Psychonauts 2 Developer Comments on Difficulty Options, Wants All Players to Have Fun

Double Fine Productions has put a lot of work into making Psychonauts 2 accessible for all kinds of players. It included options like remappable controls, the ability to toggle off camera shake and even enable invincibility. Responding to a tweet by Xbox on how beating a game on the lowest difficulty is still beating the game, the developer said, “If you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat Psychonauts 2.”

After doubling down on this (including some gate-keeping mockery), Double Fine further stated, “All people should be able to enjoy games. All ages, all possible needs. It’s an ongoing and important process for our industry and a challenge we need to met. End of the day? We want you to have fun, to laugh, to experience a story that affects you. On whatever terms you want.”

Of course, it stands to reason that Psychonauts 2 will have options to make the game tougher for those who want that as well. But the subject of difficulty is still a hot one for some players. The issue came up again recently with the reveal of Elden Ring which director Hidetaka Miyazaki clarified as being easier than previous FromSoftware titles despite not having any difficulty options.

Psychonauts 2 is out on August 25th for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Xbox Series X/S so we’ll see for ourselves how challenging it can be. Check out some extended gameplay of the platformer here.

If you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat P2. https://t.co/OinBv1nuNr

— Double Fine (@DoubleFine) July 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/DoubleFine/status/1413620176516485122

All people should be able to enjoy games. All ages, all possible needs. It's an ongoing and important process for our industry and a challenge we need to met.

End of the day? We want you to have fun, to laugh, to experience a story that affects you. On whatever terms you want.

— Double Fine (@DoubleFine) July 9, 2021