Issue 3.3: The Mindscapes We Make
A Psychological, Symbolic, and Metaphysical Analysis of Three Beloved Games
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Masthead
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Table of Contents (Vol. 3, Issue 3: Sunday, May 15, 2022)
Summary & Housekeeping
Feature: “The Mindscapes We Make” (~23-minute read)
Food for Talk: Discussion Prompts
Further Reading
Game & Word-of-Mouth
Footnotes
Summary:
Today, we’ll continue our journey into the mind. Our next stop: the personal unconscious. We’ll examine the concept of “mindscapes,” and how mental worlds are constructed and portrayed in Psychonauts, Psychonauts 2, and EarthBound.
Housekeeping:
First, things first: WELCOME, NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Whether you’re here because you saw Game & Word in Substack’s discover section, read my guest column in last week’s Switch Weekly, followed me on Twitter, or whichever reason—I’m glad you’re here!
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Previous Issues:
Volume 1 (The Name of the Game): Issue 1 ● Issue 2 ● Issue 3 ● Issue 4
Volume 2 (Yo Ho Ho, It’s a Gamer’s Life for Me): Issue 1 ● Issue 2 ● Issue 3 ● Bonus 1 ● Issue 4 ● Issue 5 ● Issue 6 ● Issue 7 ● Bonus 2 ● Issue 8 ● Bonus 3
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Feature: The Mindscapes We Make
🚨🚨🚨 SPOILER ALERT 🚨🚨🚨
This post contains MASSIVE visual, story, and thematic spoilers for
Psychonauts
Psychonauts 2
EarthBound
If you want to play these games (which you really should) and don’t want them spoiled, beware! We highly recommend stopping here and coming back once you’re ready. You've been warned!
💡💡💡 POINT OF CLARIFICATION 💡💡💡
For consistency’s sake, this article will refer to MOTHER 2 / EarthBound as simply EarthBound, as we’ll be examining the North American localization and not necessarily the original Japanese script (unless otherwise noted).
This also applies to any character/location names and dialogue that differ between the two releases (ie, “Pokey” instead of “Porky,” or “Evil Mani Mani” instead of “Mani Mani Devil.”)
Welcome back to our “Depths of the Human Mind” adventure tour! We’re glad you’ve enjoyed your time in the conscious part of the psyche, but it is now time to move on to the next leg of our journey.
All passengers, please return to the vehicle so we may depart as soon as possible. Our destination: the unconscious.
Now, the unconscious is divided into two parts: the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The unconscious is the part of your mind you’re not consciously aware of.
All systems go…
Standing by…
Let’s GO!!!
Before We Arrive at Our Destination…
I do need to warn you about our destination.
The unconscious is a strange, strange place. It is a place of secrets (both known and unknown), repressed desires, and shameful memories. It is the realm of dreams, archetypes, and out-of-body experiences. It’s where you’ll find the truth about yourself and the universe.
What I’m trying to say is that things might get a little weird. Please remember that this is normal and expected, and always keep your vial of smelling salts within easy reach at all times in case of emergency.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, please buckle your seatbelts, stow away your trays, and move your seat to its upright position. Please put on your psychic blinders until the vehicle has come to a complete stop; failure to do so absolves Game & Word Tour Operators, LLC of any liability for any ensuing psychedelic freakouts or neural neutralizations.