Psy High 2: High Summer

I liked the first Psy High quite a bit as a fun, choice-based game set in the supernatural high school hijinx mold of something like Buffy. The second installment keeps everything that worked well in the first game -- teens trying to figure out their lives while also dealing with nefarious mystical schemes -- and builds on it.

In this one, you've graduated high school and you're contemplating what's next while working as a camp counselor at a local camp. As you might expect, all is not what it seems at the camp. There's a mysterious source of powerful magic with troubling ties to the camp, and a number of interested parties are trying to make a move to either exploit or quell that magic. Your main goal for the game is to choose how you want to influence these goings on, which will have stakes for the camp -- and potentially the world.

All the while, you're also keeping up with your day-to-day duties as a camp counselor. The game effectively pivots between the magical storyline and the world of the camp. I found myself weighing decisions about to resolve drama between campers with as much care as how to approach the powerful magic in the woods. As it becomes clear, the world of the camp and the powerful magic are deeply intertwined.

While I thought the story of the first game was interesting enough, the magical mystery in #2 is really compelling, something that would feel at home in as an X-Files episode. (Spoiler - click to show)There's a settlement in the woods near the camp of people who have found a way to tap into a magical conduit to siphon life energy from campers to keep themselves alive, possibly forever. The game presents a range of intriguing paths for either stamping out this magical mystery or altering it for your own purposes.

The game also builds on #1 in terms of character arc. You have the option to upload your save file from the previous game and continue developing the relationships and aspirations begun in that story. For my playthrough, this was accomplished seamlessly, and I really felt like I was just picking up where I left off. For a choice-based game with a robust branching structure, this was a very impressive feat. Now, you see the player character move beyond the confines of their sleepy New England town and imagine what they want to do with their life(Spoiler - click to show) (while also grappling with the possibility of becoming essentially immortal and totally unmoored from normal human experience of time!). For similar reasons to why I liked the first game, I love how Slitt uses this supernatural teen drama genre to examine this bigger pivotal decision points in life.

Psy High 2 has further built out the world and its magical possibilities. As the main cast have all graduated, I'm not sure if there's potential for a third installment or not, but I would definitely return to this world again.