Double Fine and partner 2 Player Productions have released an astounding 32-part documentary delving into the development of Psychonauts 2. Double Fine has a long history of offering insight into how it makes games. That's been in question since the studio was acquired by Microsoft, but it appears to have at least continued for Psychonauts 2. The documentary, dubbed the PsychOdyssey, is available to view now for free on YouTube.
Double Fine first worked with 2 Player Productions on the Double Fine Adventure documentary. The Double Fine Adventure documents the development of the Kickstarter-funded adventure game Broken Age. That documentary was celebrated as much or more as the game itself, due to the kind of access that 2 Player Productions was given to developers, meetings, and Double Fine game director Tim Schafer.
The effort started with the Double Fine Adventure appears to have continued through the development of Psychonauts 2. Double Fine explains that 2 Player Productions has been involved with the project going back to its initial Fig crowdfunding effort in 2015. In the years since, 2 Player Productions accrued over five thousand hours of footage, which has been cut down to create the 32-episode Double Fine PsychOdyssey.
Double Fine PsychOdyssey's release may feel like a surprise, given Psychonauts 2 was released over a year and a half ago. But the PsychOdyssey's origins go all the way back to 2016, when a documentary making to the Double Fine Adventure was promised to backers on Fig. In other words, this has been a long time coming, and it's nice to see that Double Fine is making the entire documentary available to Psychonauts fans across the world for free.
As noted, the Double Fine PsychOdyssey is 32 episodes long. Each episode's length can vary dramatically, with some as short as 20 minutes and others well over an hour. Those wanting to watch the whole thing will need to dedicate a significant amount of time to it. In turn, they may get one of the most in-depth looks at game development available online.
The PsychOdyssey isn't just for fans of Psychonauts, of course. The development of Psychonauts 2 was anything but ordinary. Between the start of Psychonauts 2's development and its release, Double Fine went through selling the company to Microsoft, the pandemic, and multiple delays. It was an incredibly tumultuous development cycle, and the PsychOdyssey offers insight into everything that happened along the way.
Psychonauts 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.