Return to Monkey Island

[Chiefcrowe]

by Ron Gilbert!

Coming out this year! Awesome news!!!

Return to Monkey Island | Available now on PC, Nintendo Swtich, PS5, and Xbox S/X

Return to Monkey Island is an unexpected, thrilling return of series creator Ron Gilbert that continues the story of the legendary adventure games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games.

returntomonkeyisland.com

 

[TheELF]

Hmm they didn't show Guybro Twidledee...is this going to be sjw with a female protagonist just because?!

 

[voodoo5_6k]

Yeah, great news! I was hoping for many years, against all odds, and now, wow Exciting!

Hmm they didn't show Guybro Twidledee...is this going to be sjw with a female protagonist just because?!

If you watch the trailer to the end, you'll see "And Dominic Armato as Guybrush Threepwood"...

 

[CP5670]

Looks great, but this would make the story convoluted. If it carries over from 1 and 2, what happens to 3, 4 and Tales?

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Very curious to hear that as well. I think some stuff from the other games may live on? Apparently Murray is in it and I also saw this on twitter, so we shall see???

https://twitter.com/x/status/1511022135191384067

 

[rstrohkirch]

Ya, but does it have ray tracing?

 

[voodoo5_6k]

Very curious to hear that as well. I think some stuff from the other games may live on? Apparently Murray is in it and I also saw this on twitter, so we shall see???

https://twitter.com/x/status/1511022135191384067

When I read this, I was happy.

Almost 10 years ago, Ron wrote this:
"It would be called Monkey Island 3a. All the games after Monkey Island 2 don't exist in my Monkey Island universe. My apologies to the all talented people who worked on them and the people who loved them, but I'd want to pick up where I left off. Free of baggage. In a carnival. That doesn't mean I won't steal some good ideas or characters from other games. I'm not above that."

If I Made Another Monkey Island

Ron Gilbert's often incoherent and bitter ramblings about the Game Industry

grumpygamer.com

I was kind of torn back then. Of course, it's his IP (well, not legally, but he created it), and he can wipe the slate clean. On the other hand, I always liked COMI a lot. Making EFMI non-canonical is no big deal. I liked it too, back then, but it never felt like a "real" Monkey Island game. And the story was getting worse the more you progressed (in my opinion). So, ditching it, no big deal. But I would've felt bad about ignoring COMI. Good, that he changed his mind (or, that it was changed for him ).

Will be interesting, where the game will be set, time-wise. Most German gaming sites speculate it'll sit between LeChuck's Revenge and COMI (because of Ron's MI3a claim back then). But I do hope that it'll be after COMI. At least, it would be kind of odd, having Murray in there, when he was "created" in COMI's first act (in his skull-only form, by sinking the four rowboats). And Guybrush clearly didn't know him before. But well, on the other hand, I do trust Ron to make a great game

And I do hope for a retail release, too. I really want to put a new box on my shelf, to join the all the others

 

[Stg-Flame]

I've never played a Monkey Island game but over the last day or so I've seen the internet explode with MI memes and varied amounts of excitement. Am I missing out on something?

 

[voodoo5_6k]

I've never played a Monkey Island game but over the last day or so I've seen the internet explode with MI memes and varied amounts of excitement. Am I missing out on something?

That depends. Do you like adventure games, especially the classic point&click ones? Then yes, absolutely. If you don't like them, well, then this game will most likely not change that.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I'd agree with this assessment. I grew up playing Lucasarts and Sierra games so this is exciting news to me!

It is interesting because at one point they were planning to make a movie based on Monkey Island and they had a lot of story ideas and concept art but then eventually the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was green lighted, and it seems like a few ideas were similar between the two.

That depends. Do you like adventure games, especially the classic point&click ones? Then yes, absolutely. If you don't like them, well, then this game will most likely not change that.

 

[Stg-Flame]

That depends. Do you like adventure games, especially the classic point&click ones? Then yes, absolutely. If you don't like them, well, then this game will most likely not change that.

I didn't get a PC until the Unreal Tournament/Diablo 2 era so I never played any of those types of games. We couldn't afford a PC but my parents played video games too so we had all the Nintendo and Sony consoles growing up.

 

[CP5670]

I've never played a Monkey Island game but over the last day or so I've seen the internet explode with MI memes and varied amounts of excitement. Am I missing out on something?

They have a great atmosphere and humor (back when games didn't take themselves too seriously), but the puzzles and gameplay might be frustrating by today's standards. Use a walkthrough if needed. All the games are on GOG, with remastered versions of 1 and 2 available.

I liked both 3 and 4 a lot. Tales was a mixed bag though, and some parts of it felt like they didn't fit into the series.

 

[voodoo5_6k]

They have a great atmosphere and humor (back when games didn't take themselves too seriously), but the puzzles and gameplay might be frustrating by today's standards. Use a walkthrough if needed. All the games are on GOG, with remastered versions of 1 and 2 available.

The remastered versions are a good start, agreed.

@Stg-Flame: This is by far the easiest (and also cheapest) way of getting to know them and see whether the game's humor is up your alley. And you can switch between remastered and original graphics (well, SVGA for TSOMI, but close enough...).

You also get the bonus of a full voice-over, with some fiddling around even for the original version.

Monkey Island - The Ultimate Talkie Editions

Here, you can find my fan-made unofficial patches, including the Monkey Island Ultimate Talkie Edition builders, and the Deponia audio fixes.

gratissaugen.de

Monkey Island - The Ultimate Talkie Editions

Here, you can find my fan-made unofficial patches, including the Monkey Island Ultimate Talkie Edition builders, and the Deponia audio fixes.

gratissaugen.de

Also, if you're really into it, you could go full-on MIDI goodness, get a Roland MT-32 or CM-32L (plus MIDI interface if you don't have one) and listen to these great tunes as they were intended But that's optional (although very much recommended by me ). Nowadays, I use DOSBox and the files from my original CD-ROMs and floppy disks. Plus a Roland UM-ONE Mk. II as a MIDI interface, connecting DOSBox to my stack of MIDI devices. But that's a lot more fiddling around and I digress.

If you are at least slightly interested in funny, story-driven games, without any time-pressure (well almost, but I won't spoil it ) or fear of dead-ends and virtual death, and have the time (you'll also need pen & paper to take some notes, unless you have a very good memory ), get them now, or when they go on sale.

These are one of my most beloved games, and I do replay them from time to time, although I know all the puzzle solutions by heart, after all those years It's just Grim Fandango that I like even more.

 

[TheELF]

I didn't get a PC until the Unreal Tournament/Diablo 2 era so I never played any of those types of games. We couldn't afford a PC but my parents played video games too so we had all the Nintendo and Sony consoles growing up.

Ha and you never played manic mansion on the NES?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Ha and you never played manic mansion on the NES?

Negative. The NES was more my parent's era as my brother and I were still pretty little at the time and couldn't handle much more than Mario 1/2/3. My parents were more into RPGs like Final Fantasy, Ultima, Dragon's Quest, The Magic of Scheherazade, etc. but they did enjoy a lot of action games like Simon's Quest, Milon's Secret Castle, Zelda, Mega Man, etc. There were so many older games that I can't even remember where my dad had hand-made maps on notebook and graph paper so he could find his way through dungeons but the point and click games were not their style.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

This is a weird one because I loved the old Lucasarts P&C adventure games (Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Loom, Monkey Island, etc) but I also have to acknowledge that my taste in games and the rigors of adult life have drastically changed how I like to spend my time gaming.

I tried playing the remastered/updated Monkey Island on Steam and I had totally forgotten how much I hated the older "rub a bunch of random crap together until you figure out the answer" style adventure gaming of the early 90's. Monkey Island isn't too bad, but there was plenty of times where I found myself just following a walkthrough wondering why the hell am even playing the game.

 

[CP5670]

Monkey Island 2 was particularly bad with some obscure puzzles that spanned many areas. I remember I was stuck on some parts for years back in the day, like looking up things in the library catalog, putting the rat in the soup and winning the spit contest by cheating in 3 ways. Even as a kid, I was thinking "how was I supposed to figure that out?"

These would actually make great phone games. There must be android/ios ports out of some of them by now. There is a ScummVM for phones.

 

[voodoo5_6k]

A nice interview with Ron & Dave, plus a few screenshots from the game!

Ron Gilbert’s Monkey Island announcement was a joke ‘18 years in the making’

Check out the first screenshots from Return to Monkey Island.

www.theverge.com

 

[DigDog]

I *used* to love them, but i wouldn't sit down today in front of a Monkey Island, for several reasons, but mostly these two:

1. i haven't got any friends.
The only way we managed to solve anything in any of these games is by hotseating, and having everyone else around just throwing ideas. I remember hanging out at the local D&D store, and there were a solid half-dozen people getting involved. On my own, i would accomplish nothing.

2. because of (1) and also because the internet exists, i'd probably just look up all the solutions. No point pretending that's not how it would go, and i would just spoil myself the whole game.

There's a whole lot of games today that are in the "games for other people" category, i'm happy to watch someone else play them (preferably a full walkthrough, or a glitchless speedrun), but i wouldn't actually want to play them myself, and Monkey Island is firmly in this group. Watching the story unfold, enjoy the art style, yes, but to actually dedicate time to the game and have to bear the frustration, no thank you.

 

[CloakedNinja]

Im so glad, that oldschool point-and-click adventure games are coming back. This is a special genre for many of us, oldschool gamers. Couple of yeas back, i spend great time playing Full Throttle Remastered.

 

[voodoo5_6k]

Just stumbled over another nice interview with Ron & Dave.

Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman - Return to Monkey Island | Adventure Gamers

Hot on the heels of the biggest adventure game announcement in years, we chat with the legendary men behind the monkeys in search of their secrets - including the first in-game images! |

adventuregamers.com

 

[voodoo5_6k]

And yet another article...

In rare interview, Monkey Island designers tell Ars about long-awaited Return

The new title will eschew pixel art, embrace hint systems.

arstechnica.com

 

[voodoo5_6k]

Here we go again...

‘This Was Like the Manhattan Project of Games’: How Return to Monkey Island Became a Reality - IGN

www.ign.com

 

[Chiefcrowe]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562147989019234305

Stan sure knows his marketing! It's the biggest #MonkeyIslandMonday ever and it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day and you can preorder now and it's less than a month away and I should to get back to bug fixing! https://returntomonkeyisland.com

 

[Oyeve]

These type of games were great fun 30 years ago but I have zero interest in this as of yet. I will see what the release does and check back.