Monkey Island™ 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge™

I just wanted to point out that back then, Monkey 2 was considered the best adventure of all. It was taken for granted (at least that's what i got from mags back in the days) that it was obviously better than the first chapter (more sophisticated in everything), and not Day of the Tentacle, nor any Grim Fandango could even graze its enormous perfection. Dott was considered too short, for example, and limited, compared to the vastity of this kolossal epic (again that's how we saw it). And the writing, what with the surreality, ironicity and the fourth wall breaking sophisticated writing (Guybrush speaks to us, we thought), was deemed simply unreachable by any. But maybe the most important point is that back then we didn't even consider the existance of what today's foolishness calls illogicity. We were humbler and smarter persons, so we assumed there was no such a thing as one logic, because one objective logic, valid for all, certainly does not exist. We seem to have assumed that each person, so each game that tells of a world, has its own logic. humility makes us try to understand each "game world"'s logic, so we bent to it and adapted. Today it's different, we can't shift our shapes in humility, we can't adapt, we accept only one set of logics. That's what happens when some grow: they become rigid and dumb as rocks. Our young minds were flexible, now they're stiff. To lost childhood and genius. Ta!

Firstly, let's get this once and for all: Monkey Island 2, alongside with Indiana Jones and Fate of Atlantis, can be the best adventure games LucasArts ever created and definitely one of the best adventure games ever. Even if you don't agree with it, I think nobody will argue that MI2 is a very nice game worth checking by every fan of the genre. So, now, when we sorted it out, let's talk exclusively about the remake. After an honestly disappointing MI1 remake, I didn't have high hopes for this one - and I was wrong. The art style of the original made nice transition to high definition, voiceovers are really good and done by people known by any Monkey Island fan, and the new "coin" verb system, similar to the one from Curse of Monkey Island, works well. (By editing the INI file, you can enable classic verb mode - I recommend you to search how to do it.) There is a bunch of small disappointing moments, though. The animation is the same as in the original, which feels choppy when used in HD game, and some face expressions are just not right. In the Rapp Scallion close-up, the animation is actually WORSE and has less frames than in the original, which feels really off. The live music is... not all that great; sometimes it works and fits the game greatly, but in some parts, like in Booty Island, the original soundtrack is better and more clear. There are also some loading screens between some parts of the game which hurt the seamless nature of the original. Finally, audio commentary prompts are quite obtrusive and can't be hidden without turning off entire audio commentary. But, overall, this Special Edition can be the best way for newcomers to play this game, and long-time fans can be interested in it too. Remastering work done great, and some oddities do not hurt the game that much.

I bought all the monkey islands in the recent sale, having played them all as a kid and loving them. Unfortunately the first monkey island special edition was atrocious, the art style was terrible but i thought i could just play in the old style with the new voice acting, nope the new audio was locked with the new art. THIS ONE however got it right, you can enable voice acting through both styles, and the newer art is a lot better, in my opinion than the first special edition's art (may still play it old style for the nostalgias though)

It is pointless to argue whether Monkey Island 1 or 2 is the better game and, to be honest, it does not really matter. Instead, ask yourself: did you like the first game? Did you like its humour, its characters, the way the story was structured? Then, you need to play the second also. It is just as worthy of your time as the first. Some minor complaints. This game is longer, but at times, when you are forced to constantly go from island to island looking for clues it feels that you are forced to do this just so that the game can seem longer and, as a result, feels tedious. The dungeon towards the end does something similar with constant, very irritating, teleportations, which annoyed me no end. And finally, the ending, (which I thought was brilliant) is not for everyone, it is simply too weird and unexpected. Oh, you have not played the first one? Then you need to start there. Come back here once you have discovered the Secret of the Monkey Island ;)