Psychonauts (Multiplatform, 2005)

It is impossible to talk about Psychonauts (2005) without first talking about its auteur, Tim Schaffer.  He started working for LucasArts and producing such classics as Secret of Monkey Island and The Day of the Tentacle.  Eventually he made a game called Grim Fandango which was critically applauded at the time but the public dismissed it, and due to the game's poor sales, Schaffer was let go from LucasArts.  He went on to form his own company, Double Fine, which is still going strong today.  Their first project would be a game called Psychonauts.
Looking at Psychonauts, you can see Schaffer's fingerprints all over it.  The expressionist art design, the quirky sense of humor, and a story which takes something mundane and turns it extraordinary.  In this case, the game takes place at a summer camp for children with psychic abilities, and during a "briefing" by the ex-military Coach Oleander, a young boy named Raz crashes in, having just run away from his home of the circus to attend the camp.  Fellow coaches Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello are intrigued by this young boy who seems to have abilities well beyond his years, but call his parents to pick him up regardless.  Raz must become a Psychonaut in a day or two before that happens, and his dreams are ruined forever.
What is a Psychonaut?  They are the special agents who have master every telekinetic ability and are literally sent into people's minds to cure them of their mental illnesses.  The overworld of the game is the camp, which offers much exploration opportunities, and each level takes place in the mind of different characters.  This allows every visual style and level design imaginable to come into the game and not feel out of place.  No two levels play the same, and they are all incredibly fun.  Oleander's mind has you fighting your way through a battlefield, Bodello's mind is a dance party where you use your newly learned hovering abilities to zoom around like a pinball, and Agent Nein's mind is a planetoid cube and shooting gallery.
Some of Psychonauts' best features are it's sense of humor and artistic design.  The look of the game is very obviously taken from German expressionism, where shapes are skewed, bent, and shadows are elongated.  Characters resemble most anything BUT human beings, but this gives everyone a unique look, making most of the characters highly memorable.  This is helped by the game's wonderfully written characters and dialogue.  The humor in the game ranges from visual gags to ironic dialogue.  One of the funniest scenes in the game is where Raz goes inside the mind of a giant lungfish (the monster that lives in the lake) and becomes a giant movie monster ravaging a city of miniature lungfish.
The game seems to follow Freudian psychological theory religiously.  Characters who are insane reveal (inside of their minds) that events from their childhood's caused their psychosis.  This even goes for the sane characters.  For instance, you encounter a woman who, drowned in her own self-pity, has lost her mind and behaves erratically.  When you go inside of her mind, you find out that she was a famous actress, haunted by the spirit of her mother, who left her at school for girls to live with a new boyfriend.  The inside of her mind is a stage, and you are the director.  You make changes to the script, mood lighting, and endure the heckling remarks of a critic.  It would be easy enough for the game to hand out backstory in exposition, but it is clever enough to incorporate every story element into the gameplay, making a game that is completely seamless in every regard.
It is a shame that not more people have played Psychonauts, because it is one of the most original and fun games I have ever played.  Its fluid combination of different gameplay styles (adventure, platforming, RPG) and original level design, with thought-provoking psychology and genuinely funny humor make this a game deserving of higher praise and sales than it received.  Its base of fans has slowly grown over the years, but there is still not much chance for a Psychonauts 2.  Tim Schaffer is the premiere game designer and auteur from the United States, and fans can always look forward to his games being original and creative.