Return to Monkey Island

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Defiant
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Return to Monkey Island

Post by Defiant »


Spoiler:
Introducing Return to Monkey Island, a new game by Ron Gilbert coming in 2022. http://returntomonkeyisland.com
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Zaxxon
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Zaxxon »

Just came to post this. So stoked.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Rumpy »

And it looks like they're returning to the 2D rather than the 3D engines they used later on, not counting the remasters of the first two games.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by xwraith »

Day one purchase probably for me
I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Defiant wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:42 am
Spoiler:
Introducing Return to Monkey Island, a new game by Ron Gilbert coming in 2022. http://returntomonkeyisland.com
That's the second biggest game announcement I've ever seen!
Zaxxon wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:21 pm Just came to post this. So stoked.
Amen. I've enjoyed most of Ron Gilbert's games since first playing the Commodore 64 version of Maniac Mansion back in the eighties. So, here's hoping he's able to successfully rekindle the Threepwood goodness of old.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by xwraith »

It's good to see Murray (sounds like the same voice actor) and I noticed they retained Dominic Armato to voice Guybrush per the trailer.
I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
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Defiant
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Defiant »



Missed it by thaaaat much



So maybe working on Return to Monkey Island was the real secret of Monkey Island the whole time? :ninja:
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Zaxxon »

Defiant wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 4:59 pm

Missed it by thaaaat much

Turns out, he didn't miss it at all. Nobody took him seriously. :horse:


https://grumpygamer.com/april_fools_2022
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by xwraith »

I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
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xwraith
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by xwraith »

I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
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Lagom Lite
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Lagom Lite »

How appropriate. You fight like a cow.
But you've seen who's in heaven
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Maniac Mansion was one of my first graphical ‘gateway’ games. Played it for hours on end with one of my cousins.

I actually replayed it not too long ago for pure nostalgia feels.

For some reason I was turned off by Thimbleweed Park almost immediately though. Too…much, maybe? I dunno.

I should give it another try. I think the whole ‘make fun of the silliness of early games like Maniac Mansion’ shtick either hit too close to home or the gag became old too quickly.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by xwraith »



Trailer’s up. It looks like you might get to play Elaine?
I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Hmm, did they feed the graphics through the Craiyon Ai engine "Monkey Island paper dolls in the style of Picasso"? :think:

Not a huge fan (of the graphical style) but of course I will play it since it's Monkey Island (and they know this).
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Isgrimnur »

Enlarge Image
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Rumpy
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Rumpy »

Yeah, not a big fan of the graphical style. It looks more like placeholder art than something finished, and unlike the earlier games, the art style looks lifeless.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:42 pm Enlarge Image
So the answer is ‘yes’. Mildly disappointing.
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Jolor
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Jolor »

Out now & playing now. It's been a long time since I played either a game in this series or a point/click adventure game at all, tbh.

As mentioned, and to acknowledge it immediately: the art style is jarring. Likely greater than that from 'Curse of' to 'Escape from'. Having said that, I'm more here for puzzles & story.

A nice scrapbook reviews the 'story so far' and an actual tutorial provides a nice lead-in. Just getting started, really, but enjoying it well enough.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Skinypupy »

This is getting excellent reviews, but as someone with no nostalgia for the originals and very thin patience with "glue the purple cell phone to the cat" style of point-and-click puzzles, I think it would mostly just annoy me.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Lagom Lite »

Playing it now (currently on Act 4), enjoying it a lot. It feels like a classic Monkey Island point-and-click game in the vein of MI 1-3. The UI is streamlined (no more SCUMM interface verbs) but the puzzles feels similar in difficulty and are mostly logical and fun.

Lots of returning characters, fun new characters and themes, and references to old MI memes, some nicely written comedic moments.
Spoiler:
poor Murray! He is awfully abused by Guybrush throughout this game.
I don't mind the art style as much as I thought I would once I actually started playing. Pacing is good. The game opens up more and more and gets more complex in the later acts.

I'd put this game below MI 1-3, but only slightly, and probably only because a new game simply can't compete with my fond childhood memories of those games. It is WAY better than Escape/Tales imo.
But you've seen who's in heaven
Is there anyone in hell?


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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Hipolito »

I just finished this game and have mixed feelings about it, though I think any Monkey Island fan should play it despite its flaws.

There are tons of throwbacks to the earlier MI games, particularly the first three. Fans will pump their fists and scream "Yes!" a lot. There are some big laughs and a few new characters I like quite a bit.

I played on Hard (instead of Casual) difficulty. It was challenging enough to make me use the very good hint system a few times, but unfortunately none of the puzzles had the complexity of MI1's grog or MI2's spit. And there was practically no insult swordfighting.

In the latter half of the game, things open up with a lot of new areas, adding to the challenge of the puzzles. But the pace of the story remains sedate and the new areas often have little or nothing to do in them. Even worse, as you close in on The Secret, the cutscenes promise some major conflicts that ultimately have little or no payoff.

The ending is bizarre, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It was absurd but told its message in a clever and poignant way. I don't think I've seen a story end quite like this before. And other parts of the plot had themes on storytelling, marketing, misinformation (with a really on-the-nose dig at the pandemic), and environmentalism.

Here's how I rank the MIs.

1. MI1 (The Secret of Monkey Island)
2. MI2 (Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge)
3. MI3 (The Curse of Monkey Island)
4. MI6 (Return to Monkey Island)
5. MI5 (Tales of Monkey Island)
6. MI4 (Escape from Monkey Island)

Though I find RTMI a bit disappointing, I'm glad I experienced it, and I feel it was made for fans like me who've been playing these games for decades. So if you're a MI fan, play this. Don't expect the greatness of the past, but expect something interesting. And if you're not an MI fan, definitely play MI1, 2, and 3 pronto, then play RTMI.
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Re: Return to Monkey Island

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Excellent reviews, guys, thanks. I’ll be picking this up in spite of sharing Skiny’s “very thin patience with "glue the purple cell phone to the cat" style” these days.

When I was playing 1-3 (around the time they were released), I guess I had infinite patience for illogic because I loved the genre and played anything remotely decent.

But Hipolito mentions that there’s no insult sword fighting as if that’s a bad thing. :D

IIRC that was one aspect of the game that was literally just plugging stuff in to solve until you slogged through…no rhyme or reason connecting the phrases. I specifically remember just looking up the answers to get through that bc of the illogic (to be fair, I’m probably remembering a second or even third playthrough, and not my first experience).
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