I really love how it was Helmut's mental images of his friends that pointed out that the story he put together didn't make sense against their characters. Also that they stayed within the limits of what Helmut knew; a sloppier writer could have easily forgotten the limits of what Helmut knew versus what the player knows.
I liked that part as well. It was like his subconscious was fighting against the negative fabricated memory, because deep down inside he still had faith in his friends.
this and helmut comforting himself through his vision of ford at the end of the level makes me so emotional. like, genuinely brings tears to my eyes, because we've all used our friends voices as sources of comfort and reason and grounding, and seeing that physically represented as vision/ford (oh shit just realized my wordplay earlier.) cradles helmut as he lies on the ground and tells him he hasn't been forgotten about, that he's safe in good hands, that they'll come back for the rest of him is so much. it's simultaneously telling us those are his fears while he soothes himself against them using the images of the people he loves and trusts.
I love how Psychonauts 2 throws the "Bury Your Gays" trope completely on its head. Helmut's perceived death at the hands of Maligula was the catalyst that eventually lead to the disbanding and isolation of the Psychic Six. Helmut was beloved by the whole team and they all felt the loss after he was gone, none more so than Bob. I'm so glad we get to hear Bob's wedding vows later on in the game. They were as beautiful as late spring lilacs. 💐
I love how Bob, true to his identity as a passionate gardener, wove that into his vows. Also, apparently the original plan was to have Bob be the one gay member of the group with an unrequited crush on Ford. But one of the developers, who is himself gay, persuaded them to change it - and very much for the better!
I nearly cried during the wedding portion of Bob’s level. It is by far one of the best representations of gay relationships in a game I have seen, and it is maybe one of the best I have seen in media in general. It didn’t fully click for me that they were a couple until then (although there were a lot of big hints that i could’ve picked up on before) so when it all clicked into place, I found it incredibly touching.
Regarding Bob being represented as Audi-O, we have to consider that Helmut is first and foremost a _musician._ It makes a lot of sense that he would connect what would be his dearest sense to the dearest man in his life.
Also, of all the Psychonauts, Bob was the one who liked his singing most, and after struggling with his performances not gathering crowds, he found someone who legitimately cared about him and his art on a very deep level, he was "all ears" for him, and it shows in his very own mental world, with how even with all that negativity and self depreciation surrounding him, as soon as Bob heard the Helmut plant say something like "I never loved you", he snapped and realized something was very off, he knew Helmut far too well to know that what the plant said was just a complete lie, he realized his own mind went too far
@@dustymcwari4468 Bob's Bottles is going to be an amazing world to see explored. I don't think I've ever seen another work of fiction have such an empathetic view on alcohol disorder; not treating it as the problem, but as a symptom of a deeper problem.
Not to mention, with how much Bob loves Helmut, he was probably a great listener to Helmut, along with being a great listener in general. So he couls also represent Audi-O because he was probably one of Helmut's biggest confidants.
Also I know it might be obvious but the fact when the band plays Audie-O is on an elevated pedestal that the others don't seem to have. Backed up by how excited Helmut is to hear Audie perform, shows that he is Bob's number 1 fan
Something rather sad but sweet is the fact that he doesnt assume Bob abandoned him like his friends. Despite his fear and belief that he never mattered to his friends, he truly did believe in Bob and the love they had, and he never doubted it for a second. The only reason Bob wouldnt come for him would be if he died.
I know this is getting ahead of the series, but I love the fact that the same thing occurs with Bob's Bottles. It's Bob's corrupted and warped image of Helmut claiming he never loved him that makes Bob snap out of it. Helmut would _never_ say that, and the moment his mind even brings up the _concept_ he fully realizes something is deeply _wrong_ and starts actively fighting back.
One detail I really like is how , if you look at it a certain way, Helmut himself represents a sense. Appropriately, his *sixth* sense, his psychic abilities.
Its interesting that Helmut's true memory vaults are locked up to where he cant reach them on his own. Instead he needs outside help from Raz to make him see the truth
What I love is the fact that Helmut seeing Raz as Eddie Riggs is more than just a clever Easter egg. Raz is essentially being the roadie for The Senses. Driving the van, finding the instruments, and making the band look good.
As a huge fan of Jack Black since the 90s, he is a welcome addition, not only to this franchise, but to Star Wars and everything else he can touch. I also love Rasputin learning to ask permission, or at the very least feel some sort of guilt, when entering peoples minds without permission. To be fair in the first game, these were extreme circumstances that could end with the world being destroyed.
Absolutely! Personally, accessing someone's mind directly is one of the most intimate things I can thing of. After what happened with Hollis he takes extra care. Back in the first game the patients really couldn't give consent while the teachers invited him in. There are even laws in this setting that it is illegal to use the psi-portal on children. They really are trying to make a point here with this small bit of narrative consistency
Helmut as ball of light and thinking himself a god reminds me of Flatland, where 2-d Square travels to 1-d ""Lineland" and then to "Pointland", where Point, the sole inhabitant, thinks itself a god, as it can't see anyone ()as it exist in 0-Dimensions and so has no means of seeing anything) and when Square talks to it, the Point thinks the voice as part of its own mind, not having frame of reference to any existence outside of itself.
There is actually one connection that smell can be made with Cassie , bees smoke, honey and pheromones , also that fact she seems to be the motherly figure of the group she probably also stuck her nose into everyone else’s problems As for how the other things are connected honey is sweet smelling , bees have alot to do with flowers scent and pheromones to communicate the way you can calm bees is smoke which is another strong smell
In addition to this Id add the very distinctive smell of new and old books With all of her use of nature and things that have very striking smells (smells being very good at forming memories if I'm not mistaken) thus making some association with some of the simple joys of sensation and further tying it to her warm nature
As someone who deals with an Anxiety disorder, ADHD, and Autism, it's honestly really cool to see an example of sensory overload in media, as, yeah, anxiety builds up from too much sensory, and doesn't come out of nowhere, it builds up, and then releases. I've struggled with sensory, mainly either self, or mainly noise, so seeing an accurate depiction of sensory overload is honestly amazing, as it's a stressful experience that results in something incredibly hurtful. Thank you for going as in depth as you can. Also let me add this to another example of Panic Attacks in Media, Animation Twitter's gonna love that.
40:53 I think it is that Helmut sees Compton as someone who vocally panics a lot of the time, thus seeing him as a big mouth. As for Cassie, maybe it is that Helmut sees her as someone who kept "sticking her nose" into his relationship with Bob. As you go through some of the psychic 6 minds, you realise they don't see their friends as the most perfect image possible.
Both Booles that we see in 2 are greatly involved with food. Sam has run off to make questionable pancakes, while Compton's inner turmoil is portrayed through a cooking show. That could be a factor.
To add onto the Cassie thing, Helmut says in the level with Sniffles that to breathe you have to smell which I think can link back to Cassie's ability to compartmentalize. Cassie comes off as someone who can take the good with the bad because she can compartmentalize them to better process it. She is realiable in a bad situation and can do what needs to be done, no matter the situation (smelling so you can breath) On top of that, there is her connection with Compton being the mouth. Most of our taste is from smell. You cant seperate them. For taste to be as good as it is, you NEED smell, like Compton needs Cassie.
Also, just because I'm replaying the game, cooking is seen to be one of Compton's hobbies. In his memory vault "Compton Alone" when it shows him at his desk there is a big shelf next to him that is almost entirely empty save for three books, a bowling ball, a selection of cooking items, and then an unknown object that might be a ball or something. We know he loves bowling by both him holding onto his bowling membership, having a bowling poster, and a bowling ball, but the cooking supplies can only really be explained by it also being a hobby of his. In the same memory when he has his breakdown, thete is imagery of his friends, various animals, a bowling ball, and more cooking supplies. He's also found at the Concession Stand in Helmut's level, so it seems to me that Helmut attributes him to food. And given that the designers specifically added in cooking supplies to his shelf, that may be their way of communicating that as a hobby of his beyond exposition
I could also see possibly he saw Cassie as smell because she was beekeeping then before the battle, meaning while she could communicate with the bees psychically. She might of also been using smokers (as we are able to find some in the old camp) to keep them calm, meaning she would likely have the smell of the smoke on her often for Helmut to make the association of smell to her besides just always being with Compton who had some clear taste pieces we the players could see in game.
41:50 One of my favorite quotes of the entire game happens here. Raz (when grabbing one of the "candies"): "I only _think_ these are giant gumballs. They could be anything," implying that the "candy" could actually be some kind of halucinogenic compound. Drugs.
He also says something like “I probably shouldn’t hold on to this for too long” as a reference to how LSD was discovered; the scientist who synthesized it got it on his hands and it absorbed into his body. And yes, he did get high.
Another thing I've seen mentioned on other videos about Cosmic I is that there's a moment at the start where Helmut sings "And I started healing" at which point the memory vault that Maligula would later emerge from starts moving more, as if activated by this line. People speculated that this is because in order to heal from emotional damage you often first have to confront the bad memories that caused this damage.
You absolutely have to confront it. Jung spoke all the time about the dangers of suppressing things. Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Even if that problem is only in your mind.
I think another possible interpretation of Bob being Hearing is that Hearing, for Helmut, was the most important feeling, with his affinity for music. And, consequentially, he associates that feeling with most important person in his life - his love.
Speaking of having a positive relationship with anxiety: Other people have probably already suggested this, but it would be cool to see an analysis of the psychology of Celeste.
Celeste was an interesting play through. Still working on some track C runs of it. I'd need to replay the story and collect my thoughts on it. That was an amazing story of dealing with your anxiety. It's beautiful!
But that's not what a censor does. "This is a Censor, an integral part of any sane person's mind. The Censors roam through your psyche, looking for thoughts that don't belong. Hallucinations, manias, waking dreams. The Censors hunt them down, and censor them out."
I'm on the Autism spectrum, and what is described in this video as SPD, at least how it's depicted for the PSI King, is remarkably similar to some experiences I've had that involve my senses. Sensory overload, and over stimulation. Sensory overload, at least in my experience, is basically my brain taking in far too much information from my senses to properly process. For example, if I'm somewhere crowded with lots of people talking at the same time, I can't filter out conversations. My brain tries to take in all of them clearly, unlike how many people seem to be able to ignore irrelevant conversations as background noise (I'm not sure if that's actually what they are doing, and nobody seems to know how to explain this thing that's innate for them). Sensory overloads are stressful and can result in rather painful headaches. Overstimulation, meanwhile, is more a case of senses taking in information in a more intense way than I'm used to. This can be the result of something like strong flavours, overly loud noises, bright lights, or aggregating mechanical noises. However, I can also experience it as a result of being tired or stressed. Because I had those experiences, that's how I interpreted that aspect of the level when I played through it. Synesthesia was a consideration, but not as much as sensory overload. It's definitely interesting how our experiences and knowledge can affect how we interpret pieces of media.
When other people are able to “ignore” certain stimulation, what’s happening is that their brain is able to habituate itself to certain sounds, perceive them as unimportant or as “part of the background,” and filter them out so they’re not actively perceived. With conditions like autism or ADHD, the brain struggles to properly process sensory input, which leads to a lack of efficient filtering as found in neurotypical brains. It’s an example of how autistic brains are wired differently than neurotypical ones. Where NT folks are generally better able to filter sensory input, autistic folks are often either too sensitive or too insensitive to sensory input.
@@CreoTan Thank you. It does. Just another way I have fewer filters than most people. Being a bit more sensitive to certain stimuli does help occasionally. For example, I've noticed slight movement in an animal we thought was dead and were getting ready to bury, and it turned out to be just paralyzed (from a spider bite) and managed to survive. A neurotypical person may have not perceived that.
As a person with ADHD, I've found my SPD to have more trouble with complexity than intensity. Multiple quiet noises from multiple sources bothers me more than a few very loud ones.
I am a bisexual man that people can easily construe for being straight, so I've never really had to deal with a lot of the problems others have had to deal with, but I do have to say I love how this relationship was handled.
Same here personally. I'll be able to tall about their relationship more in Bob's Bottles. Some writer's don't handle the subject with grace. But Double Fine did a great job.
Idm if it’s straight or gay. Relationships are a beautiful thing that many people wish to experience. And I love seeing the types of relationships in games or real life. Makes me wish I had a chance to experience such a thing. Unfortunately I’m awful at communicating with people..
I find it VERY fitting that the two instruments belonging to the representations of smell and taste is an electric guitar and bass guitar, as both instruments usually work in unison/in sync, very cool detail to spot!
I like how for characters with artistic mindsets the mental worlds fully reflect that Black Velvetopia was all about paintings mixed with wresting and bull fighting while here it is music along with the senses.
@@GamingUniversityUoG If there is a Psychonauts 3 I hope there will be a mental world that reflects gaming love to see how the creators would make that work
@@PRGME7 Maybe like is set in like an Arcade with Raz going into the different machines that are recreation of classic game titles or Psychonauts variations of them
@@blackdemonknight that’s a bit on the nose for psychonauts but it can be workshopped. Potentially each game could represent something of some sort that needs to be integrated, Or it could be tied to flow states (basically when your mind is running on muscle memory only), maybe each game could represent a dream/nightmare the character keeps having and Raz has to complete the games thus allowing the person to process the dream?
Thank you! We very much appreciate it. Part of the reason for the delay is knowing how big this one was going to be. This world is dense with info. Glad it turned out to your liking!
PSI King's Sensorium was my favorite world of the whole game. I am surprised you didn't bring up the heavy Psychedelic tropes and probable drug use of Helmut.
The way his friends reassured him so easily after not seeing, hearing, or being with them for 20 years, really says a lot for how strong the bonds between them were. Not a single one of them is hostile or negative towards Helmut and they’re all so overjoyed to see him again just like in real life when they finally meet up again at the Green Needle Gulch. I really love how Helmut’s speculating about them still being there and waiting for him is right on the money.
It is sad when we invent some fiction in our head and end up avoiding situations or people we care for as a result. So many people lose years of their lives out of fear for how something will go.
@@GamingUniversityUoG you mean like something along the lines of what Bob goes through? All that plus alcoholism and turning himself into a hermit in his own greenhouse…though I suppose in his case it wasn’t fear of how things would go but despair of how things already went…
Hey GU. I think the reason the ear represented his lover was mainly because out of all his senses as his hearing was his most favoured, being so into music and expressing himself through singing. It could be that on top also of your theory of him being someone he could talk to, that he felt bob sincerely heard what he was trying to express in his music, which is normally a bit more upbeat. It would make sense that someone who - especially someone who's prone to a bit more of a pessimistic streak - like bob who heard his singing and then falling in love got the core message and point he was trying to express a lot - and thus him at his core too - thus allowing for love to bloom. You can apply this logic to ford too - which you said, more or less - with Ford seeing his true potential from the get go. But if that is the case I have no idea how the others apply to their senses. Maybe...bee lady - forget her name - was...good ...at...sniffing him...out?...like figuring what his plan and intentions and moods were or something. Her story and level came off as her being a bit of a cunny, observant type. But I'm stretching it a lot at that point. No idea at all about taste outside of food associations and his cooking like you said.
There are so many ways to look at these. Those observations can certainly be the case. It gets hard sometimes to predict what the writers were thinking versus what we see. Death of the Author and all that.
The part where Helmut’s body gets trapped in the river and his brain gets put in a jar and both became lost is a reference to an Arabian Nights story. In the story, a genie/Djinn is released from a jar that was sunk to the bottom of a river and subsequently rewards his rescuer by trying to kill him. This is because he, like Helmut, fell into a deep despair about being neglected and trapped for so long.
Very interesting. One of these days I need to read them. I tend to favor literature from that region. So many cool ideas we don't see in western writing
I did find a very interesting design choice that the mental vaults in this level are locked behind an item that you don’t get until you get to green needle Gulch. (play so you can only reach after completing this level) It was a great way of hiding the reveal of fullbear’s identity.
Unfortunately I didn't get this on my blind playthrough. I sequence broke it right off the bat. But i also kind of knew who it was going in. Or I guessed i should say
With the obvious allusions to eastern religion, I'm a little sad they didn't dig a bit more into the conflicting views of the world that raises. Helmut had unintentionally fallen into something very close to say the ideal state of Advaita, while Raz is trying to pull him into something much closer to the goal of Tantric practices.
@@GamingUniversityUoG could always come back in an extra's video later on when all the minds are done :) but I can definetly see how much information has to be picked to not overwhelm the video
To add to your interpretation of the twisted memories being either twisted by the time spent away from the body or confirmation bias. That's very similar to depressive spirals in my experience. You just sit in your thoughts and they fester, small imperfections you find within yourself grow into huge flaws and your problems become seemingly insurmountable. With helmet being locked away with nothing but thoughts it's no wonder the bad stuff bubbled up and stuck
Solitude, sadly, has a way of drawing out negative thoughts. As you said, everything becomes a spiraling feedback loop. Good people can break that loop and see the good in us when it's hard to see it ourselves.
Something that I have always found interesting is the cartoon representation in this level. The art style and certain elements remind me of Saturday morning cartoons in the 70's like Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, Josie and the Pussycats, ect. They have that psychedelic nature that fits perfectly with Helmut's colorful and child like nature.
21:08 another good example of this is Oltyx in the twice dead king (book 1) where he spends most of the book thinking that his brother hated him and was vindictive, but in reality when he’s forced to relive the memories he realizes that his brother loved him dearly and actually saved his life.
I had a theory that Helmut associates Bob with the sense of hearing because, as a musician, it's his most important sense ! So it could only go to his most important guy ! I don't know if it's really based on anything scientific but I think it's cute !
I just realized why the dark thoughts are only at the lake, maligula controls water, and remembering the water at lakes might be causing him to have a slight remembrance of her, but since his memories weren’t fully awakened at the time, they were probably just “gut” feelings
“It was only 20 years” is a crazy line to hear because that’s my entire life. It’s crazy to think that because for people like me, twenty years is all the time we’ve ever known. Yet as some point, I’ll look back and think “it was only 20 years.” That prospect excites me because, depending on my perspective, twenty years can either be a really long time or nothing at all. When I’m forty, double my life from now, will that last twenty have been full of learning and exploration and happiness, or dust in the wind? I’m excited to see where I’ll be by then, but I’m also going to try and savor every moment I have to make sure this next twenty is used well
That's a good outlook to have. You touch upon one theory the community has about why time seems to feel faster as we age. At age 5 it feels like forever because it is for us then. By age 30 five years is only 1/6 of our life so it doesnt seem as long.
Honestly in terms of visuals I think this level is going to be the Milkman Conspiracy of this game, or at least Black Velvetopia in terms of memorability. Oh and as for the Fish/bus thing, I think the designers were making a joke about how a group of fish is called a school, and what mode of transport do most kids take to get to school? A bus. BTW, still love that Brutal Legend reference.
One of my favourite levels, starring my favourite character! I have SO been looking forward to this! As an autistic person I've experienced sensory overload many, many times. I love markets and other such crowded events, but all of them are prone to make me start disassociating because there's so much going on and my brain just can't handle it. I would *love* to see Psychonauts 3 explore the mind of an autistic person, and especially a nonverbal one.
Probably those Dark Thoughts in the Campgrounds represent those small annoyances that someone used to life in a city have when camping, regardless of whether or not that person likes camping. "Why can't I take this path?" "Why do I have to go to bathroom in the woods?" etc. Though for Helmut, the fact that all the dark thoughts are over the river in the Campgrounds (The Questionable Area in Psychonauts Real Life Perhaps?) it may be more, like Raz, Helmut has a problem with the water (though to a FAR lesser degree). Also, Cassie might be associated with Smell, possibly because of something as simple as perfume (or the scent of honey), a consistent scent that'd come from her as they interacted.
Also reminds me of something I learned from an episode of freeman's mind, one I'll always remember: they say time flys when your having fun, but in reality: time flies period. and we all end up older! It's all relative after everything in this mind.
I think the dark thoughts might relate to what is bellow it, water. All bodies of water or water adjacens are starry voids like the ones found in his quiet space. this is representative of how falling and being frozen in water by Maligula made him loose all sense of self and revert to the state we found him in
Somewhat related, but completely. Just a fun story, Psychonauts 2 taught me how to deal with panic attacks outside the game and in real life as I do get them thanks to claustrophobia. Basically, tight crowds and spaces are my trigger, but I try to isolate myself in my mind, basically trying to focus on my breath or even thinking of other things to distract me from the thing bothering me, if I'm unable to break free of the tight space and take a few seconds to calm myself down and slow my thoughts in an attempt to get a hold of myself once more. Anyway, mini story, I just think ite awesome that this game series is teaching me so much about myself and other mental things that are incredibly interesting. Thanks for making these videos, I love the breakdowns for the levels you make.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Wait, so it didn't have anything to do with the word Sahasrala... I mean Sahasrara appearing on screen at around the time it starts?
i recently beat this level yesterday, and it became a big fav of mine; i just think a band theming around the senses is a cute concept, combined with the trippy experiences and helmut's backstory. thnx for this video amd your analyses of psychonauts !
If I started talking about Call of Duty and Minecraft I bet my subs would shoot up lol. Jokes aside, I'll keep true to what I like to make and the rest will come. I appreciate the sentiment though.
As an autistic adult who deals with a whole mix of sensory issues (why can I /taste/ bad smells, it's /awful/), this level was fascinating for me! Helmut literally telling all of his mental reality to shut up reminded me of what I do to fend off meltdowns from sensory overload: wear noise canceling headphones, use blackout curtains, put on a weighted blanket, etc. For a long time things like breathing exercises never worked for me, because I was only told to do them /in the middle/ of a meltdown, when I'd already lost control - people tend to conflate meltdowns with tantrums or panic attacks, but during a meltdown you really have no control of your own body until it's over. You just kind of...get pushed into the backseat. So being able to beat the snot out of a Panic Attack enemy was kind of cathartic! Especially since the design is clearly based on the Nightmares from the first game, they terrified me as a kid.
This level, Crowleys levels, and Cassies level are undoubtingly my favorites in the game for how much detail they have, the symbolism, and story progression. This level in parricular just had me in aww throughout the whole thing and actually made me tear up. It can also be seen as a level about how it would feel coming out of a coma or being revived from death with how Helmut's mind/soul is in total darkness, but eventually regain a sense of self once he gets a physical body. It is just a beautiful level.
It appears the good doctor really had his work cut out for him once again, honestly if this doesn't count as a reward I'm not sure what they were even thinking?
This level is really cool. There’s a lot of layers to this level and it’s design. Like the psychedelic visuals hint at several kinds of things. It hints at prior experimentation with substances (i mean they are Psychonauts, why wouldn’t they try out some acid and shrooms during that time they were radically exploring their consciousnesses). There is also the tie of psychedelic visuals to the psychedelic rock music scene present at the time that they were likely young adults (the 60s). I feel like these elements also combine to bring a feeling of nostalgia to their younger years that can be directly felt by people playing the game who were alive around that time and it also conveys an understanding of that nostalgia to younger people who weren’t around then (like me, i am not personally nostalgic for that time but the empathic understanding of that nostalgia is palpable). There is also the element of depicting just how insane it would be to regain your senses after existing in a sensory void for 20 years. Like it seems feasible that your senses would mix and be completely over the top and overwhelming as you reintegrate them with your mind. And I am only referring to the visual and sound effects of this. There are many other elements that depict various other aspects of Helmut’s mind and relationships. BTW, if you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend watching Psychodyssey. It is a long youtube docuseries about the development of this game from pre-production to release. They actually spend a lot of time following the development of this level in particular and the journey of the junior designers who were put in charge of it. There were so many changes to this level over time to the point where originally there was absolutely no resemblance to the final level. It was fun seeing them eventually put together the ideas that ended up in final version over months and months of iterations and reworkings.
Definitely looking forward to your analysis of Bob Zanotto. The concepts of using addiction as a coping mechanism and the consequences of such are an interesting concept. And very frightening.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Yes. Anything can be an addicting substance. If it creates a positive emotion, it's capable of being addicting. Alcoholism is just the easiest one to use as an example.
You know synesthesia seems like one of those things that, if you were to describe what it is to someone who had never heard of it for the first time, it would sound fictional
Regarding the dark thoughts near the river, maybe it's a nod to the fight against Maligula in Grulovia when Helmut fell into a lake and got frozen for 20 years? Considering her strong hydrokineticism and how she fights with it, I think Helmut may be subconsciously associating bodies of water with Maligula.
@@GamingUniversityUoG it also can be that Bob since was always apt to substance abuse, and if Helmut wasn’t aware of that in the beginning of the relationship they might of tried some stuff together which didn’t go well so Helmut regrets that incident. Kinda ties into Bib making alcohol specifically from mushrooms, and Helmut saying that he hates them when they meet (even tho it’s pretty clear Helmut tried them at least once in his life)
I always that that Bob was an ear because Helmut was a musician. Hearing would've been his most beloved sense, so naturally he would associate it with the one person he loved most.
_"Feeling bad is better than feeling nothing at all"_ reminds me of a bit from the song "Light" from the musical "Next To Normal", _"Give me pain if that's what's real, it's the price we pay to feel."_
I would like to thank you for making these videos. Thanks to these analysis I now realize that I have seperate myself so much from pain as much as I can that I can't remember the last time I actually felt truly happy. It's now something that I will try to fix but taking that first step will be hard and I shall continue watching these along the way to remember. Thank you for the video and it is always a treat to learn more about the mind
As they say, the Journey of Hundred miles begins with a single step. Getting going is hard but don't get discouraged. Good luck and take care of yourself okay.
A wonderful deep dive into my personal favorite world of Psychonauts 2. I love the imagery and colors on display here, and Raz really shows how much he's grown here by helping Helmut through his re-integration with his senses. On a gameplay note however this level could be...frustrating at times. It's sheer size combined with it's vivid colors made it very difficult to 100%, and it's progression did drag at points. I had to look up a checklist for some of the figments, which was it's own drag. But it's still a great level, with very impactful character moments from all in attendance. I want to ask: Of the last 2 "official" members of the psychic 6, which level are you looking forward to the most? Also, which level in this game is your personal favorite?
A very minor thing, but I just assumed that the wedding figments were what Helmut would have seen walking down the aisle? His friends and then Bob waiting for him?
I think the Dark Thoughts inside the camping area can mean a few things. One of which, after speaking to a parent about; lots of quite...naughty things happen during these types of music gatherings and Helmut might have been aware of what was going on, thus the Dark Thought here could be akin to that. Another would be, as mentioned earlier about the psychedelics, drug use was quite common back then, hippie culture and all that; perhaps a thought of him either getting or seeing someone get arrested during one of those music performances left this trial behind. Or, perhaps someone due to drug overdose died at one of the performances and he bore witness to it; seeing how the dark thoughts are used to go across the river but ultimately doesn't lead to anywhere hidden as far as I remember. I haven't played the game in a while so memory isn't quite there.
Another little note I love: Bob's instrument in the mindscape is a drumset, an instrument usually all other rely on to keep in tempo and sync. Makes a whole lot of sense, as Bob was likely a strong grounding element in Helmuth's life. Perhaps also for the original psyconaught team as well.
I absolutely love the context you put forth! Not what I expected, but something better I needed to hear. While I don't have synesthesia, aren't we all experiencing it in some form or another due to all our senses? Also love how time bubble is a base grounding technique: I dig it. I also don't necessarily hide in a false reality as I try to make my own reality from around me, imagination & lose association. Plus after playing helmuts minds so many times, it's probably a part of my mentalscape in association to both sense & enjoying life as well as dealing with my autism and being neural divergent and not always reacting to things the same way. Thank man and rock on ✌️👁👂👃👅🌠⚪️🔴🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣🧠
Rock on dude! I have been getting a lot of comments on how similar this is for those who have autism. I honestly am going to be doing more research into this to give myself a better understanding of it.
17:52 "The mental vaults are out of reach, and cannot be attained until receiving the Projection Ability from Cassie's mental world." Oh hey, I got that with maxed out Pyrokinesis. "At the game's launch, it could be sequence breaked with Pyrokinesis, but that has since been patched." Okay, that's actually pretty funny. Now there won't be as many people seeing Ford shatter his mind before it's revealed in the story proper, lol.
Yeah I I know it early too loo. The footage of the pyrokinesis strat used here was from my first playthrough live stream. I accidentally got it right out the gate.
Incredible video as always. This was one of my favourite levels in the game, and your analysis gave me a new found appreciation and better understanding of what was going on.
I had to watch in two parts and it will never stop irking me! 😖 But so happy to see this series back online, and it’s opened my eyes to the depth of this part of the story so much!
This entire level just feels like a good portion of issues and experiences I have had in life condensed down, both involving senses and mental state.. honestly feels kinda testing to me. Got slight overload from light sensitivity to the bright colors in the video. Another great vid!!
Absolutely fascinating! There's so many details and connections that I never would've been able to deduce on my own, and you present these lessons in such a succinct and professional way. My mind is expanded with every upload! Thanks for all your hard work!
11:00 I had no idea that discomfort I felt as a kid when wearing certain types of cotton or low thread count polyesters was a form of sensory disorder given all the other problems I had. Cotton felt like I was wearing a rough kitchen sponge, horrible scratchiness even when my parent claimed it was soft. Being forced to wear cotton socks in particularly harsh winters made it impossible to focus on anything. Low count polyesters felt like they were ripping non-existent hairs off my skin or jabbing me with a needle at random, less annoying, but still annoying. I grew out of it in adulthood, and even love wearing low thread count polyester clothes now (they're so light and airy I sometimes forget I'm dressed), but the odd sensations drove me mad back then.
I'm really jazzed by your careful breakdown on this! I absolutely missed some of those details regarding the figments. I'm also pretty happy to have my brain sitting in otto's lab. This game was worth it!
What amazing videos. The psychonauts 1 and 2 help me in the perfect moment. And watching your videos now it still help. beautiful work of analysis. Thanks you
I think Cassie was the nose because of how intertwined taste and scent are (and how the characters they're based on were a couple at the time of his death).
@GamingUniversityUoG there was never anything explicitly stating they were a couple, they really were just incredibly close friends as far as the game states
Maybe Psi King just loved the sights, sounds and smells of camping with the gang, but hated getting wet and cold? The dark thoughts are over a rapidly flowing mental river, after all.
@@GamingUniversityUoG ...Yeah. That would make a lot of sense actually. Being mostly over it, but some dark... well, connections linger when thinking about big bodies of water.
Awesome! I really like how you addressed the details Helmut didn't have as the source for his insecurities and confirmation bias! Just expressing that part must have been a document-twister. The narration was on point. There were sooo many things to have in mind during this level that I'm amazed at how much you covered in such a short video. Congratulations!
I figured out what "Hear the flow of time" means! Like hearing a clock ticking,👂Hearing means your Aware or awareness! And that coincides with the sense of touch! 🖐
Wow, the depth of this video was beyond expectations, I'm astounded. Also, referring to Smell and Taste as a couple with "The Munchies" cracked me up really hard. Putting this Piece in a memory vault
I think the closest thing is going in fast forward or slow motion. While it may be out of left field, the Racer vs Gray and Lyon fight in Fairy Tail is a good example of what Time Dilation looks like in practice.
It's like being in a dark room and then stepping out into the bright sun, but for all of your senses at once Psychonauts what is a really funny game, but psychonauts 2 meant more to me. I related much more to the worlds this time around, and that might have been due to the subject matters being treated more carefully. It also came around at a vulnerable time for me. The milkman conspiracy might be genius, but I relate much more to the crushing self doubt demonstrated in Compton's Cookoff or the sensory overload triggered panic attacks from this level (one of my least favorite aspects of ASD)
I also think that it had to do with the types of things thet focused on in these worlds. In Psychonauts l, thet dealt with a lot of abnormal psychology. The patients were so twisted and their problems were not something most people deal with. Psychonauts 2 handled it where the people dealt with common things that s lot of us experience.
I love that some comments said early on by the characters left me thinking "Wait, are they together?" And Double Fine comes along later with no chance of them being "Just room mates". They are not just a couple but a married one at that. I don't know if it's been mentionned but I love the design of Helmut's coat having what looks like the Seeds from Bob's Bottles on it
Here’s something I’ve been wondering for sometime when you get your father land follies I think the reason most of nick plan has holes in it is because a big part of it is rushed I think a big part of it was just to find Lucy and she just happens to show up the next day after he gets back from having his brain transplanted in Lillys dad’s head. How could he realistically plan for that?
It was purely coincidental that she showed up right away. The only reason Lucy was there was because Raz was there. I think his original plan was to impersonate Truman and use his resources to find Lucy. But out of sheer luck Raz allowed lucy to come to him.
I really love how it was Helmut's mental images of his friends that pointed out that the story he put together didn't make sense against their characters. Also that they stayed within the limits of what Helmut knew; a sloppier writer could have easily forgotten the limits of what Helmut knew versus what the player knows.
Doing my replay of this with my analysis goggles on showed off just how much thought they put into this one.
That and I love how Helmut has a positive outlook for his friends and wants to belive they did everything they could and that Helmut did his part.
I liked that part as well. It was like his subconscious was fighting against the negative fabricated memory, because deep down inside he still had faith in his friends.
This game was worth the wait
this and helmut comforting himself through his vision of ford at the end of the level makes me so emotional. like, genuinely brings tears to my eyes, because we've all used our friends voices as sources of comfort and reason and grounding, and seeing that physically represented as vision/ford (oh shit just realized my wordplay earlier.) cradles helmut as he lies on the ground and tells him he hasn't been forgotten about, that he's safe in good hands, that they'll come back for the rest of him is so much. it's simultaneously telling us those are his fears while he soothes himself against them using the images of the people he loves and trusts.
I love how Psychonauts 2 throws the "Bury Your Gays" trope completely on its head. Helmut's perceived death at the hands of Maligula was the catalyst that eventually lead to the disbanding and isolation of the Psychic Six. Helmut was beloved by the whole team and they all felt the loss after he was gone, none more so than Bob. I'm so glad we get to hear Bob's wedding vows later on in the game. They were as beautiful as late spring lilacs. 💐
In the case of this game it was more resurrection of the gays
I love how Bob, true to his identity as a passionate gardener, wove that into his vows. Also, apparently the original plan was to have Bob be the one gay member of the group with an unrequited crush on Ford. But one of the developers, who is himself gay, persuaded them to change it - and very much for the better!
I nearly cried during the wedding portion of Bob’s level. It is by far one of the best representations of gay relationships in a game I have seen, and it is maybe one of the best I have seen in media in general. It didn’t fully click for me that they were a couple until then (although there were a lot of big hints that i could’ve picked up on before) so when it all clicked into place, I found it incredibly touching.
@@katietaylor8314oh lord i would’ve hated if they did that. glad bob and helmut were written to be married instead
What makes Bob and Helmut so believable to me as gay characters is that.... They're just depicted as people
Regarding Bob being represented as Audi-O, we have to consider that Helmut is first and foremost a _musician._ It makes a lot of sense that he would connect what would be his dearest sense to the dearest man in his life.
Also, of all the Psychonauts, Bob was the one who liked his singing most, and after struggling with his performances not gathering crowds, he found someone who legitimately cared about him and his art on a very deep level, he was "all ears" for him, and it shows in his very own mental world, with how even with all that negativity and self depreciation surrounding him, as soon as Bob heard the Helmut plant say something like "I never loved you", he snapped and realized something was very off, he knew Helmut far too well to know that what the plant said was just a complete lie, he realized his own mind went too far
@@dustymcwari4468 Bob's Bottles is going to be an amazing world to see explored. I don't think I've ever seen another work of fiction have such an empathetic view on alcohol disorder; not treating it as the problem, but as a symptom of a deeper problem.
Not to mention, with how much Bob loves Helmut, he was probably a great listener to Helmut, along with being a great listener in general. So he couls also represent Audi-O because he was probably one of Helmut's biggest confidants.
Also I know it might be obvious but the fact when the band plays Audie-O is on an elevated pedestal that the others don't seem to have. Backed up by how excited Helmut is to hear Audie perform, shows that he is Bob's number 1 fan
Bob's his husband, it makes sense
Something rather sad but sweet is the fact that he doesnt assume Bob abandoned him like his friends. Despite his fear and belief that he never mattered to his friends, he truly did believe in Bob and the love they had, and he never doubted it for a second. The only reason Bob wouldnt come for him would be if he died.
I never thought of it in that way. It is both really sweet and kind of sad. I swear this level has so many stratums of detail it is insane
I know this is getting ahead of the series, but I love the fact that the same thing occurs with Bob's Bottles. It's Bob's corrupted and warped image of Helmut claiming he never loved him that makes Bob snap out of it.
Helmut would _never_ say that, and the moment his mind even brings up the _concept_ he fully realizes something is deeply _wrong_ and starts actively fighting back.
One detail I really like is how , if you look at it a certain way, Helmut himself represents a sense. Appropriately, his *sixth* sense, his psychic abilities.
Even the pun of Cosmic I being a reference to the Third Eye. Sixth sense.
Its interesting that Helmut's true memory vaults are locked up to where he cant reach them on his own. Instead he needs outside help from Raz to make him see the truth
Support systems am I right! We need people
@@GamingUniversityUoGeveryone could use a support raz sometimes
What I love is the fact that Helmut seeing Raz as Eddie Riggs is more than just a clever Easter egg. Raz is essentially being the roadie for The Senses. Driving the van, finding the instruments, and making the band look good.
As a huge fan of Jack Black since the 90s, he is a welcome addition, not only to this franchise, but to Star Wars and everything else he can touch. I also love Rasputin learning to ask permission, or at the very least feel some sort of guilt, when entering peoples minds without permission. To be fair in the first game, these were extreme circumstances that could end with the world being destroyed.
Absolutely! Personally, accessing someone's mind directly is one of the most intimate things I can thing of. After what happened with Hollis he takes extra care.
Back in the first game the patients really couldn't give consent while the teachers invited him in. There are even laws in this setting that it is illegal to use the psi-portal on children. They really are trying to make a point here with this small bit of narrative consistency
Jack black
Helmut as ball of light and thinking himself a god reminds me of Flatland, where 2-d Square travels to 1-d ""Lineland" and then to "Pointland", where Point, the sole inhabitant, thinks itself a god, as it can't see anyone ()as it exist in 0-Dimensions and so has no means of seeing anything) and when Square talks to it, the Point thinks the voice as part of its own mind, not having frame of reference to any existence outside of itself.
The Flatland Essay! I love that conceptualization of Gods.
There is actually one connection that smell can be made with Cassie , bees smoke, honey and pheromones , also that fact she seems to be the motherly figure of the group she probably also stuck her nose into everyone else’s problems
As for how the other things are connected honey is sweet smelling , bees have alot to do with flowers scent and pheromones to communicate the way you can calm bees is smoke which is another strong smell
That's an interesting observation that I had not considered. Where were you when I was writing this! Lol
Couldn't have explained it better. Bravo my friend, you have quite the eye 👁 for detail.
@@codyboise9989 I am just a humble over thinker of video games
In addition to this Id add the very distinctive smell of new and old books
With all of her use of nature and things that have very striking smells (smells being very good at forming memories if I'm not mistaken) thus making some association with some of the simple joys of sensation and further tying it to her warm nature
I think another reason cassie is a nose is because of her love of books and the expression "a nose stuck in a book"
As someone who deals with an Anxiety disorder, ADHD, and Autism, it's honestly really cool to see an example of sensory overload in media, as, yeah, anxiety builds up from too much sensory, and doesn't come out of nowhere, it builds up, and then releases. I've struggled with sensory, mainly either self, or mainly noise, so seeing an accurate depiction of sensory overload is honestly amazing, as it's a stressful experience that results in something incredibly hurtful. Thank you for going as in depth as you can. Also let me add this to another example of Panic Attacks in Media, Animation Twitter's gonna love that.
40:53 I think it is that Helmut sees Compton as someone who vocally panics a lot of the time, thus seeing him as a big mouth. As for Cassie, maybe it is that Helmut sees her as someone who kept "sticking her nose" into his relationship with Bob.
As you go through some of the psychic 6 minds, you realise they don't see their friends as the most perfect image possible.
Both Booles that we see in 2 are greatly involved with food. Sam has run off to make questionable pancakes, while Compton's inner turmoil is portrayed through a cooking show. That could be a factor.
To add onto the Cassie thing, Helmut says in the level with Sniffles that to breathe you have to smell which I think can link back to Cassie's ability to compartmentalize. Cassie comes off as someone who can take the good with the bad because she can compartmentalize them to better process it. She is realiable in a bad situation and can do what needs to be done, no matter the situation (smelling so you can breath) On top of that, there is her connection with Compton being the mouth. Most of our taste is from smell. You cant seperate them. For taste to be as good as it is, you NEED smell, like Compton needs Cassie.
Also, just because I'm replaying the game, cooking is seen to be one of Compton's hobbies. In his memory vault "Compton Alone" when it shows him at his desk there is a big shelf next to him that is almost entirely empty save for three books, a bowling ball, a selection of cooking items, and then an unknown object that might be a ball or something. We know he loves bowling by both him holding onto his bowling membership, having a bowling poster, and a bowling ball, but the cooking supplies can only really be explained by it also being a hobby of his. In the same memory when he has his breakdown, thete is imagery of his friends, various animals, a bowling ball, and more cooking supplies. He's also found at the Concession Stand in Helmut's level, so it seems to me that Helmut attributes him to food. And given that the designers specifically added in cooking supplies to his shelf, that may be their way of communicating that as a hobby of his beyond exposition
It's also because without smell you can't taste anything. Compton couldn't function without Cassie.
I could also see possibly he saw Cassie as smell because she was beekeeping then before the battle, meaning while she could communicate with the bees psychically. She might of also been using smokers (as we are able to find some in the old camp) to keep them calm, meaning she would likely have the smell of the smoke on her often for Helmut to make the association of smell to her besides just always being with Compton who had some clear taste pieces we the players could see in game.
41:50 One of my favorite quotes of the entire game happens here.
Raz (when grabbing one of the "candies"): "I only _think_ these are giant gumballs. They could be anything," implying that the "candy" could actually be some kind of halucinogenic compound.
Drugs.
I almost called these gumballs out for being some form of hallucinogen.
He also says something like “I probably shouldn’t hold on to this for too long” as a reference to how LSD was discovered; the scientist who synthesized it got it on his hands and it absorbed into his body. And yes, he did get high.
Another thing I've seen mentioned on other videos about Cosmic I is that there's a moment at the start where Helmut sings "And I started healing" at which point the memory vault that Maligula would later emerge from starts moving more, as if activated by this line. People speculated that this is because in order to heal from emotional damage you often first have to confront the bad memories that caused this damage.
You absolutely have to confront it. Jung spoke all the time about the dangers of suppressing things. Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Even if that problem is only in your mind.
I think another possible interpretation of Bob being Hearing is that Hearing, for Helmut, was the most important feeling, with his affinity for music. And, consequentially, he associates that feeling with most important person in his life - his love.
As someone who has suffered panic attacks, having someone just willing to listen to you makes everything better.
The dark thoughts are above a galaxy river, so I think it must have something to do with miligulas' water abilities and that he was frozen in a lake
It would not surprise me if Helmut has a slight fear of water after this whole experience.
Speaking of having a positive relationship with anxiety:
Other people have probably already suggested this, but it would be cool to see an analysis of the psychology of Celeste.
Celeste was an interesting play through. Still working on some track C runs of it.
I'd need to replay the story and collect my thoughts on it. That was an amazing story of dealing with your anxiety. It's beautiful!
It seems to me that Raz almost acts as something akin to a censor helping Helmuts mind to filter through his thoughts and inputs
But that's not what a censor does.
"This is a Censor, an integral part of any sane person's mind. The Censors roam through your psyche, looking for thoughts that don't belong. Hallucinations, manias, waking dreams. The Censors hunt them down, and censor them out."
More like Raz is taking the jumbled bag of legos and putting them back together.
I'm on the Autism spectrum, and what is described in this video as SPD, at least how it's depicted for the PSI King, is remarkably similar to some experiences I've had that involve my senses. Sensory overload, and over stimulation.
Sensory overload, at least in my experience, is basically my brain taking in far too much information from my senses to properly process. For example, if I'm somewhere crowded with lots of people talking at the same time, I can't filter out conversations. My brain tries to take in all of them clearly, unlike how many people seem to be able to ignore irrelevant conversations as background noise (I'm not sure if that's actually what they are doing, and nobody seems to know how to explain this thing that's innate for them). Sensory overloads are stressful and can result in rather painful headaches.
Overstimulation, meanwhile, is more a case of senses taking in information in a more intense way than I'm used to. This can be the result of something like strong flavours, overly loud noises, bright lights, or aggregating mechanical noises. However, I can also experience it as a result of being tired or stressed.
Because I had those experiences, that's how I interpreted that aspect of the level when I played through it. Synesthesia was a consideration, but not as much as sensory overload. It's definitely interesting how our experiences and knowledge can affect how we interpret pieces of media.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Yeah we all have our own mental libraries of experience and knowledge that goes into interpreting media.
When other people are able to “ignore” certain stimulation, what’s happening is that their brain is able to habituate itself to certain sounds, perceive them as unimportant or as “part of the background,” and filter them out so they’re not actively perceived.
With conditions like autism or ADHD, the brain struggles to properly process sensory input, which leads to a lack of efficient filtering as found in neurotypical brains.
It’s an example of how autistic brains are wired differently than neurotypical ones. Where NT folks are generally better able to filter sensory input, autistic folks are often either too sensitive or too insensitive to sensory input.
(I hope that made sense! I tried my best to explain, to the best of my understanding)
@@CreoTan
Thank you. It does. Just another way I have fewer filters than most people. Being a bit more sensitive to certain stimuli does help occasionally. For example, I've noticed slight movement in an animal we thought was dead and were getting ready to bury, and it turned out to be just paralyzed (from a spider bite) and managed to survive. A neurotypical person may have not perceived that.
As a person with ADHD, I've found my SPD to have more trouble with complexity than intensity. Multiple quiet noises from multiple sources bothers me more than a few very loud ones.
I am a bisexual man that people can easily construe for being straight, so I've never really had to deal with a lot of the problems others have had to deal with, but I do have to say I love how this relationship was handled.
Same here personally. I'll be able to tall about their relationship more in Bob's Bottles. Some writer's don't handle the subject with grace. But Double Fine did a great job.
I love how it’s just there. No one ever comments on it any differently then they do straight relationships
Idm if it’s straight or gay. Relationships are a beautiful thing that many people wish to experience. And I love seeing the types of relationships in games or real life. Makes me wish I had a chance to experience such a thing. Unfortunately I’m awful at communicating with people..
I find it VERY fitting that the two instruments belonging to the representations of smell and taste is an electric guitar and bass guitar, as both instruments usually work in unison/in sync, very cool detail to spot!
Thoss two are way too close even in mental worlds.
I like how for characters with artistic mindsets the mental worlds fully reflect that Black Velvetopia was all about paintings mixed with wresting and bull fighting while here it is music along with the senses.
As a musician myself this one really spoke to me. Same with Cassie's world due to my love of literature.
@@GamingUniversityUoG If there is a Psychonauts 3 I hope there will be a mental world that reflects gaming love to see how the creators would make that work
@@blackdemonknight maybe something like Fred Bonaparte? Probably with less DID but something like that.
@@PRGME7 Maybe like is set in like an Arcade with Raz going into the different machines that are recreation of classic game titles or Psychonauts variations of them
@@blackdemonknight that’s a bit on the nose for psychonauts but it can be workshopped.
Potentially each game could represent something of some sort that needs to be integrated, Or it could be tied to flow states (basically when your mind is running on muscle memory only), maybe each game could represent a dream/nightmare the character keeps having and Raz has to complete the games thus allowing the person to process the dream?
You outdid yourselves with this one, boys! Magnificent chapter, and one step closer to Bob's bottles.
Thank you! We very much appreciate it. Part of the reason for the delay is knowing how big this one was going to be. This world is dense with info. Glad it turned out to your liking!
PSI King's Sensorium was my favorite world of the whole game.
I am surprised you didn't bring up the heavy Psychedelic tropes and probable drug use of Helmut.
I briefly touched upon it with artificial forms of synesthesia with mushrooms and LSD.
The way his friends reassured him so easily after not seeing, hearing, or being with them for 20 years, really says a lot for how strong the bonds between them were. Not a single one of them is hostile or negative towards Helmut and they’re all so overjoyed to see him again just like in real life when they finally meet up again at the Green Needle Gulch. I really love how Helmut’s speculating about them still being there and waiting for him is right on the money.
It is sad when we invent some fiction in our head and end up avoiding situations or people we care for as a result. So many people lose years of their lives out of fear for how something will go.
@@GamingUniversityUoG you mean like something along the lines of what Bob goes through? All that plus alcoholism and turning himself into a hermit in his own greenhouse…though I suppose in his case it wasn’t fear of how things would go but despair of how things already went…
Hey GU. I think the reason the ear represented his lover was mainly because out of all his senses as his hearing was his most favoured, being so into music and expressing himself through singing. It could be that on top also of your theory of him being someone he could talk to, that he felt bob sincerely heard what he was trying to express in his music, which is normally a bit more upbeat. It would make sense that someone who - especially someone who's prone to a bit more of a pessimistic streak - like bob who heard his singing and then falling in love got the core message and point he was trying to express a lot - and thus him at his core too - thus allowing for love to bloom.
You can apply this logic to ford too - which you said, more or less - with Ford seeing his true potential from the get go. But if that is the case I have no idea how the others apply to their senses. Maybe...bee lady - forget her name - was...good ...at...sniffing him...out?...like figuring what his plan and intentions and moods were or something. Her story and level came off as her being a bit of a cunny, observant type. But I'm stretching it a lot at that point. No idea at all about taste outside of food associations and his cooking like you said.
There are so many ways to look at these. Those observations can certainly be the case. It gets hard sometimes to predict what the writers were thinking versus what we see. Death of the Author and all that.
The part where Helmut’s body gets trapped in the river and his brain gets put in a jar and both became lost is a reference to an Arabian Nights story. In the story, a genie/Djinn is released from a jar that was sunk to the bottom of a river and subsequently rewards his rescuer by trying to kill him. This is because he, like Helmut, fell into a deep despair about being neglected and trapped for so long.
Very interesting. One of these days I need to read them. I tend to favor literature from that region. So many cool ideas we don't see in western writing
Maybe for Cassie, with her connection to bees, she has a knowledge of flowers, which is why she is the "Nose" of the band.
That's one hypothesis I've heard in the comments so far.
PSI Kings Sensoriusm was easily the best level. Helmuts story and the ending of the level is just an absolute masterpiece
It was kind of nuts how well this one all came together. The level is so well crafted.
I did find a very interesting design choice that the mental vaults in this level are locked behind an item that you don’t get until you get to green needle Gulch.
(play so you can only reach after completing this level)
It was a great way of hiding the reveal of fullbear’s identity.
Unfortunately I didn't get this on my blind playthrough. I sequence broke it right off the bat. But i also kind of knew who it was going in. Or I guessed i should say
With the obvious allusions to eastern religion, I'm a little sad they didn't dig a bit more into the conflicting views of the world that raises. Helmut had unintentionally fallen into something very close to say the ideal state of Advaita, while Raz is trying to pull him into something much closer to the goal of Tantric practices.
I swear if I went fully into everything this level suggested, like you just mentioned, this would have been a 90 minute video lol.
@@GamingUniversityUoGDon't threaten me with a good time.
Lmao! Would have had to wait another month for that one if we did.
@@GamingUniversityUoG could always come back in an extra's video later on when all the minds are done :)
but I can definetly see how much information has to be picked to not overwhelm the video
To add to your interpretation of the twisted memories being either twisted by the time spent away from the body or confirmation bias. That's very similar to depressive spirals in my experience. You just sit in your thoughts and they fester, small imperfections you find within yourself grow into huge flaws and your problems become seemingly insurmountable.
With helmet being locked away with nothing but thoughts it's no wonder the bad stuff bubbled up and stuck
Solitude, sadly, has a way of drawing out negative thoughts. As you said, everything becomes a spiraling feedback loop. Good people can break that loop and see the good in us when it's hard to see it ourselves.
I just love seeing helmut and bob interacting
They are so wholesome
Jack Black absolutely nailed the performance here, really gives an extra push to some of the scenes.
Jack Black is a gem and brings everything to his roles. Amazing performance
Something that confused me was how some psychonauts who sneeze out their brains have the ability to sense the world around them while Helmut lost it.
Might have something to do with the length of time he was out of his own body.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Maybe that's why they didn't consider using the brain-sneezing powder on Maligula during their battle.
Something that I have always found interesting is the cartoon representation in this level. The art style and certain elements remind me of Saturday morning cartoons in the 70's like Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, Josie and the Pussycats, ect. They have that psychedelic nature that fits perfectly with Helmut's colorful and child like nature.
Jeez that's sending me on a nostalgia trip. May need to find some of those old cartoons.
21:08 another good example of this is Oltyx in the twice dead king (book 1) where he spends most of the book thinking that his brother hated him and was vindictive, but in reality when he’s forced to relive the memories he realizes that his brother loved him dearly and actually saved his life.
I had a theory that Helmut associates Bob with the sense of hearing because, as a musician, it's his most important sense ! So it could only go to his most important guy ! I don't know if it's really based on anything scientific but I think it's cute !
I just started a 100% playthrough of Psychonauts 2 and I'm on this level as you posted the video
Perfect timing! Enjoy your 100% run
Dean really padding to hit that 10 minute mark.
Can you believe I cut stuff out of this?
I just realized why the dark thoughts are only at the lake, maligula controls water, and remembering the water at lakes might be causing him to have a slight remembrance of her, but since his memories weren’t fully awakened at the time, they were probably just “gut” feelings
“It was only 20 years” is a crazy line to hear because that’s my entire life. It’s crazy to think that because for people like me, twenty years is all the time we’ve ever known. Yet as some point, I’ll look back and think “it was only 20 years.” That prospect excites me because, depending on my perspective, twenty years can either be a really long time or nothing at all. When I’m forty, double my life from now, will that last twenty have been full of learning and exploration and happiness, or dust in the wind? I’m excited to see where I’ll be by then, but I’m also going to try and savor every moment I have to make sure this next twenty is used well
That's a good outlook to have. You touch upon one theory the community has about why time seems to feel faster as we age. At age 5 it feels like forever because it is for us then. By age 30 five years is only 1/6 of our life so it doesnt seem as long.
Honestly in terms of visuals I think this level is going to be the Milkman Conspiracy of this game, or at least Black Velvetopia in terms of memorability. Oh and as for the Fish/bus thing, I think the designers were making a joke about how a group of fish is called a school, and what mode of transport do most kids take to get to school? A bus. BTW, still love that Brutal Legend reference.
One of my favourite levels, starring my favourite character! I have SO been looking forward to this! As an autistic person I've experienced sensory overload many, many times. I love markets and other such crowded events, but all of them are prone to make me start disassociating because there's so much going on and my brain just can't handle it. I would *love* to see Psychonauts 3 explore the mind of an autistic person, and especially a nonverbal one.
That would be a rather fascinating world. I've seen some comments about an older mind going through cognitive decline such as dementia
@@GamingUniversityUoG That would be great! Though no doubt it would be a sad level.
Probably those Dark Thoughts in the Campgrounds represent those small annoyances that someone used to life in a city have when camping, regardless of whether or not that person likes camping. "Why can't I take this path?" "Why do I have to go to bathroom in the woods?" etc. Though for Helmut, the fact that all the dark thoughts are over the river in the Campgrounds (The Questionable Area in Psychonauts Real Life Perhaps?) it may be more, like Raz, Helmut has a problem with the water (though to a FAR lesser degree).
Also, Cassie might be associated with Smell, possibly because of something as simple as perfume (or the scent of honey), a consistent scent that'd come from her as they interacted.
Okay, I'm glad to see this series back in action, and I hope to see it keep going as we write the letter of the next aspect of Cruller's mind.
The rest should be a lot easier to get through. With the exception of Cassie's Collection. I expect hers to take me a bit to get through as well.
@@GamingUniversityUoG No surprise there. You mentioned being a fan of Jungian psychology during your playthrough stream, if i recall.
Also reminds me of something I learned from an episode of freeman's mind, one I'll always remember: they say time flys when your having fun, but in reality: time flies period. and we all end up older!
It's all relative after everything in this mind.
I think the dark thoughts might relate to what is bellow it, water. All bodies of water or water adjacens are starry voids like the ones found in his quiet space. this is representative of how falling and being frozen in water by Maligula made him loose all sense of self and revert to the state we found him in
Bee's like flowers. You can smell flowers. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Thanks for the Ted Talk
Somewhat related, but completely. Just a fun story, Psychonauts 2 taught me how to deal with panic attacks outside the game and in real life as I do get them thanks to claustrophobia. Basically, tight crowds and spaces are my trigger, but I try to isolate myself in my mind, basically trying to focus on my breath or even thinking of other things to distract me from the thing bothering me, if I'm unable to break free of the tight space and take a few seconds to calm myself down and slow my thoughts in an attempt to get a hold of myself once more. Anyway, mini story, I just think ite awesome that this game series is teaching me so much about myself and other mental things that are incredibly interesting. Thanks for making these videos, I love the breakdowns for the levels you make.
I 100% this game when it came out, and this scene 23:52 was the first time I cried from a video game.
I think I choked up here too. I have my blind playthrough up on the channel here somewhere.
I heard the Zelda theme playing in the background. I know it’s not important but I liked it
There is always room for Zelda music haha
@@GamingUniversityUoG Wait, so it didn't have anything to do with the word Sahasrala... I mean Sahasrara appearing on screen at around the time it starts?
i recently beat this level yesterday, and it became a big fav of mine; i just think a band theming around the senses is a cute concept, combined with the trippy experiences and helmut's backstory. thnx for this video amd your analyses of psychonauts !
Good luck on the rest of the game! Glad you enjoyed our series over here
26k subscribers for this type of content (and alan wake,control) is a crime, videos with this quality deserve more
If I started talking about Call of Duty and Minecraft I bet my subs would shoot up lol. Jokes aside, I'll keep true to what I like to make and the rest will come. I appreciate the sentiment though.
A 46 minute Psychology of Psychonauts episode, we're eating good today boys.
Enjoy the meal! Took a while to cook it up so I hope you all enjoy
@@GamingUniversityUoG something something Compton Boole.
As an autistic adult who deals with a whole mix of sensory issues (why can I /taste/ bad smells, it's /awful/), this level was fascinating for me! Helmut literally telling all of his mental reality to shut up reminded me of what I do to fend off meltdowns from sensory overload: wear noise canceling headphones, use blackout curtains, put on a weighted blanket, etc. For a long time things like breathing exercises never worked for me, because I was only told to do them /in the middle/ of a meltdown, when I'd already lost control - people tend to conflate meltdowns with tantrums or panic attacks, but during a meltdown you really have no control of your own body until it's over. You just kind of...get pushed into the backseat. So being able to beat the snot out of a Panic Attack enemy was kind of cathartic! Especially since the design is clearly based on the Nightmares from the first game, they terrified me as a kid.
My idea for why Bob’s the ear is that naturally, a musician would associate the one he loves the most with the sense that takes in music.
This level, Crowleys levels, and Cassies level are undoubtingly my favorites in the game for how much detail they have, the symbolism, and story progression. This level in parricular just had me in aww throughout the whole thing and actually made me tear up. It can also be seen as a level about how it would feel coming out of a coma or being revived from death with how Helmut's mind/soul is in total darkness, but eventually regain a sense of self once he gets a physical body. It is just a beautiful level.
It appears the good doctor really had his work cut out for him once again, honestly if this doesn't count as a reward I'm not sure what they were even thinking?
Hope it all turned out well!
This level is really cool. There’s a lot of layers to this level and it’s design. Like the psychedelic visuals hint at several kinds of things. It hints at prior experimentation with substances (i mean they are Psychonauts, why wouldn’t they try out some acid and shrooms during that time they were radically exploring their consciousnesses). There is also the tie of psychedelic visuals to the psychedelic rock music scene present at the time that they were likely young adults (the 60s). I feel like these elements also combine to bring a feeling of nostalgia to their younger years that can be directly felt by people playing the game who were alive around that time and it also conveys an understanding of that nostalgia to younger people who weren’t around then (like me, i am not personally nostalgic for that time but the empathic understanding of that nostalgia is palpable). There is also the element of depicting just how insane it would be to regain your senses after existing in a sensory void for 20 years. Like it seems feasible that your senses would mix and be completely over the top and overwhelming as you reintegrate them with your mind. And I am only referring to the visual and sound effects of this. There are many other elements that depict various other aspects of Helmut’s mind and relationships.
BTW, if you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend watching Psychodyssey. It is a long youtube docuseries about the development of this game from pre-production to release. They actually spend a lot of time following the development of this level in particular and the journey of the junior designers who were put in charge of it. There were so many changes to this level over time to the point where originally there was absolutely no resemblance to the final level. It was fun seeing them eventually put together the ideas that ended up in final version over months and months of iterations and reworkings.
Definitely looking forward to your analysis of Bob Zanotto. The concepts of using addiction as a coping mechanism and the consequences of such are an interesting concept. And very frightening.
The sad part is too many people have some form of addiction that thet has to cope. Not just liquid like Bob. Lots of things
@@GamingUniversityUoG Yes. Anything can be an addicting substance. If it creates a positive emotion, it's capable of being addicting. Alcoholism is just the easiest one to use as an example.
You know synesthesia seems like one of those things that, if you were to describe what it is to someone who had never heard of it for the first time, it would sound fictional
It's kind of crazy like that yeah. But totally a real thing.
Fact is stranger then fiction
@@GamingUniversityUoGin particular Ticker-tape sounds the most out there, at least to me
Regarding the dark thoughts near the river, maybe it's a nod to the fight against Maligula in Grulovia when Helmut fell into a lake and got frozen for 20 years?
Considering her strong hydrokineticism and how she fights with it, I think Helmut may be subconsciously associating bodies of water with Maligula.
This is the one that makes the most sense for me so far based upon all your comments.
@@GamingUniversityUoGor considering location, it might be in reference to is negative thoughts about his own sexuality.
@@GamingUniversityUoG it also can be that Bob since was always apt to substance abuse, and if Helmut wasn’t aware of that in the beginning of the relationship they might of tried some stuff together which didn’t go well so Helmut regrets that incident. Kinda ties into Bib making alcohol specifically from mushrooms, and Helmut saying that he hates them when they meet (even tho it’s pretty clear Helmut tried them at least once in his life)
I always that that Bob was an ear because Helmut was a musician. Hearing would've been his most beloved sense, so naturally he would associate it with the one person he loved most.
Makes perfect sense to me
_"Feeling bad is better than feeling nothing at all"_ reminds me of a bit from the song "Light" from the musical "Next To Normal", _"Give me pain if that's what's real, it's the price we pay to feel."_
It's sad when we question whether the price of feeling joy is worth it if we also have to feel bad.
I would like to thank you for making these videos. Thanks to these analysis I now realize that I have seperate myself so much from pain as much as I can that I can't remember the last time I actually felt truly happy.
It's now something that I will try to fix but taking that first step will be hard and I shall continue watching these along the way to remember.
Thank you for the video and it is always a treat to learn more about the mind
As they say, the Journey of Hundred miles begins with a single step. Getting going is hard but don't get discouraged. Good luck and take care of yourself okay.
Nearly a whopping 47minutes!!! Wow!
Can you believe I cut stuff out of it? There is a reason I've been taking my time on this one lol.
A wonderful deep dive into my personal favorite world of Psychonauts 2. I love the imagery and colors on display here, and Raz really shows how much he's grown here by helping Helmut through his re-integration with his senses.
On a gameplay note however this level could be...frustrating at times. It's sheer size combined with it's vivid colors made it very difficult to 100%, and it's progression did drag at points. I had to look up a checklist for some of the figments, which was it's own drag. But it's still a great level, with very impactful character moments from all in attendance.
I want to ask: Of the last 2 "official" members of the psychic 6, which level are you looking forward to the most? Also, which level in this game is your personal favorite?
My personal favorite level was Cassie's Collection simply because of the library motif and the discussion of archetypes.
A very minor thing, but I just assumed that the wedding figments were what Helmut would have seen walking down the aisle? His friends and then Bob waiting for him?
That's a good point as well
I think the Dark Thoughts inside the camping area can mean a few things. One of which, after speaking to a parent about; lots of quite...naughty things happen during these types of music gatherings and Helmut might have been aware of what was going on, thus the Dark Thought here could be akin to that. Another would be, as mentioned earlier about the psychedelics, drug use was quite common back then, hippie culture and all that; perhaps a thought of him either getting or seeing someone get arrested during one of those music performances left this trial behind. Or, perhaps someone due to drug overdose died at one of the performances and he bore witness to it; seeing how the dark thoughts are used to go across the river but ultimately doesn't lead to anywhere hidden as far as I remember. I haven't played the game in a while so memory isn't quite there.
Another little note I love: Bob's instrument in the mindscape is a drumset, an instrument usually all other rely on to keep in tempo and sync. Makes a whole lot of sense, as Bob was likely a strong grounding element in Helmuth's life. Perhaps also for the original psyconaught team as well.
Absolutely love this Psychonauts series! Thank you!!
You got it!
I absolutely love the context you put forth! Not what I expected, but something better I needed to hear. While I don't have synesthesia, aren't we all experiencing it in some form or another due to all our senses? Also love how time bubble is a base grounding technique: I dig it.
I also don't necessarily hide in a false reality as I try to make my own reality from around me, imagination & lose association.
Plus after playing helmuts minds so many times, it's probably a part of my mentalscape in association to both sense & enjoying life as well as dealing with my autism and being neural divergent and not always reacting to things the same way.
Thank man and rock on ✌️👁👂👃👅🌠⚪️🔴🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣🧠
Rock on dude! I have been getting a lot of comments on how similar this is for those who have autism. I honestly am going to be doing more research into this to give myself a better understanding of it.
@@GamingUniversityUoG it's always interesting having people see the world the way you see it.
17:52 "The mental vaults are out of reach, and cannot be attained until receiving the Projection Ability from Cassie's mental world."
Oh hey, I got that with maxed out Pyrokinesis.
"At the game's launch, it could be sequence breaked with Pyrokinesis, but that has since been patched."
Okay, that's actually pretty funny. Now there won't be as many people seeing Ford shatter his mind before it's revealed in the story proper, lol.
Yeah I I know it early too loo. The footage of the pyrokinesis strat used here was from my first playthrough live stream. I accidentally got it right out the gate.
Incredible video as always. This was one of my favourite levels in the game, and your analysis gave me a new found appreciation and better understanding of what was going on.
Glad to be able to help! This level was insane with how many stratums of detail they had.
I had to watch in two parts and it will never stop irking me! 😖
But so happy to see this series back online, and it’s opened my eyes to the depth of this part of the story so much!
This entire level just feels like a good portion of issues and experiences I have had in life condensed down, both involving senses and mental state.. honestly feels kinda testing to me. Got slight overload from light sensitivity to the bright colors in the video. Another great vid!!
I was about to go to bed but then this video popped up and so I'm not
Hope you got some sleep haha. This one was a bit lengthy.
Absolutely fascinating! There's so many details and connections that I never would've been able to deduce on my own, and you present these lessons in such a succinct and professional way. My mind is expanded with every upload! Thanks for all your hard work!
11:00 I had no idea that discomfort I felt as a kid when wearing certain types of cotton or low thread count polyesters was a form of sensory disorder given all the other problems I had. Cotton felt like I was wearing a rough kitchen sponge, horrible scratchiness even when my parent claimed it was soft. Being forced to wear cotton socks in particularly harsh winters made it impossible to focus on anything. Low count polyesters felt like they were ripping non-existent hairs off my skin or jabbing me with a needle at random, less annoying, but still annoying. I grew out of it in adulthood, and even love wearing low thread count polyester clothes now (they're so light and airy I sometimes forget I'm dressed), but the odd sensations drove me mad back then.
I couldn't even imagine. Glad you found what works for you so you don't have to deal with it anymore
Always look forward to these videos, excellent job my man! The music in this level has to be my favorite of both Psychonauts games, just amazing
Such catchy pieces. The OST here was awesome!
Let's hope we don't have to wait two months for the next part. Although I do realize a lot of work probably goes into these.
Most of these took a few months to work on. But this one was a beefy boy.
I'm really jazzed by your careful breakdown on this! I absolutely missed some of those details regarding the figments. I'm also pretty happy to have my brain sitting in otto's lab. This game was worth it!
I'm so upset I didn't donate enough to get my brain I'm the brain frame! I got into the credits but not this part
You didn't think we'd hear it but I know zelda when I hear it
That was my reaction too when my editor sent this over. I just started bopping to it lol.
What amazing videos. The psychonauts 1 and 2 help me in the perfect moment. And watching your videos now it still help. beautiful work of analysis. Thanks you
Thann you so much! These games really are special and helpful to so many people I talk to.
This is one of if not the longest video to date (until another video takes its place)!
Don't even out out that voodoo that a longer one will come lol. This one nearly killed us.
i love how they visualized sensory overload in this game.
They always go all out with how they help us visualize things. This one in particular was a masterclass
I think Cassie was the nose because of how intertwined taste and scent are (and how the characters they're based on were a couple at the time of his death).
Did they ever state they were a couple? I know they were very close friends but I don't recall hearing that. Unless I missed it.
@GamingUniversityUoG there was never anything explicitly stating they were a couple, they really were just incredibly close friends as far as the game states
Maybe Psi King just loved the sights, sounds and smells of camping with the gang, but hated getting wet and cold?
The dark thoughts are over a rapidly flowing mental river, after all.
The best explanation I've seen in these comments is regarding him being drowned. A fear of water wouldnt be out of the question.
@@GamingUniversityUoG ...Yeah. That would make a lot of sense actually.
Being mostly over it, but some dark... well, connections linger when thinking about big bodies of water.
Awesome! I really like how you addressed the details Helmut didn't have as the source for his insecurities and confirmation bias! Just expressing that part must have been a document-twister. The narration was on point. There were sooo many things to have in mind during this level that I'm amazed at how much you covered in such a short video. Congratulations!
I figured out what "Hear the flow of time" means!
Like hearing a clock ticking,👂Hearing means your Aware or awareness!
And that coincides with the sense of touch! 🖐
Surprisingly long deep dive, and a very welcomed one.
Can you believe things ended up being cut from this?
You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this one!
I hope it was worth the wait
Wow, the depth of this video was beyond expectations, I'm astounded.
Also, referring to Smell and Taste as a couple with "The Munchies" cracked me up really hard.
Putting this Piece in a memory vault
Anyone else wonder what the Time Bubble ability must look like from an outsider’s perspective?
guessing it'd look how we see it in game since the game has a third person camera... we kinda are the outsider's perspective
I think the closest thing is going in fast forward or slow motion. While it may be out of left field, the Racer vs Gray and Lyon fight in Fairy Tail is a good example of what Time Dilation looks like in practice.
40 min! This the content I keep subscribed to!
Side note, this was the first game I played when I got xbox game pass, totally worth it.
Can you believe I cut stuff out of this video? It would have been over an hour lol.
Cheers dude!
It's like being in a dark room and then stepping out into the bright sun, but for all of your senses at once
Psychonauts what is a really funny game, but psychonauts 2 meant more to me. I related much more to the worlds this time around, and that might have been due to the subject matters being treated more carefully. It also came around at a vulnerable time for me.
The milkman conspiracy might be genius, but I relate much more to the crushing self doubt demonstrated in Compton's Cookoff or the sensory overload triggered panic attacks from this level (one of my least favorite aspects of ASD)
I also think that it had to do with the types of things thet focused on in these worlds. In Psychonauts l, thet dealt with a lot of abnormal psychology. The patients were so twisted and their problems were not something most people deal with.
Psychonauts 2 handled it where the people dealt with common things that s lot of us experience.
I love that some comments said early on by the characters left me thinking "Wait, are they together?" And Double Fine comes along later with no chance of them being "Just room mates". They are not just a couple but a married one at that.
I don't know if it's been mentionned but I love the design of Helmut's coat having what looks like the Seeds from Bob's Bottles on it
Ah, good to see another of these Psychonauts 2 come out slowly
Hope it was worth the wait.
Here’s something I’ve been wondering for sometime when you get your father land follies I think the reason most of nick plan has holes in it is because a big part of it is rushed I think a big part of it was just to find Lucy and she just happens to show up the next day after he gets back from having his brain transplanted in Lillys dad’s head. How could he realistically plan for that?
It was purely coincidental that she showed up right away. The only reason Lucy was there was because Raz was there.
I think his original plan was to impersonate Truman and use his resources to find Lucy. But out of sheer luck Raz allowed lucy to come to him.