Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin taking final shape

Written by Jack Allin — February 2, 2017 at 14:14

It's been over a decade since the launch of Psychonauts, Tim Schafer's first release with Double Fine Productions after leaving LucasArts. The wildly creative action-adventure left a lot of genre fans on the outside looking in, however, due to the high volume and difficulty of its platforming elements. If only they'd make a Psychonauts game that could be solved using only the power of one's mind... Oh, they have! It's called Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, though it too will have an exclusive audience when it is released later this month on the PlayStation VR.

Not to be confused with the upcoming Psychonauts 2, this is a standalone bridge chapter that picks up immediately where the previous game left off. The story once again follows the exploits of a young man named Raz and the rest of the eponymous "elite group of international psychic secret agents." Joining Raz are Lili, Sasha, Milla, and Coach Oleander as they head off to "rescue Truman Zannotto, the Grand Head of the Psychonauts. Their mission will take them straight into the heart of the Rhombus of Ruin—a mysterious part of the ocean as deadly as two Bermuda Triangles back to back!" Unfortunately for the rescue team, they soon get captured themselves, and with Raz unable to move, he must "use only his psychic powers to reunite his friends, reveal the identity of the mysterious kidnapper, and free Truman before the madness of the Rhombus consumes all their minds!

Written and directed by Tim Schafer, this episode has been designed for virtual reality using a first-person perspective to view its highly-stylized 3D world. Instead of running, jumping, and fighting your way to success, here players will need to use extrasensory powers to proceed. These include Clairvoyance, which will "allow players to see through the eyes of others, and explore the environment, whilst other abilities such as Telekinesis and Pyrokinesis will allow them to move things around with the power of their mind...or just set them on fire."

There isn't much longer to wait for Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, but you'll need a PSVR system to enjoy it when it's released on February 21st. Maybe it'll come to other platforms if the rest of us focus, concentrate, and will it really, really hard?