Return to Monkey Island

What can I say... it's a Monkey Island game! Tall tales, and hilarious puzzles to solve.

Graphics are remastered into today's glory. But one can resort to the original graphics and interface with a toggle of the keyboard.

If you like puzzle and a great story, then I recommend this game highly.

This game is a delightful homage to the beloved series, blending nostalgic charm with fresh adventures. The witty dialogue and clever humor will have you grinning from ear to ear, while the updated visuals (I wish to see more of this art style) bring the quirky world to life in vivid detail. Exploring familiar locales like Melee Island feels both nostalgic and exciting, with plenty of new surprises to keep you hooked. The puzzles strike the perfect balance of challenge and fun, testing your wits without ever becoming frustrating. "Return to Monkey Island" is a must-play for fans of classic adventure games. It's a swashbuckling good time that proves Monkey Island's magic is as strong as ever.

I struggled to finish "Return to Monkey Island". I struggled not because I got stuck or because it was too hard or so, but because the more I played the less I knew it was left to play a Monkey Island adventure. I didn't want it to finish, so the first time I just slowed down and then stop it before finishing it. After more almost 2 years (of course I had it pre-ordered) I decided it was time to just enjoy it. It was a pleasure, an honour to be delighted with such a fine work. It warmed my heart, it made me laugh, it made me cry, but most of all it made me happy. It is such a great work, that, in my opinion, succeeds in the hardest thing: it does not leave any sour taste!...instead it leaves a fine, different although familiar taste. It feels a proper ending that respects the nostalgia without leaving any of it. Thanks Ron, thank you all for this final bite of something so delicious I will always wish for more.

The game is fun and definitely triggers nostalgia for the series. That being said, I'd rate it as one of the weaker entries.
The story is okay-ish but somehow disappointing (including a typical Ron Gilbert ending), the riddles surprisingly easy. The humor is good but not as great as in the earlier entries. Voice acting, gameplay and music are top notch as always. While the new art style is beautiful and well crafted, it definitely needs some getting used to. The only thing I really didn't enjoy at all, are the spawn rates for the trivia cards you can find across the game, which result in tedious grinding.
The Monkey Island series is like pizza, even a bad one is still pretty good. So I'd recommend this one to fans of the series, but you should lower your expectations. If you're new to the series, go play the original ones instead.

It's a shame they chose such a terrible art style. The game was magical in the 90s with the highly detailed pixel art presenting pretty much the best possible realism at the time. They've ditched that to present a Cartoon Network reject style of art.
The game itself is good, follows the same storytelling tropes and puzzles. Just the art is horrible and whoever directed the art style should be exiled from game development.

I've recently played through the first 4 Monkey Island games as well as Grim Fandango, so I had a fresh experience with the series to compare this game to. I can say it does a good job of finding the balance between having the classic feel of a Monkey Island game while also being willing to add some stuff that is new and different. I didn't enjoy every change that was made, but came to appreciate many of them and was glad the creators had the willingness to do some stuff differently with a new iteration than trying to play it completely safe. I don't think this game is the best Monkey Island game by any stretch, but is definitely good enough to deserve the Monkey Island title and is a good love letter to long-time fans of the Monkey Island series.

Return to Monkey Island is exactly what the previous four games in the series were: a great time that I wish were attached to a different type of game. My love for almost everything about these games is only tempered by my decades-long disdain for adventure games and the "moon logic" they almost always employ to artificially extend playtime.
The positive here is that there are two game modes, one of which is aimed specifically at people like me who get so frustrated when something eminently logical fails to make progress that I start thinking about uninstalling the game rather than figuring out how to pass. Yet even on that mode there were a handful of times I had to resort to looking up a solution because I had no idea what was going on and could make no headway. I will say that 9 times out of 10 a section that seemed like it was going to be frustrating was simple instead, but that tenth time sure still sucked.
Anyway, this game is hilarious, gorgeous, heartwarming, and even genuinely upsetting (in the good way) in turn. Everyone who enjoys light-hearted adventure games should absolutely check it out, but do not be afraid to check walkthroughs immediately if the game seems to have thrown a wall up in front of you when you would have expected smooth sailing.
Also no spoiler but I will just say anyone who functionally grew up playing the earliest games in the series like I did should be prepared for the genuine consequences if you try to be cutesy and test Guybrush's claims of swimming acumen, so to speak.
But basically kudos all around for Ron Gilbert, better known as The Much Better Designer From LucasArts, and his team wrapping up the series with a spectacular final entry. Now let us please never make another adventure game again.
Edit: Oh one final thing; I imagine it was intentional and I just have to give a final shout out to voice actor Rob Paulsen choosing to give Apple Bob the same voice as when he performed Morte in Planescape: Torment. Absolutely perfect and made me smile every time I talked to that ill-fated skeleton ghost.