A good Monkey Island experience, but not a needed one.

I'd like to start with the positives first. For a point and click adventure game, this game does the "adventure" part excellently. In previous Monkey Island games (except for 1) puzzles felt were a means to an end, even if they had excellent stories along the way. They felt very segmented and linear in that fashion, whereas this game feels very open with its puzzles (especially after part 4). If I'm stumped on something, I can tackle a different objective and I'd be able to think of a solution by the time I'm done, or the other objective I'm tackling gives me clues on how to solve the other objective I'm stuck on, and makes an overall intuitive experience. In addition, the game doesn't bog you down with unskippable dialogue or extremely long animations when transitioning into zones. It is very snappy and face-paced, so you won't be frustrated when you accidentally click something you didn't want to, or leave an area you didn't mean to.

I think the voicework is great for the most part. All the new and returning characters range from "good" (Stan, Elaine) to "excellent" (Bob, Flambe) voices, and gives characters some much needed personality and memorability (more on that later)

The overall story is pretty good, a couple of scenarios Guybrush hasn't found himself in before makes it a surprising experience.

As for my mixed and bad experiences, a fantastic place to start would be the artstyle. A lot of people hate it and won't play the game because of it, but a lot of other people actually like the artstyle. I don't mind it really. When looking at it from a perspective of not playing the game, it looks like those inoffensive super cooperate-friendly advertisements. When playing the game, it's not bad. The artstyle does leave a lot to be desired in the facial expression department, but everything else is fine, you won't notice it much.

I'm not going to lie when I say I'm very, very dumb in regards puzzle games (despite having my enjoyment with them); but this game is very, very easy. There were maybe three puzzles I had to use my noggin for, which is a huge disappointment because this game has and excellent hint system (one I've always wanted from MI1), but there's hardly need to use it.

Finally, there's the ending. In my reviews, I don't usually go over spoilers, but my thoughts will contain minor spoilers, so if you are somehow reading my review and you havent played the game, please go play the game.

For context before reading this, I wasn't a fan of the ending in ANY MI game except for the first one (I didn't know where to put this in my review, but this is probably important context to bring up)

I was surprised that shortly after beating Tales of Monkey Island, that Return would be a prequel, taking place between 2 and 3, which I didn't understand. Initially, I didn't really understand the ending of MI2, but after playing Curse of the Monkey Island, I got the jist of it. I didn't really need an explanation of the ending, but now I am presented with the ending of Return to Monkey Island. I do get the intention of the ending: It's about the journey, not the destination. And I LOVED the journey of this game, but its not really needed? Playing Return to Monkey Island didn't really enhance my understanding of the world, or added any additional depth to characters or answered any questions, it just left me with more questions. Ultimately, its a waste of story potential that would enhance the future MI games.

Overall, I think this game is great, including the story it tries to tell. But this game feels like a side story, as it does not present much to deepen or enhance the world MI is placed in.