Return to Monkey Island

There is a thing, being able to revisit old places like the governor castle and all the other things you can do that does not adhere to the story overall. Then there is that been there done that and were here with those nostalgia glasses. I'm not sure if this game will gain new fans, but what the heck, it spells nostalgia glasses all over the place apart from the prolog... The game is finished and I already long for someone to pick up the glove to continue the story...

This game does just about everything right. Amazing presentation. Meaningful artstyle. Sweet music. Superb puzzles. Great story all the way through. The ending is beautiful and made me cry. This is a must play for all LucasArts fans. Sometimes the way the tweening animation works looks a little weird and pulled me out of the experience. But overall, it looks great, and anyone should be able to embrace it as they play. The voice acting is also amazing and really adds to the game. There's some voice direction that's hokey and kinda ruins the joke, but maybe that is the joke? It's also a writing issue I suppose with some lines not working well when voice acted, but maybe that is also the joke, but it's nowhere near as bad as some lines in MI1+2 SE that were ruined by voice acting. Speaking of writing. It's so good. I played with the writer's cut on, and the lines that I think where the writer's cut were so funny. Choose whatever mode you want tho. The humor is in the top two of the series for me, it's very much in-line with the rest of the series, and it all works great with the story. You may also notice how much writing and voice acting is. So many different lines for so many different things. So many optional things to do too. This really does feel like the most feature complete Monkey Island ever. The game offers a context sensitive in-game hint book. I am not sure how I feel about it. Maybe it is better that looking up an online guide. Certainly better than buying a guidebook. I used it 3 times on hardmode and I looked up a guide for one more problem. Each time I felt it was the game's fault. This is very much the exception. The puzzles are not straightfoward, but easily do-able. The game provides what you need to figure it out, but doesn't hold your hand at all. Think more DOTT than MI2 in puzzle direction. With that ending, I am fine with this being the last Monkey Island game ever. Perfect way to end the franchise. Thank you to all who brought this together

I genuinely had a great time with Return to Monkey Island, tried 'n true! It rightfully deserves its place next to my favourites: MI 1,2 and 3 .. in no particular order. I also appreciate that Ron Gilbert acknowledges the entire series at the beginning, including MI 3, 4 and Tales. It doesn't appear to make a huge difference on this game's story, except for the return of everyone's favourite demonic talking skull, Murray! :D If you're new to the series, this one's a good place to start. If you're a point & click veteran: the game starts out very-very hand-holdy (even in hard mode). Thankfully you can roam free after the initial 15~30 minutes, and it feels like a true Monkey Island again. In terms of puzzle difficulty (I played on hard), I think it's just right. The game won't throw any monkey wrenches at you: it's all based on exploration and sensible logic. Certainly easier than MI 1 and MI 2 .. but the first time I played those, I felt bad for having to check a walkthrough in some places. About the story - I can't say I had many "Oh wow, what a twist!"-moments. It just felt like a fun adventure with Ron's sense of humour and lots of likeable characters along the way .. and that's honestly exactly what I want from a Monkey Island game. It does bank a little heavy on nostalgia though. No big deal in the end, but you do spend a lot of time in familiar MI 1 places. The art style .. despite all the fuss, it's honestly fine. It mainly doesn't work well in close-ups, but those are rare .. and the back of Guybrush's head just looks .. blegh. (Just walk diagonally instead of up/down and you won't see it much :p) The style does work really well for all the skulls and zombie pirates; there's plenty of those! Nothing but praise for the music & voice acting; exactly what I'd hope it to be! Definitely open to more of Guybrush's adventures .. but if this was the last one, it nicely wraps things up. Regardless, looking forward to whatever Terrible Toybox works on next!

I played and enjoyed the old games in the series. Return to Monkey Island is an entertaining and modern point-and-click adventure with an interesting story. I was curious to see what locations and puzzles awaited me. Return to Monkey Island has retained the charm of the series and does not seem to be unconnected with the previous parts of Monkey Island. From a technical point of view, I have nothing to complain about. The voice acting was great. The puzzles were not too easy and not too hard. The graphics/art style is solid. Gameplay wise it was flawless. One small thing I would have liked to see is if they had included more buildings to explore. All in all, I am very pleased with this game. Thank you and I hope there will be a sequel. :)

Summary: Return to Monkey Island is a well made point-and-click adventure game that reflects the lives of its designers, and perhaps its players, as they've aged with the series. Although accurate in its portrayal of aging, it is the outdated perspective to the existential questions that prevent it from being a truly great game. Who is this game for? People who grew up with the Monkey Island series (Age 30+ as of 2022) or designers that want to use it as a case study. I would not recommend this game for those that have not followed the series or accumulated enough life experience to have context. Instead, I suggest playing the previous games in the series. Ratings Breakdown: Mechanics: 5/5 - Puzzles are interesting and have the right amount difficulty. - Travelling around the map is quick and easy. Soundtrack: 5/5 - Familar themes keep you immersed in the environment the whole time. Voice Acting: 4.9/5 - LeChuck's new voice takes a little getting used to. Art: 4/5 ( - Backgrounds are high quality. - Animations are smooth and lively. - Some elements of the character design can be distracting, like Guybrush's nose and goatee/cleft chin. - The pointer is confusing. By default, there is an X to the top left of the item when hovering over a non-interactive, which may cause you to try to point with the X. Instead you have to remember to point with the center of the item. Story: 3/5 - Clear, engaging and well paced. - Follows the "TV Sitcom Dad" arc, which is fine when contained within some larger family dynamics, but when the focus is solely on the dad, the story turns fatalistic and depressing. Total: 4.38/5