Does Psychonauts 2 Feature a Point of No Return?

The following article contains spoilers for Psychonauts 2.

While you really should do everything you can to avoid significant Psychonauts 2 spoilers before you’ve played the game, it’s understandable that some fans are already wondering whether or not the sequel’s story features a “point of no return.”

In the original Psychonauts, players reached a moment in the story most commonly referred to as the point of no return. Just as the name suggests, it was basically the point in the story when you were essentially forced to play through the game’s climactic moments and could no longer return to the main camp area. Reaching that point came as quite a shock to many players who suddenly realized they were unable to go back and complete the game’s various optional objectives and sidequests.

It was possible to get around the point of no return through the game’s autosave functionality and a pretty elaborate glitch, but most Psychonauts players at that time tried to do what they could to warn others about the moment in order to ensure that they had a chance to 100% the game in a more organic way if they chose to do so.

That’s why it makes sense that so many Psychonauts fans are already concerned that Psychonauts 2 may feature a similar point of no return structure that essentially forces them to complete as much of the game as possible before they reach that mysterious moment in the sequel’s story. Thankfully, that isn’t really the case.

Without diving too deeply into spoilers, there is a moment in Psychonauts 2 where you’re essentially forced to walk a linear path that leads straight into the game’s climactic moments. When the final battle is finished, you’ll watch the ending, scan the rolling credits, and ultimately wonder whether or not you’ve missed your chance to 100% the game.

However, that’s not the case. Stick around after the credits, and you’ll be treated to Psychonauts 2‘s somewhat surprising “post-game.” From that point, you’ll be able to explore the game’s world as it exists thanks to your recent efforts. It’s basically the story’s epilogue, and it’s worth exploring simply to hear all of the new dialog options and see how your actions have made the world a (mostly) better place.

More importantly, this part of the game lets you revisit any older area in the game in order to complete any optional objectives that you may have missed along the way. More than just a second chance to see it all, though, this epilogue section of the game actually features certain objectives and items that you’re not able to reach until you’ve acquired your final ability and finished the main story. In other words, it currently doesn’t seem possible to 100% Psychonauts 2 until after you’ve “beaten” the main game.

So not only does Psychonauts 2 not feature a point of no return, but the nature of the game’s structure means that there’s really no need to fret about every optional piece of content along the way. You can simply enjoy the game (which is thankfully incredibly easy to do) and figure out the rest much later on.