....the cheap "I can't draw just don't ask" version for us "writing people". -_-

#1: "Assuming you're doing this game because you enjoy the game Psychonauts, just what prey tell was it that got you into the game in the first place? Why do you like it?"

Funny thing about getting Psychonauts, that was a *complete* coincidence. Literally. The game wasn't recommended to me by anyone. I'd just finished American McGee's Alice and figured 'Hey, I'm not that bad at platformer games at all!' Then I did a Wikipedia search on just that, platformers, and it said that Psychonauts was considered one of the best. So I decided to just act on a whim and get it.
That was all I had. The title. I literally knew NOTHING about the game when I started to play it save the title. I knew nothing about the story or the characters beforehand, which is why it was a bit difficult to get into at first (Psychonauts fans will know what I'm talking about) It was the moment it's revealed that Raz is a circus gypsy that I fell in love with it.

As for why I love it...hoo boy.

- First and foremost, again, what made me fall in love was the revelation that Raz was drill-trained in acrobatics, because for the first time they not only gave an in-game REASON for the platforming (why the protagonist in question is so good at jumping, somersaulting and climbing/clinging to walls) which is usually just taken for granted, but they also made this an integral part of the story itself. Raz's hatred for acrobatics training is what largely creates his own issues, and it was this contrast of pent-up psychic powers (completely in the mental/astral sphere) and a life as an acrobat (completely in the physical/earthbound sphere) that intruiged me.

- I love how unpredictable and completely unique from each other, how you never know what to expect when you enter someone's mind because there are no real pointers on the outside. Every mental world is an island to itself, a wonderful, trippy dream, and I love how every physical law is upended, every idea stretched and distorted...BUT.

- BUT. The game MAY look childish, wacky and happy-go-lucky at the first sight, like a fluffy drug trip or a spilled paintbucket (literally at times - just look at Black Velvetopia) but when you take away all the decoration and look at the issues that are "dressed up" inside the characters' minds, the game is actually a dead-on serious thing. It may look juvenile, but it's actually incredibly mature in some of its themes (Suicide, suppression of undesirable feelings, guilt, dark secrets, child abuse.) and it gradually gets more and more disturbing - until it does its complete 180° turn when Raz sneezes his brain out and is forced into his own hell corner. It's at that point the game loses its innocence, and dream worlds turn into nightmares. I still remember how that change impressed me when I first played the game. There's just more to it than meets the eye.

- I love Raz because he's a child who acts like a child. He's neither the Angst Incarnate Frodo Baggins character nor the Incredibly Grown Up and Serious Kid ala Will Parry. He's a ten year old with the faults of one - impulsive and reckless at times, immature, conceited, overreaching in his abilities - but he also has the ability to treat the mental worlds as playgrounds to go wild in, he knows how to use his powers to have fun ("See you in Hell!") and he can actually laugh the villain in the face ("I think you've got the muscle of a little girl, too!") Considering what a disturbing, poison-riddled place his mind actually is, that's pretty impressive, and my heart goes out to Raz for being so determined and keeping his chin up no matter what, and for still being frightened of things the way a child just is ("No!! No meat!!!") Frankly, I'm sick of Epic Heroes, so Raz - who can be a real brat sometimes - was a nice change. When the time comes, he knows how to use his powers responsibly, and I suppose that's his part of growing up.

Inbetween those aspects - The unpredictability of the levels, and how serious the characters/their issues are taken, and Raz - it's basically everything.

#2: "Who's your favourite character?"
The most awesome redheaded 10-year old psychic gypsy child in the history of fiction. You may guess. XD

#3: "If the answer to the last question is Raz, then who is your second-favourite?"
Milla. She may look flippy, superficial and a little tacky on the outside, but I think inside she cares deeply for the children at Whispering Rock, and she radiates this deep love in everything she says. I also love how she dresses up her mind in these blaring disco colors to cope with her grief. ("Miiiilllaaaaa....")
Also, thanks to obsession, I love Raz's dad very dearly by now. Love comes in many, many forms, and I think Augustus' love for his son is boundless, even if it's not always plain out visible. He does everything to keep Raz safe - even at the cost of hurting him, and that's very real.

#4: "What character can't you stand?"
Hmm...the two kids I can't stand (in a good way) are Vernon and Benny.

#5 "Mixing it up a little, what is your favourite team or couple in Psychonauts?"
SASHA AND MILLA. SASHA AND MILLA. SASHA AND MILLA.
Admit it, you love them too. That picture of them in Milla's second vault....eeeeeee!!! They're one extreme, almost crass case of opposites attract, and I LOVE it. XD

#6: "What is your favourite psychic ability featured in the game?"
Out of the merit badge ones on the rucksack, it's probably the Shield. I know it's actually a passive power (until it levels up, that is) but I love how it's a power that Raz can use to protect others along with him. (When the asylum blows up. All I'm saying.) Maybe in the future Raz will learn to project this Shield away from himself completely onto others, protecting others from psychic attacks that way. (No, not like Twilight at all. I hate Twilight.)
...I dunno, I have a weak spot for anything that involves the notion of "protecting someone else". And I think I would know how to use a psychic Shield for myself.
My actual favourite power to use is the Punch/Palm Bomb - it's the most effective combat power in my opinion and I love the noise the palm bomb makes XD
Also: The growth-power for the very last boss fight, because it's Augustus' gift to Raz.
....This got way too long, right?

#7: "What level from the game stands out most to you and why?"
My favourite level's Lungfishopolis, definitely. But as for "standing out" the most...that's GOTTA be the Meat Circus. Hands down. The Meat Circus is the game's 180° spin into a horror trip, the heart of the game itself, and I so totally love it for that.

#8: "Do you have a Psychonauts fan character?"
Well, no original characters per se (yet.......) I only decided to give Raz's family (strange) names. His mother is named Delilah, his two older brothers are called Darius and Gabriel, his older sister is Annamaria (I think she's the oldest) and his younger sister is named Violana. Don't ask. I was writing this for pure fun, based on the first cel in "Razputin's Getaway".

Who'd I wanna tag?