razputin.net

Razputin.net, also known as Razputin’s Domain, was a Mixnmojo Network website dedicated to the official Psychonauts website launched in February 2005. The site primarily focused on allowing fans of the game to discuss and share strategies along with sharing any lost content. Additionally, it provided an overview of the game’s character profiles, system requirements, enemies, and a multimedia gallery. However, it’s unclear why this website was taken down, while other Mixnmojo websites dedicated to DoubleFine games, such as Grim Fandango’s fan website, remain operational, as do fan websites for Monkey Island and its related games.

I found one of the last posts on this website from March 2, 2019. It’s a screenshot from the second game, showing Raz in Ford’s mind. So, it seems like this website either stopped working right before the game came out or just stopped working altogether. It was probably just used to promote the second game. It’s hard to find posts that are newer because they just redirect to a random old capture of the website on the Wayback Machine.

The purpose of this page is to simply archive everything I can find from this website by skimming through different captures. Some of the information may contradict each other because I’m having to go through different years to find information that loads. I apologize if anything doesn’t make sense; I’m just copying and pasting it directly from the website archive.

Psychonauts

Overview

Throughout Psychonauts, you will experience the events of the story whilst playing as a chap named Razputin, a former-acrobat trainee in a camp that is designated for training would-be Psychonauts. There to simply get a shot at being one of the aforementioned Psychonauts - international secret agents who use their psychic abilities to quite literally get within their suspects' heads - Raz has little in the world to care for other than achieving his goal.

That is, until other children at the camp start to go missing, one particular girl takes an interest in him, and a diabolical scheme involving the usage of the campground's kids begins to unfold. The world of Psychonauts has a lot of dark secrets to hide beneath its fairytale appearance -- you may not like what you see.

Commonly referred to as an action adventure game, you would be forgiven for thinking that it is yet another mediocre 3D platforming game, desperately attempting to reach the same level of fun as Mario 64. You'd also be forgiven for thinking that Double Fine, a fairly new games development studio with no apparent portfolio of past work to speak of, haven't got the experience or ability to create a game that is a true masterpiece.

However, you would be totally wrong to think the above. Psychonauts is not just any action adventure game. It's a Tim Schafer action adventure game. Responsible for the likes of Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango in the past, as well as contributing hugely with dialogue and puzzles to the grandaddy of all adventure games that is Monkey Island, he left a trail of utterly astounding games during his years at LucasArts.

The aforementioned games are all highly respected as titles of the past, and still hold up fairly strongly today with regards to their levels of immersion, character development, storylines, and general realisation of the universes they represent. Psychonauts, although may not be a traditional adventure game in that it will be driven by platforming action as opposed to puzzles, will still feature all of the qualities which made the former games so memorable.

It has a gripping storyline. It has heaps of characters, all with their own believable personalities and dialogue trees with which memorable conversations can occur. It has a fully fleshed out world which is a joy to simply wander around. Not only that, but it also has a truly unique style of art direction which makes almost every single screenshot a piece of art in its own right -- with no small thanks to Scott Campbell. This game is beautiful in a very traditional sense.

The music is on a similar level of polish to the game itself. With Peter McConnell responsible for its production, you can expect to have a simply stunning soundtrack keeping up with the action and situations which the game presents to you. Monkey Island and Grim Fandango are two other games which have enjoyed the McConnell treatment. If you want a sneak preview of the music Psychonauts will offer, you may wish to check out the cutscene videos.

So, with Psychonauts briefly summed up in a few paragraphs, why not head over to our other Psychonauts sections and read a little more in-depth information? All of the character profiles and such are constantly being updated as new information becomes available, and there's all the technical information that you need. Have a blast -- Razputin would want you to.

Character Profiles

Raz

Throughout the entirety of Psychonauts, you play as Razputin. Originally heiling from an acrobatic circus family, Raz left them behind so that he could concentrate on his own future. Inspired by the prospect of being a Psychonaut in the psychic age, he enlisted at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp -- an organisation that trains up would-be Psychonauts, international secret agents who use their psychic powers to aid the cause, to their full potential.

At the beginning of the game, after only just arriving at the camp, Razputin is told that his father is coming to collect him within the new day or so. This forces Raz to concentrate on getting all of the necessary merit badges from the camp as quickly as possible so that he may embark on the journey towards being a fully-fledged Psychonaut. This is essentially the basis of the game, although certain events which unfold along the way change this plan considerably.

Lili

Lili is a fellow trainee at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, and has been so for a number of years prior to Razputin's temporary enlistment. She has a wealth of existing psychic experience, and loves nothing more than exciting adventures to stir up the otherwise quiet nature of the campgrounds.

From the very moment that Razputin walks (or drops, as the case may be) into the camp, Lili falls for the budding Psychonaut. However, her natural resilience to throw herself at him prevents her from immediately revealing her affections. Eventually, the two finally come together and all is revealed -- seconds before the unthinkable happens.

Dogan

Dogan is, like Razputin, fairly new to the camp. He is a very timid little fellow, and resembles a baby quite closely with regards to his general look and attitude. He's clearly one of the younger camp members, and this shows in his babyish yet extremely likable personality.

He has a slightly dark past of having accidentally made people's heads explode, which is a natural powerful ability of his which he seems to have little control over. He continually has to wear a special hat which prevents this from occuring, which is probably for the best. This is one kid that Bobby shouldn't annoy too much.

Bobby

Fulfilling the need that any kind of establishment housing a number of children has, Bobby Zilch is around to constantly poke fun at others, intimidate them into becoming his willing financers, and generally kick up a stir in the otherwise peaceful summer camp. No man is safe from the lisped words of this bully.

Razputin, however, is not as willingly made fun of as the others. Eager to stand up for himself and put Bobby in his place, the two will encounter each other a number of times during the game's course. Be sure to sort him out if you come across him, for this ginger-haired kid needs some attitude adjustment.

Other Kids

Besides Razputin, Lili, Bobby and Dogan, there are of course many other children residing at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp whom you will come to meet and get to know during the game. There are a lot of them, so they don't all have individual sections for the sake of overcrowding. However, they are very, very individual and developed characters. Getting to understand all of them is a huge joy in itself.

Ranging from Rachel, who has an uncanny ability to make herself invisible for incredible stretches of time, to the infuriating cheerleader pair who relentlessly feed you words and dances of encouragement, Psychonauts is packed with memorable characters who each sport dozens upon dozens of lines of dialogue -- particularly in the case of one, who will quite happily tell you his life story if you sit there and listen.

Coach Oleander

Being the main man at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, Morceau "Morry" Oleander's job is to ensure that the participating children all receive the best psychic education possible, so that they can secure a place on the journey to becoming a Psychonaut. He runs his classes with the maximum efficiency, and drives the children to the very edge of what they can handle, using his years as a serving soldier to aid this process.

Coach Oleander seemingly spends a lot of time devising plans for his next class, and has a habit of accidentally snoring straight into the campground's speaker system, much to the distaste of those trying to relax within the campground's boundaries. Better not disturb him, poor Morry doesn't like to be startled whilst sleeping. He works closely in teaching Whispering Rock's cadets with the other two Psychonaut tutors brought into the camp -- Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello.

Sasha Nein

Sasha Nein is a true Psychonaut, with years of experience on the field behind him. He works between missions at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, where he helps out Coach Oleander with the teaching of the summer camp's kids, in the hope that at least some of them will turn out to one day become powerful Psychonauts just as he is.

Almost obsessive about clutter and things being untidy, Sasha keeps his mind and memories perfectly sealed away within a gigantic cube. He must be in control of his own thoughts, and tirelessly works to live by those words -- this is possibly why he became so good at the job which he continually carries out.

Milla Vodello

Milla Vodello, "The Mental Minx", completes the trio of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp's trainers. Just as with Coach Oleander and Sasha Nein, you will be tasked with exploring her mind early on during the game. She is a master of levitation, and you will learn the tricks of the trade whilst within her head.

The mind of Milla Vodello is like a continuous party, with bright flashing lights and retro design illuminating every single wall with incredibly bright colours. Nobody, however, is completely free of bad memories -- even a person with as seemingly joyful a mind as Milla's. Look hard enough, and you too will see.

Ford Cruller

One of the most intriguing characters in the game, Ford Cruller is the general handyman of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. He runs the campground store, he sweeps the leaves from the forests, he takes care of the reception area, and he cleans and repairs the lake boats -- all at the same time.

As the game's storyline unfolds, you will learn more about Ford Cruller and discover that there is far more to this interesting fellow than what you'd assume from his old, twisted exterior. In addition to all that, he makes some delicious burgers in the campground lodge's kitchen. Be sure to pick one up for me.

Edgar

Being another of the abandoned insane asylum's past residents, Edgar is continually troubled by the devastation which a failed relationship caused him during his youth. His artistically painted mind is tainted by a stampeding mental bull, which manifests in his psychical artwork and prevents him from ever truly finishing a painting.

You will be tasked with doing the right thing, and must help poor Edgar to achieve happiness by sorting out his mental demons once and for all by delving into the deepest reaches of his mind personally. Be warned though, it's a very twisted and dangerous world within the heads of these former asylum patients.

Gloria

Gloria adds another notch to the tally of mentally disturbed people from the abandoned asylum, with the memories of her mother and childhood forever denying her freedom from herself. Once an actor, Gloria shunned her mother away after she had done all she could to ensure that Gloria's future would be successful.

The consequences of this were fatal, and Gloria is forced to live with the upset of her mother's death for the remainder of her life. The memories of the past slowly turned Gloria certifiably crazy, with mood swings and an irrational attachment to plants dominating her regular life.

Crispin

Although once a suffering member of the abandoned insane asylum, Crispin appears to now defend the upper levels of the forgotten building as a warden, sporting the official uniform to boot. Whether this is a huge delusion that's manifested from when the asylum closed, or whether it's somebody else taking advantage of the fact that he's partially blind and have fooled him into believing that the asylum is still going is not really known. Either way, he thoroughly believes that he is an asylum orderly.

Crispin certainly isn't an unintelligent fellow, with a keen eye for detail despite his cataracts causing partial blindless in both eyes. He relentlessly blocks anybody other than Doctor Loboto from reaching the upper levels of the abandoned asylum, relying on the doctor's key features to identify him. Crispin also has a history of playing board games with Fred in the past, another asylum resident, which worked harshly against the mental stability of the latter.

Boyd

Boyd was once a watchman, who carried out his job with immense pride. Due to a decision by his employers, Boyd was fired from the job which meant everything to him. In a disillusioned rage, Boyd decided to exercise his vengeance by firebombing the place -- he was soon booked into the insane asylum. When the asylum closed down, however, he didn't leave. Somebody else had a use for him.

This troubled man is constantly haunted by the belief that he's involved in a huge conspiracy, being a paranoid schizophrenic, and is always being watched. The insides of his mind are truly overwhelming, with hundreds of cameras and spies watching at all times. At the centre of this fabricated conspiracy lies a milkman, whom's role can only be guessed.

Fred

Fred, an actual descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte, cannot escape the clutches of a mental version of the late emperor who lives on within his head. Enrolled in an endless board game of war against his ancestor, Fred's lack of passion for war results in the twisted game never ending.

Fred was probably far better off until he lost the game against Crispin, an at-the-time very disturbed patient of the asylum. Since then, things went rapidly downhill for the split personality toting man and his ancestors' memory. Can you help Fred to finally win this epic game within the recesses of his brain?

Sheegor

Probably one of the more disturbed people from the abandoned asylum, Sheegor is a presumably fairly old woman who seems to have retained the personality and voice of a child. Her biggest love in the whole world is here little turtle, Mr. Pokeylope, who she treasures above all else.

Sadly, Doctor Loboto seems to have some kind of hold over Sheegor which results in her doing his bidding. She remains, like the other former asylum residents, in the ruins of the abandoned building. She has an uncanny ability to duck out of sight at an almost unbelievable speed.

Frequently Asked Questions.

What platform is Psychonauts currently available for?
Psychonauts is currently available on the Xbox, Playstation 2 and PC. No version is planned for the GameCube, Mac, Linux, Unix, BeOS or whatever other operating systems people use in order to try and convince themselves that they're alternative.

Who exactly are Double Fine? I've never heard of them.
Double Fine are the development studio responsible for Psychonauts. Headed by Tim Schafer, who brought us classic games such as Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, they have been exclusively working on Psychonauts for the past several years. There is a huge range of talent in the team, many of which worked on Grim Fandango, and Psychonauts is a testament to the fact that this new studio has a very bright future.

Does Psychonauts have a purchasable soundtrack? I really like the music.
Yes, it does. You can buy the Psychonauts soundtrack, as well as a range of other awesome Double Fine and Psychonauts related goodies from the company store. The more financially motivated of you may be interested to hear that one of the Grim Fandango original soundtrack CDs, which was developed by the same composer as Psychonauts, recently sold via eBay for over $100.

Is there a demo? I want to try before I buy. It's how I operate.
There is a demo available for Psychonauts from the official Psychonauts website. The demo functions for thirty days from the point of installation, which should be more than enough time to get a good taste of what the game's all about.

I want to get my hands on some Psychonauts tools. Where can I get them?
You will find a selection of useful files in the downloads section. The most popular by far is Psychonauts Explorer, which lets you extract pretty much every type of data from Psychonauts quickly and easily.

Is there a way to view the cutscenes without actually doing it via the game?
There certainly is. All you have to do is download Rad Video Tools, which will give your system the ability to play .bik files in a featureless window. It's completely safe, and since .bik is a commonly used format it will allow you to play many other games' video files too.

References

As with any Tim Schafer game, Psychonauts is loaded with little references to other games and such. Below you will find a list of those that we've managed to find so far, complete with screenshots for each. Simply click a reference that looks appealing for more information. Note: Beware of spoilers in this section!

The Stump Joke (Added April 20th, 2005)

Returning from The Secret of Monkey Island, the stump joke is a long-running joke that has been in a number of games thus far. It first appeared in 1989's The Secret of Monkey Island, where a suspicous stump could be found in the forest if you were to look around for long enough. Upon a closer look, Guybrush (the main character) would find a small hole in the base of the stump. He would then comment on a whole system of catacombs being visible through said hole. However, there was no way in the game to get through this hole.

The joke returned in 1997's The Curse of Monkey Island, where a crypt which appeared later in the game had a bunch of cracks in the corner with tree roots growing through them. If you tried to look through this crack, you would end up with your head sticking out of the original stump from The Secret of Monkey Island. The joke appeared yet again in 1998's Grim Fandango, in the sewers of the game's final year. If you examine a certain path, Manny comes out with Guybrush's original catacombs line.

And yes, of course, it appears for the fourth (known) time in Psychonauts. In the first part of the game, below the giant tree where the Basic Braining training course takes place, you will find a tree stump with a grill over the top of it near Ford Cruller. Try to use/examine the side of the tree stump twice, and Razputin will come out with the catacombs line from The Secret of Monkey Island, first used 16 (wow) years ago. It's almost poetic.

Loading Screen Imagery (Added April 20th, 2005)

The Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp loading screen has a few little references hidden within it for the sharp-eyed people out there. If you ignore the distraction of the cute little birdies and concentrate on the clouds behind the image, you will notice a couple of things back there which may or may not be coincidental. If you spot anything else, be sure to submit it.

As shown in the second screenshot, Double Fine's logo - the two-headed baby - can be seen ducking behind the trees in the clouds. There is also a cloud which is very similar to the swirly ones which become majorly used in The Curse of Monkey Island. Since not many other games use clouds in this particular, fairly unique style, speculation leads to the assumption that it is a reference to said game.

Enemies

Throughout your psychic and non-psychic adventures in Psychonauts, you'll encounter a number of fiesty enemies who would love nothing more than to obliterate you right there and then. The field guide below should help you to identify each and every one that you encounter, plus provide effective methods of taking them out. There are quite a lot of enemies, so the guide is split up into multiple pages. Simply scroll down to the bottom for more.

Generic Censor
Being one of the more common enemies in the game that you're likely to encounter whilst within the recesses of a person's mind, the censors' primary purpose is to destroy anything in the mind that shouldn't be there -- including Razputin. Generic censors cannot do much other than hit you with their stamp, and they themselves are very weak. A few strong punches should remove these little peskies.

Shouting Censor
Shouting censors are larger and more powerful versions of the generic censors. They're bigger in size, they evade your attacks by jumping away whenever given the oppertunity, and they can fire blasts of censorship at you in the form of a shout. A couple of psi blasts should take these guys out, with a couple of punches being equally effective should you get close enough.

Personal Demon
You really need to watch out for these little pains. When you see one of these little blighters running up to you whilst emitting that astonishingly annoying noise that it does, back off a little and use your psi blast ability to take it out. If it gets close enough, it'll blow up and take a considerable portion of your health away. Personal Demons become particularly lethal if they can form a large crowd -- should you be unfortunate to witness this event, your best hope is to just run, unless you've managed to attain the chain blast psi blast power-up.

Mega Censor
Oh man. Being the absolute pinnacle of what a censor can become, the mega censor is an appropriately massive variety of the above nasties which will unveil itself within the uncluttered depths of Sasha Nein's mind. It relies on a number of generic censor dispensers to draw its energy from, which can be taken out with your psi blast ability. Only then can you use your targetting lock-on combined with the psi blast ability to take the monstrosity itself out. This thing's stamps are lethal, so stay back!

Wild Bear
Generally found within the forests of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, these psychic bears are an example of what concentrated volumes of psitanium can do to the wildlife. Once ordinary bears, these sizable fellows have evolved the ability to utilise telekinesis and levitation, which they use to grab Razputin and suspend him in mid air -- before moving in for the melee kill. Duck and dodge quickly to avoid their telekinesis attacks, and then use either your psi blast or pyrokinesis abilties to give him something to complain about. That, or you could just run like crazy and hope that he finds something else to snack on.

Wild Cougar
Another of the animals of Whispering Rock affected by the psitanium meteorite which landed many years ago, the cougars in the area have developed the extremely lethal ways of pyrokinesis. Within five seconds, these little beasts can turn you into a raging furnace, which is absolutely devastating to your health. Even worse, as soon as you recover they're there, waiting to give you another helping. The quickest way to dispatch of these is to use invisiblity, and get up close enough to land three swift punches into them. As you'll soon discover, they're not so tough without their powers.

The Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata
Lake Oblongata has always been said to house a gigantic lungfish -- you'll soon find the legends to be justified. Almost from the very moment that you step into the underwater depths of the lake, the great lungfish will begin harassing you by blowing junk at you, and then trying to suck you in. When he starts sucking, smash open one of the nail-filled chests around you. Hurt him enough, and he may try to drown you by moving the mucus-lined air bubble which is saving your butt around a bit. As you know, water doesn't agree particularly well with Razputin. So, make sure you don't fall out of the bubble, and try to keep up with the Lungfish. Survive this, and he'll move in for a melee kill. Avoid this particularly lethal attack with your lock-on ability, and then try to trap his grabber in one of the surrounding clams.

Navy Tank
Within the warzone recesses of the Lungfish's mind, you'll find many of these generic tanks aiming to put an end to your day. Despite being around the size of your foot, these things' missiles are frighteningly effective. If you see one coming towards you, the easiest thing to do is to simply move aside. Keep doing this until you get close enough, and then stand on the damned thing. Should they manage to form a group, try to get them to all fire in synchronization, so that they collectively have to reload for a few seconds. Once they do so, immediately jump into the air above them, and utilise your drop-punch ability.

Tesla Truck
Irritate the Lungfishopolis Navy enough, and they'll send out their electronically charged trucks after you. Upon spotting you, these nasty little kittens will unleash a bolt of electricity in your general direction, and attempt to slowly move it towards you before eventually running out of steam after five or so seconds. There's little point in trying to get close to these since they'll just fry you, so instead utilise your shield ability to reflect their attacks back onto them. You can also use your psi blast ability if you have some handy, which should take care of these fairly weak vehicles with ease.

Ridiculously Overpowered Turret
Fortunately for you, only one of these evil machines is featured in Lungfishopolis. Currently pictured in its destroyed state, this large turret exists specifically to protect the city's dam. As soon as it sees you, it will launch an undodgable bolt of something-or-other at you, which will steal a ridiculous amount of damage from you. There's absolutely no point in trying to take it on without the aid of either your shield ability, or invisibility if you have it. With the former, simply activate it when it fires a shot and then progress a few steps at a time between recharges until you can get close enough to take it out. With the latter, just run like crazy towards it and unleash your fists of fury upon it.

Navy Ship
The Lungfishopolis Navy loves nothing more than to send its warships against you, which are each equipped with the turret pictured to the left. The turret in question fires a missile which is very similar to those of the Navy Tanks', except with a homing ability. You can still dodge them by simply moving aside, but you will have to be a lot more dynamic with your movement since they are considerably smarter. Get close enough to the turret itself and a swift punch will do the trick. Be careful when jumping onto the ships themselves, since the surrounding water will quite happily pull you in and never let go. With so many missiles firing towards you at once, this is an easier mistake than you might think.

Navy Plane
After extinguishing all of the previous attacks from the Navy, they have no choice but to bring out their most famous weapons -- their planes. When you're below them, they'll drop bombs on your head and blow you into a thousand little pieces. When you're level with them, they'll launch missiles straight at you and knock you straight back down to the ground. If you can evade both of the aforementioned attacks, simplified greatly by the presence of your shield ability, you can simply lock onto the flying pests and shoot them down with your psi blast. Getting knocked down to the ground is a huge pain, so ensure that you're prepared for their onslaught.

Government Man
As you'll notice from the second that you walk into Boyd's mind, he is utterly convinced that he is being watched at all times. You'll find these government men everywhere in his mind, pretending to be ordinary everyday people such as gardeners and road workers (which is in itself a huge laugh, with their pathetic disguises and the things that they say!). They aren't actually dangerous, although to get past them you do need to be carrying whatever it is that the ones you're trying to get past are carrying. If not, they'll arrest you and you'll end up being thrown back through the level a bit. You'll enjoy the same treatment if you try to hurt them.

Nightmare
The physical manifestation of the nightmares which plague Boyd's mind, these horrible little things pull you into their lair at times and cause you a lot of grief. Their primary attack is to simply try and claw you with their sharp fingers, which is easily dodgable if you lock onto them and hop around like a bunny. While doing this, keep using your psi blast ability. Eventually, their head will explode and a bunch of personal demon heads will pop out. Use your telekinesis ability on these to throw one into the nightmare, and it'll dry up into a lump of stone. Punch, punch, punchy-punch!

The Den Mom
Assigned with the task of protecting the milkman, and taking care of an army of little girls who carry explosive cookies, this nasty female is out to make you pay for penetrating the milkman's lair. Initially she will jump around the room and throw things at you -- things which hurt. Every time she lands, try to get a psi blast in without getting hurt yourself. Eventually, she will turn off the lights. Pick up the object which is glowing in front of you, and you'll be able to use your clairvoyance ability to see through her nightvision glasses. Continue psi blasting as before, and eventually she'll fall. Be particularly careful at this point that you don't fall off of the room's deck.