Return to Monkey Island - Follow-up to a classic Adventure series will be setting sail today! [Released]

The Secret of Monkey Island developed by Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts) was originally released in 1990 and created by now industry legends Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman. It was a game that has lived on the hearts of many with its fantastic pirate charm, brilliant characters, challenging yet enjoyable puzzles, and a story set in a fictional version of the Caribbean during the age of piracy. Well if you remember that fine game and have been keeping an eye out for the sequel of 'Return to Monkey Island', then as of today you can finally play the game with all its pirate charm! 

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. 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.

Links :1) Website 2) Steam (Windows/Mac) 3) Nintendo Switch 4) Twitter

42 comments:

  1. Is it just me or is the protagonist modelled after that guy from the "Money for Nothing" video?

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    1. Your salt doesnt work here..

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    2. I've been pointing this out for months, how this 2022 game is using 1985 visuals. :) Has been SUCH a disappointment - and people getting passionate about it bummed out Ron Gilbert from sharing updates anymore - but it won't stop me from buying and playing it.

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    3. Don't like the art style

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    4. What are you talking about - no game in 1985 looked like this.
      It seems Ron Gilbert made an odd, and wrong, choice of art style.

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    5. Haha - Ron Gilbert can't take criticism

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    6. "Ron Gilbert made an odd, and wrong, choice of art style." Wrong? Bull. He chose a great style that fits the world of Monkey Island extremely well. I wasn't sure at first but I've played the game I can't imagine it any other way. And most of the reviews agree. The game is a fantastic return of the franchise.

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    7. Haha Ron Gilberts fans are triggered

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    8. I hope there will be an Amiga-release!

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    9. The 1985 I referred to is the 1985 music video Money For Nothing by the Dire Straights. The characters in this game use the same art style (just more involved). Guybrush looks like a brother of the thin guy. :) So, yeah, this 2022 game is using a 37 year old style rather than looking current. LOL!

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    10. The guy from the Dire Straits video looked good as a stylized computer character. Guywood Creepbrush does not, it's forced and the style doesn't match the other characters.
      And as a game where you have to get objects from the background this art style doesn't work either.

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  2. This looks horrible.

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    1. 'This looks horrible' - You all need to seriously get a F$%^%ING grip! We've moved on since the 90s!

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    2. There are tons of modern games that look ok.
      This one just does not for me.

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    3. "We've moved on since the 90s", ummm, it doesn't look like it, that's the issue. :)

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    4. ""We've moved on since the 90s", ummm, it doesn't look like it, that's the issue. :"

      Name one game that looked just like this from the 90s.

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    5. No, instead I'll name the MUSIC VIDEO from 1985 that looks like this. Dire Straights - Money For Nothing. Guybrush looks like the brother of the thin guy in the video. So, not 90s, 80s, but the person said to move on from the 90s, so.... 2022 shouldn't be borrowing its look from a 37 year old video.

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  3. "....We've moved on since the 90s! " - Not bad, youre right, but this looks horrible.

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    1. Nah, it looks ace, especially when actually playing the game.

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  4. well... the story might be good - but the art style doesnt suit me at all - and how it looks ... im not alone with this opinion

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  5. The art style is quirky, charming, detailed, superbly animated, and absolutely oozes character and expression. So much that it makes the old games seem stiff and lifeless by comparison, as wonderful as they are, especially 1 and 2. It really doesn't matter at all that this may technically be a cheap/easy technique when it is executed so well. I'd suggest it is exactly that that allowed them to put so much focus on the animation, expressiveness, etc.

    It's perfect for the game, imho. I'm happy this closed-minded whining over the art style, which got old months ago, seems to be a vocal minority opinion, and primarily one held by people who haven't actually played the game yet - just complaining over screenshots. Just look at the reviews of people actually playing the game!

    Perhaps someone will make a plugin that renders the game as a 320x240 mosaic for those stuck in the past. :)

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    1. Agreed. The old games do indeed seem lifeless in comparison with this one. And the style fits beautifully with the quirky tone of MI. I'm loving it so far. I'm just a couple of chapters in and already I'm having this right near top of my fave games of the year lol

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    2. https://i.imgur.com/okZLyyF.png .. there ..

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  6. I'm happy this game has finally been released after all these years, and we get to spend more time with these great characters, even better we get another adventure with Guybrush. Like others have said, I'm not overly keen with the new art direction, was kind of hoping for the Thimbleweed Park look.

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    1. ew no. Thimbleweed had very amateur like sprite work. All the characters looked far too samey and not particularly well animated. Even the original two MI games had better pixel art on the sprites

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  7. Ok I bloody love it. I love everything about it. Including the art style. I wasn't sure of it when screenshots first appeared but having played a good chunk of the game now I absolutely love it. Honestly I prefer it over the blocky pixels of the first two and the nice but stiff cartoony look of the third. Aye, easily one of my fave games of the year. Bloody ace all the way. lol

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  8. 96% rating with 800 reviews on the first day of release on Steam. Seems that the people who actually play the game know better than those who have made up their minds on base of screenshots alone.

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    1. The tiny minority that buy the game because they like the art style and then rate it is not a fair representation.

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    2. I intend to buy the game and I expect to enjoy it, doesn't change that the art is terrible. And YES, we can indeed review the art based on screenshots, it's the only thing anybody can truly judge from screenshots.

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    3. When you realize that the minority is actually the haters. Most people who buy the game you will never see on forums.

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    4. You misspelled "majority". :) The MAJORITY hate the graphic style. Heard / read nothing but negative comments, unanimous, until in a LucasArts Adventure Games group I found two posts with a handful of people who liked the art or were meh about the art. Everybody else finds the characters ugly and clunky and boxy looking, with a few of us finding it reminiscent of Money For Nothing, a music video OLDER than the first Monkey Island game. This is a clear step backwards.

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  9. So the review of someone who has actually bought and played the game is somehow diminished when compared to someone who has just looked at the screenshots and just decided they didn’t like it? That makes absolutely no sense.

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    1. He's saying only the buyers can leave reviews, if people could vote that didn't want to buy it because of the graphics, you'd have a very different rating indeed.

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    2. You can refund games on steam, os thats bull****.

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    3. No, not bull****. I've seen MANY people say the graphics are a dealbreaker, that they won't buy such ugly graphics. THOSE people aren't buying the game, meaning if you need to buy the game to review/rate it that they can't. So of course the game is skewing higher than it might. Also, if I enjoy it like I expect to when I finally play it, chances are _I_ would rate/review it well, IN SPITE of the crappy graphics. Us mature fans can look past the graphics to give the game a fair shot anyway. The graphics will detract from the experience, of course, but there are other elements to enjoy like the puzzles, the dialogue, the humour... i.e. most of what would be in a Monkey Island game.

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    4. No, not bull****. I've seen MANY people say the graphics are a dealbreaker, that they won't buy such ugly graphics. THOSE people aren't buying the game, meaning if you need to buy the game to review/rate it that they can't. So of course the game is skewing higher than it might. Also, if I enjoy it like I expect to when I finally play it, chances are _I_ would rate/review it well, IN SPITE of the crappy graphics. Us mature fans can look past the graphics to give the game a fair shot anyway. The graphics will detract from the experience, of course, but there are other elements to enjoy like the puzzles, the dialogue, the humour... i.e. most of what would be in a Monkey Island game.

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  10. Neat but not as good as reviews might suggest.

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  11. It´s getting great reviews and is selling very well. Was top seller on steam for two days almost. Adventuregames lives

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  12. Bought the game, am not a fan of the looks, but love the story. I can totally understand when you're displease with the overall aesthetics of it all. It's subjective and it's cool to like it or love it. There are aspects that I love, too. But what I miss is details. And a few more straight angles wouldn't hurt. MI was funny because of good comedy, not wacky looks.

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  13. The anti retro to me. I don't think it will be back with the quality of day of tentacles, which is the minimum to expect since 20 years yet. Require windows 10 but also a big pc for a 2D with that smartphone game style

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  14. still ugly design... :-/

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