Posted on: November 30, 2022
alwbsok
Games: 540 Reviews: 22
Rides on nostalgia, but still solid
If you haven't played the other Monkey Island games, then stop. The bad news is, this game isn't for you. The good news is, you get to play some classic adventure games. Yes, even the much-maligned fourth game is worth playing (though the controls sometimes make it painful to do so). The game is peppered with mini spoilers, including the game launching from Monkey Island 2's famous (or perhaps infamous) ending. Plus, many of the background gags that make Monkey Island games so rich rely on prior knowledge. How does Return compare to the other Monkey Islands? Well, its puzzle chains are generally shorter and less twisty than the revered Monkey Island 2. This isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing; it just means the game is easier and a bit shorter than MI2. You still get the old flashes of the mad genius "puzzle logic", where you eschew sensible tools and methods for ridiculous substitutions based on whatever is lying about. The puzzles aren't unfair though. All of them are obvious with a little lateral thinking. Primarily, the game is always funny and entertaining. It's not hard enough to be taxing or frustrating, nor is it easy enough that you get bored. Gilbert and Grossman have not lost their zany humour. I laughed out loud on multiple occasions. There are a couple of sources of controversy worth mentioning: the art style, and the ending. The former is mostly a storm in a teacup; the art style is fine (though I found the animation style did bother me from time to time). The ending is less easy to excuse. I see it as an attempt to do something similar as in MI2. Like in MI2, there's a mysterious maguffin that Guybrush is fixated on, since the beginning of the game, and there's really no one object or experience that could adequately meet Guybrush's (or the audience's) expectations. Unlike MI2's ending, Return's ending lacks nuance, and rather than a kind of existential headf***, we more get a limp shrug. Anyway, it's about the journey, not the destination!
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