Psychonauts 2 will have an invincibility toggle

Psychonauts
(Image credit: Double Fine)

Psychonauts 2 may feature a spinning tunnel of teeth but that doesn't mean you have to die in it, Double Fine has confirmed. The long-in-development sequel will have an invincibility toggle, meaning that you can beat the game without dying once, even if you're a beginner.

The studio confirmed as much on Twitter, during some stock standard Twitter brand banter. "If you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat P2," the studio tweeted. Adding later that "all people should be able to enjoy games."

"All ages, all possible needs," the messages continue. "It's an ongoing and important process for our industry and a challenge we need to met [sic]. End of the day? We want you to have fun, to laugh, to experience a story that affects you. On whatever terms you want."

Perhaps expecting blowback from some quarters, Double Fine, uh, doubled down. "'uh, excuse me I beat Sword Guy Serious Time on a no hit hard mode and if [you] didn't do that I don't respect you. And like, can you even comment on things if you're not diamond six rank in shooty mcBlam? I don't think so.

"Cool bud. You're soooo cool! 🙃."

The difficulty in games conversation rears its head a lot, with the two chief combatants being those who advocate for accessibility at any cost, and those who think a studio's vision shouldn't be tampered with (the latter argument usually pops up in conversations about the Dark Souls games). 

Psychonauts 2 has been developed with "no crunch" so far, and it's expected to launch on August 25. 

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.