Things you might have missed the first time around.

[Toliver]

Aside from tickling, surely there must be some purpose? Every other item has a crucial role at least once, I think the feather is hiding a great secret from us.

I have a theory but I need to check it out.

SPOILERS!! Don't read this if you haven't been to the Milkman Conspiracy level yet.

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I'm assuming they want you to use the first feather just like you used the feather in the Milkman Conspiracy. In the GPC there's a crow near the high boulder that the Telescope (Scavenger Hunt item) is on. My theory is you're supposed to use Clairvoyance on the first feather to see through that crow's eyes so you can locate this Scavenger Hunt item that's high and out of sight. That would make sense.

What's odd, though, is how far you have to go into the game before you can use this feature. Pretty much everything that you need in the game comes along as you need it or are supposed to use it. There are a couple of exceptions. You have to come back to the GPC once you've gained Invisibility to get the Golden Acorn from the squirrel. You also have to come back to the GPC once you have the Shield power (after Lungfishopolis) to get the Miner's Skull that's stuck in the geyser/hot springs. So maybe you're supposed to come back to the GPC when you get Clairvoyance in the Milkman Conspiracy and use it on the feather just like you did in Boyd's mind/level.

Another odd thing is that, as I've posted in the pinned "Glitches/Easter Egg" discussion, you can reach the Telescope in the GPC without any of Raz's mental powers. You can also reach it once you get Levitation so you don't need to wait until you have Clairvoyance.

Maybe it's there to help game players who haven't figured out where the Telescope is.

I'll go through the game again (go ahead, force me!) to see if my theory is true.

[Xbob42]

I have a theory but I need to check it out.

SPOILERS!! Don't read this if you haven't been to the Milkman Conspiracy level yet.

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I'm assuming they want you to use the first feather just like you used the feather in the Milkman Conspiracy. In the GPC there's a crow near the high boulder that the Telescope (Scavenger Hunt item) is on. My theory is you're supposed to use Clairvoyance on the first feather to see through that crow's eyes so you can locate this Scavenger Hunt item that's high and out of sight. That would make sense.

What's odd, though, is how far you have to go into the game before you can use this feature. Pretty much everything that you need in the game comes along as you need it or are supposed to use it. There are a couple of exceptions. You have to come back to the GPC once you've gained Invisibility to get the Golden Acorn from the squirrel. You also have to come back to the GPC once you have the Shield power (after Lungfishopolis) to get the Miner's Skull that's stuck in the geyser/hot springs. So maybe you're supposed to come back to the GPC when you get Clairvoyance in the Milkman Conspiracy and use it on the feather just like you did in Boyd's mind/level.

Another odd thing is that, as I've posted in the pinned "Glitches/Easter Egg" discussion, you can reach the Telescope in the GPC without any of Raz's mental powers. You can also reach it once you get Levitation so you don't need to wait until you have Clairvoyance.

Maybe it's there to help game players who haven't figured out where the Telescope is.

I'll go through the game again (go ahead, force me!) to see if my theory is true.

 

I used Clairvoyance on him without using the feather and he wasn't looking at anything interesting in particular that I could see...

[Poopdogjr]

I kinda thought the same thing actually. Hmmmmm....

[Toliver]

SPOILERS

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*My theory was correct. I went through (part of) the game again last night.

If you use Clairvoyance on the first feather, you see the Telescope through the eyes of a crow sitting above it. The crow is high enough that you can't levitate up to it or hit it or blast it like you can with other crows in the game. So it's only purpose is to show players the Telescope high up on the boulder.

Remind me next time not to grab that first feather!

[Xbob42]

SPOILERS

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*My theory was correct. I went through (part of) the game again last night.

If you use Clairvoyance on the first feather, you see the Telescope through the eyes of a crow sitting above it. The crow is high enough that you can't levitate up to it or hit it or blast it like you can with other crows in the game. So it's only purpose is to show players the Telescope high up on the boulder.

Remind me next time not to grab that first feather!

 

 

Interesting... But I can use Clairvoyance on the crow without the feather equipped... Just some tricky jumping. How useless! I found the telescope without Clairvoyance... Hardly a vital item!

[Teowli]

Eh, heh...I missed a lot of things the first couple of times I played the game. The BEST thing I've run across in my third time playing, though...

 

Okay, rather than spoil it: Y'know how you get the Confusion Bombs from Dingo in the Black Velvetopia level? You're supposed to use them against El Odio to stop him long enough for the BullDog downstairs to paint the billboard, amirite? Okay. XD Now, before you decide to chuck one 'o' those things that bull's way, just try smacking the dog with one first. His reaction is HILARIOUS.

[martmeister]

Well, your inventory is determined by what mind you're in. You can't carry a deep-arrow divining rod into a mind nor can you carry inventory from one mind to another.

 

Hmm, I guess the feather's purpose was to see scavenger hunt items (as though to remind you to use clairvoyance)...?

[Toliver]

I discovered yesterday as I played through the game (yet again) that after you give Edgar three cards in Black Velvetopia, the card tower is high enough that if Raz (you) looks beyond the walls of the central area, you can see the bull running. Eventually he fades off into the distance only to appear back in the central area again. But that was something I never noticed before.

 

Also, once you've given Edgar the 4th and last Queen card and he disappears from the top of the card tower, the bull also seems to disappear from down below (which makes perfect sense given the storyline and the next scene in the bullfighting arena).

If this is true (I will go through that part of the game again to check this theory out) then that could mean that if you missed out on any figments, baggage, etc, you could go back to the outer city/streets (beyond the central area) and run the down the main street of the town without worrying about being smashed by the bull. Very cool!

 

Another thing: After you've given Edgar the 4th and last Queen and he disappears at the top of card tower, Raz can climb up to the final card platform without triggering the cutscene that takes him to the bullfight arena (Boss Battle 1 in Black Velvetopia). It's only when he takes a second step on the top card that triggers the cutscene. Once Raz pulls himself up to stand on the top card platform, you can move the camera perspective to high overhead and you will be able to see the inside of the gold/yellow ring up on the ceiling as you circle the camera around the card tower.

It's no big deal, but again, was something I missed the first 20 or 30 times through the game. ;-)

 

edited to add: My theory was a bust. Luckily, I had a game save just before Raz triggers the first Boss battle with Edgar the Bull. Yes, the bull does disappear when Edgar disappears at the top of the card tower. However, once you leave the central area and step back on the main street, the bull reappears in his running cycle. So it's best to beat the two Boss Battles first and then come back into the level to catch up on any missing figments, baggage, etc.

[martmeister]

Yeah, that kinda sucks for folks like me who like to get everything the first time through a level.

[Toliver]

Another thing I didn't discover until going through the game later is that in the Waterloo World level, Raz can walk in the water (sort of) without being grabbed by the Water Curse.

When Raz is at his smallest (where he can interact with the peasants and grab figments, etc), the "world" he is in is actually a game board. This means the water has seams to it just like the grassy land does. Raz can walk on these seams in the water without the curse grabbing him because the water is too shallow. It's a fine line though. If he wanders too far off of the seam (goes into the water too deeply), he'll get grabbed.

Walking on the water seams makes it a lot easier to get around in the gameboard portion of the level.

[martmeister]

I noted that, too. Raz can walk in any water without the Water Curse...as long as the water's shallow enough. Except for the lake, all the water at camp is too shallow to summon the curse.

[Toliver]

Another small thing I didn't notice until a later trip through the game:

When Raz enters the Lodge at night (all the kids are gone) the logs in the fireplace are floating just little bit off the ground. When he enters the Lodge, they quickly fall to the ground.

[martmeister]

Neat-o. Toliver, you've played this game way too much, lol.

[Toliver]

Neat-o. Toliver, you've played this game way too much, lol.

Ain't that the truth?! I think I'm auditioning to be a tester for Tim's next game. ;-)

 

SPOILERS!!! Turn away from this post if you haven't tackled Black Velvetopia yet.

 

 

 

Another thing I didn't catch the first time through and now it's really bugging me is the power of Confusion.

When you first acquire the power of Confusion from Dingo in his apartment in the Black Velvetopia level, you can only hold 5 Confusion Bombs at a time.

Once you've got the power and you go through the secret passage in the fireplace in Dingo's apartment, you eventually come to a Confusion upgrade. It's the glowing question mark on your left as you slide across the rail at the end of the secret passage that leads to the last baggage. Once you collect this question mark upgrade, there's a message that says something like "Congratulations! You've just received a Confusion Bomb upgrade. You can now hold more Confusion Bombs!"

Big freakin' deal! Now instead of holding five Confusion Bombs, I can hold six. Whoopee! I can hold one extra Confusion Bomb. My life will be so much better now that I can hold one more Confusion bomb.

There's another Confusion Bomb upgrade in Waterloo World. I'm not sure how much more you get (another excuse to go through the game yet again! Ha!).

I just don't understand the logic of the first upgrade in Black Velvetopia. I could see if the upgrade was to 10 or something like that...but increasing my stash by just one? Puh-leaze.

 

And another thing that bugs me is when you fight the last wrestler using the Confusion Bombs, the first time you whomp him and you gain another Confusion bomb, a message appears, stopping your game play, telling you that "You just gained a Confusion Bomb!". Here I am in the middle of a wrestling match and they stop the game to tell me I've gotten a Confusion Bomb.

Uh, thanks for that. Can I go back to whompin' the wrestler now?

[martmeister]

To be honest, other than fighting King Kong Cobra Jr (?) in Velvetopia, the confusion bombs/grenades were pointless.

[Toliver]

You're right. I'd hope that they would have more of an effect. It would have been great if they could have caused the rats to explode in the Thorny Tower instead of just confusing them like everything else in the game.

Sure, it was kinda fun to see how the different characters in the game react to the grenades/bombs, but then what?

It would have been fun if Raz had the power of Precognition but only for few seconds into the future. So if he were in a timed maze, for example, he would have to make spllit second decisions to go one way or the other based upon what he saw in the future. Sort of like a "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" thing.

 

Confusion bombs/grenades aside, Psychonauts is still a helluva great game...

[Toliver]

Okay, I picked up where I left off and went through Waterloo World to get the Confusion Grenade Upgrade. Brace yourself. The upgrade takes you from holding 6 grenades to 7. Yep, you get to hold one whole extra grenade after the upgrade. Woo-hoo!

But wait. It gets better.

I went even further this time. I usually stop playing the game before the annoying Meat Circus level but I went ahead and continued though. Before you enter the first Meat Circus tent (with the gypsy fortune teller who'll redeem all of your stuff), at the end of the street, hidden from view, there's another Confusion Grenade Upgrade.

Wait for it. Yep, with this last Confusion Grenade Upgrade you get to now hold 8, yes count 'em, 8 Confusion Grenades. Isn't that great? Never mind that the grenades don't do anything in this level. The pschyo rabbits that the meat grinders emit just seem to have seizures when you hit them with a Confusion Grenade and the knife-throwing Rabbits just look like they've had one too many drinks. I didn't think about hitting the Butcher with one to see what he would do (another experiment coming up!).

I wasn't sure if Raz would be able to conquer the Meat Circus with only 7 Confusion Grenades, but with the ability to upgrade to 8 grenades, why, the world is his oyster. Raz can do anything! Yep, that one extra Confusion Grenade tips the psychic world in his favor.

Oy!

[Renegadeoboe]

Word on the street says you can use the Confusion Grenades on "Mr. Bun" and then pick him up and bring him to Little Oly, instead of using TK (which sometimes takes longer).

 

They are not completely useless in the Meat Circus!