This is a must have for any gamer. Its just good fun, don't get discouraged by thinking this is a kids game. It really is good fun with inventive ways of getting you to explore your surroundings. I have hardly even started to play this game and have been compelled to write a review. This game reminds me of a long long time ago when new games would come out and make you go wow because they were WOW! Not just the fancy graphics and fast shooting pace. This is a must have game worth more than $40! This remind me of the trickiness of monkey island or the fun of magic pockets. Now I am showing my age. Buy this you won't regret it, if you do give it to someone else.

Psychonauts is _incredibly_ innovative. You begin in the real world but it is quickly clear that the main game revolves around travelling into other people's minds, sorting out psychic and emotional problems as you go. Every one is wholly unique: the sheer diversity of imagination is astounding. A few mind “levels” are “platformers”, which has led to the whole game being labelled a platformer; but that covers only a small percentage of the game.

The most memorable “levels” for me are the most alien minds. A sea monster, in whose mind you become a rampaging Godzilla; a deranged security guard who is a conspiracy nut, obsessed with an alternate personality called “The Milkman”; a man who feels hopelessly inadequate because he thinks he is descended from Napoleon; it just goes on and on, and never gets tiring.

… until the very final phases of the game, that is, when it gets ludicrously difficult; the “meat circus” is especially notorious. But don't let that put you off. There is so much good in the game, that you honestly won't mind even if you just stop playing there!

The most accurate and insightful (and positive) review of the game on the web is that by “Yahtzee”: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/…-Psychonauts