Return to Monkey Island
About This Game
Return to Monkey Island is an unexpected, thrilling return of series creator Ron Gilbert that continues the story of the legendary adventure games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games.
It’s been many years since Guybrush Threepwood was last locked in a battle of wits with his nemesis, the zombie pirate LeChuck. His true love, Elaine Marley, has turned her focus away from governing and Guybrush himself is adrift and unfulfilled, having never found the Secret of Monkey Island. Hip, young pirate leaders led by Captain Madison have shuffled the old guard from power, Melee Island has taken a turn for the worse, and famed businessman Stan has been imprisoned for ‘marketing-related crimes’.
Banter with old friends and new faces on familiar islands now under dangerous new leadership. Then, take to the high seas and explore the new and unknown as you work your way out of tough predicaments. Clever puzzles, bizarre situations, and devastating ripostes are all that stand between Guybrush and glory.
Return to Point & Click Swashbuckling
Bringing classic point and click gameplay to the modern-day, intrepid pirates will solve puzzles and explore the islands with a clever evolution of classic adventure game controls. Context-sensitive interactions, reactive dialog trees, and an easy-to-use inventory system make pirating a breeze.
Embark on Archipelago Adventures
Navigate the sometimes-friendly confines of Melee Island, a familiar place that finds itself under new management by leaders who have put the squeeze on old friends and new faces. Venture out into uncharted lands like the aptly named Terror Island and the chilling outposts of Brrr Muda to make allies and enemies alike.
Created by a Legendary Crew
The new chapter in the Monkey Island series marks the return of the iconic series’ creator Ron Gilbert, joined by game co-writer Dave Grossman, art director Rex Crowle (Knights & Bikes, Tearaway) and composers Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian (Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge).
Steam User 47
Again I'm missing the "yes, but" option. Playing through Return to Monkey Island was a reasonably enjoyable experience. A short one though, because frankly... this game is pretty easy even on full puzzle difficulty. Most of the puzzle solutions are practically telegraphed to you and the rest just require you to do a 1+1=2 calculation. I was a little stuck on the end game section, for about half an hour.
The graphical style has been a hot debate of course. I personally don't mind it too much, but I find that it prevents the game from having visual gags like it's predecessors. The often comic book styled facial expressions in previous games told a story of their own and... they're pretty much absent in this game. No Looney Tunes rotating of the arm before taking a swing, no picking up a dog and putting it in your pocket.
So to me as a fan of the original trilogy (the fourth one just never wanted to run on any of my machines), I find this half of a Monkey Island game. The music is there, most of the characters are there, the islands are there, half of the voice cast is there. But the brain teasers and the jokes, not so much. But I'm sure people completely new to the games and/or are not battle hardened point & click puzzle solvers will find something to pass the time with here.
But for people who are not familiar with the lore... I see another problem. This game relies pretty heavily on nostalgia. Seeing Herman Toothrot or Otis again was like meeting up with old friends. Seeing the sword fighting being referenced brought back good memories, but to someone who hasn't seen the first game it will be pretty random and not funny.
Yeah. A hard game to recommend. Maybe just don't overthink it. And maybe play the special edition versions of the first two games before Return. Be warned though: those games are NOT easy.
Steam User 42
Even being a devoted "Monkey Island" fan for 30 years, I was hesitant to buy "Return to Monkey Island" (mostly because of the non-traditional art style) - and bought it a whole year after the release.
Well, I was not dissapointed! Luckily the art is quite bearable - you get accustomed to it soon, and everything in fact looks fine, as if in good old 2D (as opposed to modern total 3D in, say, "Escape from Monkey Island").
Still, it is in no way the best game in the series - probably the third or the fourth in rank for my taste, far below "Curse" and "Secret" and on par with "Tales", but still much better than "Revenge" or "Escape".
The atmosphere is OK - on the one hand, we do re-visit two of the most memorable locations, Melee Island and the eponymous Monkey Island. On the other hand, those are rather abridged versions of Melee and Monkey Islands - sightseeing is limited, no monkeys, no natives etc. Unfortunately there is less humor here than in the first three games either.
The puzzles are mostly fine, too. Even if some of them are rather secondary: for example, the game first tries to laugh at "the three puzzles" scheme being now the standard of adventure games - and then it gives use those "three puzzles" itself, as a way to win a crown!
The story was even less convincing for me. A nordic queen on a frozen island in a Monkey Island game (supposedly still set in the Carribean) felt definitely out of place! Old characters are nice to meet, but they often repeat themselves, and new characters are rather plain boring (like the aforementioned queen or the new 'Very Imrporant Pirates').
Still, it is definitely a Monkey Island game. So fans of the series (and of the adventure games in general) do not need any recommendations. But the new players should better take a look at "The Secret of Monkey Island" and "The Curse of Monkey Island".
Steam User 30
I have mixed feelings about this game.
The two writers have a good grasp on the kind of characters that should populate the world of Monkey Island, and indeed -if you're a fan of the series- you'll find your most beloved ones here just like you remember them, with a lot of the newcomers being funny and charming as well (LeChuck's crew stands out in this regard). The overarching plot, however, is another matter. There's quite a few minor plot points that go nowhere, and the overall story in general ends... not as unexpectedly as one would've hoped. Until the ending though, it's a decent enough plot, not too far off from the other games. The dialogue is solid too, doesn't reach the heights of the first three but it never sinks too low either. In this department the voice actors delivered: LeChuck's new one did a fine job, Guybrush's is as good as ever and kudos to Murray's for knocking it outta the park.
The problems with the game lie elsewhere, namely: the art. It's better in motion than what you've seen in the screenshots, but it's still a far cry from how the previous chapters handled it. It's a pity, because the idea behind some locations are interesting (like Terror Island), and it makes you wonder how they would've been with a better style. For better or for worse, Guybrush is the worst design-wise, none of the other characters are as ugly. Another problem with the game is its gameplay. Due to how the interface is structured it's way, way too easy, even on its hardest difficulty. The new interface also limits the possibilities of funny dialogue and interactions the previous games offered. It really makes it less fun than what it could've been.
So, why am I giving it a positive evaluation? Because I'm a long-time fan of the saga and I never thought I'd see another Monkey Island by Ron Gilbert, namely the one that would finally "reveal" the Secret. On top of that, the fact that he didn't de-canonize all the other games after the second like he originally planned, but instead kept his new one in continuity with them and even paid homage to them (save for a huge, unexplained retcon that however brought back a beloved character) makes for an even bigger surprise, because it goes against most if not all of what he had planned for his third Monkey Island. He even kept the romance between Guybrush and Elaine, ain't that sweet. I hate loose ends, I don't like retcons and, few exceptions aside, this is a game that concludes the whole saga without disregarding what came before, made by its original author.
It's not like I hoped it would be, it's not perfect or even excellent, but I'm still glad it exists.
Steam User 48
This is not a game for new fans. I don't even know that it's a game for old fans. But it is a game the creators made for themselves, and honestly, I enjoyed the journey they let me take with them.
Steam User 23
Reject humanity, return to monke
This is a very special game for me. When they announced this game, I've had never played a Monkey Island game before, but I was very interested because I thought 'if they're making a sequel after all these years, this franchise must be something special.' Kinda like Twin Peaks actually. I was introduced to Twin Peaks with the announcement of its third season, 25 years after the original show. I watched the first two season before the third one came out, and I'm a massive Twin Peaks fan today. I'm happy to say the same thing happened with Monkey Island!
I played the first three games (Secret, Revenge and Curse) in preparation for Return, and I absolutely loved all of them. I think they're all very funny games with really good writing. I love the setting, the characters, the music and the most important of all: the vibe. I have no idea how to explain this but I love the vibe these games give. It just works for me.
Ok, so what about Return to Monke specifically? Is it any good? Well, yes. Absolutely yes! As someone who has no nostalgia for this series, I found this game to be a nice continuation of the first three games. Storywise, they continue from the ending of the second game while also acknowledging the existence of the rest of the series. Because of this, I'd say first two games are essential to play before this one to fully understand what's going on and I recommend Curse of the Monkey Island as well, as a bonus. Gameplay is what you'd expect from a modern point and click game. It's pretty streamlined in a good way. You left clict to comment on things and right click to interact with them. You move pretty fast and can double click to move even faster. There is also a very useful hint system. Music and voice acting are excellent just like the rest of the series. Art style received a lot of backlash when the game was first announced and I gotta say, I really don't understand why. First two games had pixel art, Curse looked like a Disney cartoon, Escape and Tales were in 3D and the Special Editions of the first two games had very stylised hand-drawn art. So this series always changed its look from game to game. I think Return looks absoutely gorgeous and the art style really fits the story and the tone of the game.
Without spoilers I want to touch on the ending as well. It's a very controversial ending and a lot of people are disappointed by it. On paper, I should be disappointed too. Like, if someone told me the ending before I played the game I'd go: 'That's it?', but actually playing the game and reaching that ending, it worked for me. I felt all kinds of things and I was satisfied. But remember, I'm a newcomer to this series. Obviously expectations of the fans who have been playing these games for decades are going to be very different.
In conclusion, I love this game. I love this franchise. In fact, I want to play Escape and Tales one day even though I didn't hear very good things about them. This is and will be a very special game for me for introducing me to this amazing franchise and I highly recommend it!
Steam User 18
As a kid, I played the original Monkey Island games (along with pretty much every other Lucasfilm adventure puzzle game like Loom and Indiana Jones). Fast forward 30 years later, and I bought this game so that I could play with my daughter, and hopefully show her how games were when I was a kid (rather than the Roblox crap that she plays now). I am not sure if it was intentional or not, but one of the things that we enjoy most about this game is how the game is told through the eyes of Guybrush's kid. By starting the game playing as the kid, it got my daughter interested in the game, and then when the "real" game started she was like "oh now we get to play the dad".
Steam User 22
Thimbleweed Park is a better Monkey Island 3 than Monkey Island 3.
Everything's there. The art style perfectly recaptures the feeling of the originals while improving it. The ending is zany but also satisfying in its controversial way. It's hilarious, unpredictable, it drags for a comically long time (just like this review and just like The Curse of MI, which I'll always consider the only case of open-world-point-and-click in history), and is this unique, weird, Gilbertesque (typically '90's', as we coud argue) blend of humor, horror, mystery, sadness and cartoonish stupidity which miraculously get you emotionally invested despite all its siliness. And I mean, invested. Gilbert's narrative is something of a signature - he is an incredible storyteller and a gifted writer.
Return to Monkey Island ? It feels safe and predictable most of the time. You've got to wait 'til the 4th act to get things to move - the first three will be over before you'll realize, and you'll start to count them, anxiously remembering the 5 acts structure of the previous games and wondering : when does it start ?
Then you have it - the true adventure, sailing at sea, twisted cross-puzzles between different islands, plethora of objects and characters, an overall plot implying four (five ?) keys and an cinematographic build-up to the conclusion you've waited for thirty years... it gets closer and closer, with an epic act dragging you above and below... you try to bury the persistent feeling of a kinda mid writing...
then, of course, the ending sucks.
It doesn't sucks because it misses its shot, nor because it is not believable or incoherent (eg Thimbleweed Park, for some of you folks). It sucks because they didn't try. At all. It sucks because Gilbert seems to have changed his plans at the last minute. It really ends with a letter saying, "we're not the same persons as we were a few years ago and the ending reflects the fact that we don't give a shit anymore". And there you have it. The true message of this chapter : "after all this time, all these years of crazy fan theories, it is impossible to craft a satisfying ending anymore, nor an ending you haven't considered yet. So you know what? There won't be an ending at all. Thanks for playing."
This absolute act of cowardice of an ending is truly unworthy of a pirate. I'd have preferred any ending to this, even the "we live in a video game" one, I think - which it kinda is.
Despite everything, the game's not bad. It's fun. The humor has not changed an inch. You'll laugh, you'll have fun, and in the end, think the ending is nothing of unexpected and move on with your life. But I think Monkey Island deserves more than that - at least a spot in your brain.
The game is not bad by any means, but it's paradoxical at heart and I try to share my frustration here. It is ultra-referential, so it seems to be destined to hardcore fans. In the same time, it reinvents everything, as if Gilbert was trying to appeal to a modern audience. A modern audience ? With a point and click ? With a thirty years old saga ? My question is, why, why did he choose his beloved saga to experiment with ? And why did he choose Thimbleweed Park, a new IP, to make everything a new Monkey Island should have been ? If this game truly is for die-hard fans, why simply not bring a good conclusion and move on ? A good conclusion was everyone's one and only wish, yet Gilbert decided to start everything over. Start everything over. Again, for a 30 yo saga's conclusion. It doesn't makes sense to me. If you want to make something for yourself, be the sole master of the ship - which I absolutely get - why choose your old IP, with its unresolved twist ? And if you want to make more Monkey Island games in the future, why not bring first a satisfactory conclusion before opening a new chapter ? How can you think diminishing interactions and making the game waaay easier is a good idea ? Is modern audience reticent to fun ? What the fuck is wrong with the character of Elaine (why does she looks like a one-faced robot, why is she acting like Guybrush's mother, why does she always appear from nowhere to give weird, Jiminy Cricket-like advices ??) WHY CHOOSE MONKEY ISLAND TO EXPERIMENT WITH ??? WHY DIGGING IT OUT OF ITS GRAVE TO STATE THAT THERE WON'T BE ANY ENDING AT ALL ???? Especially when Gilbert seemed to have figured it out years ago and it was apparently different ?
The art style... I'm not a fan of it, but eh. Every Monkey Island looks different. In retrospect, it only seems like a minor problem - only symptomatic of a larger one. It even looks charming at times - and some locations are really cool. Some are less inspired - LeChuck's ship.
Yeah, I've had my fun with this game. But I speak as someone whose favorite game ever is MI2 - I have the right. I thought the game was for me. And I know for a fact that during the vast majority of my playthrough, I was fighting with all my heart a growing feeling of disappointment. My mind was emphasizing the good aspects of the game to make me fall in love with it, which is never a good sign, but also a sign of your investment in a work. And there's something to love here. The humor. The surprising first act. The nostlagia. Not the message of the ending, but the very last sequence, possibly the very last Monkey Island image we'll ever get, which made me sad, in a good way, because it looks like a proper farewell.
I don't know what to add. I don't think this game is a cashgrab - I think one quality of this game is its sincerity. But at least, Return is not a fatal mistake. Gilbert is at least right when he says the ending is less important than the journey... except Monkey Island is the one saga you can't say that about. Too bad. This statement, though, is only valid if Return isn't the last of its kind. You don't bring MI back from the dead, subvert everyone expectations in a mid way, only to forget everything again. You only do it if you want to build something new from the ground up. So now I'm curious, and I'll wait and I'll be there, and if that's all there is... this Gilbert's move will forever be left unexplained.
While not bad (after all, there is MI4), I think Return is only a down in a saga which had its shares of ups and downs. In my dreams, Gilbert makes a sequel to Return which doesn't even need to be the proper MI3 : just its own thing. Not limiting itself for a weird, misplaced, half-imaginary new audience. (You know, kinda like Thimbleweed didn't give a shit about pleasing anyone because it knew how sparse is the demand for point-and-clicks today). So, the first MI ark is over and I'm perfectly fine with it - but only in the prospect of sailing stranger seas.