Return to Monkey Island

I remember hearing about this title well before it was due out. At first, I was disappointed to learn the creative team went more cartoon and/or simple like with the graphics and gave the game an old school feel in its gameplay. I hear this was a common sentiment. I returned to it again well after launch and I really enjoyed it! It practically feels refreshing to play something that feels like this kind of old school game anymore as so many franchies copy popular mechanics these days (crafting, open world). It is also done in a way where the riddles feel less convuluted than in older entries in the serires. Even the art style grew on me after Igot over that it wasn't my expectation in a new title. If you like old Monkey Island or similar adventure games and want ligt hearted, freshened up, nostalga goodness, this is for you.

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!

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!