Return to Monkey Island

Note: I own this game on another platform. I will try to be spoiler-vague about this. I'm glad some fans are enjoying the game. Unfortunately, I found it to be disastrous. And no, it has nothing to do with the new art style. Ron Gilbert made this game about himself. It was a response to message board critics from the 90s that he had always wanted to make. And yet he didn't have an actual story or a real ending planned out after all these decades. But worst of all, he retconned basically the entire series to do this. You can't really get more disastrous writing than that. Retconning all 5 previous games only to give no answers at all.. In trying to address the ending of MI2, he completely ignored the ending of Tales of MI. In trying to answer what the actual "Secret" of Monkey Island is, he gave no real answer at all (or some might say he gave every answer, or whatever you want the answer to be...). So he retconned the entire series for.... nothing? What a disaster. I was going to give 2 stars because at least there are some puzzles and gameplay that some hardcore fans might enjoy, but after writing this out, I had to lower it to a 1. The puzzles aren't even interesting and there is very little humor in the game, as well. The premise of the story makes no sense whatsoever and is built upon a bunch of mindless coincidences that would never happen based on the previous games. Play any and all of the old games before playing this one. I played through the full series right before Return to MI came out, and what an upsetting shock that turned out to be.

I never thought I would ever give a bad review about a Monkey Island game. (SPOILER ALERT) While it was hinted at in other games greatly as a Pirate based theme park, those games played it off pretty well. (SPOILER ENDS) REVIEW: I felt as if Return to Monkey Island was just a retelling of the Secret of Monkey Island with a very disappointing (In your face!) ending. It's nice to see the original creator's vision (Ron Gilber) brought to life but, to be honest, I wish I never played it. I'm actually happier LucasArts took it in the direction they did as they were more enjoyable both in storytelling and gameplay. I feel even Telltale Games did a better job with continuing along the same lines.

I admit, I fell down a little once I started the game up. I was hyping myself silly for this game, my expectations were lofty, to put it mildly. For me, it started to click two hours in, just as I boarded that ship and the puzzle chains started to be more sophisticated. With a framing story that seems right out of The Princess Bride (50th anniversary next year, woo-hoo!), Monkey Island attempts new ways to tell a story and even weaves Telltale style choice moments into the mix (I'm convinced Grossman is to blame). Lovers of the Monkey Island canon could be a little shocked. But it's definitely the same old Guybrush who would burn down a house to light a candle, a hero fallen out of the modern times, which is kind of what the game is about. The music is incredible. The new motifs especially. The blockade theme and some of the Brr Muda themes are my absolute favorite. But they're bringing back the old in style – transposing the Lookout theme into a minor key? Stroke of genius. iMuse is back to make my day, but I have to say that the SFX are often overpowering. I have them at 50% to fully enjoy the interactive music. But do keep the voices at 100%, because they're awesome. The controls are smooth, though of course a little simplified for this instalment. Fastest Guybrush ever! Modern comfort functions like hotspot markers make their first appearance in the franchise. Some Macish oddities (ESC does nothing, mouse wheel has no function) are in there. The inventory fills up in an extremely satisfying way with crisp and detailed items. Accessibility options are everywhere. For me, the art style has its jarring moments, but also its perks. It's certainly the most animated Monkey Island part yet, the muted color schemes are on point and the variety of facial expressions feels elaborate. The Guybrush shown will never be 'my' Guybrush, same goes for the Swordmaster. But with a bit of luck, these won't be the last representations of those characters that we will see.

At no point does this ever feel like a Monkey Island game. Whether it's the horrible art (sure, which can be forgiven as a stylistic choice), the attempt to be humourous that always falls flat, or the game laying hints on you so thick it must think you're a bagel waiting for cream cheese... It simply never takes the place that a Monkey Island game should. It's just a disappointment.

I grew up playing adventure games in the early 90's and for decades I hoped we'd one day get Ron's conclusion to Monkey Island. Now, I have mixed feelings about the game. I wish Ron and Dave would've chosen to disregard everything after MI2, which I know they considered initially. I wish Ron would've chosen to go with pixel-art like he did a few years ago. I'm on the 90's pixels camp and even favour no voice acting. I never played the Special Editions. I was not a fan of the cartoony look they used on Curse either. I think the main argument in favour of the classic style is that it leaves a lot of room for the imagination. It also makes everything feel more intimate. The game's a bit short. Puzzles are rather easy and there's even a hint book in our inventory. But wasn't frustration part of the experience, back when the internet wasn't even there yet? Perhaps we who played the two original games as kids wanted to play the game we would've played in '92 or '93, but maybe Monkey Island was bigger than that and was supposed to be sort of a reflection of our lives: in some ways we're the same we were back then, but in many ways we aren't anymore. I know Ron and Dave feel this way after reading their scrapbook letter. I liked the ending. The originally intended ending, the secret, is there. The story goes in the direction many of us had suspected; the hints were all there. The reveal adds another dimension to it, making it about imagination and about ourselves. The "new" ending(s) expand on that and leave room for different interpretations as a reflection on the nature of the secret itself and people's expectations. In any case, Monkey Island "3a" could only be the game Ron decided to make. Anything different, anything else would've been... well, something else. As I said, I have mixed feelings about Return to Monkey Island – but perhaps this is the way it was supposed to be. "Into the same rivers we step and do not step, we are and are not." – Heraclitus