words that kept popping up was "Hernando's". So Schafer decided to include it in an important (and traumatic) piece of backstory. And it became one of the words that Boyd can be heard muttering from time to time.
      Link to the article: curiousarcade.medium.com/the-secrets-of-psychonauts-42492d2ed6f9

    • @andreassmed2255
      @andreassmed2255 Před 3 lety +5

      @@curiousarcade I do remember hearing that. I believe I found this out from The Psychonauts Retrospective series of videos DoubleFine did about 5 years ago.

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +4

      @@andreassmed2255 Ah. That may have been where I first came across it, too. Anna Kipnis also discusses it in a short Double Fine doc: czcams.com/video/XhPl3T-n288/video.html

  • @pumphik2600
    @pumphik2600 Před 2 lety +22

    just throwing a guess out there but maybe it's worth mentioning that edgar's level is somewhat inspired by bizet's opera "carmen", where the plot revolves around a love triangle between don jose (edgar), carmen (lampita) and escamillo (dingo, the matador). carmen seduces don jose but shortly leaves him for escamillo, a famous matador - and later don jose takes revenge on her. carmen reads her fate in cards and finds out that she and don jose are both bound by death. which brings us back to the cards you're supposed to collect in the game

  • @HacesAndCo
    @HacesAndCo Před 2 lety +28

    13:07 It's also worth mentioning that this particular lamp is featured in one of the memory vaults in Sasha's brain. Specifically on the panel where his mother passed away, which would explain why it was underground and buried in his subconscious. But in the sequel, we see the exact same lamp in his office, which could imply him coming to terms with his mother's death and acknowledging her passing, due to Sasha letting Raz roam inside his brain.

  • @comedicpsychnerd
    @comedicpsychnerd Před 2 lety +11

    Lmao the Egg thing makes a lot more sense in Psychonauts 2. It’s just a thing with caviar

  • @mscrabson
    @mscrabson Před 2 lety +7

    My favorite fun fact about the Waterloo world is that the music includes Tchaikovskiy’s 1823 ouverture (which was written after Napoleon’s defeat in Russia) and this ouverture itself includes a melody from a Russian Empire anthem. So it’s like a melody in a melody inside a melody

  • @Nicooriia
    @Nicooriia Před 3 lety +12

    I think Raz can only read Lili's mind because either she is telepathically exposing herself to him because of her feelings for him, and she's the one "talking to him", of her feelings for him leave her open enough for Raz to hear her, though it doesn't seem to be intentional at first. I might be reading into it wrong, but I dont remember him being able to read anyone else's mind the same way.

  • @corncrab
    @corncrab Před 2 lety +7

    Something I've always thought, Sasha represents the left part of the brain, which is the analytical part. Mia represents the right part of the brain, which is the creative part.

  • @cannonballking7
    @cannonballking7 Před 3 lety +83

    This video is absolutely fantastic. It covers so much ground in such a small amount of time, i thought i was a buff at the game and i still learnt a couple new things. The editing and format were great, it really deserves more attention. Keep up the good work and have a nice day.

  • @emilymarley4505
    @emilymarley4505 Před 3 lety +61

    This is such a fantastic video! Incredibly well detailed and it helps explain some of the things I didn't quite understand when watching a Let's Play of it. I think one of my favourite details about the game is the way it uses music. Like how Fred's level has elements of the 1812 Overture within it or Milla's being extremely discotheque except for in the secret Nursery which is silent. An extremely fun game analysed by an awesome channel. Thanks!

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +6

      Thanks. Glad it helped :-)
      I agree with you on the music. The game has a brilliantly eclectic soundtrack. Each track is finely tuned to the level at hand, while evoking the works of diverse artists. I like the examples you provided. It got me thinking of the Mozart motifs in Sasha’s level, and the Danny Elfmanesque music backdropping the asylum grounds. (On a side note, the Meat Circus track follows the same bouncy rhythm of the Beetlejuice theme.)

  • @tinglelovesyou4296
    @tinglelovesyou4296 Před 3 lety +8

    In 16 years I never noticed in the Bunny Engravings in the white room at the end of Coach's level.

  • @michaelanderson3958
    @michaelanderson3958 Před 3 lety +7

    Wow - I had no clue how much foreshadowing there was.
    And the screaming faces in the sky? Epic.

  • @DamienStarry0w0
    @DamienStarry0w0 Před 2 lety +8

    Pretty cool seeing theories about what the psychic six abilities where pre-psychonauts 2

  • @lukesterling2276
    @lukesterling2276 Před 3 lety +5

    In Black Velvetopia, if you go into Dingo's apartment, his bed has a large decorative depiction of Edgar's head with a ring through his nose like a bull.

  • @Bruhx10
    @Bruhx10 Před 3 lety +29

    Only beat this last night, was the perfect time to come across this it's amazing

  • @littlevivigaming4822
    @littlevivigaming4822 Před 2 lety +5

    well now we know that Lucrecia Mux has quite a lot to do with Raz's family now that Psychonauts 2 is out. i wont say any more in defense of spoilers since it hasnt been out for more than a week

  • @randomchannel3609
    @randomchannel3609 Před 3 lety +36

    3:43
    In the games file it has the whole log textured and it has the name "Ford cruller"

    • @ZigealFaust
      @ZigealFaust Před 3 lety +3

      Was about to add this in. The texture covering it is a separate file placed over that one.

  • @Christopher-md7tf
    @Christopher-md7tf Před 3 lety +10

    Duuuuude, the amount of effort and attention to detail that went into this game is truly mind-bending (haha). They didn't have to do this, they could've just made a fun, quirky platformer about entering people's brains, but they went above and beyond to anchor it in psychology/psychoanalysis, art, and pop culture and to flesh out each and every character with a sensible backstory. Truly amazing.
    (Alas, most people would rather play the 50th Fifa or Call of Duty than open their minds a little bit with a game like this. Shame...)

  • @palecaptainwolfkayls8499
    @palecaptainwolfkayls8499 Před 2 lety +4

    You know, despite a good chunk of the unsolved mysteries being solved or explained…
    We still don’t know how Razputin can read minds.
    _Honestly, probably the same way the Psychonauts were trying to read Raz’s mind._

  • @appliedatoms7066
    @appliedatoms7066 Před 3 lety +51

    Very nicely done -- there's a lot you don't notice when you're just playing normally. That said, there are a few things you missed.
    First, the bathtub may also have been a reference to Loboto, since he wears a shower cap. Rhombus of Ruin's boss fight makes this more likely.
    Second, censors are often used as foreshadowing. Nein makes it pretty clear that they chase down foreign or otherwise unwanted thoughts, so the fact that they attack Raz in the tumbler is an early indication that he's not exactly in his own mind anymore. And as many have pointed out the fact that they're nearly completely absent in Boyd's mind shows how far gone he is, and the reveal that they're working with the g-men help show you that you've kind of been on the wrong side all along
    The idea of underground meaning subconscious is continued in Black Velvetopia, with those old memories being literally buried.
    Fred and Napoleon share a voice actor, adding to them being two sides of the same coin.
    And while this one is absolutely not intentional, levitation never really lives up to its name since it can't actually let you fly, unless you discover the exploit that lets it do just that.

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +15

      Nice. Thanks for sharing.
      So Fred and Napoleon share the same voice actor... That must have been a fun day in the recording booth.
      I like your point about the presence of the censors, and how they suggest that Raz is “not exactly in his own mind anymore.” It reminded me of another small tip-off (not mentioned in the video) that Raz’s mind isn’t entirely his own. When Raz breaks free from the egg and sees the white rabbit for the first time, he immediately refers to it as “Mr. Bun”. This is one of those small touches one only really notices in hindsight.

    • @lou626
      @lou626 Před 3 lety +4

      I also think that about the bathtub! I think quentin say sonething like " do you ever have a weird nightmare with a bathtub?"

  • @enjoyer____9685
    @enjoyer____9685 Před 3 lety +13

    15:25
    There's cut audio from the game where you can heart Milla's screaming for help

  • @MrMozzie
    @MrMozzie Před 2 lety +4

    I’m so glad the sequel explained a lot of the mysteries here

  • @shybatboi-9345
    @shybatboi-9345 Před 2 lety +4

    With the evidence from Sasha's memory clip of how his mother had not only had a lamp on her desk beside exactly like the one he destroyed in his mind. His mother died of measles if you notice the"freckles" on her face on her deathbed from the memory vault. And how the third and final phase of his mind is in a lamp Factory that made me come up with a theory
    Sasha eventually after running away from his home prior to becoming a psychonaut would come to to work at a lamp factory that his mother might have worked and perhaps it was there that he might have learn either that a worker infected with measles had accidentally contaminated some of the lamps one of them possibly being the one that his mother happened to receive/buy or or maybe his mother due too hard working conditions back in the day

  • @screenwatcher949
    @screenwatcher949 Před 3 lety +7

    I feel like you could do an entire video on Clairvoyance alone

  • @jyacthepianoman
    @jyacthepianoman Před 3 lety +4

    the name "otto mentallis" is obviously a reference to the word "mental" but in the Basic Braining you can hear oleander say "Mentallis movearalis" or something like that, so he might be a really good telekinesis user

    • @ivanaviNiebla
      @ivanaviNiebla Před 3 lety +5

      Actually he says "Mentalis Uber Alles", Mentalis being Mind in latin and Uber Alles being Above/Over Everything in german. I think. I don't know why the mix of latin and german, but at least the german part comes from the inspiration for the character.

    • @jyacthepianoman
      @jyacthepianoman Před 3 lety +3

      @@ivanaviNiebla thanks for explaining

    • @lou626
      @lou626 Před 3 lety

      @@ivanaviNiebla so the translate is " mind over all!" But like , mente sobre todo or se mental ante todo
      Idk

    • @ivanaviNiebla
      @ivanaviNiebla Před 3 lety +2

      @@lou626 Creo que la traducción sería algo así como "La mente por encima de todo", aunque igual se entiende con "la mente sobre todo".

    • @lou626
      @lou626 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ivanaviNiebla aaaa ok muchas gracias!
      Eres de habla hispana y ves psychonauts? Wow eso es raro

  • @chimerathekid6630
    @chimerathekid6630 Před 3 lety +14

    The sequel should be released during this E3! Can't wait!

  • @chee.rah.monurB
    @chee.rah.monurB Před 3 lety +12

    How did this game even flop so hard despite being this genius?!

    • @stianl6035
      @stianl6035 Před 3 lety +3

      While the game is good creatively, it does lack a little technically--controlling Raz can be difficult at times and the platforming in a few levels is incredibly unforgiving. They added a new life system in the PC version, but the original version had a different way of handling it. All of that said, it's still a game people should play, but I can see why it wasn't as popular.

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +9

      To add to those points, I think that general sales for platform games declined in the mid-noughties. During the PS1 and PS2 era, you had games like Rayman and Jak & Daxter used to push console units. When the PS3 came out, games got darker and grittier, as developers tried to cater to more “mature” tastes.
      Also, Psychonauts came out near the end of the console cycle. It was released on Xbox in 2005, the same year the Xbox 360 was announced. A retro-looking game (lacking the technical polish of a triple-A title) was likely a tough sell at the time, as customers are trained to look for the next new and shiny thing.
      (The development team, Double Fine, had little experience making a 3D platform game, which explains the lack of technical polish. They were likely learning the ropes as they went along. Psychonauts also marks Tim Schafer’s first foray into the platform genre. It was a creative risk. And, sadly, most creative risks don’t pay off. The fact that Psychonauts 2 exists at all is seen by some as no less than a miracle.)

    • @AluminumFusion22
      @AluminumFusion22 Před 2 lety +5

      @@curiousarcade Not to mention that a lot of platformers in the early-to-mid 2000's had snarky, adult humor and edgy protagonists while Psychonauts is more light-hearted and has a more uplifting message about the importance of mental health and how we need to empathize with those suffering from mental illnesses.

  • @s.m.2523
    @s.m.2523 Před 3 lety +6

    Very nice video.
    With psychonauts 2 comming soon and the aterial released about it there are a few details we can now fill about @3:33 The people engraved in the wood are the "psychic 6", the founders of the psychonauts. Ford Cruller is part of them. Bob Zanotto is not Lilly's father but her grandfather as Compton Boole is confirmed to be Boole's granfather as well. it. Otto is actualy a much more terrible pun: Otto Matic. Yes it's terrible. And they likely be all playing a role in some sort the incoming plot.
    As may the past of Raz family with the Glachios
    However have to disagree strenuously with you on Gloria's mind. Jasper is certainely /not/ the Id. Quite the contrary he would be more likely to represent, if anything Freudian, the SuperEgo as The SuperEgo is what tend to drive feeling of inadequacy and lack of self esteem. But I don't think the metaphor is supposed to be Id/Ego/superego here. It's much more direct: Jasper represent the 'inner critic', feeling of overbearing guilt and inedaqucy while Gloria represent self worth.

  • @b13cw53
    @b13cw53 Před 3 lety +27

    Well, this is officially one of the greatest videos I've ever seen. I got my degree in the arts, so the amount of other media you acknowledge and art history you reference here had me geeking the whole time. Absolutely fantastic work 👍👍

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +2

      Thanks for the kind words. Part of the intention behind this video was to connect Psychonauts to the wider artistic world, so I'm glad it resonated with you in such a way.
      P.S. In case you haven't seen it, most of the mentioned works of art are pictured in the article: curiousarcade.medium.com/the-secrets-of-psychonauts-42492d2ed6f9

    • @b13cw53
      @b13cw53 Před 3 lety +1

      @@curiousarcade Thanks for linking the article, I can already tell that it's going to be an excellent read!

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +1

      @@b13cw53 You're welcome. Enjoy going down the rabbit hole :-)

    • @screenwatcher949
      @screenwatcher949 Před 3 lety +1

      @@curiousarcade Bookmarking this article for reference!!

  • @someonewhocommentsonyoutub3779

    Here I thought I was an absolute expert who found everything worth finding in this game, and you had to go and prove me wrong

  • @thejman5683
    @thejman5683 Před 2 lety +2

    One thing I never noticed before I played this was that when you first enter Coach’s mind for Basic Braining. Elton says that the place “Looks like a dentist office” which MIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHTTTTT be foreshadowing to Dr Loboto

  • @zoesoundglave3897
    @zoesoundglave3897 Před 2 lety +6

    and Helmut fullbear's last name comes from the fact that he is a huge gay man

  • @iriswicker5622
    @iriswicker5622 Před 3 lety +25

    Say, where did you figure out all these references/Easter eggs?.
    Did you just connect the dots yourself or did the team mention all these inspirations in an art book or documentary?.
    Either way this is one of best psychonauts related videos I’ve come across,keep up the good work!

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +40

      Thank you. I really appreciate it.
      This video is the result of extensive research. Many references can be traced back to a specific source. Some references were obtained by deduction. The rest came from reading around a subject, and eventually hitting on something.
      Various pieces of artwork include cinematic references. For example, Peter Chan’s concept art for Sasha’s Shooting Gallery connects the flaming building to Metropolis. You can view this artwork for yourself on the Psychonauts fandom site. (Originally the art was posted on ‘Psycho-pedia’, an official online companion to the game, which can now only be viewed via the Wayback Machine). Similarly, A Beautiful Mind is mentioned in a piece of concept art for Boyd.
      Other visual references came from the Psychonauts Vault Viewer video, published on the official Double Fine channel, and the accompanying two-hour commentary from art director Scott Campbell and Tim Schafer. There they talk about The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Spy Vs. Spy, and Sunset Boulevard.
      A couple of references came from a speedrun of Psychonauts, also published on the Double Fine channel. This is what connects the Phantom to White Chicks.
      The more obscure references came from magazine scans and old internet articles. There’s some great articles from 1up, now only viewable via the Wayback Machine, in which Schafer lists many of his inspirations. In one article, he talks about how Zak McKracken planted the seed for the original concept of Psychonauts. He also talks about how the idea of arrowheads was inspired by Dreamcast classic Skies of Arcadia. You can read the article here: web.archive.org/web/20060617095215/www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3139140
      Some of the discoveries were rather fortuitous. For example, the composer Peter McConnell discusses the twelve-tone music for Sasha’s level in Double Fine documentary Sidequest 10. From there, I did some research into early electronic music, discovering the German pioneer Herbert Eimert, who also experimented with this twelve-tone style. The similarities between his and McConnell’s music were too noticeable to ignore.
      There’s a style of novel known as roman-à-clef (literally ‘novel with a key’), in which real people appear with invented names, and the names are often symbolic of the real people. It seems that Schafer relies on a similar naming convention: Edgar Teglee is Edgar Leeteg, Gloria Von Gouton is Gloria Swanson, Sheegor is Igor, etc. This led to some detective work. Clearly, names are meaningful in this game. So I approached the wooden stakes with this in mind. The analysis of the names is largely speculative. However, it is likely that the names do hold clues about each character. (I happened to be reading Slaughterhouse-Five at the time. Kurt Vonnegut is one of Schafer’s favourite writers. In the novel, Vonnegut mentions ‘Lucretia Mott’. This is one of those tenuous links that may or may not be significant. Whether it truly is, only time will tell.)
      The Twilight Zone seems a likely source of inspiration for the Psycho-Portal scene, although I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere. The push-down stack is a model of memory that originated in computing. I imagine the game designers are familiar with the concept. The whole of Fred’s level is based on it after all. But, once again, I’ve not seen it mentioned anywhere. Push-down stacks and strange loops are explored in the book Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.
      Hope this helps. There’s more in the Medium article: curiousarcade.medium.com/the-secrets-of-psychonauts-42492d2ed6f9

    • @iriswicker5622
      @iriswicker5622 Před 3 lety +6

      @@curiousarcade thank you so much for the feedback!, i wasn’t expecting such a detailed reply.
      Your video was such a breath of fresh air for me since most other videos I’ve come across mostly just talk about the level desgin or the character (which isn’t bad at all btw, I love those videos, I was just looking for some variety) so it was really nice to have some new insight on my favourite game.
      Have you checked out the Li-Po document by any chance?, it’s supposedly has all the backstories/notes for all the characters in game plus some we’re likely to see in the sequel, lots of people in the fandom debated its legitimacy when it first came out but most of them came to the conclusion that it was probably the real deal after it was quickly taken down. However there’s still a link for a google docs version of it on the psychonauts wiki docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KwOSmdRZIjYlZlSlQ5NGk4eWs/edit?filetype=msword
      Also, if you don’t mind, do you have any fan theories or predictions for the sequel?

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +10

      @@iriswicker5622 You’re welcome. I wanted the video to focus more on the creative, rather than technical, aspects of the game. So references were mostly chosen if they served to illustrate the story in some way. (Many of them didn’t make the final cut.)
      This is my first time seeing the Li-Po document. It’s extremely detailed. I’m impressed. There is an air of authenticity about it. I notice references to the Peking Opera, The Manchurian Candidate, and MK-Ultra. These are the same references Schafer makes in the Vault Viewer video. I’ll have to delve into it properly sometime. Many thanks for bringing it to my attention.
      Honestly, I don’t have many predictions for the sequel. I tried to steer clear from it for fear of information overload. I can only predict the obvious. Sasha and Milla will become romantically entangled. The evil agency responsible for the kidnappings will be a main antagonist in the sequel. The Galochios will make an appearance, and possibly be linked to aforementioned evil agency.

  • @FlippySuper
    @FlippySuper Před 3 lety +13

    Amazing video, really made me appreciate the detail going in Psychonauts more than ever. Could you do one of these for Rhombus of Ruin and P2 (when its released)?

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +4

      Thanks Juan. That’s great to hear. Time-permitting, I’d like to do a similar video for P2. Rhombus is also a possibility, if I can grab hold of the relevant hardware.
      In the meanwhile, I’ll be uploading a new Psychonauts video tomorrow, investigating the darker aspects of the game, and a few wild (and not so wild) theories. Hope you enjoy it.

  • @supersonicbros23
    @supersonicbros23 Před 6 měsíci +1

    There's a hanging log section near the history log, acting as a suspended sign at the entrance to the camp. If you manage to make your way to the top of it via ropes, Raz's idle animation becomes the egyptian dance while standing on it.

  • @rakku4004
    @rakku4004 Před 3 lety +5

    This is quality you won't get nowadays you deserve way more attention

  • @WordPossum
    @WordPossum Před 3 lety +5

    This is one of the most impressive and thorough deep dives I've ever seen on this game.
    You dear sir, deserve so many more subscribers. Here's hoping that youtube may treat you kindly in the future.

  • @evilriceplate2590
    @evilriceplate2590 Před 3 lety +3

    me: *hears frowny song at gloria theater when theres happy theme*
    also me: *confused screaming*

  • @Bliffenstimmers
    @Bliffenstimmers Před 3 lety +6

    This was excellently introspective. Fantastic work!

  • @uhhggg131
    @uhhggg131 Před 3 lety +3

    I was surprised to see this didn’t have over 20 thousand likes. Well done, what an interesting video!

  • @SHDW-nf2ki
    @SHDW-nf2ki Před 3 lety +5

    How do you have less than a 100 subscribers
    Absolutely criminal this video is an absolute MASTER WORK.

  • @lucianite0
    @lucianite0 Před 2 lety +3

    "We don't know how Raz can read minds for no reason"
    Other than... you know.

  • @loop3672
    @loop3672 Před rokem +1

    Thank you for the awesome video!
    - 9:55 these birds looks like brains
    - And one more moment - "Gloria Von Gouton" completely in tune to "Gloria Forgotten" what is literally are "forgotten glory" and that is fully describe the image of her personality.

  • @lucasparadox6823
    @lucasparadox6823 Před 3 lety +4

    Good Video, i wouldnt have even noticed these details with how my brain is wired

  • @joshuamadsen437
    @joshuamadsen437 Před 3 lety +10

    Hope you make a video like this for psyconauts 2 this was great.

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +3

      Glad you liked it. And thanks for the suggestion.
      I'll be releasing a new Psychonauts video tomorrow (fingers crossed), this one bridging the gap between Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2. Hope you enjoy it.

  • @Mace2.0
    @Mace2.0 Před 2 lety +2

    Well, I have beaten Psychonauts 2, and there are a lotta questions answered, even the _curse_ Raz's family had. HOWEVER, the one thing that was never explained is how Raz could read people's minds which was never seen again (unless I missed it somewhere).

  • @chaosinsurgency6636
    @chaosinsurgency6636 Před 2 lety +5

    6:24 but raz was born in that wagon wasn't he so then he goes in the wagon and he burst of an egg that kind of makes a lot of sense actually

  • @jaidenragon9748
    @jaidenragon9748 Před 3 lety +3

    Awesome video. Psychonauts is one of my favorite games and you only helped me appreciate it more. You definitely deserve more subscribers.

  • @crazykillerchimera
    @crazykillerchimera Před 3 lety +4

    What is the purpose of the goggles?

  • @captainfry245
    @captainfry245 Před 3 lety +7

    I'm here because of the milk man meme. how deep does this rabbit hole go

  • @tiffanu
    @tiffanu Před 2 lety +1

    The level of detail and care put into this is just mind boggling. Thank you for this amazing video

  • @zenosan4394
    @zenosan4394 Před 6 měsíci +1

    This video is amazing, the incredible depth of analysis making me want to learn so much more. I finished the game today and seeing everything you highlighted made this video game so much more fascinating. Thank you so much

  • @onlyacomentarynothingspeci2419

    Things like this are the reason I am more excited for Psychonauts 2 than Rift Apart

  • @GodFaThEr09877
    @GodFaThEr09877 Před rokem

    God I love that repeated slap “HOW BOUT NOW?!?!”

  • @screenwatcher949
    @screenwatcher949 Před 3 lety +4

    THIS VIDEO IS AWESOME thank you so much this game is fantastic everything is designed so maticulously

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +2

      Thanks for the kind words. Glad it got you buzzing :-)
      It’s true. Psychonauts is a really well-crafted game, and one I’m sure will stand the test of time. Here's hoping the sequel is just as good.

    • @screenwatcher949
      @screenwatcher949 Před 3 lety +1

      @@curiousarcade Me too! Getting more hyped for the sequel everyday.

  • @orvilleredenpiller338
    @orvilleredenpiller338 Před 3 lety +1

    I thought I knew a lot about this game. I got to the point where yo pointed out Boyd was like The Manchurian Candidate and now I’m almost convinced I haven’t played it before. 😳

  • @thomyads
    @thomyads Před 2 měsíci

    Very well put together despite the lack of narration. So cool

  • @candlerunner
    @candlerunner Před 2 lety +3

    3:33 👀 good prediction

  • @Antidoxy
    @Antidoxy Před rokem +1

    What an incredible analysis! Thank you so much for this! I love this game bc of its depth, intellect and creativity! So glad they made a 2nd one!

  • @NA-cw3mm
    @NA-cw3mm Před 2 lety +2

    Look at the Bauhaus artstyle's official emblem from 1921... and then look at Sasha's facial features. :)

  • @graylon6010
    @graylon6010 Před 3 lety +1

    Amazing video dude! Keep this stuff up, it was so detailed and awesome.

  • @Manman3872
    @Manman3872 Před 3 lety +1

    So much work went into this just wow

  • @VitaminSteevie
    @VitaminSteevie Před 3 lety +1

    Amazing video, A lot of deep seeded passion went into this game. And the video also!

  • @PhantomLAM
    @PhantomLAM Před 3 lety +1

    You've earned a new sub, this video is legit awesome.

  • @nyancat2221
    @nyancat2221 Před 2 lety +2

    Bauhaus, de stij and possibly even constructivism. Not sure if brutalist either as far as sasha’s lab and mind. What would now be modern minimalism but with flare.
    Mila’s, at least in concept, is more akin to her gogo outfit and very groovy mid/late 60’s-70’s look with giant lava lamps.

  • @ToddSocks
    @ToddSocks Před 3 lety +1

    Amazing quality and really informative. Great video.

  • @allesfalls
    @allesfalls Před 2 lety

    I didn't knew it was possible for me to like this game even more. Until I watched this video.

  • @MookalH
    @MookalH Před 3 lety +2

    awesome video. super hyped for psychonauts 2 in 2 months!!!

  • @ahlecksplodes
    @ahlecksplodes Před 3 lety +1

    this video was so well made!

  • @Antidoxy
    @Antidoxy Před rokem +1

    Fantastic video! I'd like to add that Sasha Nein is Austrian for me, bc in the German dub he has an Austrian dialect and you can hear the "kleine Nachtmusik" at 13:46 by Mozart. (Even though it's debatable if Mozart was Austrian or German. He himself said he was German and loved his "Fatherland", but he was born in Salzburg which is now in Austria. Back in the day it was it's own prince bishopric.) I don't know if it was ever stated in the game if Sasha in fact was German or Austrian.

  • @DwAboutItManFr
    @DwAboutItManFr Před 3 lety +1

    It was all there from the start, who would've thought.

  • @NamxZero
    @NamxZero Před 3 lety +1

    Godlike video keep up the great work!

  • @chmielo77
    @chmielo77 Před 3 lety +1

    Great work man, thank you!

  • @92Slartibartfast
    @92Slartibartfast Před 3 lety +6

    Thank you, such a deep analysis!

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety

      You’re welcome. I hope you enjoyed it.
      P.S. An even deeper analysis is made in the Medium article: curiousarcade.medium.com/the-secrets-of-psychonauts-42492d2ed6f9

  • @gabrielsch8292
    @gabrielsch8292 Před 3 lety +2

    Weird u didnt talk about rombus of ruin

    • @lou626
      @lou626 Před 3 lety

      He might do a video of ror in the future!

  • @ZigealFaust
    @ZigealFaust Před 3 lety +1

    This is why I refer to Dan Harmon as "The Tim Schafer of television" and not the other way around.

  • @novaenforcer1563
    @novaenforcer1563 Před 2 lety +1

    After the sequels i found out that they mentioned lugricia or lucy even though theres only 6 founding members and that car must be milla’s

  • @GarageHaruo
    @GarageHaruo Před 3 lety +1

    The sequel is coming soon and it looks like alot of those things never mentioned are going to be mentioned

  • @mightyfinn732
    @mightyfinn732 Před 3 lety +2

    Yeah so they aren't dead as some members of the Aquato family are also related to the Galochio

  • @ChicagoRetroGamer
    @ChicagoRetroGamer Před 2 lety +1

    Whoa, I need to play this!

  • @whichhatte-persomi
    @whichhatte-persomi Před 2 lety

    Fun Fact: The G-Men at the Book Depository make a vague reference to real life assassination attempts the quote being;
    "I am found on Rooftops, Clock towers, and Book Depositories."
    My mom actually was the one that pointed this out to me. You can pretty much connect the dots on which ones.

  • @paStLife463
    @paStLife463 Před rokem

    Excellent! Thank you very much!There are more references and interpretations ofcourse but that alone proves the calibre of this game: a Masterpiece. If the platforming was better then apart from a conceptual Masterpiece it would have been a Classic and not just a Cult Classic...

  • @cdukette465
    @cdukette465 Před 2 lety +1

    3:32 i officially hate myself for actually missing the carvings on those stumps. i never noticed them and i hate that i did XD

  • @abdulaziz-jd5ys
    @abdulaziz-jd5ys Před 3 lety +1

    This video is just as amazing as the game!

  • @widget3672
    @widget3672 Před 2 lety

    Aaand now I get to see the same thing again for the sequel!

  • @Olimar92
    @Olimar92 Před 3 lety +4

    This should be posted to a Psychonuats reddit or something, maybe r/gaming.

    • @rakku4004
      @rakku4004 Před 3 lety

      Unfortunately the official reddit is kinda dead

  • @ernst_junger
    @ernst_junger Před rokem +1

    okay but does anyone appreciate that the game implies that having no brain makes you want to watch TV all the time?

  • @dolphinboi-playmonsterranc9668

    The mega censor is an amalgam of many censors that got mushed together before bursting out. Sasha controls the censors usually, but Raz screwed it up.

  • @aidansexton47
    @aidansexton47 Před rokem

    My guess why thorny towers is so warped is because it sits right on top of a huge psitanium deposit. In Psychonauts 2 (spoiler warning) in the Questionable Area there is a water fall that flows up instead of down and right behind the reverse water fall is a cave full of Psitanium crystals and other crystals as well. So I belive the broken down architecture of Thorny Towers is caused by the Psitanium.

  • @Phil-ht4dz
    @Phil-ht4dz Před 2 lety

    Great video, now do one on Psychonauts 2.

  • @rolando90s
    @rolando90s Před 2 lety

    Please do a Easter egg & reference to psychonauts 2, those wood cravings are a hint of the sequel

  • @lou626
    @lou626 Před 3 lety +1

    Thank to u i see "delicatessen" traumatized for life

  • @FredrickPancake
    @FredrickPancake Před 3 lety +2

    Could someone elaborate on how a state machine was used in relation to Boyd's dialogue?

    • @curiousarcade
      @curiousarcade  Před 3 lety +1

      Anna Kipnis was in charge of programming the state machine. She touches on it here (at 11:40): czcams.com/video/XhPl3T-n288/video.html

  • @enjoyer____9685
    @enjoyer____9685 Před 2 lety

    Are you going to make a video of psychonauts 2 ?

  • @nocomprendo1409
    @nocomprendo1409 Před 2 lety +1

    Oleander sounds like Soldier from Tf2

    • @plebulus
      @plebulus Před 2 lety +1

      Their backstories are very similar now that I think about it