Although I expected “Tales of Monkey Island” to be following the same structure as other Telltale games, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it felt just like any other classic chapter in the Monkey Island franchise. The plot might not be the most interesting ever, but it’s hands down the most fleshed-out in the series so far. I particularly liked the way they played around with LeChuck’s character to use him in unexpected ways. On the other hand, Elaine felt a little off both before and after the pox. She’s definitely been the hardest character to adapt from “Curse” onwards. A lot of new characters and locations have also been introduced, and, although not memorable, they managed to expand the MI world in new ways.

The puzzles are a mixed bag, but they are generally more accessible than they have been in the past. The most frustrating thing gameplay-wise has been the new inventory together with the item combination system. Even when knowing the solution to a puzzle, you would get stuck for skipping a dialogue or just because you didn’t use the items or commands the exact same way the developers had it in mind.

Despite the humor being able to capture the original spirit of the series, the visuals are probably the biggest flaw of the game. Although not as awful as “Escape from Monkey Island”, the 3D graphics are still quite ugly, and the atmospheric touch of the first two games remains unmatched.

Not actively offensive like ESCAPE, but just kind of formulaic and dull. Puzzles are ... fine. Writing doesn't have any kind of snap to it. Overall it doesn't really feel like a Monkey Island game - more like a Telltale Game starring Monkey Island characters. Which ... I mean, yeah, that's what it literally is, so. But you know what I mean.

Also really unappealing to look at and rather lazy visually. (75% of all NPCs use the same two character models - you run into three named guys in a row who all look exactly the same just with different hair/skin tones and outfits - kind of absurd, lol.) Once again not in the realm of ESCAPE's all-time eyeball-melter status, but it is fairly hideous. Just can't seem to make these look good after CURSE, huh? I'm hoping that RETURN's look ... can grow on me.

A idea dos xogos por capítulos non é para min pola chorrada de facer cliffhangers entre un e outro. Este dábame medo polo amor a Monkey Island e polo pouco que me gustaban outros xogos de Telltales por ser demasiado simplóns e chamar Aventura Gráfica a historias interactivas. Porén, funciona como Aventura Gráfica e está á altura da franquicia, sen ser brillante coma os tres primeiros, pero sen tirar nada por terra. Ademais, logrando recuperar a posibilidade de usar 3D no xénero sen resultar incómodo. Sigo botando de menos os verbos, pero hai que ir cos tempos. Tamén creo que se lle debe botar en cara que se ben o humor está e funciona, a historia ten demasiado de culebrón co Lechuck que parece ser bo, a señora do Vudú non tanto, e mira que dende o comezo parecía que ía haber unha boa trama con ese novo personaxe malvado que nos ofrece.
Como cousa boa, que explora bastante ben todo o tema das diferentes illas. Tamén que non vai cara tonterías de sistemas novos de xogo.

Initially, I was going to skip this game. I though this was a telltale remake of MI1, but turns out, it is a brand new MI game, and a surprisingly good one at that.

First things first, the one thing I thoroughly enjoy about the MI games is the story. For most of the chapters, I felt it was an overall good flow with a lot of high highs, and doing the unthinkable for the series and put Guybrush Threepwood in a modicum of danger (especially in chapter 4) and actually affects him. That being said, I hated the ending of the game. It was too anti-climactic and the payoff wasn't worth the fifteen hour investment. Also, chapter 3 could just be filler. The things that happened in that chapter did not affect the overall plot too much, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Unlike EfMI, this game introduces actual likeable new characters, primarily Winslow and Morgan. Very fun characters with ample screen time for the roles that they played. But I felt like it butchered a couple of already established characters. Elaine seems even more "princess-ey" now than in the previous game, and unlike the badass she used to be in MI1 and MI2. Stan got hit hard as well. His voice is even worse than in EfMI, and that game also had a worse voice actor for Stan. His role in this game isn't particularly interesting either, same with the previous game.

The gameplay portion of this game was fine. It's just extremely simplified from previous series, not even having the option to pull or push certain objects, as well as use them on yourself in your inventory, it is just a standard point-n-click. Disappointing, but redeems itself by having excellent no-bs puzzles. There's a few that are weird, such as the lamp puzzle in chapter 3 and the manatee puzzle, but other than those, with a bit of head scratching, you'll be able to come to a conclusion without it feeling too easy.

A few quick comments: I thought the controls were good, I don't think other people realize you can use WASD to move around while using the mouse on objects. UI sucks. Game crashed quite a few times. The atmosphere is lacking, and somehow this game visually looks worse than the previous title, which released in 2000 and looked terrible for its time.

Overall, good game! Don't skip out on this one if you're a MI fan.

¡Y se acabó mi maratón de la saga completa, justo una semana antes del lanzamiento de Return!

Tales es un soplo de aire fresco tras Escape, sin llegar tampoco al nivel de las tres otras entregas (sí, Curse se me está reposando genial). Es el juego menos gracioso de la saga, tirando por un humor de dibujo animado infantil menos hilarante, pero lo compensa apostando por un enfoque de Serial de Aventuras de Monkey Island bastante refrescante. Tomarse tan "en serio" el mundo de MI y su lore tal vez no sea mi opción favorita en esta saga, pero no se puede negar que aquí funciona, dando para la historia más completa y llena de peripecias de la saga.

A nivel de puzzles, el juego tarda un par de capítulos en empezar a cuajar, pero cuando lo hace da para secuencias realmente ingneniosas. Creo que está en su cénit en los capítulos 3 y 4, que tienen tanto los mejores puzzles como las tramas más interesantes del juego (el mejor uso de Stan fuera de los dos juegos de Gilbert).

Su mayor problema acaba siendo el hecho de ser un juego de Telltale. No porque no me vaya el estilo del estudio, me funcionan tanto sus aventuras gráficas convencionales pre-The Walking Dead como las aventuras narrativas posteriores. Pero en este caso la necesidad de vender cada capítulo aparte le acaba pasando factura al juego, porque significa que cada entrega debe durar lo mismo y sentirse como una comida completa.

El resultado es que el juego se hace simplemente demasiado largo y sufre claros problemas de ritmo, demostrando porqué en todas las otras entregas de la saga las distintas partes no duran para nada lo mismo. Por algo me pasé los cuatro otros juegos en dos semanas y este me ha durado meses: para que entre bien, necesitas espaciar los episodios y tomártelo realmente como un serial de aventuras que no está pensado para jugarse del tirón.

Tiene demasiados defectos para ser un juego redondo, pero cuesta echárselo en cara. Queda patente en todo momento que está hecho con mucho cariño por la saga y tiene el corazón donde toca, además de atreverse a probar constantemente situaciones novedosas y creativas para los personajes y el universo. Tal vez no vuelva a rejugarlo pronto, pero me alegro de haberlo hecho una segunda vez, y merece ser recordado como una entrega más que digna.

Complete playthrough.

* Episode 1 - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

After having a good time with their take on another LucasArts property in the Sam & Max series, it seemed a good opportunity to get properly stuck into Telltale Games' refresh of The Secret of Monkey Island - a franchise for which I have a long-held affection. This introductory episode does good job of capturing LucasArts' trademark sense of humour and sets up the rest of the the series well with an interesting premise and well-written characters, if not quite to Tim Schafer's level of excellence.

These earlier games from Telltale's catalogue take the more traditional puzzle-focused approach to the point-and-click genre and the solutions here are always fun to see playing out. However, finding those solutions in some cases takes a less positive feature from some classics of the genre, where the logic involved is less than obvious, to say the least... perhaps playing with a guide will be best if you want to avoid too much frustration!

* Episode 2 - The Siege of Spinner Cay

Complete playthrough. This second episode of Tales of Monkey Island picks up nicely from the first, with a well-realised city of mer-people being the setting this time as Guybrush finds himself re-united with Elaine... and LeChuck! I have to say that I wasn't particularly keen on the characterisation of the mer-people, but aside from that the writing and humour are again on-point, and the non-linearity of the puzzle-solving makes for a satisfying non-linearity, reducing the potential for frustration when a particular puzzle solution proves elusive.

* Episode 3 - Lair of the Leviathan

Complete playthrough. I'm a little conflicted in my view of this episode, as while I'm not being particularly keen on the primary setting inside a giant manatee, I can't deny that looking more at it objectively, this third episode as a whole is strong. We see some excellent new characters introduced, clever puzzle design and some particularly great interactions with Morgan and Van Winslow.

* Episode 4 - The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood

Complete playthrough. Now well into its stride, episode 4 is my favourite of the entire series. While many of the environments are revisits of those seen in episode 1, the premise is great fun, as Guybrush seeks to clear his name from various spurious criminal charges - up to and including that of causing the pox. Particularly standout sequences come as Guybrush occupies multiple roles (defendant and defence lawyer) simultaneously, and then in the superb depiction of fast-talking salesman Stan, recurring character from LucasArts' classic games in the franchise.

** Episode 5 - Rise of the Pirate God

Complete playthrough. Hmm... a decent premise here (Guybrush, now a ghost, seeks restoration to life to take on LeChuck), but in execution this felt a little weak. There's an enjoyable pirate-styled twist on the typical Death figure to start off the episode, but the main body of content sees Guybrush swapping back and forth between two key areas, but with a short trek between the two, rather than instant transition - which rapidly becomes a bit tedious. Of course, the excellent dialogue seen in the preceding episodes is just as strong here, so it's still a worthwhile playthrough, just not the climactic send-off that we might have hoped for for the series.

I really wish the first episode didn't exist because I feel like it will turn people away from this series compared to the other 4 episodes. The rest of the series is good overall, and I'd imagine that it takes the same kind of witty and charm that the Monkey Island series is known for. While I don't really know much about this series, the final episode really makes me want to learn more about it. Overall Tales of Monkey Island is a great call back to the series, and a good witty puzzle/ adventure game

For Telltale's attempt on a Monkey Island game, it wasn't a bad time. It had decent comedic events and the adventure itself was fun, it even had a few interesting puzzles, but there was a few... hiccups, especially with the bugs in the later chapters that slow you down (thank goodness for kind users on forums for solving these issues).

Pros:
You have to go in knowing this is a Telltale game, if you're used to their humor, it's a good time, they tried their best mix their kind of humor and what you'd normally expect from the LucasArts titles.

There's a ton of homages to the previous titles and cameos from the usual suspects, my personal favorite being Murray.

They did make some pretty clever puzzles that match Monkey Island really well for original puzzles, while borrowing some previous ones for past fans who would get the references.

Cons:
The dialogue tree was weak for jokes compared to previous titles and you couldn't speed through them if you accidentally clicked the wrong thing (or when you have leave and return to the court house over and over, normally that would all just skip forward once you had done the motions once or twice).

Elaine didn't feel as clever as usual, the ending kind of forced her to seem like she just knew everything she shouldn't, simply because she needs to think 20 steps ahead because she's married to Guybrush. She forces Guybrush to carry her wedding ring for the majority of the game for no real reason other than he lost his, he doesn't even wear it. You know it's for a puzzle, but it just felt forced. I feel like if her dialogue was adjusted a bit when giving him her ring and at the ending of the game, it would have been more fitting.

Unfortunately, Elaine was also overshadowed by Morgan LeFlay, Guybrush's fan/Elaine's love rival, who is another very capable, clever female in the pirating world, but has a bit more "strike first and ask questions later" personality which forces Guybrush to be the "wise elder", which is normally Elaine's role.

Telltale worked a little too hard on the Guybrush/Morgan chemistry, even with Guybrush always staying true to Elaine, to the point that you honestly feel bad for Morgan once she gets to know Guybrush better.

Then the ending itself just sharply cuts to the credits with a post-credit event teasing a likely sequel at the time (but of course, that didn't come into fruition).