Double Fine has revealed that Psychonauts 2 will feature an invincibility toggle as it believes that “all people should be able to enjoy games.”
Double Fine shared this bit of news on Twitter in response to Xbox’s Twitter saying that “beating the game on the lowest difficulty is still beating the game.”
“If you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat P2.” Double Fine wrote. “All people should be able to enjoy games. All ages, all possible needs. 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.”
The studio also shared a satirical quote that pokes fun at those online who try to gatekeep games and say not everyone should play a game.
“‘uh, excuse me I beat Sword Guy Serious Time on a no hit hard mode and if 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,'” The quote reads.
In response to the fake quote, and to emphasize the point, Double Fine added, “cool bud. you’re soooo cool!”
This debate on game difficulty has been an ongoing one for years now, but the truth of the matter is that difficulty is relative to individual players in so many ways. By adding an invincibility toggle to Psychonauts 2, this in no way impacts the player who wants to play on the hardest difficulty. It only allows more players to enjoy a game that just may become their next favorite of all time.
Psychonauts 2 and its invincibility toggle will be released on August 25, 2021, on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, and PS5 via backwards compatibility. Oh, and it will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day 1.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.