One of the most memorable parts of Psychonauts 2 was Compton's Cookout, a level themed after a deranged cooking competition TV show, highlighting performance anxiety and trauma in a particularly intense and funny way. As part of Cooking Week, our editor in chief Danielle Riendeau writes in praise of the level and its unlikely backstory as an Amnesia Fortnite project from a documentary filmmaker who had little experience in game dev.
Truly, what better way to represent that in an adventure-platformer like Psychonauts than a nightmare obstacle course kitchen that requires players to simultaneously juggle cooking tasks in different areas of the arena: a massive blender, a terrifying stove, a horrifying slicer—that's the subject of an especially cutting joke, given the ingredients' cheerful dispositions. It's strong level design on both a pure gameplay level and a narrative one. Success requires combining platforming feats of fancy with a multitasking element (most recipes require you to have multiple ingredients in various stages of prep at a time), and a countdown clock breathes down your neck the whole time. There is an element of risk vs. reward to juggle in each section: slower, safer ways to tackle the tasks, and faster, riskier strategies that may pay off big time: or cause you to lose precious seconds. The pressure, in every way, is on.
Read the whole blog over at Game Developer.
I seriously loved Psychonauts 2 (and, alongside the original, count it among my all-time favorites), and enjoyed having a chance to sound off about Compton's Cookoff. I find it incredibly inspiring.