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Return to Monkey Island (2022) - Ron Gilbert onboard!

kiroquai

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JoeK

JoeK

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I'm not 100% sure yet. It's definitely been lovingly done, and I absolutely love the way the tale is already being told. I'm not so taken with the way they've implemented the UI, and so far (and I admit I'm not far at all in the game) the puzzles seem far easier than previous MI games (although this may or may not be a good thing in the end...). I'm also a little bit disappointed in the soundtrack - which is a bit shocking for me at the moment. I'm also not completely won over by the visual style, but that's just me - it's done really well nonetheless.

 

We'll see.

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Lying Cat

Lying Cat

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7 minutes ago, JoeK said:

I'm not 100% sure yet. It's definitely been lovingly done, and I absolutely love the way the tale is already being told. I'm not so taken with the way they've implemented the UI, and so far (and I admit I'm not far at all in the game) the puzzles seem far easier than previous MI games (although this may or may not be a good thing in the end...). I'm also a little bit disappointed in the soundtrack - which is a bit shocking for me at the moment. I'm also not completely won over by the visual style, but that's just me - it's done really well nonetheless.

 

We'll see.

 

The thing is that if you're like me - an old, decrepit broken down human being slowly crawling toward the merciful release of death, every joint aching as you do so - and played Monkey Island within spitting distance of release, there's no way this is ever going to live up to the magic of what you played back then, especially as the opening act of the game trades so heavily on nostalgia.

I don't think this is as good as the first one, but even if it was - even if it was better - I would probably process it as inferior just because of what it's stacked up against in my memory. I don't think even playing the first game again would give me anything close to clear sight about it. So I dunno. I'm willing to give this massive benefit of the doubt and I am actually having quite a good time playing it.

 

Additionally, I quite like the graphics and animation, the latter I was a bit leery about in the run up to release.

 

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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Really enjoying the graphics and sound design so far. Wasn't a fan of the look in advance but in motion and play it's lovely.

 

So many little things to comment on but I'll save much of that until I'm further in and people have had a chance to explore.

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kiroquai

kiroquai

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Ah man this game hit me right in the feelings at the start (spoilering for those who’ve got onto at least the first proper Act).

 

Spoiler

The fact Guybrush is retelling the story to his son when I was sat on the sofa chatting to (well, at) my newborn son about how much I loved Monkey Island.


🥲

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PeteJ

PeteJ

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Just did the very start, it's got me. That music hit me straight away. Can't get the main theme our of my head, not that I want it to leave! Looks great too!

 

Controls ok on the switch. In a way I miss the old point and click pixel hunt from the olden days, but I suppose this is better it just seems to tell you all of the interactive spots straight away.

 

Love how fast you can move around though, and the way it teaches you the systems at the start is cute. Nice retelling of the previous games too :)

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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In to part 3. Really joyful experience.

 

I think the writing is on par with the first two games so far. Maybe a little tighter, particularly than the second game. I don't think any of the conversation trees have outstayed their welcome so far in a way I think particularly Revenge could do at times.

 

The puzzles seem much more like the first game than the second. Not simple, occasionally surprising but not as obscure or convoluted as they got in the second game. Maybe that'll change maybe not.

 

Bed time and I'll be very glad to return to it tomorrow evening.

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kiroquai

kiroquai

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On 05/04/2022 at 12:15, kiroquai said:

 

From the looks of the website, I reckon we are going to be spending some time on Melee at least :). I am with you on the atmosphere of the place - it was a magical location. It's also reminded me of a fond memory:

 

aD147Mw_700b.jpg

 

This clock. Always shows 10 o'clock. My late and much-missed level design colleague and I were discussing our love for Monkey Island whilst working on Battlezone VR a few years ago. He managed to sneak in a lovely little Monkey Island reference into one of his levels by building a giant clock and having it always set to 10 o'clock.

 

If we end up in front of that clock again in Return I'll no doubt pause for a bit and raise a beer :).


 

Spoiler

A4FB4C4D-027A-4530-BA70-5B2AD85057ED.png.2bdc3287da211c7a3ff31493b2e96377.png


3E78FCBE-B9D5-44B7-A87B-3F22848CCCB1.gif.c2abfb19b3ab01a8b9255ddaa3d7f881.gif

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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I'd say it's slightly better with a recent play through so far. I've gone in having played 1 and 2 in the last week. I rather wish I'd also done 3 because whilst this continues from the end of 2 it references 3 in some ways. But ran out of time.

 

At the same time I wonder if it can actually make the game feel like too much of a retread of the first games locations (at least in part 1).

 

But, it's good enough to just dive in. I think it'll bring back memories all the same. Just with less intimate knowledge.

 

There is also a built in scrap book to give you a little reminder of the old story.

 

 

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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21 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

Is there any advantage of getting the PC version over the Switch one, apart from achievements? Does it run well on Switch? How's it look on dat OLED screen?

 

I think the thing that would interest me is the control scheme on Switch. How do I scour the scene for items? Do I even do that or does the cursor snap to interactive elements?

 

On PC with a mouse there's a key to highlight interaction but I will avoid it as long as I can. I'd actually rather it wasn't bound or enabled by default. I don't want to risk ever pressing it. Same as I wish the entry point to the hint system wasn't visible at all unless I had asked to enable it at the beginning - or turned it on at any point.

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PeteJ

PeteJ

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4 minutes ago, thesnwmn said:

 

I think the thing that would interest me is the control scheme on Switch. How do I scour the scene for items? Do I even do that or does the cursor snap to interactive elements?

 

On PC with a mouse there's a key to highlight interaction but I will avoid it as long as I can. I'd actually rather it wasn't bound or enabled by default. I don't want to risk ever pressing it. Same as I wish the entry point to the hint system wasn't visible at all unless I had asked to enable it at the beginning - or turned it on at any point.

I have the switch version and still very early. As I posted a little up, the control scheme highlights your concern.

 

The game puts circles around every object you can interact with as soon as you enter an area, so there is no pixel hunt. Arguably this was a big failure of the old lucas adventures, but it is quite odd as somebody who grew up with these games. 

 

At one point I had to press two buttons to really search for something, it it highlighted an object that wasn't present initially. Potentially then, there is an element of pixel hunting, but presented differently. Hopefully this mix of styles doesn't conflict too much otherwise I can see it getting frustrating as I'll probably forget you can do the mega search option. 

 

Ps - I will need to check the game options again. Possible you can change all of this. 

 

The game also has two difficulty levels, and I'm on the harder of the two. 

 

It seems to be running fine on switch via the Tele though I'm only near the start. I'm not one to get hung up about frame rates though (especially on this type of game) so might not be the best person to comment. Game looks great in my opinion. 

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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2 minutes ago, Rex Grossman said:

What does changing the diffculty change in the game? More puzzles? More hints?

 

More puzzles in the harder one according to their own description. My interpretation was that "hard" is the main game. And the casual is basically navigate the story.

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Jonnysaxc

Jonnysaxc

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2 hours ago, Hewson said:

Anyone got a view on whether this can be played with little knowledge of the originals? I quite fancy it as one to play with the kids, but nervous they might be lost straight away

Totally, it even has a scrapbook you can read to catch up if you fancy. Doesn’t need any prior knowledge. 

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