@@gaminggranny1541 I don’t know what this means so I’m just going to assume that you loved it and you thought the TokyoTreat portion was absolutely ELECTRIC. Which I really appreciate. :)
I always saw Sasha as that legitimately cool mentor, the kind of guy that oozes the confidence and works towards better endeavors(whether or not they're ethical, that's another discussion). However, I feel it's just a well controlled facade that hides the tragedies he has faced, but they're so well managed that they tend to resurface in healthier ways. For someone who was never close to his father, Sasha shows a good amount of fatherly moments with Raz. I believe Sasha's desire for father-like connection subconsciously provides it to the boy he sees himself in. And with him not having a mother figure, it makes sense why he's so drawn to Milla despite her being his exact opposite.
That's honestly interesting how by accepting the traumas he's faced growing up has helped him develop the very relationships he's hoping to develop with others.
7:18 Speaking of Tim Schafer, I don't know if this was what you were referring to, but he clarified in an interview that Sasha finds *knockoff* Tiffany lamps to be tacky. The one you see in his office is a genuine Tiffany lamp but the ones he has you destroy in his mind are knockoffs. With this in mind, I believe that he likes genuine Tiffany lamps because his mother owned them when he was a child, which led to a positive association with them as an adult. But he dislikes knockoff Tiffany lamps because he subconsciously perceives them as a mockery of something his late mother evidently loved.
I had heard this, but couldn’t find the interview so I thought I made it up!! Thank you for clarifying! Either way, it doesn’t change a whole lot about what I discuss in the video! :)
@@ThoughtBubbleYT True, but I felt like tying that loose end anyway XD. UA-cam likes to delete comments with links so I'll just tag you with the interview on Twitter.
Also in the game files the big fiery tower section of Sasha's mind is referred to as "the factory" so maybe he worked at a Tiffany lamp factory and thus sees the knockoffs as an insult to his former profession
I love how the "You are my own creation, I command you to stop" joke it still used in the second game. I wasn't expecting to hear about Freud - if you ask me I've heard enough of him at school- but it make sense with this level.
As a fun aside, Sasha Nein is the mind that teaches you the basic of combat and the main enemies in Censors. Nein, of course, is the German for 'No', which is very much the Censor's catchphrase.
It's really touching just how much Raz looks up to Sasha, and by the second game he clearly sees him as a second father figure as well as a role model. It even says in the developer diaries that he started wearing that outfit with the turtleneck sweater because he wanted to look like Sasha. And Sasha turned out to be just the sort of good influence he needed, too, helping him learn while also showing him by example how to be less impetuous and more thoughtful. (And you can see how it changes Raz as a person during the second game, when he stops barging into people's minds and messing around in there without permission. I'd love a third game where we get to revisit some of the people he messed with in the first one, to see how they're doing and if there's been any negative fallout he should now help them deal with).
@@icicle_ai that was the first time his actions had real, tangible consequences. In the first game, jumping into people's minds half-cocked seemed to work just fine.
Sasha's mind is in a lot of ways the most obvious one in the game, I think it's also the first where the mental vaults hit their stride, showing you the hidden depth to these characters. I love them as a concept and I especially like that they convey their stories without dialogue, just pictures. The second one is also the first showing that this game is going to touch on heavier issues. 15:14 I love the way the side of the crib here looks like prison bars. And you could see it as either Sasha, his father, or both, being imprisoned by their grief. This world is definitely the one that most warrants a replay since you won't get the full context unless you do. I love how Sasha fully predicted Raz would overload the switch; you give a kid a big red button and of course they're going to press it. The Mega Censor and blocking all the valves could be a metaphor for how damaging excessive emotional repression can be. On a side note, Sasha's character reminds me of someone I heard from semi-recently. When asked "what aspect of yourself do other people find weird but you see as a strength", this person said they don't feel emotions very strongly and often get stereotyped as cold. But to themselves, it means they stay calm under pressure and can support their team in situations where others would panic. And when I thought about it, there's a LOT of situations and professions where that's incredibly useful. Sasha is definitely that kind of person for the Psychonauts.
Gaming University pointed out that Sasha’s employment at a factory as being where he learned the importance of releasing pressure to maintain balance which is what Psy Blast is implied to be a form of. The game even gives nod to this with this dialogue exchange between Raz and Sasha at the very beginning of the Mental World: Sasha Nein: You will learn to control these emotions, focus them, concentrate then, and release them. Razputin: As therapy? Sasha Nein: No, as firepower. Raz assumed the principles of Psy Blast Sasha describes as being a form of therapy and while Sasha claims this to not technically be the case, there’s nothing to suggest that Raz’s initial assessment was actually wrong since Sasha makes this statement just before the boss fight when Raz talked about complete control at all times: Well, no. Actually, if you were to suppress all of your undesirable feelings, they'll build and build and eventually explode. Again this ties into the idea that Sasha learned the dangers of excessive pressure while working in the industrial field and thus the importance of releasing pressure which may have been how he hit upon the ability of Psy Blast by applying these principles to his own mind.
interesting… i always saw the second stage of sasha's expanded mindscape as another reference to his early childhood, with the hanging structure as a child's mobile, rather than a representation of balance. since the first face's opening is connected to his infancy, and the third with a distinctly more grown period in his life, with the fourth presumably following the events of the third's whole running away debacle, it seemed fair to connect it to the period in his life between the ages of infancy and being however old is old enough to assist his father in the shoemaking business. and then this just might be me reading way too much into things, but based on that conclusion, i think he might have had a somewhat lonely/isolated childhood? iirc, there's only one figment depicting an actual person in the entire area-a woman with some toys, only accessible with the use of levitation-and the rest all seem like abstracted tools for play, or the sorts of things a child might imagine while playing by themselves. we also know he sees something of himself in raz, and some of sasha's dialogue towards him seems to fit with the idea-"your talents will always set you apart." idk, that's my theory, anyway. also, sidenote-what exactly inspired the idea of connection with brutalism? i'm not incredibly familiar with the style, but sasha's mind doesn't seem incredibly evocative of what i do know of it.
Out of curiosity, I started investigating. On the Psychonauts fandom wiki there's a list of figments (It doesn't say which sides of the cubes the figments appear on) and it appears there are three "mom" figments. One with a crib, one dead with a flower on her chest, and one of mom with a rattle. I'm sure in the figment guide it explains in detail which one goes where, but I think it's fascinating that he has three figments dedicated to his mother (Who appears basically the same in all three figments, barring some clothing changes) and only one referenced in the list as 'dad', which doesn't seem to me to represent Sasha's father that well.
So I just wanna say that I think there's a possible alternate interpretation for the architecture of his level... I am not an expert this is just my thoughts. I don't think it's supposed to represent Brutalist Architecture exactly. I think that the overall design is more broad and is simply a "Modernist" style. Not only is modernism a form of architecture but it is also an art style. It's heavily associated with "pseudo or snoby intellectuals" but also "true intellectuals" and modern architecture is a main focus in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Ayn Rand is heavily associated with intellectualism, and many believe her work inspired the association between Modern Art and Architecture and intellectualism... That's a really long way of saying it's meant to characterize Sasha as an intellectual, but as we see, he doesn't have perfect control of his mind like he thinks he does. The level leaves the player with that same "Modern Art Impression." Where you're not sure if he's a true intellectual and highly smart... or just faking it; after all even tho Sasha's mind is controlled... it's also empty. For me I kinda felt like it's 50/50 lol. He IS smart... But he also likes to ham it up sometimes. This plays into the general theme of Pyschonaughts where everyone is flawed, and everyone has emotional and mental problems, and that's ok, and it's normal! That's the lovely message of Pyschonaughts 1 specifically. There's nothing wrong with anyone, and we can't fix our issues by simply "pulling out a bad brain" the lobotomizes of the past, were literal human rights violations. I'm not saying "um actually" I'm just sharing my interpretation. Your Video is amazing :) EDIT: Idk what happened with the spacing...
No worries at all. I definitely did not read this as an "um actually" I think that with levels like these, unless you are literally the developers themselves it's hard to know EXACTLY what they were going for and so I love seeing alternate interpretations like this one. While I still stand with how I read into it, I think your interpretation makes a lot of sense and I'm glad I could hear about it! :)
The fact that (almost) everything that happened was intended means those memory vaults were deliberately placed there for Raz to find, which means that: A. Sasha is completely fine with other people seeing them, and B. He believes that they provide some sort of educational benefit, or it’s an unorthodox way for him to attempt to emotionally connect with the people he literally lets into his head, or both. That last possibility is lent credence by his using knock-off Tiffany lamps as an example of something negative. It’s both a lesson in shooting things, and a way for him to show Rasputin that he’s not an emotionless, logical automaton like he might appear at first glance. He’s someone Raz can feel safe with and open up to. The memories shown were probably chosen because they conveyed that, even though their situations were very different, Sasha could still relate to Raz having a complicated relationship with his father. And that poking around in peoples’ minds without their permission is usually a very bad idea. Raz: “Wait, it wasn’t to explain your reduced affect display?” Sasha: “Oh, that? No, that’s because I’m German.”
Yall talk about how Sasha's mind is so complex yet organised, and despite his trauma, he's grown from those experiences. I just like to think his brain is square
The movie "Turning Red" made me quote sasha in his mind: if you try to completely suppress your undesirable feelings, they'll build and build and eventually explode! 💣 💥
One thing that you didn't touch on that I think could use mention was if you use Clairvoyance on Sasha. You can see in both Psychonauts 1 and 2 he sees Raz as a small version of himself he sees the boys potential and where he is in life as he once did.
I actually tried psi blast before, taking negative feelings, controlling them, focus them, concentrate them, and...RELEASE!💥 regardless, doing the exercise as described is good way to relief frustration.
I always thought of the designs on the cube as being reminiscent of old TV test cards, playing more into that post-war secret agent aesthetic that Sasha has going on
Nein is no in german so He is called Sasha No In a level that introduces censors, an enemy that can only say no It also connects to how he wants to completely control his mind so it is teeming with censors, simply all inside of the cube
Freud definitely isn’t my favorite dude, nor do I even agree with him a lot of the time, but it TOTALLY feels like Oral Fixation is what they were going for in this mind!!
My favorite mental worlds are the psychic husbands Bob and Helmut. While Bob’s Bottles is a very good level, it seems more understandable to me (or more relatable), so I’d really love to see an analysis of PSI King’s Sensorium. Does he have autism? What do the color schemes of the levels represent? Is there more to the senses representations in his mind? What easter eggs did we miss? So many questions.
On top of Sasha’s psyche associated with Bauhaus art, I also think it’s clever that the track “The Censors Unleashed” (aka the score played in the background of the shooting gallery) includes the first 9 notes of Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.” Clever nod to Sasha’s classiness and his German heritage.
I seem to remember hearing that Sasha only hates knock off Tiffany lamps, not the genuine article. it may have been Tim Schaefer that said it but I'm not sure.
I like the brutalist architecture connection a lot (super underrated style of building, imo) but tbh I kind of feel like it’s closer to Art Deco in his brain, which historically was what replaced the Tiffany, or Art Nouveau, styles. It came from a cultural shift to move away from the Art Nouveau style which had dominated the turn of the 20th century for around 30 years. I think that how his mind has “moved on” from Art Nouveau/Tiffany styles to the next immediate architectural style of Art Deco, just feels fairly accurate. It fits a lot of the themes you talk about regarding how he has himself organized, and how he tried to “move on” from his memories by burying them deep under the “next step” of his life, or the “next step” of popular architectural styles. Tbh as an architecture nerd I’m just really chuffed at how good Double Fine is at combining art with story and character themes. The attention to details are always deliberate and precise. Edit: saw another interpretation on the evolution of architecture in the comments too. Idk if either of us have the exact art style correct or not, be it Modernist or Art Deco, but I think that the shift away from Art Nouveau/Tiffany to the “next step” is the right interpretation, whatever that “next step” is or isn’t. Goes to show that the themes run strong here, as multiple people with different perspectives still end up at the same conclusion even with minor differences. Also just wanna say this is all so fresh on my mind today only because I’ve been doing a lot of research on this EXACT thing for a novel I’m writing; funny coincidences.
Proposal: I suspect that the build-up of censor energy is what happens when you have an intrusive thought and try to force it down. Because you're not letting the thought run its course, acknowledging that it isn't useful, and letting it go (Concentrate and release, as in psi-blasting), your censors get over-activated, and start coming out more and stronger. Most people have a lot of censors blocking out unimportant thoughts, but when you try to shut them down, you start getting muscle-censors, or if you really try to suppress them, you get the monstrous giant censor. We could read this as Raz accidentally forcing Sasha to shut down thoughts and giving him intrusive thoughts that caused him harm (Sasha stuck on the censor's stamp). The fact that after Raz handles him, Sasha comments 'we won't be seeing him again', suggests to me that Sasha focused on handling those censored feelings after the fact and let them go. Between that, and Raz sorting out his emotional baggage, I wouldn't be surprised if Sasha came out a much more well-adjusted person, not that he wasn't already. But everyone's got some spare emotional baggage laying around that needs sorting, and I suspect that the owners of minds are blind to emotional baggage and memory vaults, until they've been opened. (The exception being Oleander's Pride, which was manufactured).
I always knew that for babies, what goes in hand goes in mouth. But I didn't know what was what it was called. Your videos are both entertaining and educational.
I know that this is unrelated to Sasha's mindscape, but I wonder if the reason why Sasha left his Psycho-portal behind in the lab was specifically to make sure that Raz found it and used it as a backup in case he needed it and to test the child on whether or not he was worthy of keeping one. Sasha didn't need it because he had Milla's Psycho-portal to use in case they needed to use one. I don't think that he didn't hear Raz call to him in the lab and then Raz showing his usage of the Psycho-portal properly on the people in the Thorny Towers Asylum as well as using it properly on Dr. Loboto in both Psychonauts Rhombus Of Ruin and the start of Psychonauts 2 showed to Sasha that he could leave it with Raz without any doubts about it. And of course he never prompted Raz about it because the boy had proven several times over that he was responsible with it(even using it to fix his screw-up with Hollis Forsythe). I think that either after or during the events of Psychonauts 2 Sasha got a new Psycho-portal to replace the old one or more likely he, Ford, or another major member of the Psychonauts(Like Truman or Hollis) provided Raz with a new Psycho-portal and returned the Psycho-portal that was Sasha's back to it's rightful place. Although that's only a theory that I don't have much evidence for outside of the fact that even though he was likely seen having it by Sasha(most likely during their time on the ship during the transitions between the 3 games) and never got it taken away and even was seen using it on people by several of the higher-ups in Psychonauts 2 despite still being an intern. He also was highly respected by several people like the Psychic 6/7 and especially the 4 managers behind the summer camp one of which was Sasha himself, so letting him keep a Psycho-portal was a good idea. Edit:Reading up on the Psychonauts Wiki Raz actually uses the Coach's Psycho-portal to enter Dr. Loboto's mind in The Rhombus Of Ruin, but my point still stands about Raz's showcase of his proper usages of the Psycho-portal in that game.
I know I'm probably gonna sound like a broken record, but I'd still love to get a "taste" of what you think of psi-kings sensorium, because I would like to see any connections with autism in any way? Also recently learned individuals who developed autism, the brain rapidly grows and creates different neural pathways, I believe. Besides that level made me love my senses, and I've had alot of sensory issues. Also like the fan: can you/me slow time? 👁 ⏰ 🌈
I don’t think psi king is supposed to be representative of autism. I think the primary layer is just dealing with recovery after a traumatic event, substituting senses for things like regaining the use of one’s legs or something like that. And on the deeper level it’s dealing with feeling phony. Like he was only there to be a figurehead and once he fell in the water and proved himself worthless, no one cared.
Do you think you could do a video on Psy King's Sensorium? I know it's visually striking, but I think it would also be interesting to look into the damage long term sensory deprivation can actually do. I think that other than Ford, Helmut is the only mind you delve into that has essentially suffered actual brain damage. Helping him sort out his trauma is only part of why you're there. Your main goal is to basically reteach his brain how to interpret his senses.
If I did do a video on Psi King's Sensorium I would likely structure and analyze it in the same way that I do all of the other videos based on the knowledge that I have access to!
so, you mention the lack of cubism jokes, however the Bauhaus academy & the Brutalist Architecture were actually heavily inspired by the Cubism principles of analytical Thinking, breaking down of reality into their most geometrical basic shapes. And in turn Brutalism's chase for practicality lead to Modernism
I love the fact that he takes so much effort into training Raz. Sasha is the type of character I typically really appreciate (What I call the gentle guide: Not there to be a parent unless safety is involved, but still actively guides another character to better situations/growth), yet I struggle with the fact that he is a smoker who suggests being an "expert" in mental health. Smoking simultaneously stimulates at least four natural opiates in the brain (typically called endorphins: acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA+ and serotonin), has a nasty history of being advertised to manipulate people in various ways and the real kicker is that it has a much higher rate among those with mental health problems. It is often used as an attempt to substitute for their medications as a stimulant than those without this category of struggles. The tobacco industry is aware of this tendency, so cigarettes are often dipped in alkaline (basic) substances like formaldehyde and ammonia to make the reaction occur faster and increase dependency. If for no other reasons, the brain is an organ that is extremely dependent on oxygen (watch a simulation of what tobacco does to the lungs to see why that is a major issue) and physicians can see physical evidence in children if they are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. I would like to see evidence of other phychonauts having an intervention for him including his romantic interest in the story before I give him too much credit.
don't make it more complicated than it is, sasha's not young, most of the problems of smoking only became obvious in retrospect. He's still one of the few actually sane characters
@@tsm688 How old do you believe Sasha to be? These days smoking seems like the habit that is typically either done by those reaching the tail end of their life because they feel as if it was too hard to give up the habit, vaping done by people in their twenties or teen years due to ignorance or believed "rebellion" and the mentally unstable. Sure, there are some people who act like sheep because they see others doing it and follow suit, but that also doesn't really fit with the idea of him being "a man of science" within the game. The rate in first world countries of cigarette smokers who do not have a mental problem tends to be around 10% or less and those who do is around half. One of the earlier anti-smoking ads featured the original "Marlboro" man (played cowboy roles in black and white films when he was younger) with medical tubes coming out of him to show the public how smoking is harmful. It was a risky move in regard to his career, but he wanted to use his fame at the time to keep others from suffering the same fate. So, even if you argue that the psychonauts game is set somewhat in the past, I have a hard time thinking of him being a purely analytical person and being completely ignorant to the negative effects of tobacco.
if i remember, i think i saw someone say that its more likely that sasha finds tiffany lamps of lower quality (or even knockoff tiffany lamps] as the tacky ones, and has appreciation for the actual genuine ones?
The freudian aspect of Sasha puts his relationship with Milla in an interesting light, as she's got a very motherly personality and her own tragic past in relation to motherhood. I wonder if this might have, in the past or currently, lead to issues with intimacy in the bedroom... or even just dating and romantic affection in general. All three games make it clear that Sasha and Milla harbor romantic feelings for one another but it seems like they aren't actually dating yet, and it's unclear how aware they are of the other's feelings. I can't help but think that the only thing keeping them from being a proper couple already would be some hang-ups on Sasha's end, being the most emotionally constipated of the two, and that one of said hang-ups would be him having issues with romantic/sexual intimacy due to having accidentally seen his mother in such a way at such an early age. Bc like... it's not like you could rly equate it to something like a kid accidentally walking in on their parents bainging. It's Sasha specifically looking into the mind of his father and experiencing a highly intimate and explicit memory through the eyes of his father! (so I'd say it's closer to a kid somehow being exposed to a sex tape featuring one of their parents. yikes) Heck, for all we know he might have even sensed the emotions and physical memory of his father in that moment! That's gotta mess you up in more ways than just making u run away from home. That being said, I could also see them both mutually having the hang-up of being afraid of feeling the loss of losing another loved one, and their subconcious internal logic being that they can avoid, or at least minimize, that pain if they never get that close to anyone in the first place. Despite that obviously not being true, both bc losing someone u love will always hurt an equal amount regardless whether they loved u back or not and bc these two clearly already love each other and care deeply for their other coworkers and campers that losing them would undoubtedly hurt like a bitch. Also their profession makes it kinda impossible to keep anyone at the kind of emotional distance that could supposedly protect you from heartache, I feel.
@@ThoughtBubbleYT You're welcome and I have seen all the mental worlds in both games and I love how each one highlights the character's interests and the things that tie to their mental troubles.
Bauhaus is a store chain now, there's a Bauhaus at the mall where I live. Cool to learn the origin of the name, and the products definitely are on brand with what the original art school was going for.
amazing insight into Sasha's mind, and some things I never thought to piece together! Also, I swear I did a double take during your ad section, because I thought I jumped to watching Max Miller ROFL (this isn't a bad thing, just funny some of your motions reminded me) keep up the great videos!
I mean, possibly. But I feel as though there's some honesty to it since he was conscious and present within his own mind the whole time and I think it would have been cleaned up much more effectively and efficiently had he done it himself as opposed to relying on Raz, the camper who get there essentially the day beforehand. And he even admits that the Mega Censor didn't go to plan. So I believe that he was being honest if only for the fact that he admits that the last part was unintended since both Oleander and Milla had also created full practice courses in their minds.
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@@gaminggranny1541 I don’t know what this means so I’m just going to assume that you loved it and you thought the TokyoTreat portion was absolutely ELECTRIC. Which I really appreciate. :)
If you use the stat, you get a dislike.
I always saw Sasha as that legitimately cool mentor, the kind of guy that oozes the confidence and works towards better endeavors(whether or not they're ethical, that's another discussion). However, I feel it's just a well controlled facade that hides the tragedies he has faced, but they're so well managed that they tend to resurface in healthier ways. For someone who was never close to his father, Sasha shows a good amount of fatherly moments with Raz. I believe Sasha's desire for father-like connection subconsciously provides it to the boy he sees himself in. And with him not having a mother figure, it makes sense why he's so drawn to Milla despite her being his exact opposite.
That's honestly interesting how by accepting the traumas he's faced growing up has helped him develop the very relationships he's hoping to develop with others.
In other words, he acts like he's totally calm and in control... Because he actually is.
I like what you did there for the "he sees himself in." Considering what you would see with clairvoyance, that's awesome.
7:18 Speaking of Tim Schafer, I don't know if this was what you were referring to, but he clarified in an interview that Sasha finds *knockoff* Tiffany lamps to be tacky. The one you see in his office is a genuine Tiffany lamp but the ones he has you destroy in his mind are knockoffs.
With this in mind, I believe that he likes genuine Tiffany lamps because his mother owned them when he was a child, which led to a positive association with them as an adult. But he dislikes knockoff Tiffany lamps because he subconsciously perceives them as a mockery of something his late mother evidently loved.
I had heard this, but couldn’t find the interview so I thought I made it up!! Thank you for clarifying! Either way, it doesn’t change a whole lot about what I discuss in the video! :)
@@ThoughtBubbleYT True, but I felt like tying that loose end anyway XD. UA-cam likes to delete comments with links so I'll just tag you with the interview on Twitter.
@@sugarp1e174 Thank you so much I appreciate it! :)
How do you tell the difference?
Also in the game files the big fiery tower section of Sasha's mind is referred to as "the factory" so maybe he worked at a Tiffany lamp factory and thus sees the knockoffs as an insult to his former profession
I love how the "You are my own creation, I command you to stop" joke it still used in the second game. I wasn't expecting to hear about Freud - if you ask me I've heard enough of him at school- but it make sense with this level.
Yeahhhh, Freud definitely overstays his welcome a lot of the time, but I couldn't help but feel like his ideas fit perfectly here!
As a fun aside, Sasha Nein is the mind that teaches you the basic of combat and the main enemies in Censors. Nein, of course, is the German for 'No', which is very much the Censor's catchphrase.
How in the world did I not catch that?
It's really touching just how much Raz looks up to Sasha, and by the second game he clearly sees him as a second father figure as well as a role model. It even says in the developer diaries that he started wearing that outfit with the turtleneck sweater because he wanted to look like Sasha. And Sasha turned out to be just the sort of good influence he needed, too, helping him learn while also showing him by example how to be less impetuous and more thoughtful. (And you can see how it changes Raz as a person during the second game, when he stops barging into people's minds and messing around in there without permission. I'd love a third game where we get to revisit some of the people he messed with in the first one, to see how they're doing and if there's been any negative fallout he should now help them deal with).
I really enjoy Raz and Sasha’s relationship, and revisiting firmly visited minds would be incredible.
He only stops barging into minds after the incident with Hollis
@@icicle_ai that was the first time his actions had real, tangible consequences. In the first game, jumping into people's minds half-cocked seemed to work just fine.
@@alexjewett7455 yeah, I'm just saying that raz stops jumping into peoples minds willy nilly after the hollis incident, not when the game starts
@@icicle_ai I know. I wasn't arguing with you.
Sasha's mind is in a lot of ways the most obvious one in the game, I think it's also the first where the mental vaults hit their stride, showing you the hidden depth to these characters. I love them as a concept and I especially like that they convey their stories without dialogue, just pictures. The second one is also the first showing that this game is going to touch on heavier issues.
15:14 I love the way the side of the crib here looks like prison bars. And you could see it as either Sasha, his father, or both, being imprisoned by their grief.
This world is definitely the one that most warrants a replay since you won't get the full context unless you do. I love how Sasha fully predicted Raz would overload the switch; you give a kid a big red button and of course they're going to press it.
The Mega Censor and blocking all the valves could be a metaphor for how damaging excessive emotional repression can be.
On a side note, Sasha's character reminds me of someone I heard from semi-recently. When asked "what aspect of yourself do other people find weird but you see as a strength", this person said they don't feel emotions very strongly and often get stereotyped as cold. But to themselves, it means they stay calm under pressure and can support their team in situations where others would panic. And when I thought about it, there's a LOT of situations and professions where that's incredibly useful. Sasha is definitely that kind of person for the Psychonauts.
That last part is interesting. Sounds a lot like me, and I can confirm it has both the ups and downs.
Gaming University pointed out that Sasha’s employment at a factory as being where he learned the importance of releasing pressure to maintain balance which is what Psy Blast is implied to be a form of.
The game even gives nod to this with this dialogue exchange between Raz and Sasha at the very beginning of the Mental World:
Sasha Nein: You will learn to control these emotions, focus them, concentrate then, and release them.
Razputin: As therapy?
Sasha Nein: No, as firepower.
Raz assumed the principles of Psy Blast Sasha describes as being a form of therapy and while Sasha claims this to not technically be the case, there’s nothing to suggest that Raz’s initial assessment was actually wrong since Sasha makes this statement just before the boss fight when Raz talked about complete control at all times:
Well, no. Actually, if you were to suppress all of your undesirable feelings, they'll build and build and eventually explode.
Again this ties into the idea that Sasha learned the dangers of excessive pressure while working in the industrial field and thus the importance of releasing pressure which may have been how he hit upon the ability of Psy Blast by applying these principles to his own mind.
I’ve seen that, and I agree
Oooh I wasn't expecting a Sasha analysis so soon! His mindscape is very underappreciated. Probably because it's partially a tuturial
interesting… i always saw the second stage of sasha's expanded mindscape as another reference to his early childhood, with the hanging structure as a child's mobile, rather than a representation of balance. since the first face's opening is connected to his infancy, and the third with a distinctly more grown period in his life, with the fourth presumably following the events of the third's whole running away debacle, it seemed fair to connect it to the period in his life between the ages of infancy and being however old is old enough to assist his father in the shoemaking business.
and then this just might be me reading way too much into things, but based on that conclusion, i think he might have had a somewhat lonely/isolated childhood? iirc, there's only one figment depicting an actual person in the entire area-a woman with some toys, only accessible with the use of levitation-and the rest all seem like abstracted tools for play, or the sorts of things a child might imagine while playing by themselves. we also know he sees something of himself in raz, and some of sasha's dialogue towards him seems to fit with the idea-"your talents will always set you apart." idk, that's my theory, anyway.
also, sidenote-what exactly inspired the idea of connection with brutalism? i'm not incredibly familiar with the style, but sasha's mind doesn't seem incredibly evocative of what i do know of it.
Out of curiosity, I started investigating. On the Psychonauts fandom wiki there's a list of figments (It doesn't say which sides of the cubes the figments appear on) and it appears there are three "mom" figments. One with a crib, one dead with a flower on her chest, and one of mom with a rattle. I'm sure in the figment guide it explains in detail which one goes where, but I think it's fascinating that he has three figments dedicated to his mother (Who appears basically the same in all three figments, barring some clothing changes) and only one referenced in the list as 'dad', which doesn't seem to me to represent Sasha's father that well.
So I just wanna say that I think there's a possible alternate interpretation for the architecture of his level... I am not an expert this is just my thoughts.
I don't think it's supposed to represent Brutalist Architecture exactly. I think that the overall design is more broad and is simply a "Modernist" style. Not only is modernism a form of architecture but it is also an art style. It's heavily associated with "pseudo or snoby intellectuals" but also "true intellectuals" and modern architecture is a main focus in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Ayn Rand is heavily associated with intellectualism, and many believe her work inspired the association between Modern Art and Architecture and intellectualism...
That's a really long way of saying it's meant to characterize Sasha as an intellectual, but as we see, he doesn't have perfect control of his mind like he thinks he does. The level leaves the player with that same "Modern Art Impression." Where you're not sure if he's a true intellectual and highly smart... or just faking it; after all even tho Sasha's mind is controlled... it's also empty. For me I kinda felt like it's 50/50 lol. He IS smart... But he also likes to ham it up sometimes.
This plays into the general theme of Pyschonaughts where everyone is flawed, and everyone has emotional and mental problems, and that's ok, and it's normal! That's the lovely message of Pyschonaughts 1 specifically. There's nothing wrong with anyone, and we can't fix our issues by simply "pulling out a bad brain" the lobotomizes of the past, were literal human rights violations.
I'm not saying "um actually" I'm just sharing my interpretation. Your Video is amazing :)
EDIT: Idk what happened with the spacing...
No worries at all. I definitely did not read this as an "um actually" I think that with levels like these, unless you are literally the developers themselves it's hard to know EXACTLY what they were going for and so I love seeing alternate interpretations like this one. While I still stand with how I read into it, I think your interpretation makes a lot of sense and I'm glad I could hear about it! :)
Speaking of Bauhaus, the title of the music track for Sasha's mind is "A Mind of Bauhaus Principles."
The fact that (almost) everything that happened was intended means those memory vaults were deliberately placed there for Raz to find, which means that:
A. Sasha is completely fine with other people seeing them, and
B. He believes that they provide some sort of educational benefit, or it’s an unorthodox way for him to attempt to emotionally connect with the people he literally lets into his head, or both.
That last possibility is lent credence by his using knock-off Tiffany lamps as an example of something negative. It’s both a lesson in shooting things, and a way for him to show Rasputin that he’s not an emotionless, logical automaton like he might appear at first glance. He’s someone Raz can feel safe with and open up to.
The memories shown were probably chosen because they conveyed that, even though their situations were very different, Sasha could still relate to Raz having a complicated relationship with his father. And that poking around in peoples’ minds without their permission is usually a very bad idea.
Raz: “Wait, it wasn’t to explain your reduced affect display?”
Sasha: “Oh, that? No, that’s because I’m German.”
Yall talk about how Sasha's mind is so complex yet organised, and despite his trauma, he's grown from those experiences.
I just like to think his brain is square
cube...
The movie "Turning Red" made me quote sasha in his mind: if you try to completely suppress your undesirable feelings, they'll build and build and eventually explode! 💣 💥
I love that movie
@@spicywiener2084 can I presume you're also a fan of psychonauts?
@@codyboise9989 hell yeah!!
@@spicywiener2084 sweet
One thing that you didn't touch on that I think could use mention was if you use Clairvoyance on Sasha. You can see in both Psychonauts 1 and 2 he sees Raz as a small version of himself he sees the boys potential and where he is in life as he once did.
12:37 WAIT A MOMENT, YOU CAN CLIMB UP THE BED RUNGS?!? IM STILL LEARNING NEW THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME, ITS AMAZING!
IIRC you have to revisit the level after learning levitation though
I actually tried psi blast before, taking negative feelings, controlling them, focus them, concentrate them, and...RELEASE!💥 regardless, doing the exercise as described is good way to relief frustration.
I always thought of the designs on the cube as being reminiscent of old TV test cards, playing more into that post-war secret agent aesthetic that Sasha has going on
Speaking of Bauhaus. Did you know that the 'peace' track of Sasha's mindscape is called 'The mind of Bauhaus principles'?
Nein is no in german so He is called Sasha No
In a level that introduces censors, an enemy that can only say no
It also connects to how he wants to completely control his mind so it is teeming with censors, simply all inside of the cube
The lamp factory theory is confirmed by a piece of concept art for the flaming pyramid--a connection lost during the development of the level itself.
This is really good! I’d love to see you tackle one of Oleander’s minds, maybe Basic Braining, the Brain Tumbler Experiment, or The Meat Circus?
It's definitely a possibility in the future!
@@ThoughtBubbleYT : )
You know what I learned from Sasha’s mind?
That shooting things is fun, and useful.
I was NOT expecting this video to go into oral fixation 🤣 darn freud hits you when you least expect it
Freud definitely isn’t my favorite dude, nor do I even agree with him a lot of the time, but it TOTALLY feels like Oral Fixation is what they were going for in this mind!!
@@ThoughtBubbleYT for sure, it ties in with the smoking, making it more than just a cool guy spy thing. Very on brand for this game!
My favorite mental worlds are the psychic husbands Bob and Helmut. While Bob’s Bottles is a very good level, it seems more understandable to me (or more relatable), so I’d really love to see an analysis of PSI King’s Sensorium. Does he have autism? What do the color schemes of the levels represent? Is there more to the senses representations in his mind? What easter eggs did we miss? So many questions.
autistic helmut is such a good headcanon, sucks that no one talks about it.
On top of Sasha’s psyche associated with Bauhaus art, I also think it’s clever that the track “The Censors Unleashed” (aka the score played in the background of the shooting gallery) includes the first 9 notes of Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.” Clever nod to Sasha’s classiness and his German heritage.
I seem to remember hearing that Sasha only hates knock off Tiffany lamps, not the genuine article. it may have been Tim Schaefer that said it but I'm not sure.
I have heard that! But at the time of making the video I couldn't find the interview he said this in!
I like the brutalist architecture connection a lot (super underrated style of building, imo) but tbh I kind of feel like it’s closer to Art Deco in his brain, which historically was what replaced the Tiffany, or Art Nouveau, styles. It came from a cultural shift to move away from the Art Nouveau style which had dominated the turn of the 20th century for around 30 years. I think that how his mind has “moved on” from Art Nouveau/Tiffany styles to the next immediate architectural style of Art Deco, just feels fairly accurate. It fits a lot of the themes you talk about regarding how he has himself organized, and how he tried to “move on” from his memories by burying them deep under the “next step” of his life, or the “next step” of popular architectural styles. Tbh as an architecture nerd I’m just really chuffed at how good Double Fine is at combining art with story and character themes. The attention to details are always deliberate and precise.
Edit: saw another interpretation on the evolution of architecture in the comments too. Idk if either of us have the exact art style correct or not, be it Modernist or Art Deco, but I think that the shift away from Art Nouveau/Tiffany to the “next step” is the right interpretation, whatever that “next step” is or isn’t. Goes to show that the themes run strong here, as multiple people with different perspectives still end up at the same conclusion even with minor differences.
Also just wanna say this is all so fresh on my mind today only because I’ve been doing a lot of research on this EXACT thing for a novel I’m writing; funny coincidences.
I only just realized that the muscle censors seen in Psychonauts 2 are basically miniature versions of the mega censor boss found in this level.
Proposal: I suspect that the build-up of censor energy is what happens when you have an intrusive thought and try to force it down. Because you're not letting the thought run its course, acknowledging that it isn't useful, and letting it go (Concentrate and release, as in psi-blasting), your censors get over-activated, and start coming out more and stronger. Most people have a lot of censors blocking out unimportant thoughts, but when you try to shut them down, you start getting muscle-censors, or if you really try to suppress them, you get the monstrous giant censor. We could read this as Raz accidentally forcing Sasha to shut down thoughts and giving him intrusive thoughts that caused him harm (Sasha stuck on the censor's stamp). The fact that after Raz handles him, Sasha comments 'we won't be seeing him again', suggests to me that Sasha focused on handling those censored feelings after the fact and let them go. Between that, and Raz sorting out his emotional baggage, I wouldn't be surprised if Sasha came out a much more well-adjusted person, not that he wasn't already. But everyone's got some spare emotional baggage laying around that needs sorting, and I suspect that the owners of minds are blind to emotional baggage and memory vaults, until they've been opened. (The exception being Oleander's Pride, which was manufactured).
I always knew that for babies, what goes in hand goes in mouth. But I didn't know what was what it was called. Your videos are both entertaining and educational.
I know that this is unrelated to Sasha's mindscape, but I wonder if the reason why Sasha left his Psycho-portal behind in the lab was specifically to make sure that Raz found it and used it as a backup in case he needed it and to test the child on whether or not he was worthy of keeping one. Sasha didn't need it because he had Milla's Psycho-portal to use in case they needed to use one. I don't think that he didn't hear Raz call to him in the lab and then Raz showing his usage of the Psycho-portal properly on the people in the Thorny Towers Asylum as well as using it properly on Dr. Loboto in both Psychonauts Rhombus Of Ruin and the start of Psychonauts 2 showed to Sasha that he could leave it with Raz without any doubts about it. And of course he never prompted Raz about it because the boy had proven several times over that he was responsible with it(even using it to fix his screw-up with Hollis Forsythe). I think that either after or during the events of Psychonauts 2 Sasha got a new Psycho-portal to replace the old one or more likely he, Ford, or another major member of the Psychonauts(Like Truman or Hollis) provided Raz with a new Psycho-portal and returned the Psycho-portal that was Sasha's back to it's rightful place. Although that's only a theory that I don't have much evidence for outside of the fact that even though he was likely seen having it by Sasha(most likely during their time on the ship during the transitions between the 3 games) and never got it taken away and even was seen using it on people by several of the higher-ups in Psychonauts 2 despite still being an intern. He also was highly respected by several people like the Psychic 6/7 and especially the 4 managers behind the summer camp one of which was Sasha himself, so letting him keep a Psycho-portal was a good idea.
Edit:Reading up on the Psychonauts Wiki Raz actually uses the Coach's Psycho-portal to enter Dr. Loboto's mind in The Rhombus Of Ruin, but my point still stands about Raz's showcase of his proper usages of the Psycho-portal in that game.
I know I'm probably gonna sound like a broken record, but I'd still love to get a "taste" of what you think of psi-kings sensorium, because I would like to see any connections with autism in any way? Also recently learned individuals who developed autism, the brain rapidly grows and creates different neural pathways, I believe.
Besides that level made me love my senses, and I've had alot of sensory issues. Also like the fan: can you/me slow time?
👁 ⏰ 🌈
I don’t think psi king is supposed to be representative of autism. I think the primary layer is just dealing with recovery after a traumatic event, substituting senses for things like regaining the use of one’s legs or something like that. And on the deeper level it’s dealing with feeling phony. Like he was only there to be a figurehead and once he fell in the water and proved himself worthless, no one cared.
Do you think you could do a video on Psy King's Sensorium? I know it's visually striking, but I think it would also be interesting to look into the damage long term sensory deprivation can actually do. I think that other than Ford, Helmut is the only mind you delve into that has essentially suffered actual brain damage. Helping him sort out his trauma is only part of why you're there. Your main goal is to basically reteach his brain how to interpret his senses.
If I did do a video on Psi King's Sensorium I would likely structure and analyze it in the same way that I do all of the other videos based on the knowledge that I have access to!
so, you mention the lack of cubism jokes, however the Bauhaus academy & the Brutalist Architecture were actually heavily inspired by the Cubism principles of analytical Thinking, breaking down of reality into their most geometrical basic shapes. And in turn Brutalism's chase for practicality lead to Modernism
I love the fact that he takes so much effort into training Raz. Sasha is the type of character I typically really appreciate (What I call the gentle guide: Not there to be a parent unless safety is involved, but still actively guides another character to better situations/growth), yet I struggle with the fact that he is a smoker who suggests being an "expert" in mental health. Smoking simultaneously stimulates at least four natural opiates in the brain (typically called endorphins: acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA+ and serotonin), has a nasty history of being advertised to manipulate people in various ways and the real kicker is that it has a much higher rate among those with mental health problems. It is often used as an attempt to substitute for their medications as a stimulant than those without this category of struggles. The tobacco industry is aware of this tendency, so cigarettes are often dipped in alkaline (basic) substances like formaldehyde and ammonia to make the reaction occur faster and increase dependency. If for no other reasons, the brain is an organ that is extremely dependent on oxygen (watch a simulation of what tobacco does to the lungs to see why that is a major issue) and physicians can see physical evidence in children if they are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. I would like to see evidence of other phychonauts having an intervention for him including his romantic interest in the story before I give him too much credit.
don't make it more complicated than it is, sasha's not young, most of the problems of smoking only became obvious in retrospect. He's still one of the few actually sane characters
@@tsm688 How old do you believe Sasha to be? These days smoking seems like the habit that is typically either done by those reaching the tail end of their life because they feel as if it was too hard to give up the habit, vaping done by people in their twenties or teen years due to ignorance or believed "rebellion" and the mentally unstable. Sure, there are some people who act like sheep because they see others doing it and follow suit, but that also doesn't really fit with the idea of him being "a man of science" within the game. The rate in first world countries of cigarette smokers who do not have a mental problem tends to be around 10% or less and those who do is around half.
One of the earlier anti-smoking ads featured the original "Marlboro" man (played cowboy roles in black and white films when he was younger) with medical tubes coming out of him to show the public how smoking is harmful. It was a risky move in regard to his career, but he wanted to use his fame at the time to keep others from suffering the same fate. So, even if you argue that the psychonauts game is set somewhat in the past, I have a hard time thinking of him being a purely analytical person and being completely ignorant to the negative effects of tobacco.
@@techclass1896 Old enough that, as a kid, he worked as a damned cobbler. That's old
if i remember, i think i saw someone say that its more likely that sasha finds tiffany lamps of lower quality (or even knockoff tiffany lamps] as the tacky ones, and has appreciation for the actual genuine ones?
The freudian aspect of Sasha puts his relationship with Milla in an interesting light, as she's got a very motherly personality and her own tragic past in relation to motherhood.
I wonder if this might have, in the past or currently, lead to issues with intimacy in the bedroom... or even just dating and romantic affection in general. All three games make it clear that Sasha and Milla harbor romantic feelings for one another but it seems like they aren't actually dating yet, and it's unclear how aware they are of the other's feelings.
I can't help but think that the only thing keeping them from being a proper couple already would be some hang-ups on Sasha's end, being the most emotionally constipated of the two, and that one of said hang-ups would be him having issues with romantic/sexual intimacy due to having accidentally seen his mother in such a way at such an early age.
Bc like... it's not like you could rly equate it to something like a kid accidentally walking in on their parents bainging. It's Sasha specifically looking into the mind of his father and experiencing a highly intimate and explicit memory through the eyes of his father! (so I'd say it's closer to a kid somehow being exposed to a sex tape featuring one of their parents. yikes)
Heck, for all we know he might have even sensed the emotions and physical memory of his father in that moment! That's gotta mess you up in more ways than just making u run away from home.
That being said, I could also see them both mutually having the hang-up of being afraid of feeling the loss of losing another loved one, and their subconcious internal logic being that they can avoid, or at least minimize, that pain if they never get that close to anyone in the first place.
Despite that obviously not being true, both bc losing someone u love will always hurt an equal amount regardless whether they loved u back or not and bc these two clearly already love each other and care deeply for their other coworkers and campers that losing them would undoubtedly hurt like a bitch.
Also their profession makes it kinda impossible to keep anyone at the kind of emotional distance that could supposedly protect you from heartache, I feel.
This an interesting mind to take a closer look at. Honestly I like it and I can't wait to see which mental world you tackle next.
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
@@ThoughtBubbleYT You're welcome and I have seen all the mental worlds in both games and I love how each one highlights the character's interests and the things that tie to their mental troubles.
Bauhaus is a store chain now, there's a Bauhaus at the mall where I live. Cool to learn the origin of the name, and the products definitely are on brand with what the original art school was going for.
also, my german step-granny's got a tiffany lamp, maybe even two lol
amazing insight into Sasha's mind, and some things I never thought to piece together!
Also, I swear I did a double take during your ad section, because I thought I jumped to watching Max Miller ROFL (this isn't a bad thing, just funny some of your motions reminded me)
keep up the great videos!
I love the legit fear: “run Rasputin… very fast”
Sasha actually likes Tiffany lamps, he just can't stand ugly knock-offs.
You're right, I didn't come across this info as being confirmed until after I posted the video! Luckily it doesn't change a whole lot!
@@ThoughtBubbleYT probably wouldn't have posted knowing someone already addressed it. Oh well, what can you do? 🤷
@@codyboise9989 I mean it’s helpful nonetheless! So thank you! :)
You forgot that Sasha’s first lost has also been the reason why he kept Milla at such a distance even tho it is clear they are in love with each other
The fact that you're using the psychiatrist theme from p5R for treats is so fitting
I'd like to see more detail into his relationship with Milla Vodello
Another outstanding entry ThoughtBubble!!
Thank you so much!
Sasha being especially Freudian and also being German is somewhat funny.
I like your videos. Also do you plan on making a psychology video on Zagreus from hades?
I haven’t thought about it much to be honest, but once I finish the game I’ll never say never!
Milla next, please. 😊
I imagine Batman’s mind is something like Sasha’s
If two other minds in psychonauts 1 got tangled together and you got to enter it, which two?
100% he's lying when he says it was a training course. He's saving face by claiming that.
I mean, possibly. But I feel as though there's some honesty to it since he was conscious and present within his own mind the whole time and I think it would have been cleaned up much more effectively and efficiently had he done it himself as opposed to relying on Raz, the camper who get there essentially the day beforehand. And he even admits that the Mega Censor didn't go to plan. So I believe that he was being honest if only for the fact that he admits that the last part was unintended since both Oleander and Milla had also created full practice courses in their minds.
I think this is great and may I ask, would Basic Braining get a vid too or is that rolled in with Meat Circus?
That's one hell of an ad break.
Love this content
Thank you so much!!
Curse the algorithm for not showing this video on my feed earlier.
Well, I'm glad you found it nonetheless! I hope you enjoyed!
most of the people here are talking about the content of the video,,, im out here being jumpscared by ideal and the real in the ad reads
You are my own creation, I command you to stop!🚫
🤩😍
desperate subscribe-begging 76 seconds in? uncool
Darn. But I live to impress you though tsm688. 😔
I just noticed you have a .hack//SIGN dvd in the background at 21:09 .......You've earned a subscriber.