This review contains spoilers
Despite being an impatient idiot who usually can't stand puzzles in video games, I strangely have a lot of fondness for the Monkey Island series and grew up mainly with the third game, Curse of Monkey Island but discovered the others in my teens and highly enjoyed those as well (Escape from Monkey Island less so). To say that I was excited when Return to Monkey Island was announced last year is an understatement, but for some reason I just didn't play it despite buying it on release. Really not sure why I'm like that sometimes.
I have played it now though, and just loved my time with most of it. The puzzles are maybe too easy for some veterans of the genre, but for me who rarely touches it, they struck a good balance between being both logical and still requiring some knowledge of the point & click genre language, so to speak, where there is a certain logic not really found anywhere else. It can be a bit fetch quest-y at times and the pacing of the adventure feels a bit off since it's a lot of starting and stopping between acts in a way that feels a bit cheap, like the game should end several times but keeps going. Not that I should be complaining when the overall quality of the puzzles and writing remains very good throughout most of the game (my only real complaint is how some characters are very suddenly dropped during the final act, and how unreasonably understanding Elaine is of Guybrush's path of destruction), but it can be a bit jarring.
I'm not going to spoil anything concrete about within the plot of course since it's a very narrative-driven game, but it is so nice to see both Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman return to the series and seemingly not having lost anything of their sharp wit since their last MI game almost 30 years ago, but they've also matured as both people and writers which reflects in this game where, while it is very funny, they do manage to cut through the comedy to ultimately make a beautiful and surprisingly adult (not in the R-rated way, but more in the themes it tackles) story by the end. It is certainly a very nostalgic love letter to the series that calls back to previous games throughout the journey in a lot of very clever ways, but at the same time it's also a rumination on the passage of time and what really matters in life at the same time as it's a mostly breezy, fun pirate adventure. This might not be the final Monkey Island game (think Ron Gilbert has said he's open for more?), but if it was, it's certainly a worthy sendoff and one for the developers to be proud of.
Also, don't forget about the letter after beating the game. Reading that was definitely one of the strongest little experiences I've had with a 2022 game and made my deep appreciation of the game even deeper. Really itching to replay previous Monkey Island games now.
Also also, I got used to the pretty distinct art style quickly and can't really imagine the game without it. It really does look very good when you're actually playing the game, I promise!
I have played it now though, and just loved my time with most of it. The puzzles are maybe too easy for some veterans of the genre, but for me who rarely touches it, they struck a good balance between being both logical and still requiring some knowledge of the point & click genre language, so to speak, where there is a certain logic not really found anywhere else. It can be a bit fetch quest-y at times and the pacing of the adventure feels a bit off since it's a lot of starting and stopping between acts in a way that feels a bit cheap, like the game should end several times but keeps going. Not that I should be complaining when the overall quality of the puzzles and writing remains very good throughout most of the game (my only real complaint is how some characters are very suddenly dropped during the final act, and how unreasonably understanding Elaine is of Guybrush's path of destruction), but it can be a bit jarring.
I'm not going to spoil anything concrete about within the plot of course since it's a very narrative-driven game, but it is so nice to see both Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman return to the series and seemingly not having lost anything of their sharp wit since their last MI game almost 30 years ago, but they've also matured as both people and writers which reflects in this game where, while it is very funny, they do manage to cut through the comedy to ultimately make a beautiful and surprisingly adult (not in the R-rated way, but more in the themes it tackles) story by the end. It is certainly a very nostalgic love letter to the series that calls back to previous games throughout the journey in a lot of very clever ways, but at the same time it's also a rumination on the passage of time and what really matters in life at the same time as it's a mostly breezy, fun pirate adventure. This might not be the final Monkey Island game (think Ron Gilbert has said he's open for more?), but if it was, it's certainly a worthy sendoff and one for the developers to be proud of.
Also, don't forget about the letter after beating the game. Reading that was definitely one of the strongest little experiences I've had with a 2022 game and made my deep appreciation of the game even deeper. Really itching to replay previous Monkey Island games now.
Also also, I got used to the pretty distinct art style quickly and can't really imagine the game without it. It really does look very good when you're actually playing the game, I promise!