Return to Monkey Island | Review Thread

Finished it early this morning as was able to get early access.

I know some don't like the art style but I loved every second of this game. It's a nostalgic gem.

I immediately reinstalled Broken Sword after the credits rolled.. I feel this is going to set me down a path for a while.
 
After my complaining I think the art style is actually pretty good now that I have it in action on my big TV.

Still dumb that Guybrush has got a pecker for a nose though lol
 
So far its seems like a good Monkey Island. Played 3 hours in hard mode and puzzles have been easy enough and havent gotten stuck yet. Still hate the style but it helps to have nostalgia and the old voice actors back.
 
I had thought it might be good, especially because of Gilbert's previous game, Thimbleweed Park. Sounds like it is. I don't have to like the art if the rest of the game is great.
 
Damn, I got distracted by nuru massage websites, trying it now.

Fish fingers are in the oven and I'm ready to adventure!
 
Return to monke
river avoiding GIF
 
Just played it for 45 min and i love it. The only thing i would change would be Guybrushs nose, which looks strange. Other than that it's awesome.
 
Meanwhile in Spain.

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Draugoth said:
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Game Information

Game Title: Return to Monkey Island

Platforms:

  • Nintendo Switch (Sep 19, 2022)
  • PC (Sep 19, 2022)
Trailers:
Developer: Terrible Toybox

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Review Aggregator:

Opencritic: 90% - 100% Recommended

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Metacritic: 92/100

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Critic Reviews

AusGamers - KostaAndreadis - 9.5 / 10

Eurogamer - Christian Donlan - Recommended

Gamepur - Tony Wilson - 8 / 10

GamesHub - Edmond Tran - 5 / 5

The Independent - Jasper Pickering - 9 / 10

WayTooManyGames - Heidi Hawes - 8 / 10
Click to expand...
You see now?

Many criticized the game.

Looks are deceiving.
 
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I didn't really get on with Thimbleweed Park. Will I enjoy this?

I really like the Blackwell games.
 
So far I'm enjoying it a lot. The introduction/prologue has a good framing device that manages to respect the meta-narrative of the first two games, while keeping the rest of Guybrushes other adventures canon. It's actually very intelligent how they managed it and the bit where the adults from the end of LeChuck's Revenge go "alright kids, run along and stop pretending we're your parents" was really funny to me.

Just exploring around Melee Island and talking to everyone right now, I chose hard mode, but also checked the option for the "writer's cut" of the story, which promises "more blather, worse pacing." I don't mind longer story bits and prefer to get all the content. Can't say much for the puzzles yet, but I like the direction I think the story is going in and I'm having fun with it.
 
The game has probably the most unappealing art style i have seen in a long time.
Cant deny those reviews though, damn. Maybe i'm going to have to take a deep breath and try it.
 
VN1X said:
I didn't really get on with Thimbleweed Park. Will I enjoy this?

I really like the Blackwell games.
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Did you enjoy the first two Monkey Island games? Then you'll probably like this one. If not, then probably not.

If you haven't played them, maybe do that first. I've seen reviewers say that there are so many references to the older games in this one that you shouldn't pick it as an introduction to the series.
 
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Wow, fabulous reviews! I'm in when it hits Xbox!

Edit: actually it looks like even my crappy PC can play this well. Off to Steam I go!
 
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LazyParrot said:
Did you enjoy the first two Monkey Island games? Then you'll probably like this one. If not, then probably not.

If you haven't played them, maybe do that first. I've seen reviewers say that there are so many references to the older games in this one that you shouldn't pick it as an introduction to the series.
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Yeah I should probably just go play the first ones then. I grew up with the Indiana Jones games and Broken Sword. Never played Monkey Island back in the day unfortunately.
 
How does it run on switch? Also any hope for a ps5 version? Any news on when then the psysical version gets released??
 
I'm really happy for the positive reception, yes the artstyle won't please anyone but it's not the core and soul of the game.
I think I'm going to play it this christmas on PC but out of curiosity is there any word on possible PS/XBX versions? I guess Nintendo might have a 6 months deal?
 
Heimdall_Xtreme said:
Would it have become a masterpiece, if they used a proper artistic style?
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I can't say just yet, as I haven't played the game. This weekend i am going to go through the entire franchise (3 day weekend) before I jump in.

However, if everything else is master level and the artstyle is the only bad thing, then yes it stops the game from being a masterpiece.
 
BigbyTheSheriff said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Return is the only Monkey Island game available on Switch.
Click to expand...

Damn, that sucks. I was also hoping to pick up the old games after seeing how well reviewed this one is. I guess I could get them on PC, but I pretty much exclusively play retro stuff in bed.
 
Now that I've actually played the game, I think the art style is really fitting. I wasn't a fan when I saw the trailer but now I'm a convert.

My girlfriend walked into the room and said "aww what's this cute game?" Not everyone is turned off by this aesthetic.
 
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Having not read a single word of any review or opinion on this before starting my session yesterday, I'm really liking it so far. Beginning is a bit more guided by dialogues and obvious level design than the other games, so it's easier to get the story going.

Modern features make long pixel searching optional and reduce the amount of ridiculous and desperate combinations from a cluttered inventory you did back in the day, making it ultimately a bit more easier.

It's still early on though but so far I'm really drawn into the game. The art looks great, too.
 
I was super shitting on the art style before, because the old game's graphics are very dear to my heart.

Now that I'm playing it, to be honest, the style is kinda growing on me. It does have its charm, and it looks much better in motion.
 
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BigbyTheSheriff said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Return is the only Monkey Island game available on Switch.
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This is what drives me nuts! Why just put the third game on a platform when the other two could sell and play well on it it the first place!

..Even if I am of the age that I bought the original two on the Amiga at release it still pee's me off. I'd of loved all three on the Switch.
 
GenericUser said:
I really hate point and click adventures. I just recently tried to play the remake of monkey island one and the part where you have to chase that fucking pirate shop owner was pure garbage. Nobody would ever think about doing this without consulting a guide. Game is trash!
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Loads of people did that without consulting a guide. It's a bit like Soulsborne - once you get into the right mindset it becomes much simpler.
 
I really feel that the 'bad art style' argument is highly subjective. I didn't care for the art style when I saw the first trailer, mostly because everything looked flat to me. Now that I've actually played the game, I think that it's great. But, then again, it's subjective.

For people who hate RTMI's art style, check out some SpaceVenture gameplay. It's one of the ugliest games that I've played. They implemented this weird, jaggy 3D modeling, yet at the same time, everything's blurry. How is that even possible? The UI is incredibly awful as well. Sorry to trash the game, because I know that the developers fell on some hard times during the game's 10-year development cycle.

Within the past 3 days, my nostalgia itch has been scratched, for better AND for worse. Both games are based on franchises that are 30+ years old, but SpaceVenture still feels like it's 30 years old. Return to Monkey Island, on the other hand, feels completely fresh and like it was made for 2022.
 
archaicruin said:
For people who hate RTMI's art style, check out some SpaceVenture gameplay. It's one of the ugliest games that I've played. They implemented this weird, jaggy 3D modeling, yet at the same time, everything's blurry. How is that even possible? The UI is incredibly awful as well. Sorry to trash the game, because I know that the developers fell on some hard times during the game's 10-year development cycle.
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While I can't argue with what you're saying here, SpaceVenture is better than what I was expecting at this point. The writing is funny and the voice acting is good, and the puzzles are enjoyable. The trash visuals and UI are undeniable but at least it's not a total loss.
 
SF Kosmo said:
While I can't argue with what you're saying here, SpaceVenture is better than what I was expecting at this point. The writing is funny and the voice acting is good, and the puzzles are enjoyable. The trash visuals and UI are undeniable but at least it's not a total loss.
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Based on what you've said, I'll give it another go. I know that these days I'm not really supposed to have expectations about games, but when I backed the Kickstarter 10 years ago, I was so stoked that Space Quest was being revisited in everything but name. That said, when I downloaded it the other day, I was very much put off due to the art style and UI implementation.
 
It's an unusual safe, with 5 keyholes.
I'm enjoying the game so far. Playing in hard mode and already wracking the old noodle of grey matter.
 
Playing the game for several hours now, and up to chapter 4, the art style is a mixed bag. There's certain locations that I think look really good, especially with some of the subtle vfx, the camera movement & layers of parallax scrolling which make the visuals "pop" in a video game diorama type of way. However there are other scenes that still look overly cluttered with odd angles and tight, claustrophobic framing. But overall in terms of the environment art I'll say I'm more happy with it than disappointed. Some of the character designs are just beyond the pale for me, though. Carla looks really bad and I don't get why either, the Elaine and Stan designs are at least faithful interpretations of those designs into this new style but Carla got destroyed. Guybrush's awkwardly sharp facial features still make him look like a tribal mask instead of a person, it does help that you play him as a zombie for several hours tbh.

The game as a whole is great so far, the writing, the VA, the iMuse-like music system. There's a lot of creative and funny puzzles too, although it is on the easier side, especially for people who regularly play old-school adventure games. I'm playing on the hard mode and got "stuck" for 5 minutes or so one time. I think for people who are less steeped in the genre they will find this to be a significant but fair challenge. Plus I like a lot of the new characters you meet on LeChuck's ghost ship.
 
Okay, once you get to the point where you're exploring multiple islands it seems like things ramp up significantly challenge-wise, still haven't gotten long term stumped on anything but there's a lot going on now.
 
Vampire On Titus said:
Okay, once you get to the point where you're exploring multiple islands it seems like things ramp up significantly challenge-wise, still haven't gotten long term stumped on anything but there's a lot going on now.
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How many Islands do you visit and do you know their names, i'm only at the beginning of part II.
Also, does anyone know how long it takes to play through?
 
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amigastar said:
How many Islands do you visit and do you know their names, i'm only at the beginning of part II.
Also, does anyone know how long it takes to play through?
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I just finished my play through at 10 hours on hard, Some of that was idled though so it's probably more like 8-9 hours. From memory there's 4/5 islands total.


I found the game enjoyable and the art style grew on me, Although it just felt like a rehash of the old games without doing anything new... I still think Curse is the best Monkey Island.
 
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amigastar said:
How many Islands do you visit and do you know their names, i'm only at the beginning of part II.
Also, does anyone know how long it takes to play through?
Click to expand...
There's 5 Islands and 6 significant areas (so far) counting LeChuck's ship.

The islands are, Melee, Brr Muda, Scurvy, Terror, and Barebones.
 
Vampire On Titus said:
There's 5 Islands and 6 significant areas (so far) counting LeChuck's ship.

The islands are, Melee, Brr Muda, Scurvy, Terror, and Barebones.
Click to expand...
Thx man. Game is great.
I thought maybe you visit an Island from Monkey Island 2 but that's not the case it seems.
 
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