Return to Monkey Island

Ich bin in den 90ern mit MI aufgewachsen. Insofern mag ich eine tiefe nostalgische Verbindung haben: Jedenfalls mit dieser Verbindung war RTMI ein wundervolles Spielerlebnis und ein absolut empfehlenswert. Vielen Dank an alle Mitwirkenden, dass Sie diesen Klassiker so würdig haben aufleben lassen.

Try to soldier through the first chapter(s): everything that happens before you first board the ship is jarring, childish (literally and figuratively) and quite off-putting. I was setting myself up for frustration. Thankfully, the game's plot and humor start to click after that. There's plenty of nostalgia baiting and some of the returning characters are not used to their full potential, but what's there is at least entertaining enough. I didn't mind the simple puzzles, in fact I was glad to see a game that finally respects your time and does away with unnecessary padding of any kind. The story makes an attempt at giving the universe (and its protagonist) a coherent meta-narrative that also speaks to its creators' sensibilities and changed life perspectives. I wasn't fully sold on the ending or the "emotional" beats it tries to deliver, but I respect the effort. The art style is certainly different and some things (mainly Guybrush's design) never clicked with me, but it has a certain wild charm. The voices are consistently good, though LeChuck never sounds quite "right" despite the new actor's noble efforts. All in all, it is an entertaining 10-12 hour adventure that, weirdly, is at its best when it's not desperately grasping at its roots for easy nostalgia points. This is more of a 3.5/5 game but since you can't do half stars and I was in a charitable mood, I decided to round it up.

After some time in the drawer, I finally decided to play this adventure. Once finished, I understood the opinions of other players: from those who have rated it with 5 stars to those who only gave it one star. And it is not an easy game to rate, as it depends on your previous experience with adventure games, and with the Monkey Island saga in particular, and even the vital moment in which you find yourself. This game is a traditional point and click adventure game very easy to handle. Technically speaking, the game has no problems at all. You can save the game at any time or continue the game the instant you quit. And what I liked the most: if you stopped playing for a while, returning to the game offers you the possibility to make a summary of what you have done so far. This is very very useful in adventure games. Compared to other adventure games, or even to other Monkey Island games, this adventure is relatively easy. You can consult the hint book in your inventory in case you get stuck. The puzzles are simple or merely entertaining. That is to say, they will not generate any stress or anxiety. The soundtrack is spectacular and follows the style of previous Monkey Island adventures. What's more, if you've played the previous ones, you'll find yourself humming along to the music on more than one occasion. The graphics, oh the graphics. They have a very peculiar style, very cartoon, which have not been liked by everyone. However, despite its very square style, it is incredibly surprising how expressive all the characters are. Whoever hasn't stared at Guybrush in the final scene, has no soul, no heart, or doesn't even know what has played. Perhaps the main problem with this adventure, is that it may rely too much on nostalgia and memories of other adventures in the saga. If you have played the entire saga, you probably will like this one. If you're not a fan of classic adventure games, it probably won't tell you anything.

Das Spiel ist wirklich toll mit sehr viel liebe zum Details und auch die Grafik spricht mich voll an. Ich finde die Story sehr gut, die direkt an den 2 Teil anknüpft und völlig legitim als 3 Teil angesehen werden sollte. Auf dem Mac Mini mit M1 und Windows (i5 7.Gen) läuft das Spiel bei mir einwandfrei. Leider habe ich Probleme unter Linux Mint - da stützt das Spiel ab und lässt sich nicht mehr starten. Ich hoffe, dass bald Patches nachgeliefert werden, da der Support leider nicht weiterhelfen konnte.

Nach Umstellung von Vulkan auf OpenGL um das Problem des schwarzen Schirms unter Linux zu beheben (in ~/.local/share/Terrible Toybox/Return to Monkey Island/Prefs.json den Eintrag 'renderer: "opengl"' aufnehmen), lief das Spiel technisch einwandfrei. Die Hardwareanforderungen sind moderat, mein Thinkpad T470 (Intel® Core™ i7-7500U) mit integrierter Grafik hatte unter Debian GNU Linux keine Probleme (von den erwähnten BlackScreen-Problem abgesehen). Ich bin nach wie vor keine Freund des Grafikstils, auch wenn das mit der Zeit in den Hintergrund tritt (nö, ich will keine künstliche Pixelgrafik, auch die alten Monkey Islands hatten die bestmögliche Auflösung, die die Hardware hergab, ein Stil wie die Remastert Versionen von Teil 1 und 2 wären mein Favorit), deshalb und auch wegen der genannten technischen Probleme ziehe ich einen Stern ab. Davon abgesehen, hat es nicht lange gedauert, bis das alte Monkey Island Feeling wieder aufgeflammt ist. Der Sound, die Story, die Rätsel, die deutsche Synchro und Sprecher, einfach herrlich. Das neue Interface ist intuitiv, auch wenn es nicht die ganzen verrückten Kombinationen ermöglicht, die früher möglich waren. Was jetzt noch fehlt ist ne Amiga-Version :-D