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AG Community Playthrough #79: Return to Mysterious Island
I’m at the stopping point, really loved a new kind of puzzles added on top of inventory manipulation.
Speaking of which, I still have some items sitting in it I’m starting to think I’ll never get to use, like a cage to catch an animal that I fixed. It’s not over yet, but from what I (barely) remember - we are heading towards the end.
I suppose I’m gonna have to look up all the uses for things I have collected. Still nothing regarding soot, Karlok.
These are the observations I have made from my playthrough. There might be other solutions I am unaware of.
There are two hostile monkeys that block your path. One guarding the farm house close to the volcano and another that takes over the granite house and throws your rope ladder away. The first one next to the volcano, you can get rid of him by tossing a bamboo in the boiling water next to him, or by using the cage with the snake, or by giving him the pie you baked. The second one in the granite house, you can also use the snake in a cage or the pie.
These are the observations I have made from my playthrough. There might be other solutions I am unaware of.
There are two hostile monkeys that block your path. One guarding the farm house close to the volcano and another that takes over the granite house and throws your rope ladder away. The first one next to the volcano, you can get rid of him by tossing a bamboo in the boiling water next to him, or by using the cage with the snake, or by giving him the pie you baked. The second one in the granite house, you can also use the snake in a cage or the pie.
I got them both drunk, with the alcohol I made 
I gave apple pie to the one sitting next to the windmill. I did’t even know the cage is for the snake! I used the v-shaped stick to hold it down, like I’ve seen in many “snake videos” from people who aren’t scared of them, and I remember Mina making a comment about some very big animal next to the paw prints in the clay area, and I thought the cage was related to that somehow…
They give you a point when you smash the coconut versus nothing for eating it if I remember correctly, so there is an incentive if you are a high score seeker
. I would think wasting good food shouldn’t be rewarded.
True. You don’t know that you only get 1 point for the first coconut until you’ve crushed a second one. But diego overdid it and smashed all three coconuts.
Ok got into the Nautilus after destroying all the robots. It was fun finding creative ways to destroy them.
I am sure I didn’t destroy any robot with a falling branch. Which one was that? I used the dynamite on the robot near the mill.
PS: Damn, I never made any alcohol! Thanks for reminding me, DCast.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
@Doom
Ah, so that’s a port. Yes, shame about reputation, as you put it, pains me to go on Steam and see “negative” for such a great game, but it does work as a warning for those about to buy it. I wonder why did they decided to cut stuff out for the mobile version, I’m guessing technical limitations. Although, that’s a poor way to introduce a game to a new audience.
@Veovis
I had to download an WineD3D file to make Safecraker runs smoothly, but it worked like a charm (Steam version). Not sure if it’s a remake, but it did stood out to me back then because it was the most straightforward game ever - just cracking safes/puzzles, nothing else. There’s a story (funny) and the voice-over is fantastic, but it’s as simple as you can get (as far as gameplay not puzzles - I thought puzzles were pleasantly challenging). Now there are a dime a dozen of these games, of course, but I still enjoyed plying Safecracker in the beginning of this year.
I looked it up - says, Kheops acquired the brand and intellectual property as insolvency assets of Cryo.So yeah, seems to be a natural extension.
@diego Have a phenomenal vacation! I, apparently own both - RthMI 2 AND Nostradamus, so might just dive into either right after.
Also, I’m here operating on the notion that any discussion related to the game in question (including development, publishing, studios behind those, sequels and similar titles) is a good thing, because there already aren’t that many of these happening across internet, and this forum is like a mammoth on the verge of dying out, so sorry, if I derailed, felt like I wanted to answer everyone. I’ll get to the last part of the game asap.
I am sure I didn’t destroy any robot with a falling branch. Which one was that? I used the dynamite on the robot near the mill.
the robot near the mill. He is hanging out next to a tree with a loose branch tied to a rope right above him. You can use the rifle or the bow and arrows to cut the rope and destroy the robot underneath.
Also, I’m here operating on the notion that any discussion related to the game in question (including development, publishing, studios behind those, sequels and similar titles) is a good thing, because there already aren’t that many of these happening across internet, and this forum is like a mammoth on the verge of dying out, so sorry, if I derailed, felt like I wanted to answer everyone.
Of course it’s a good thing! I would be very surprised if anybody objected.
I’ve started Return to Mysterious Island 2, which I played before. I didn’t remember much about it, except that I liked the last part better than the first. I’d hardly played 5 minutes when it all came back. I’ll put my opinion in spoiler tags. Far too many action sequences for my liking. You also play as Jep, who is now 10 times as intelligent and understands English perfectly: Mina tells him to find her a thingamajig (“a clean one!”) and off he goes. I know that shouldn’t bother me but it does. I’ll continue playing, maybe even finish it, who knows.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
Also, I’m here operating on the notion that any discussion related to the game in question (including development, publishing, studios behind those, sequels and similar titles) is a good thing, because there already aren’t that many of these happening across internet, and this forum is like a mammoth on the verge of dying out, so sorry, if I derailed, felt like I wanted to answer everyone. I’ll get to the last part of the game asap.
If this refer to my “derailing the thread” thing earlier I’m sorry. That only was in reference to my own longer-than-intended text about other Kheops games. I’m happy to discuss any aspect of adventure gaming anytime, anywhere and for no reason at all (to paraphrase a musical hero of mine). This forum as of now seem to be more or less the last resort for that.
As for Safecracker the original was developed by Daydream software in the late 90’s and I had the impression the Kheops Safecracker was a remake of sorts of that. Haven’t played either though but will probably do so soon.
For the record I shot all robots I’ve encountered so far with the cannon + shotgun. Why make it more complicated?:)
OK, i’m running a bit behind, but have just managed to board the Nautilus.
I found all the inventory heavy stuff early on a bit of a chore, massive amounts of stuff to collect and so many potential combinations. Although I made a lot of stuff I am aware of a few half finished inventory combinations I didn’t make. Presumably just alternatives to things I did.
However, when the old guardian robots get involved things liven up a bit! Nice change of pace and some interesting puzzles that kept me going when I had begun to flag a bit with all the inventory stuff.
I see from some of the other comments that I missed out on some creative destruction as I shotgunned my way through all of them except for cannon guy.
I think that will have to wait for another playthrough as I want to try and get through the next section this week as I’ll be away next week.
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
I will finish the game this weekend.
Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha
Ok, this part is longer than the previous one and a lot of logic puzzles are awaiting us.
I don’t know if I missed something, but I’ve finished the game and didn’t find much to do in the last part apart from lifting up a few pieces of debris, solving three logic puzzles and answering seven riddles in a row correctly. Took me an hour at most and most of that time was spent on restarting the riddle section until I finally managed to answer enough of them correctly and win the game. Not even sure I really needed to solve all three logic puzzles since solving two of them granted me access to the same room.
Not a fan of riddle-based puzzles in general. For me it was just a matter of being lucky enough to get random riddles in a row that I could answer or guess correctly I eventually resorted to cheating by saving after having answered a few correctly but ultimately I was lucky enough not needing to load the save.
Was there a way to find the right answers that I missed? As it were Mina definitely knew more about certain animals and instruments than I do in real life…
Anyway; thanks for leading this playthrough Diego! Enjoyed the game as a whole, despite the somewhat weak ending part. FWIW, I finally received 283 points. I’ll probably install and try out the sequel next.
I also just finished Syberia 4 and while watching the end credits it hit me that co-creators, French studio Koalabs, likely more or less is Kheops Studios in new form. Tried to google it but couldn’t find anything definite though. But it makes sense chronologically. Cryo went under and Kheops took over. Kheops went under and Koalabs rose from the ashes. Anyone know more about this?
I also just finished Syberia 4 and while watching the end credits it hit me that co-creators, French studio Koalabs, likely more or less is Kheops Studios in new form. Tried to google it but couldn’t find anything definite though. But it makes sense chronologically. Cryo went under and Kheops took over. Kheops went under and Koalabs rose from the ashes. Anyone know more about this?
I don’t think they had anything to do with each other. Koalabs was created as a studio of programmers inside of Microids from what I understand, while Kheops was indeed run by former Cryo employees and they were bought as an already established and well-respected development house, just to be closed shortly after. Maybe you are thinking of Totem Studio who lived a bit longer — they were also former Cryo people who worked closely with Kheops before moving to Microids together. In fact Cryo was so huge that quite a number of smaller companies emerged after their dissolution. I remember there was even a studio whose sole purpose was to continue making Atlantis games. But Kheops is the only one I miss.
PC means personal computer
Also, I’m here operating on the notion that any discussion related to the game in question (including development, publishing, studios behind those, sequels and similar titles) is a good thing, because there already aren’t that many of these happening across internet, and this forum is like a mammoth on the verge of dying out, so sorry, if I derailed, felt like I wanted to answer everyone.
Of course it’s a good thing! I would be very surprised if anybody objected.
Also, I’m here operating on the notion that any discussion related to the game in question (including development, publishing, studios behind those, sequels and similar titles) is a good thing, because there already aren’t that many of these happening across internet, and this forum is like a mammoth on the verge of dying out, so sorry, if I derailed, felt like I wanted to answer everyone. I’ll get to the last part of the game asap.
If this refer to my “derailing the thread” thing earlier I’m sorry. That only was in reference to my own longer-than-intended text about other Kheops games. I’m happy to discuss any aspect of adventure gaming anytime, anywhere and for no reason at all (to paraphrase a musical hero of mine). This forum as of now seem to be more or less the last resort for that.
I thought you kinda meant that I derailed the playthrough thread by talking about “not plythrough things”, so you politely went along while also showing that it is a derailment, indeed. Sorry, I misunderstood.
Thanks for kind reassurances!
For the record I shot all robots I’ve encountered so far with the cannon + shotgun. Why make it more complicated?:)
Same. Also, to be fair, I don’t think it really occurred for me to try other ways. I thought the original was pretty fun.
************************************
Like Veovis I was also surprised with how quickly I finished the game! I was expecting a lot more puzzles and combinations, but it was - poof! - and over. I went the riddle route, because I thought I’ll get to try the piano as well, but, apparently - nope, that was it, so it’s interesting that there are two ways (I assuming) to finish the game. I wonder if there’s anything different if you do piano puzzle at all- did anyone try that? If no one did, I might go back and do it myself, although, I’m not a fan of these kind of puzzles.
Overall, I had fun with this one. The kick here is inventory manipulations, and while they can be overwhelming at times, they can also be fun. I thought the graphics held up well (even though this is classic “mid 2000s adventure” look), I liked the score and the sound effects, and I liked the overall journey, unbelievable things and all. I now have a good collection of games form the Dark Age of adventures that I replayed and enjoyed all over again, despite their flaws and a bit of aging - Fahrenheit, Black Mirror, RtMI… I’m thinking what should I replay next…
Not a fan of riddle-based puzzles in general. For me it was just a matter of being lucky enough to get random riddles in a row that I could answer or guess correctly I eventually resorted to cheating by saving after having answered a few correctly but ultimately I was lucky enough not needing to load the save.
I’m the opposite - I like riddles, and I feel like it’s a rarely used trick in AG. With that being said, I believe that you can find all the answers from the stuff around - display cases, safe, things on the walls - all their descriptions are answers to the riddles. Granted, some of them are very tricky (questionable?), but I managed to find all of them with a few mistakes only. Unless you tried that and it didn’t work for some specific questions?
P.S. Did you replay previous Syberia games before doing part 4? I feel like my brain just won’t let me start it without replaying those first. Same with the last Monkey Island game that I’ve been gifted upon release - I feel like I need to reply the series for all the long-forgotten details and intricacies to be able to fully appreciate what is being offered…
Thanks for the playthrough, diego! I’m glad you offered this game, as I had fun re-exploring it, and you did a great job leading. Also, loved the maps 
@Karlok
I finished the game without using certain stuff, but I can at least see how (thanks to people posting here, too) I could have used it. With being sid, I’ve got no idea about the damned soot. Let me know if you managed to use it somehow!
I don’t think they had anything to do with each other. Koalabs was created as a studio of programmers inside of Microids from what I understand, while Kheops was indeed run by former Cryo employees and they were bought as an already established and well-respected development house, just to be closed shortly after. Maybe you are thinking of Totem Studio who lived a bit longer — they were also former Cryo people who worked closely with Kheops before moving to Microids together. In fact Cryo was so huge that quite a number of smaller companies emerged after their dissolution. I remember there was even a studio whose sole purpose was to continue making Atlantis games. But Kheops is the only one I miss.
I’m the opposite - I like riddles, and I feel like it’s a rarely used trick in AG. With that being said, I believe that you can find all the answers from the stuff around - display cases, safe, things on the walls - all their descriptions are answers to the riddles. Granted, some of them are very tricky (questionable?), but I managed to find all of them with a few mistakes only. Unless you tried that and it didn’t work for some specific questions?
Riddles can be fun to solve, but the problem for me is that they often are poorly written and/or suffer from being translated into English from another language (or I’m too stupid…). The ones in RtMI were OK, but I encountered a few that I didn’t know the answer to and that I couldn’t make sense of in hindsight either. One had to do with choosing the correct pearl among several in the display. I noticed the object descriptions of course but they were in some cases very short. When choosing the correct answer Mina had a lot more to say about the object in relation to the riddle than was in the object description. I wish the game could have utilized the encyclopedia in a more active way in this section.
P.S. Did you replay previous Syberia games before doing part 4? I feel like my brain just won’t let me start it without replaying those first. Same with the last Monkey Island game that I’ve been gifted upon release - I feel like I need to reply the series for all the long-forgotten details and intricacies to be able to fully appreciate what is being offered…
I’m exactly the same and I did replay the previous games before playing Syberia 4. Replayed Syberia 1 & 2 and half of Syberia 3 last year and whipped up the energy to finish Syberia 3 recently. That game was a bit of a chore to get through again, but I wanted to do it also because I hadn’t played the DLC Automaton with a Plan yet. Syberia 4 has the option to watch a short recap of what happened in the previous games, but I’m glad I replayed them even though the story in Syberia 4 doesn’t have much to do with the stories of the previous games (which would actually be one of the negatives for me). And it was fun replaying especially Syberia 1 & 2!
OK, I have finished the game. Like you guys Veovis and Dcast I was slightly surprised at how short the section was, but unlike you I did the organ puzzle.
I’m a musical guy so as soon as I had that sheet music in the inventory I wanted to know if there was a music puzzle and it turns out there was! It was pretty easy, although I can imagine that if you don’t read music it would be a lot harder. I guess the whole puzzle took about 3min.
I haven’t tried the riddle route, so I can’t say if there are differences, but essentially after playing the tune, the robot recognises you as Captain Nemo (although I thought his sensors were out of whack…?) and Mina tells him to lower the shield around the island and she is rescued.
As part of the end video sequence I did get a shot of (presumably) Captain Nemo sitting at the organ playing away on it. Did you get that for the riddle ending too?
I got 296 points I think so I guess there was a fair bit more I could have done with combinations. But to be honest, particularly after the Granite House section, I was feeling pretty inventory puzzled out.
Thanks Diego for hosting and all the rest of you for the interesting comments and input. I enjoyed the game but I’m not sure I would definitely have pressed on to finish it if I was playing alone, so thanks for the encouragement along the way all!
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
@Veovis
Admittedly, those weren’t very-well constructed, true. I did get a few mistakes because I couldn’t figure out what exactly does it want from me, but I might have been just luckier than you are because I only had to re-do everything once.
As far as Syberia - yup, I’m with you on the “going over the story again IN FULL” thing, so I’m either looking into replaying all Syberia games to play part 4 or all Monkey Island games to play Return… Sigh.
@Intense Degree
Thank you for that answer!! I don’t know why I called an organ a piano, lol, even though I was fully aware what it was, but it seems that we did get the same ending, and I know it’s gonna sound ridiculous but I don’t remember a scene of Nemo playing organ, even though I recently finished this. I dived into another intense game I wanted to finish (see my long-winded response in Immortality thread), so it kind of overtook everything and I if it, indeed, was there - I’ll be looking a bit foolish then. 
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