Return to Monkey Island

It's alright, but the magic of the older games is gone

Not for me. Beat the game and it just feels like it was made by a bunch of tired old men who wanted their character to feel as disillusioned as they did.

I really dislike the artstyle of faces, and the overall elongated disproportional look of most objects and perspectives.

男主角是个自私又无耻的巨婴，我只能操控他到处搞破坏再等别人给他擦屁股！设定善/恶两种解迷路线让玩家自己选会更好。

[h1]Monkey Island: The Made-For-TV Cast Reunion Special[/h1] Have you ever watched one of those made-for-TV specials where they reunite the cast from a popular TV show many decades after the show ended? You know how some of those specials feel like they are just an excuse to get the original cast in the same room again, don't have a meaningful script, and just end up being a melancholy "callback to better days" where the cast members are constantly winking into the camera, reminiscing about things that happened in the original series, and are repeatedly saying things like "Wow, it's been a long time" or "We're not as young as we used to be" instead of creating an enjoyable new chapter in the series? Well, that's basically what this game is... Conceptually, I don't know who the devs were catering to here. They offer a Casual Mode with fewer puzzles for newcomers, and then they offer a Hard Mode for veterans which is still weak compared to the "normal" difficulty of the previous games. Also, in a rather strange design choice, they decided to cut out some of the game's script and hide it behind a somewhat hard-to-find Writer's Cut option in the Settings menu seemingly because, according to the option's description, they thought there was too much "blather" in the original draft of the script. (I played Writer's Cut and thought there was still not enough dialog.) No idea why they decided to do that because the writing is what I was here for. Then it feels like they later decided there was not enough "game" in Casual Mode and needed give people something else to do. So they added a set of collectibles to find in the form of trivia cards which ask you questions...about the old games and the out-of-universe development process at LucasArts. Not sure who those trivia cards are directed at because Casual Mode players probably won't know the answers, and Hard Mode fans would probably have preferred more actual puzzles. On the subject of the writing, the comedy mostly is gone. (Even with Writer's Cut Mode and the extended Hard Mode enabled.) I maybe chuckled once or twice, but that's it. In fact, Guybrush is uncharacteristically cruel in many places which took away from whatever humor there was. The traditional insult swordfighting from other games is only briefly referenced in places and is not a playable part of the game. There are way too many callbacks to the old games, and it felt like a chore to remember, "Oh yeah, I think I recall that thing that happened in MI2, etc." just to enjoy the story of this game. Also, even the funniest returning characters aren't that funny in this game. ([spoiler]Stan isn't actively trying to scam anyone and spends most of the game in jail. Murray isn't as funny as he usually is and honestly doesn't say a lot. Elaine wins the award for being the most strange though: Instead of being the longsuffering wife who is always bailing Guybrush out, she acts more like his mother and sort of pats him on the head and patronizes him even when he's being malicious.[/spoiler]) Many of the supporting characters and villains also just unceremoniously disappear at certain points in the game - which was odd. Another thing that I didn't like is that the entire story had this weird, Disney-fied, Kathleen-Kennedy-era Indiana Jones/Star Wars feel to it where it was all ultra-sterile and by-the-numbers, but then it tried to go in awkward "heartfelt" directions even when it was uncalled for. Finally, the [spoiler]Boybrush[/spoiler] story framing seriously broke immersion with frequent, meaningless interludes, and the whole "washed-up Guybrush" theme was rather depressing (once again feeling like Kathleen Kennedy's Indy and Star Wars movies). On the subject of the ending, I had already braced myself for the usual trademark Bad Ron Gilbert Ending, but this ending feels particularly bad because it's like Gilbert just gave up at the end and went home. In fact, after all of the promises about "fixing" the Monkey Island 2 ending, this game not only failed to convincingly write itself out of the MI2 ending debacle, but in many aspects it wrote itself back into an even worse quandary in its own ending. Also, it actually destroys a lot of the long-running gags in the series by tying up loose ends that should have never been addressed. (Like [spoiler]revealing the Voodoo Lady's real name, actually showing what appears to be the Secret of Monkey Island (unless they do another retcon sometime)[/spoiler], etc.) And no, I don't like the graphics and think they look like cheap ClipArt. That's about all I'm going to say about it because it's a subjective thing, but I would have preferred them use artwork in line with Curse of Monkey Island. In summary, I dove into this game because I wanted to enjoy myself and laugh along. Once I finished though, I simply didn't feel happy because of the overall downer tone and the lack of what made the previous games great. At this point, I'm trying to decide if this game or Escape from Monkey Island is the worst in the series, and I'm thinking that Return probably is in the bottom spot (even in spite of the Monkey Kombat mess from Escape). Monkey Island lives and dies by the quality of the writing, and I feel like Return had worse writing than every other game in the series. Really a shame.

Bei mir ist leider kein altes Monkey Island Feeling aufgekommen. Das fängt bei der sich immer wiederholenden Musik an, geht über die viel zu bunte und eckige Grafik, bis zu langweiligem Humor und Rätseln. Nach ein paar Stunden musste ich mich zwingen bis zum Ende zu spielen

Gâchis, c’est le premier mot qui vient en tête. Impatient d’y jouer en compagnie du frangin (tous deux fans des anciens opus depuis l’enfance), ça n’a été que désarroi et déception. Au fil d’une histoire inintéressante et d’énigmes insipides, on vacille entre l’espoir que la mayonnaise prenne et échange de regards navrés tant l'humour n'est pas drôle. Ils ont réussi l’exploit de changer l’esprit de la licence en aspergeant cette suite d’une bien-pensance puérile et d’un progressisme forcé et inutile – comme finalement beaucoup de reboot et suites pondues ces dernières années. Qu’ils inventent du neuf au lieu de reprendre une licence culte pour en faire une bouillie dégueulasse. Je passe sur le design, qui repousse au premier abord mais qui finit par avoir un certain charme. Monkey Island 3 avait déjà proposé un style graphique nouveau et un peu déroutant, mais on s’y habitue. Si ça n’avait été que ça le problème franchement ce n’était pas bien grave. J’ai vraiment du mal à comprendre les personnes qui disent que c’est le même humour, la même ambiance, le même plaisir de jeu… Non, ce n’est pas le cas. C’est un ersatz qu’on peine à finir tant ça n’a rien à voir avec l’ambiance des Monkey Island d’antan. Dommage…

Return to Monkey Island is a modernization of a classic adventure game series from the golden age of the genre. If you're not at all familiar with Guybrush Threepwood at this point, there's a big question whether this entry in the series is worth it as your first foray, or whether it is only for those with rose-tinted glasses and a longing of nostalgia for days bygone. At its core, it's Monkey Island, but in a modern dressing. Complete with all the old silly humor and gags of old, alongside somewhat dated puzzles seen in the other games in the series. At some point through the first parts of the game, it all feels familiar, and well presented, but then you start to have that nagging doubt, is this really just nostalgia bait or will it carry itself all the way to the finale. Looking back and reflecting after the credit roll, there were a wave of nostalgia carrying me forward until the wave crashed against the rocks of the ending act. And there in lies a core of the problematics around Return to Monkey Island, you're supposed to remember many of the old jokes from the previous games, from 30 years ago, as they have become "inside jokes" now or just references to the old games. Which also means for fans of the genre itself, but some not familiar with the series, then this game isn't for them. Because as far as the puzzles goes it's rather bland. Thankfully there's a hint book available in game that you can utilize at will. Because there's the classical illogical nonsense seeping in to the puzzle design here from the days of old. There's also a fair few non-progression achievements and things you can do which isn't necessary to drive the story forward, some easily missable and more so illogical and there just for the sake of being there. I was somewhat positively inclined towards the game, right up until the final fifth act, which on top of being incredibly short and feeling rushed, throws tedium at you via the repeated back and forth, having to pick up the items you literally just used to solve the prior puzzles. It also throws a classical code wheel at you. After that it just becomes weird and the game just abruptly ends, cue credit roll. It's also entirely unresolved. There's a moment of reflection that you may be making immoral choices, implying some sort of consequence resulting from them but it went nowhere. Lechuck vanishes and what was the secret of Monkey Island? Supposedly the journey and the experience were the treasure all along. It's supposedly a "meta" ending. It's also the ending Ron Gilbert is on record as saying that he wanted originally for the first game in the series, but that he was talked out of by Dave Grossman and Tim Schaefer. Perhaps Ron harbors some resentment about not being able to have his original ending, so now he does. Unfortunately no one talked him out of it this time. Rob Gilbert also admitted he's a fan of David Lynch, of Twin Peaks fame. I really wish developers would stop longing for it, because it's a product of it's time that doesn't warrant repeating for a modern audience. At the end Guybrush ends up sitting on a bench starting out at the player, the whole thing feels like the narrative designers wants us to reminisce about nostalgia and looking back and reflecting on the journey they themselves have been on. This is further hammered through by the letter Ron Gilbert left in the scrap book. But all it does it just make it seem like Guybrush has dementia. Throughout the game there's a quest for Guybrush to become a better storyteller, which ends up being another meta comment by the designers, as they themselves failed to tell a compelling narrative and end it properly. Towards the end of the game, the NPC Flambe's turns up and warns you about pursuing the secret of monkey island further, this is another meta comment for you to uninstall the game and forget about the ending. The games of old we remember with reverence and rose-tinted glasses, probably shouldn't be revisited or reinterpreted, least we want the illusion of nostalgia to shatter. Nostalgia is the only thing holding this ship together. How apt that Guybrush's own ship is in shambles. Given the lack of middle of the road review ratings on Steam, this could have been a 3/5, but the ending sours it too much so it's a thumbs down not recommended.