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Return to Monkey island by Ron Gilbert : 19 september 2022
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/return-to-monkey-island-zero-punctuation/
Harsh, but I mostly agree.
I Am the Knight of the Order of the Sun!
Oh thanks God, at least Yahtzee is still allowed to say whatever he wants to say without being educated by angry mobs of fans and reviewers who now defend games instead of criticising. And he is certainly not a hater, I remember his first AGS adventure which was one of the best love letters to The Secret of MI. Even this review is more sad than funny, pretty much how I felt about Return.
PC means personal computer
I finished RtMI a few days ago and I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts about it but ultimately I think I must agree with some of the more negative views expressed here. I did enjoy most of it and had a lot of fun. The puzzles (which I know were on the easy side but I think they had a nice balance), the music, even the story had me gripped, I just wanted to continue playing. But the ending… not to repeat what it has already been said but yeah, I was very mixed about it and it also bothered me all the things unresolved that went nowhere. Special mention to the whole thing with Guybrush leaving a trail of destruction behind and his obsession with the Secret, I really thought it was leading to something at then end. And I’m also of the opinion that while the graphics worked fine I just wasn’t a big fan of them either.
Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
AKA Charo
That was in the 90s… How much would it be now?
Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha
I have question for those who criticize unsolved threads in RTMI. Would you have preferred that Guybrush had dealt with antagonists right after founding secret or at least when they stole one of keys, no-one would have stolen secret before Guybrush arrived with keys, discussion over destruction he left on his trail had been discussed when he had found keys and choice that player had to make would have been between unlocking chest or going to help other characters to deal with earthquake? (Or at least some of those things)?
And just to lighten mood with wacky theories… In RTMI Guybrush and LeChuck both go through door with dial but we see only Guybrush to emerge from other side. So Guybrush and LeChuck are two sides of one person after all. No wonder Guybrush leaves destruction on his trail. Or what about this one -if E-ticket is Big Whoop then world Guybrush tried to escape to in LeChuck’s Revenge is carnival, not other way around. Since Guybrush left carnival at end of RTMI, he is back in “real” pirate world.
So much for theories, from Ron himself
So yeah, Guybrush is a mental patient and Elaine is his nurse. Joking aside, its not the ending as such is how it was presented.
Oh thanks God, at least Yahtzee is still allowed to say whatever he wants to say without being educated by angry mobs of fans and reviewers who now defend games instead of criticising. And he is certainly not a hater, I remember his first AGS adventure which was one of the best love letters to The Secret of MI. Even this review is more sad than funny, pretty much how I felt about Return.
Yeah, i must say i don’t see it either. I find it funny looking back at COMI review, that’s being penalized for being too short and shallow, yet this is praised? Its almost like after all this time we’re supposed to act like its great out of curtesy.
Does anyone think even the music is a step down from previous games? I mean it’s still good, but all the memorable themes were taken from the early games and even those have taken on this leisurely, bouncy almost senile pacing which is better suited for a Caribbean leisure resort or grocery store. Michael Land & Co must be getting fairly old by now so it’s not a surprise but there’s not much excitement anymore. The only inspired new theme I thought was the Melee forest and the mop tree which definitely stuck in my head for a while.
I just found it disappointingly flat. I went back to the Escape OST just to check and it’s so much more lively and interesting.
AKA Charo
Thumbs up. I’m currently replaying Escape, and I’m really surprised how much better it works as a Monkey Island adventure. Better writing, better soundtrack (starting from the first scene, very memorable), better puzzles. They really put a lot of effort into making it. Return feels like a big step down in comparison.
PC means personal computer
Thumbs up. I’m currently replaying Escape, and I’m really surprised how much better it works as a Monkey Island adventure.
“Escape” is actually much better game than people give it credit for, but the very bad controls and some single stupid puzzles (like Monkey Kombat) make it look bad.
Of course it suffers from the same problem as all Monkey sequels, it uses the same antagonists and supporting characters all over again, so it is starting to feel very old at that point.
But ignoring all that, it’s not such a bad adventure game.
Thumbs up. I’m currently replaying Escape, and I’m really surprised how much better it works as a Monkey Island adventure. Better writing, better soundtrack (starting from the first scene, very memorable), better puzzles. They really put a lot of effort into making it. Return feels like a big step down in comparison.
There are quite lot to like about EMI and it is testament to talents of Sean Clark and Michael Stemmle. (I think EMI is better Monkey Island game than COMI, while COMI is more solid game when we take considerations of how good Monkey Island game COMI is out of picture). Still, i feel that weaker parts of EMI show that Sean Clark and Michael Stemmle felt restricted by Monkey Island universe. (And Michael Stemmle seems to felt even more restricted by Monkey Island universe while making TOMI, what with all that new nautical mythology he made up for it).
Yes, controls and character models leave a lot to be desired. You know there’s something wrong when all pirates on two fighting ships look the same with the exception of Guybrush and Elaine. Now this game might seriously use an update. But back in the day I played Escape right after Grim Fandango and it felt more natural. Enjoyed it quite a lot in 2000 actually, even the Monkey Combat. It was on my replay when it lost its appeal.
And now, 20+ years later, it shines once again) At least I’m having fun so far. There’s no abstract plot despite Clark and Stemmle have a very satirical approach to Monkey Island and clearly tried to insert a lot of modern-day references. And yet it still doesn’t have that “meta” feel, everything is rooted in the universe, more or less. I agree it was probably tough for them to be limited by this world of pirates, but they kinda followed the logic of Curse when the Caribbean started turning into a tourist attraction.
But Return turned it into something else! This especially shows if we compare plots: in Escape we learn about this new villain, a magnate who buys up all businesses by winning various insulting games and turns them into a resort. Gilbert practically recycled this storyline for Return, only his villain doesn’t want a resort nor anything else — she just shuts down and ruins every business on Mêlée Island, and she is very successful at that. Pretty depressive, especially since Guybrush doesn’t seem to care much, being obsessed with his Secret. While in Escape he actually fights for the Caribbean, for Elaine, for everything dear to him — and us.
That’s how a true adventure works, for me at least. Not to mention the level of writing which seems more sophisticated and more witty in Escape. There are some really good dialogues and jokes, even if the characters themselves don’t always deliver. I’m also not a big fan of the idea of reintroducing Carla, Otis and Meathook who feel a bit out of place, given exactly same roles of unfortunate crew members. Then again, I enjoy a bunch of new characters we meet simultaneously who don’t try to play on our nostalgia and just live their own lives, like the pet monkey, the grumpy gamer catapult guy, or the old sea dog who is immediately sold when he hears about “an exciting adventure to meet my wife’s lawyers”.
And even more fourth wall breaking doesn’t break the immersion, like this beautiful gag when Guybrush asks the pirate in the SCUMM bar to hit various aims with darts including “the guy over there”, and he smashes the camera — which then stays like that.
PC means personal computer
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