[Keregioz]

Originally Posted by Thello

It's not the only bug either. If you use the bottle on the bottle opener without owning it, Guybrush will pull one that doesn't exist out of his jacket and use that.

I didn't notice that. I don't get it though....how can you use the bottle without having it?

[SamandMax]

My one fear is that this wouldn't feel like an actual Monkey Island game, that it would just be a series of smallish one-off adventures with no real overarching narrative like the Sam and Max games were, but this really does feel like a true full length Monkey Island sequel that just so happens to be divided into 5 pieces. The humour, the puzzles, the atmosphere - it feels exactly like a Monkey Island game should. And not to badmouth Escape From Monkey Island, which I did like, but...this is already way better than Escape From Monkey Island.

[sTyLnK]

Actually I had a bug with that opener as well. Guybrush pulled out a separate opener from his jacket and broke it all the while the actual opener was still sitting on the bench.

[Owskie]

I think the whole jungle maze puzzle was over done, i spent half the first episode on that. Other than... great.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

ARGH!

I want to try this, but I'd also rather play it on the Wii since my graphics card asploded. But my Wii got hit by lightning even though it was on a surge protector and now the plug doesn't work. But I don't want to go to the store only to find it's not released on WiiWare yet.

Is it released on WiiWare yet?

[SamandMax]

Originally Posted by Owskie

I think the whole jungle maze puzzle was over done, i spent half the first episode on that. Other than... great.

I think the only problem with the puzzle is the fact that they do it twice. The first map you decipher is fun but the second time you have to do it it feels like they're just padding the length.

[Psychocandy]

I'm adoring it so far... "Tales" definitely has the classic Monkey Island feel that I was hoping for. I'm also pleasantly surprised by the humour - the preview trailers didn't raise much of a giggle from me but the in-game jokes seem to be first rate. Brilliant! I've been giddy as a schoolgirl for the past two days.

[samIamsad]

This is good stuff. I've mapped my gamepad to this and have been playing three successive evenings in a row now and I'm still not through, never thought of that to happen. Got even stuck once! With a hints system like that in place now maybe Telltale could add one or two "hurt me plenty" mode puzzles into each episode, and make it still rather easy for those who want it to be. But for what it's worth, there are some of the most clever adventure game puzzles inside this one I've seen in a while.

Which granted weren't that many! But some of those are definitely up with anyting good in the old Monkeys. It seems Telltale has some iMUSE-like system going on with the audio, which is awesome. I'm glad they decided to include three individual volume settings because on standard levels the music and effects are muchmuchmuch louder than any of the voices.

Big plus too for adding lines to actions that aren't deemed a necessity. Ever tried to hand the flowers to mighty pirates on Flotsam? Taken a closer look at the book shelf

Spoiler:

at the Voodoo Lady's shack - the "last" book is a real cracker, by the way

? And so on. Also

Spoiler:

the layout of the jungle is so totally a nod to the woods on Melee

, it's amazing. Man, comparing this with the Bone demo it seems Telltale has come a loooooooong way since 2005.

And about some of those lines Guybrush spurts when

Spoiler:

THE POX™ is getting the best of him

: Can I get those on a Tee-shirt?

[tastebud]

i was really pleasantly surprised after this episode. not to take anything too much away from the sam and max effort, but after playing those my expectations for ToMI were relatively low. im very happy to report that this was awesome and i cant wait for new episodes (my main gripe with samnmax was the constant recycling of art/environment assets, lets hope that won't happen to much in monkey island)

[DustyShinigami]

I just finished episode 1 and i really enjoyed it.

I do think the review here was a bit harsh to be honest. I mean, i even enjoyed this more than the first episode of Wallace & Gromit. I do agree with the criticism about the controls. The simple point n' click interface from Sam & Max should have stayed. Hopefully this gripe will get tweaked up or replaced in the next episode.
And yeah, there were some lines of dialogue to choose from, that Guybrush didn't even say when you clicked on them. That was just a tad overdone, compared to the previous titles, but it didn't seem constant. Just occasionally. A couple of the character models were reused and i did encounter a bug or two.

I have only been playing bits each day, but overall, the length of this episode was very good. It felt longer than some of the Sam & Max episodes. The game felt like a Monkey Island game, as well as the humour (it wasn't gut bustingly funny but it did make me chuckle a few times), the characters, the music, the atmosphere - all Monkey Island! All those things were top-notch. The voice acting was great and it's so good to have Dominic Armato back as Guybrush.
The puzzles were fun, clever and fit well into the game. I got stuck a couple of times but managed to work them out without the help of any in-game hints etc. And i even enjoyed the maze. But i do agree that it was overused a bit.

All-in-all, this is a great way to start the series and i can't wait for the next one.

It's so great to finally have Monkey Island back!

[Marduk]

When I first heard people referring to games in the MI series as 'Dark' I just didn't understand what they meant; surely they were all too cartoony and comical to be dark?

I gradually got the impression that they meant literally dark; set during the night time. First reaction to reading several people who seem to have confirmed this left me a little speechless.

Sure; the opening scene of SMI was at night but there was a lot of sunshine in it, too; the same can be said for the LCR.

The opening scene for EMI might have been in day light hours but the first chapter was during the night. Jambalaya island was sunny, but we needed to play the island during business hours (the same can be said for Lucre Island in the previous act), which is when the shops would have been open and the diving contest would have been on. The neighbouring island (the name of which I forget), where pirates were sent to reform, couldn't be done during the night because Guybrush needed to go back and forth between them, so they made it heavily overcast so it looks as if it's almost night anyway. I'm also reasonable sure that the returns to melee are set at night time, too, except for when you need to get to the giant insult transmitter using the giant robot monkey.

I also think it's a little harsh to judge ToMI for 'not being dark' enough when you've only played one chapter. The rest of them can be completely at night, for all we know. I know this won't mean much to a lot of people but the prologue was at night, so at least some of the first part was 'dark'.

Originally Posted by Keregioz

Dammit....seems like it's time to get a new video graphics card.

The game is pretty good so far btw.

I think it really says something when you feel you upgrade your PC for the latest adventure game, of all things . The only problem I had was a little lag on the cursor speed, which didn't bother me in the slightest (though it did highlight my need to upgrade )

[rottford]

I always figured the MI games had a lot of dark humor, too. At least the first few. In SOMI, the head of the navigator freaked me out (I was only 5 or 6 at the time)! Not to mention the ghosts guarding the different areas of Melee island at the game's finale. Or the creepy ghost wedding.

MI2 was the creepiest. Digging up graves, resurrecting a pile of ash of a man who died in a flash fire at a weenie hut, being dropped in a pit of acid, etc. etc.

CMI had that Goodsoup backstory with reuniting that skeleton with the ghost of his love. But the whole series just has those dark, voodoo undertones.

As for the dark, shadowy tones, that's pretty prominent through the series, and I think the intro to TOMI captured that well (looks like this Ghost Pirates of Vudoo Island is getting it). Haven't seen it much through the rest of the episode, but I'm sure it'll come around in later episodes. They've gotten so many other elements of MI's atmosphere right in TOMI, I'm sure they won't forget some dark, voodoo-ey destinations.

[SoccerDude28]

I just finished the demo, and I don't understand, what was wrong with the old Sam and Max mouse-only control scheme? This new mouse control scheme works good for a console but not so for a PC I think. clicking and dragging the mouse to move him is very clunky. I have no problem of using a keyboard to play it, but this game specifically (at least from the demo) does not need a keyboard. I don't see what the keyboard adds to the control, except make it more cumbersome.

[Marduk]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

I just finished the demo, and I don't understand, what was wrong with the old Sam and Max mouse-only control scheme? This new mouse control scheme works good for a console but not so for a PC I think.

Did you mean to say it that way or is it backwards? Currently you control Guybrush with the keyboard, which I know a lot of people will be against but everything you interact with is point and click.

Exactly how will this work well for consoles? I doubt it would translate suitably over to Wii remote but not a traditional joy pad.

[dantebk]

Finished it this morning and I loved it. My favorite thing Telltale has done so far. Sure the weird mouse-click-and-drag thing is a little unnecessary, so I used arrow keys instead, which was fine. The humor was great--I laughed several times. The puzzles were great. The story. Everything!

Great job, Telltale! This is in no way a "Monkey Island in name only" situation. This is a genuine new chapter in the Monkey Island saga, and a rather epic chapter at that.

[cwapitm]

I finished it last night and totally loved it! There were several moments that had me laughing out loud, especially on the last puzzle. I was cracking up. The puzzles themselves were great as well. Graphics and animation were nice. Only thing I didn't like was the controls, but everything else was so great that it was only a minor problem. I was in a state of bliss after finishing. Monkey Island is back!

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by Marduk

Did you mean to say it that way or is it backwards? Currently you control Guybrush with the keyboard, which I know a lot of people will be against but everything you interact with is point and click.

Exactly how will this work well for consoles? I doubt it would translate suitably over to Wii remote but not a traditional joy pad.

There is another way to control guybrush. If you point the mouse at guybrush, hold the left mouse button and drag in a direction. A hula hoop ring appears and you can steer guybrush by dragging the mouse.

It's clunky, imprecise and annoying.

The keyboard is easier, but old fashioned point and click or full on gamepad analogue control would have been prefered.

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by Marduk

Exactly how will this work well for consoles? I doubt it would translate suitably over to Wii remote but not a traditional joy pad.

Use the Wiimote to control the pointer, the nunchuck analog stick to move Guybrush around. Easy.

For the PS3, move Guybrush with the left analog/ D-pad, control the pointer with the right analog stick.

What would be so hard to translate/ get used to there?

Anyway, finished the demo and I didn't laugh once. The pirate getting punched in the face almost worked, but there's something about the timing of the jokes overall that's a bit off.

Some conversations just drag, we have a grand return of the dodgy camera, Guybrush doesn't look geeky enough, I couldn't skip cutscenes, and the graphics, even on the highest setting, look weaker than Ankh which is now about 4 years old. Fair enough I've never been a massive fan of the series but I found CMI hilarious. This doesn't come close.

On the plus side the cursed hand does seem like a promising premises for a story, and I love the new control method. Finally, after years of waiting, I can actually directly control the main character in a point and click adventure. Now that's progress! I don't suppose Guybrush is able to run later on though?

I loved the CMI soundtrack also. Is the soundtrack in this episode anything to shout about? I'm presuming it's not by Michael Land this time round?

[Dale Baldwin]

Originally Posted by Terramax

I don't suppose Guybrush is able to run later on though?

He can run now. Hold the right mouse button down.

[dantebk]

Originally Posted by Terramax

I don't suppose Guybrush is able to run later on though?

Already answered, but you can also use the Shift key if you're using arrow keys to walk instead of the mouse.

Originally Posted by Terramax

Is the soundtrack in this episode anything to shout about? I'm presuming it's not by Michael Land this time round?

As a matter of fact it is by Michael Land.