Adventure Gamers - Forums

I’m also surprised to not see an AG review yet. Perhaps we’re to receive a Evan Dickens classic review. I’m not opposed to the delay if that were so.

It consistently is a great game, always providing something new and fresh to what we are expecting. Consistently the writing, sound design, animation, and characterization invigorate an old formula and familiar locale and provide something worth experiencing. Sneakily so.

I’m onto part 4 and the game has opened up. The added openness of part 4 prods a whole new level of appreciation for the game unfolding before me. I haven’t finished the game but this is one of the better adventure game experiences of the year, especially for us old codgers who yearn for yesteryear. I know I’m being vague, but suffice it to say, this is one worth playing, even if you weren’t in on the Monkey Island craze in the 90s. It’s that good.

I don’t think I’ve posted here in over 15 years or something. Hi to all who remember me! Sort of wish I could get my old post count back 😄

For someone who was never that into the original Monkey Island anyway, this was an OK and enjoyable game, but occasionally a bit boring. The nostalgia doesn’t do it for me (it was already too much in EMI, though they did it particularly badly). I assumed that Gilbert was very likely to give us an an ending that again dealt with the idea of what is real and what is fake, considering some of the other things he has done. And that is indeed what we got. I partly enjoyed it, but maybe would have liked to seen it taken even further.

There were a few nice adventure gamer meta-jokes, like the mazes, or the second to last puzzle being a pixel hunt. That was sort of enjoyable, but maybe a bit too clever for its own good. On the other hand, if you want to do that, then where else than in a classic series like Monkey Island.

I liked the new art style, even though based on the screenshots I thought that I probably wouldn’t enjoy it that much. It worked much better on a bigger screen than in thumbnails. Sadly, some of the music was surprisingly badly recorded and mixed – I blame the pandemic.

I found a lot of the dialogue boring and the jokes stale, though I did laugh out loud a few times, too. Some of the characters were so childishly unpleasant, mean or sarcastic that I actually found myself not wanting to interact with them – this is my pet peeve in adventure games, GK2 does it too. I wish the puzzles had been just a little bit harder, though there were also a few moments when I kicked myself after having checked the hint book. And maybe the biggest flaw of this game was that in the beginning it felt far too linear. Thankfully, this was fixed later.

If you’re in the mood for a fun adventure that is on the easy side (even in hard mode), and you love nostalgia, this is probably a game for you. If the idea of yet another Monkey Island sounds a bit uninteresting to you, skip this one (or wait for a sale), and play Thimbleweed Park instead if you haven’t already – that one is an excellent game.

Doom - 20 September 2022 07:54 AM

Finished the first part on the island and played the second for a bit, and I also got that Escape from MI sad vibe when everything feels like a museum of old memories rather than a pirate world, and those cutscenes with Guybrush and his son don’t help either.

Agreed! Maybe Monkey Island has gone too far down that “it’s just a dream/amusement park/story” road to turn back. In the end, I felt like we were just solving puzzles for the sake of solving puzzles. I enjoy emotionally rewarding endings, like those in The Longest Journey or Grim Fandango. A gotcha-ending has to be really clever, and I’m not sure this one was. Just more of the same.

Doom - 20 September 2022 07:54 AM

In fact I find writing to be the weakest part of the game so far. It’s more talky than witty, relies too much on old tropes and jokes and often feels just childish.

Yes, indeed. It was disappointing to be bored by the dialogue so often. It doesn’t help that there were quite a few dialogue puzzles. I did sort of enjoy reading LeChuck’s diary, though!

Doom - 20 September 2022 07:54 AM

The worst for me was the mop tree puzzle, from the silly premise to the recycled forest maze to the horrible conclusion. Are we supposed to laugh as Guybrush cynically destroys the whole tree for no reason and leaves animals mourning? Something more suitable for Simon the Sorcerer.

Yeah, I was genuinely shocked. I can’t help but think that Ron Gilbert’s sense of humor is a little bit cruel sometimes. On the other hand, I think that scene tied in to the overall theme of the game.

Hi all, I thought the game was great and I’m happy with pretty much everything (including the graphics style). Will start to join in the discussion here, if it fits.

I don’t think it’s been posted here yet, but on YouTube someone has already uploaded large parts of the soundtrack:

Personally I can’t listen to the music often enough, I just love it!

Charophycean - 29 September 2022 09:42 PM

Wormsie - 29 September 2022 04:37 PM

Doom - 20 September 2022 07:54 AM

The worst for me was the mop tree puzzle, from the silly premise to the recycled forest maze to the horrible conclusion. Are we supposed to laugh as Guybrush cynically destroys the whole tree for no reason and leaves animals mourning? Something more suitable for Simon the Sorcerer.

Yeah, I was genuinely shocked. I can’t help but think that Ron Gilbert’s sense of humor is a little bit cruel sometimes. On the other hand, I think that scene tied in to the overall theme of the game.

Would you like to elaborate on that? I tried to think about what the overall theme of the game was and struggled to find anything that I was convinced wasn’t entirely my own creation.

The letter that appears in the scrapbook after finishing the game underlines a few things the developers had in mind when writing the story. Guybrush leaves a wave of destruction behing him and as a price, he gets a t-shirt – so the whole thing wasn’t necessarily even worth it. This is also shown in the cutscenes with Elaine. But you’re right that it might be a stretch to call it an “overall theme”.

St_Eddie - 25 September 2022 05:12 AM

To be frank, I would be very happy if there was never another sequel.  I think Ron Gilbert ended it perfectly, just as he began it.  I don’t need things I like to go into perpetuity.  Quite happy to place a bookmark on a series.  It feels like a natural end.

I agree with you about closures and things not going on forever, but i feel it more like a proper closure for the first two games. I can still see ways for the story to move forwards a more total ending.

I also feel that for a lot of people this would be their personal last one, and that makes a lot of sense too, of course.

Wormsie - 01 October 2022 01:42 PM

Guybrush leaves a wave of destruction behing him and as a price, he gets a t-shirt – so the whole thing wasn’t necessarily even worth it. This is also shown in the cutscenes with Elaine.

The game also seems to contrast Guybrush’s dedication to his personal goal with the altruism of Carla and Elaine who deal with the scurvy and a earthquake.

Finished the game. Have mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, I liked it, the puzzles were decent (if a tad on the easy side), the game was fun, the story was quite good. I liked how the game gradually opened up and became less linear with Chapter 4 being a joy. I didn’t mind the graphic style at all, it fits well with MI.

However there are things that bothered me:
- Like Doom The scene with the mop tree , I didn’t find it funny. Also, I didn’t really find it in character compared to previous games. It just bothered me. There are other similar scenes where Guybrush acts in an obnoxious manner because of his obsession with the secret but this scene in particular annoyed me greatly.
- Somehow Elaine felt like a totally different character than I remember her.
- So much more could have been done with Murray. Such a lost opportunity
- I get it, Ron Gilbert likes Meta endings but honestly after the ending of MI2, the ending of Thimbleweed Park and now this one, it gets tiresome. It’s clever the first time, but it gets tiresome.
- If you have post credits scenes, please add a way to fast forward the credits…
- I’ve always loved the music of most monkey island games. Not this one, somehow I found the remixes uninspired.

Of all this, the real bummer is the ending… It feels like going to a nice fine dining restaurant, eat a delicious tasting menu with a lot of tasty dishes only to end on a reheated week-old chocolate tart. The tasting menu was tasty before that last dessert. but it leaves an awful taste in the mouth.

I’ve just finished the game. I didn’t know what to expect but I loved it…...but the ending? At the time it was just so unexpected but not entirely disappointing for some reason?
After thinking about it I interpreted it as an account of events by Guybrush to his young son (with a few anomalies!) & ended up signifying a trip of nostalgia maybe except isn’t that box holding the secret there? So perhaps there’s another game in the works for young BoyBrush? 

About Elaine. In Ron’s original games Elaine is protective towards Guybrush, leading to their break up because Elaine finds him to be more like younger brother than her equal. In misguided move, CMI made her Guybrush’s wife. EMI ja TOMI showed that she is still protective towards him and somewhat tired of that. (I don’t remember her beeing annoyed with Guybrush but maybe she sometimes was more than tired of their inequality.) Ron probably thought that if he takes their marriage as canon in RTMI, he can show that Elaine is strong woman by showing her fighting scurvy, instead by showing her protectiveness towards Guybrush.

I’m going to say something slightly provocative, sorry, but I honestly think Murray sucks in Curse. He has absolutely no purpose except for one puzzle near the end.

I think we remember it the most in this game because he was introduced in it, but story-wise, you could just remove it from the game, it would be the same. He’s only here for the jokes. He has no importance in the plot.

It’s even worse in Escape, you don’t even have to talk to him.

He’s more interesting in Tales, he’s kind of important in Part 3, there are some nice puzzles with him.

I honestly think Return used him pretty good, in Part 2 and 3 at least, not as well in Part 4, but still, he was important for the plot. Part 2 couldn’t have been resolved without him.

It could have been more for sure, but I disagree about him being better used in Curse. Frankly, when I’m replaying Curse, I barely talk to him. I think he’s a bit of annoyance, to be frank.