As of late, developers have made great strides to improve the accessibility of their games. Customizable control options have become a standard feature across most games. Multiple titles now include assist modes, visual toggles, and other features that allow players of all backgrounds to enjoy these experiences more easily. It only makes sense that Double Fine’s upcoming Psychonauts 2 will continue this trend through the inclusion of an invincibility toggle that comes with no apparent downsides. Double Fine revealed the invincibility toggle through a Twitter thread.
Double Fine’s relatively informal announcement came in response to a recent tweet posted by the official Xbox Twitter account, which said that “beating the game on the lowest difficulty is still beating the game.” Double Fine echoed this sentiment, saying that “if you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat P2.” Double Fine went on to remark that “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 [meet].”
Rejecting toxicity
In addition to discussing the importance of accessibility, Double Fine also poked fun at the judgemental attitudes some gamers hold about how others enjoy their games. Pretending to be one of these gamers, Double Fine tweeted this: “‘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.'” In addition to this comment, Double Fine sarcastically referred to players with this mindset as “soooo cool.”
The addition of the invincibility toggle in Psychonauts 2 should undoubtedly help players who struggle with 3D platformers such as this one. Of course, invincibility toggles do not address every potential accessibility concern, and it remains to be seen how robust Psychonauts 2’s accessibility options will end up being overall.
