#like when Raz's knees buckle after Lili calls him her boyfriend‚ a direct callback to the very first scene in Psychonauts 1

[sleepyjuniper]

Okay another thing I really like about Psychonauts is the nature of its dialogue options. I collected some screenshots from a video of Pn2 dialogue options to demonstrate this, but it's present in Pn1 as well. And if I had gifs of these exact scenes I'd use them, but alas.

Basically, the dialogue options you're given are literally Raz's thoughts. The paths his brain is branching out towards. These are multiple different things he's thinking about in the moment, and you are just picking the one he decides to verbalize. Which means, a fully conceptualized thought in his head sometimes comes out differently when put into words, because he's literally changing how he wants to word it in real time. Changing his mind about what he actually wants to say.

So, here's my favorite example. (Sidenote: In the first playthrough I watched of this, you could actually see the player debate whether or not to choose this option and it was really funny. They ultimately chose to see what would happen.)

So, you can see that this is a subject he wants to address, and in his head, he knows how he would word it. However, once you choose that option...

He loses his confidence and chickens out. This is an unusual structure for video game dialogue. Your protagonist is not usually unpredictable; what you select is simply what they'll say. In this way, the game keeps you guessing on what to expect. It feels less rigid and scripted. I mean, Raz is literally going off script.

Here's another example because this happens the most when he's talking to Lili and I find it really adorable

You can really see into Raz's inner workings with these dialogue options. It's a deeper look into his thoughts, his character. You can tell he thinks alot about the moment he and Lili had back at the summer camp, but isn't as confident when it comes to actually voicing those thoughts. It makes him feel more human and relatable in a way I can't perfectly describe.

I also just really like how the dynamics shifted and evolved between Pn1 and Pn2. The way Raz matures and his demeanor changes reflects the real life experiences that the Double Fine team collected over the 10+ years between development cycles, and even during development.

The way Raz and Lili's relationship is portrayed is more in line with modern expectations, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Tim Schafer has always strived for portraying his characters and story respectfully, and he only improved with the extra time between projects.

Anyway, bonus dialogue:

Absolute goober