When Return to Monkey Islandwas announced earlier this year,I was excited as I possibly could be. After a wait of over a decade, we were finally getting a new entry in one the greatest adventure game series of all time, complete the return of original developers Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman. Leading up to its release, though, the excitement started to be accompanied by plenty on intrigue as well. Aside from the fact that it was set up as a direct follow-up to Monkey Island: LeChuck’s Revenge (the second game in the series) and would seemingly be an interquel or set in an alternate continuity, there was also the fact that a lot of details, such as the story, seemed to be under wraps. The next thing you now,an unexpectedly sudden release date was announced.
At PAX West, prior to its release, I got a chance to talk with Ron and Dave, though there was no actual demo of the game on display. According to Devolver Digital, who are publishing the game, this was to keep things a secret. According to the duo, this was because after the introduction finally addressing the confusing ending to LeChuck’s Revenge, things would somehow get more bizarre, and they wanted players to experience this as best as possible. And now, having finally played this sequel that’s been arguably decades in the making…yeah, things got bizarre. But also familiar, fresh and most importantly, fun.
Set some time after LeChuck’s Revenge, Return to Monkey Island is allegedly the story of how Guybrush Threepwood discovered the Secret of Monkey Island, no, for real this time. Guybrush initially arrives on Mêlée Island again, ready to set sail after learning of where the Secret may actually be, only to find that LeChuck is already preparing an expedition and has a map in his possession. And after Guybrush’s attempts to get funding from the new Pirate Leaders – a younger trio that has an interest in dark magic – predictably fail, it becomes a race as Guybrush has to use his wits to find a way to beat LeChuck to the Secret, in a journey that proves to be more complicated than expected…
If that description of the plot feels a little bare-bones, well…honestly, it feels like that’s the point. Return to Monkey Island is built as a sequel to LeChuck’s Revenge, which was the last entry in the series that Ron Gilbert had a direct hand in. And it didn’t occur to me until later after playing that all of the post-Gilbert Monkey Island games had a direct problem to solve and/or threat to deal with: fix a curse that has turned Elaine to gold, prevent an evil land developer from exterminating all pirates, stop a cursed pox from ravaging the Caribbean, etc. But in the Gilbert games? Guybrush’s goal basically boiled down to “Find big treasure, become mighty pirate.” Sure, he defeats LeChuck in the process, but that just becomes a part of the journey, not the goal.
Return to Monkey Island ends up being a game about trying to recapture one’s childhood, as well as a potential tale of obsession. And it becomes hard to actually delve deeper into how the game greatly tackles those themes and others without heading into spoiler territory, but it becomes rather notable once you start to question why Guybrush or LeChuck are even still looking for the Secret in the first place. Guybrush’s objective list even just says to find the Secret to relive his glory days. This is all in stark contrast to, say, Elaine, who instead just keeps on working on their campaign to combat scurvy in the background, seemingly having moved on. The story doesn’t even shy away from confrontations over adventure game tropes of the earlier games such as comedic sociopathy, with Guybrush and players having to mess about with more than a few people in order to get what they need.
The point is that while Return to Monkey Island is a follow-up to LeChuck’s Revenge, it also feels like a deconstruction of such games at times while still being a tribute to them. Some have even mentioned the game as being a swan song to that particular era, and in more than one way, that is correct. It’s one of those games with particularly sharp writing that had me thinking about every character, action and event, analyzing what they could potentially mean. It’s a fascinating look into things, with a touching surprise at the end of the game that was a bit of a cherry on top.
Gilbert and company still clearly have the touch when it comes to delivering the laughs, as does Dominic Armato, whose delivery as Guybrush Threepwood is still spot-on when it comes to providing humorous little observations about seemingly every single item that you can imagine. The whole cast does an amazing job in general, successfully giving returning characters like Wally and Murray or newcomers like the new Pirate Leaders or LeChuck’s crew (a particularly nice addition that fleshes one what are typically background characters), giving them the comedic edge that works with everything.
It helps that the absurdities of the Monkey Island world are nicely on display once again, where the traditional life of a pirate can be interrupted by marketing shenanigans, insane trials and traditions to undertake, the importance of mops and more. And all of these situations are made even more insane by Guybrush’s meddling in them, leading to some rather destructive outcomes, as mentioned before, with deconstructions or not, are still a hoot. The game also wisely doesn’t overindulge in meta humor too often, but the bits that are there are still a delight for fans, especially when revisiting the likes of Mêlée Island’s streets and famous locations, which look impressive in the new art style. In fact, the graphics in general are a visual treat all around, nice and perfectly cartoonist, while the soundtrack perfectly hits a light-hearted Caribbean feel.
In terms of gameplay, while topping the likes of insult swordfighting or finding substitute ingredients for the recipe needed to get to Monkey Island is a nigh-impossible task, Return to Monkey Island manages to still have highly-impressive puzzles to solve this time as well. Full disclosure, this writer played the game on Hard Mode as opposed to the regular Casual Mode, so there was an increased number of steps and complexity for some puzzles, but they’re still impressive either way. The gauntlet ranges from more simpler fare like having to deduce a clue that enchants a disguise to more complex bits like having to decode maps, organize journal pages to find the correct way through a cave, and at one point even having to master the art of storytelling using tips from various NPCs in order to get a fish needed. And every puzzle is creative, challenging and highly enjoyable to tackle.
If there is one point where Return to Monkey Island falters, aside from maybe one or two annoying or repetitive puzzles (a bit involving using a device to read serial number on locks to get keys made appears often), that would be in its finale. Obviously I can’t go into spoilers, but I can see more than a few people being disappointed in it. In this writer’s opinion, it had the same problem as Ron Gilbert’s previous adventure game, Thimbleweed Park, in that it isn’t the nature of the finale that harms things, but rather the fact that it severs some notable plot threads and character arcs and the process. Granted, things are alleviated by the discovery of ten different epilogues (albeit short ones) that give a little extra expansion on things, but it still would have welcome to at least see some more of certain characters that disappear by that point.
In the end, as stated earlier, Return to Monkey Island is a game all about trying to recapture one’s childhood, and in doing so, how one might succeed and how one might fail. Overall, Return succeeds more often at capturing the atmosphere, feel and puzzle design of the original game, but via its story, new wrinkles, characters and more, manages to still be willing to mature as well. It’s a new twist on a classic that manages to have it both ways, with another witty pirate tale that should easily appeal to audiences both young and old.
Closing Comments:
Return to Monkey Island is pretty much as perfect a sequel to such a series of classic games as one can get. The puzzles are just as clever as they were decades ago, the visuals are the stunning, characters both new and old are a joy to interact with and provide great humor, and the story is not only well-crafted, but also has surprisingly profound moments. It’s easily a classic that can proudly stand alongside the other Monkey Island games, and one of the year’s best games in general. Take it from a now-behind-bars Stan: it’s one worth picking up.
