Personally, half of them feel very abrasive and don't feel like they have enough time in the story to repair their relationship with Raz by the end. Like a single step up from the Interns. Donatella in particular feels especially bad in this regard.
I dunno, Raz technically comes out with 3 moms (Dona, Milla and Hollis) by the end of 2 so I guess it all worked out?
As characters and concepts I like them. Their execution in game not so much. I don't hate them, I just find their writing situation unfortunate.
They have the potential to be very excellent as characters. Though it never gets the extent of proper justice in Pn2. The game has a massive problem of juggling many characters at once.
Like the interns, they get back-stoved in the 2nd half of the game, then appear near the climax like we didn't just ignore them for 12 hours.
The Aquatos (Augustus) was very arguably a strong pillar in the first game. It was a beam lurking in the background, but a load bearing one. It was the reason our Mc was here, and it was part of his own personal resolution at the end of the story.
In Pn2, majority of the Aquatos (Part of Raz's character/identity) gets heavily sidelined for one member, Nona, who has an entirely different lane of conflict than the rest of the family. And instead of fleshing out the idea of Raz running away and being a Psychic Agent, - and everyones bitter mixed feelings about that - Nonas plot instead takes main stage and the family is forced to set differences aside and join forces. And thats not necessarily bad.. per say.. It shows that they're all a loving family at the end of the day. But it's just so. Dismissive. To many, it doesn't feel like a proper resolution to the negative feelings shown in their introduction to these characters. It can come across as "After a life+family threatening situation, psychics and you being a psychonaut is okay to me now." Hyperbolic, but I assume thats how many players feel. Maybe even missing the resolution at all due to no direct apologies. - Personally I'm not even wishing for an apology. I just really wish they did much more with the inner family conflict before presumably wrapping it up.
I'm using very harsh tone but I find the topic of them so frustrating. Through fan discussion I've learned to love and appreciate the Aquatos. But thinking about them in canon presentation still winds me up the same as it did 2 years ago. Missed potential just irritates me. More than any snide comment from a fictional character could ever do. The biggest sin these characters ever commit is the fact we may never see them again.
And as a question, do you like psychonauts 1 or two more? :D
received a lot of asks. a lot of asks. more than anticipated. i'm doing one or two at a time. even then may not do them all. i'll try but apologies, i am not feeling the best.
to answer the question, i like psychonauts 1 more. 1 and 2 are games with different goals and 1 is something i enjoy a great deal more. How it told it's story and how simple the story(ies) were. fond of the comedy/writing in the 1st more than the 2nd. And especially liked Raz's character in the original. Loved the small tidbits he hints at about himself and his life. either through other character interactions, or the things he says and does when learning new powers from Ford. all under this moving forward, confident, persona.
i may draw raz melodramatically at times, especially in the above drawings, but Raz's character in pn1 will forever be one of my favorite Hero/comedy protagonists to come.
You draw a lot of Lili, any collected thoughts about Truman? Or I guess, her relationship to him.
No, I do not draw a lot of lili.
There's not a lot of canon material to base Truman off of. But there is a bit that I'll mention.
In the li-po doc, it describes her stays at whispering rock alike to being dropped off at a long-term day camp. Truman being a busy parent due to being The Head, not having much time to spend with his daughter. It then leading to how lili acts and her relationship with him. I imagine him caring for her but there being a distance between them because of how little bonding they do. They should start on that now, or their relationship could be strained in the future. Speaking from experience.
In pn2 we never see her mother so I presume her dead or divorced. Those are both major headcanon so I'll probably never mention it within any comics. Though it can make sense from a character standpoint. Her rebellious bratty attitude can be akin to someone who has lost a parent and lacks the proper support. Or a kid with a separated parent situation. And Truman just seems like a sad man. Not confirmed nor canon so that's as far as i'll delve into that.
Truman seems like a powerful, competent, and capable leader for The Psychonauts. Minus the one time. He seems busy and more dedicated to his job rather than personal matters, basing this mostly off li-po doc. He also seems like a good man, a busy man, but good one. He loves his daughter just isn't able to be completely there for her.
If i think of any more points i'll be sure to update.
Hi hi!!! Huge fan of your work and how much you bring to the psychonauts cast! Two questions for the moment; what brought you to psychonauts in the first place? And two, do you plan to expand comics/art towards other characters in the cast? (Hope you have a good rest of your day btw!!)
Initially saw a clip of the 1st game and it happened to be on sale. Heard nothing else about it, but gave it a shot anyway. I like comedy games and I've always been interested in psychology, so the ending was clear.
For the time being I'm mostly focusing on Raz, Sasha, Milla, themselves, and their interconnecting dynamics. That doesn't mean I'm ignoring other characters, though. I have comics about/including other characters written/drafted. Any characters in the picture apply to that.
Do you have anything Raz and Frazie related planned? If you're still talking asks of course..
not soon. but maybe one day. it'd probably utilize them being closer since they're both psychic, and her feeling like he betrayed her by just leaving. referencing that one-off "later traitor" line. it'd be interesting because she wouldn't directly tell him that. just through passive aggressive tones. though no concrete comic planned.
