A game many years in the making, Psychonauts 2 is the long-awaited follow up to the cult-classic PS2 game. Players will have the chance to encounter Jack Black's voice in Psychonauts 2, with the actor/musician/YouTuber appearing as an orb of light in a psychedelic mission, and in a new video uploaded to Jablinski games, Jack Black shows off some of the level's gameplay.
Jablinski Games has been an outlet for Jack Black for some time now, with the celebrity using it for a mixture of video game and vlog content. The gameplay video opens with Jack Black goofing around, followed by an intro inspired by The Simpsons before Black gives a rundown of his relationship with Tim Schafer and Psychonauts 2 developer Double Fine, citing his work on Brutal Legend.
Jack Black's voice is featured throughout the gameplay in the form of a "spirit energy-ball," as Black describes it. The footage shows just how inventive the new Psychonauts level will be, with Raz falling into a kaleidoscope of shifting colors and patterns at one point through a bi-pedal eyeball. The footage jumps between a few different areas, each seemingly just as mind-bending as the last.
"It actually really feels as though I'm on LSD or magic mushrooms right now because these colors are so vivid, and this landscape is so surreal," Black remarks at one point in the gameplay video. Black also states that he had fun recording his voice lines for the game, despite the fact that the last rounds of recording had to be completed virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Towards the end of the video, Black FaceTimes Time Schafer, speaking briefly about Black's experience with Psychonauts 2's gameplay. The actor seems legitimately excited to be one of the first to put hands on the game, calling himself "the chosen one" and thanking Schafer for the opportunity.
Since its launch, Jack Black's YouTube channel has proven an amazing outlet to connect with his fans, even making waves when Jablinski finally played a game, which had become a running joke for weeks after the channel surfaced. Psychonauts 2 isn't the biggest game that the actor has played on the channel, but the early gameplay footage will likely be appreciated by fans awaiting the game.
Unfortunately, it isn't clear how much longer fans will have to wait before they get their hands on it. Psychonauts 2 was quietly delayed, with a vague 2021 release window being all there is to go off of. With any luck, the game will launch in the early parts of the year, but the exact date is unknown.
Psychonauts 2 is currently in development.