Adventure Gamers - Forums

(continued)

The recognizable Monkey Island humor is there and seems like a mix of comedy from all previous parts. I chuckled along the way, asking myself where they’re finding inspiration for all that crazy stuff (ghost chickens and ghost chicken food on board the Ghost ship, skulls that play notes of the musical scale, island covered in limes to fight scurvy, etc.). At some points, I was in hysterical laughter and applauding the writers.

Still, the game fires blanks at a few other areas. Elaine’s character is there, and while it’s true that she’s not exactly in the spotlight compared to a new villain, Captain Madison, with more screen time, or even Carla as the new governor, she felt somehow unnatural—almost too agreeable without the right character dynamic, a strange feeling that can be only explained by the game’s controversial ending. Indeed, she does pursue her mission of battling scurvy, but it’s like she’s different compared to previous parts. The same can be said for Murray. It wasn’t easy for Ron to make the game with the vision he had after his two original games, while in the meantime, three games followed without him, and he still chose to incorporate characters and events from those games in one way or another. That earns respect, but still—Murray is criminally underused. A character that has become sort of an icon among the fans, he’s here on “autopilot,” only briefly as an item in the inventory, and 95% of the time as the ship’s ornament, never even commenting on the progress or game world, other than making funny threats to Guybrush. It feels like he’s there only to “be there,” while the Hint System is more of an “alive and context-interactive” game character than he is. As for LeChuck, only at the 5th chapter did I feel like he’s that untouchable, eponymous villain from the previous games, while the rest of the game, he felt less scary than usual. The rest of the characters are mostly hit and miss with the character development. It also feels less “piratey” compared to, say, the first and second game (though it’s not without its buccaneers merit) and mostly reminds me of “Escape” in terms of game lore.

Another problem is that some islands feel unfinished in terms of locations to visit—Scurvy and Terror, in particular, where you can only see hotspots for various places like Waterfall, Rock, without the possibility to visit them other than to get a comment when you click on them and with fewer characters to interact with compared to a rich social life on Mêlée Island.

Now, cut to the ending. It didn’t surprise me or bother me, as I can see it was the issue for many players. Actually, I would be surprised to know that it surprised anyone who already finished “Revenge.” It’s a great little philosophical aspect of the game that we adventure gamers can sit by the campfire (on Scabb Island preferably) and discuss. You have elements of perspective, passage of time, and nostalgia intertwining with each other. And life is also a big intersection of those things in many aspects. In that regard, let me quote what Ron and Dave said themselves in the Scrapbook:

“The game is a goofy pirate adventure, the same as always, but also it’s a story about trying to recapture the past, with all its alleged youthful strength and glory. Guybrush will both succeed and fail at this. He will sort of get what he wants, but it won’t be what he expected.

I predict the same for us.

Ron Gilbert
Dave Grossman”

Final Score: 86

+ Good puzzles, both classic and innovative ideas
+ Fantastic voices, especially Guybrush’s
+ Recognizable MI humor
+ A good story that is easy to follow with the help of a to-do list
+ One of the best Hint systems

- Some of the characters are undeveloped, with Elaine being a strange version of herself and LeChuck being less scary, while Murray is not used much throughout the game
- Some islands feel unfinished with fewer interactive areas and little-to-no characters
- Bland atmosphere at times

Great review diego, i just want to spare my piece of eight here, for the only thing that really-really turned me off, which was the dark and hollow atmosphere; if i didn’t know better sometimes the game could be mistaken for a horror game, yeah, i couldn’t find the happy bubbly atmosphere that MI is supposedly all about, i find that odd and very strange, no matter if the dialogue, gameplaying or the characters suggest otherwise

luckyloser - 01 January 2024 10:51 PM

Great review diego, i just want to spare my piece of eight here, for the only thing that really-really turned me off, which was the dark and hollow atmosphere; if i didn’t know better sometimes the game could be mistaken for a horror game, yeah, i couldn’t find the happy bubbly atmosphere that MI is supposedly all about, i find that odd and very strange, no matter if the dialogue, gameplaying or the characters suggest otherwise

Thanks! The atmosphere is indeed “darker”, and I think that character models with grotesquely small eyes add to the feeling, compared to, let’s say - large, open eyes (which is a staple of Disney-like cartoons) of Curse or Escape models, or sprites of the originals.

Where would you put the game in comparison with the others? What’s diego’s Top 6?

Charophycean - 03 January 2024 06:36 PM

Where would you put the game in comparison with the others? What’s diego’s Top 6?

That’s a good question - I think the first two places are set in cement for Curse and Lechuck’s Revenge, both perfect games, and then Secret on third. I would love to replay Escape and Tales, though, I think Escape is quite good on its own right with a lot of substance, but hindered by ugly early-3D graphics, controls and tedious Monkey Kombat. Right now I’m giving slight edge to Return compared to Tales, because it’s fresh in my mind, and because I didn’t like episodic format of Tales back then and more linear approach, though the game introduced well-developed new characters and good humor. I will make the final judgement after replaying it as a whole.