PlayStation and Xbox owners can return to this classic series

The return of a classic adventure series is sailing for new ports next week. Return to Monkey Island arrives on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 o??n November 8.

While it originally launched for just PC and Switch, owners of newer consoles will also be able to finally return to the Monkey Island series. Additionally, Return to Monkey Island will be on Xbox Game Pass, for console alongside PC and cloud.

You can see the trailer for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions here:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHYhubDqWCY

Return to Monkey Island first released in September for PC and Switch, and it seemed like it turned out pretty good. The stor??y continues th?e journey of Guybrush Threepwood, as a new and dramatic series of events takes place on Mêlée Island.

Heading home

As Zoey wrote for us in the initial review, Return to Monkey Island is a follow-up to the series that's got a good amount of callbacks and references. For Monkey Island fans who haven't go??t around to it yet though, the new pla??tforms provide a chance to finally check it out. And hey, Game Pass makes it easy to see if this kind of adventure is your cup of tea.

Return to Monkey Island joins a pretty stellar lineup of Game Pass games this month, too. Obisidian's historical murder-mystery Pentiment is also due up on the Pass. As is Somerville, the extraterrestrial thriller. And if you really just need to lose hours watching bats and skeletons explode, Vampire Survivors is on-deck too.

Return to Monkey Island hits PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 8.

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I buckle a mean swash

If you were a friend of mine around the launch of the Special Edition of Secret of Monkey Island, I probably tried to thrust it upon you. I was in the midst of exploring the point-and-click adventure genre, as I had passed it by when I was young, and Secret of Monkey Island was the new high point. Maniac Mansion is a wonderfully well-designed puzzle box, but Secret of Monkey Island?? is a symphony. Its puzzle design is near ??perfect, and its humorous script makes it extraordinarily rewarding to solve them.

Monkey Island 2 might be better than that, but following those two hits, the series took a dive. Curse of Monkey Island, Escape from Monkey Island, and Tales of Monkey Island are all fin?e. Okay even. But the first two games weren’t fine, they were magic.

So Ron Gilbert has rejoined Dave Grossman on the series and has promised to deliver Monkey Island back to its lofty status. Well, I don’t remember him saying that; he probably didn’t. However, that’s how us fans all took it. But can Return to Monkey Island really live up to those classic titles?

Return to Monkey Island (PC [Reviewed], Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Terrible Toybox
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Released: September 19, 2022
MSRP: $24.99

Leading up to launch, I heard a lot of speculation about Return to Monkey Island ignoring everything after the second game and being a direct sequel to LeChuck’s Revenge. I want to be clear here, that is not the case. I don’t know that it needed to be the case because the Monkey Island continuity was hardly ever perverted. The first two games didn’t start? some overarching narrative that was fumbled when handed to other teams. They were dumb, self-aware pirate tales. There’s even a joke early on that the games are typically bad with conclusions.

No. Murray the Skull has returned, Elaine and Guybrush are already married, and Guybrush even recalls a situation from Tales of Monkey Island. Do you need to have played those games to appreciate Return to Monkey Island? No, but also yes. Return to Monkey Island leans heavily into self-reference. Much of the adventure takes plac??e in locations from the first game, and characters from those turn up. So many of the jokes lean on the “good ‘ol days�that I’m not sure I would have appreciated them as much if I had missed out. Considering my memory is foggy of some of the later titles, I probably missed a fair few, even as a fan.

[embed]//youtu.be/nKub-41C0BE[/embed]

You look like a guy without many options

The story has Guybrush Threepwood recalling a tale to his son. This time, it’s on the subject of the Secret of Monkey Island. But not that one time he did it, this is a different time. He arrives back on Melee Island to assemble a crew and fund another expedition to the island. This time it’s different! There’s a different assortment of pirate leaders, and he secures passage in another way. No, I lied, it’s about as inconsequential as the other Monkey Island narratives.

Being back on Melee Island gives the game an excuse to roll out an assortment of returning characters. Return to Monkey Island?? eventually does set sail, only to return back. I guess what I’m saying is to keep expectations very low on what kind of story is being delivered here.

On the other hand, I’m happy to report that the puzzle design is about where it used to be. You can choose to play on an easier “casual�mode that cuts down on the puzzle complexity. I didn’t check it out because I’m not certain why I’d want to play an adventure game with fewer puzzles. I’d recommend you do the same since there’s also a hint book available in-game to prevent you from running circles. It’s pretty handy; first pointing you in the direction of where you’re looking, then giving more and more hints until it outright tells you. There’s nothing as obtuse as Monkey Island 2’s infamous “use monkey on pump�p??uzzle, so if you’re comfortable with ??�0s adventure games, you’ll be fine here.

Use pamphlet on ghost pirate

The humor is also on point, even if it does stick its thumb out to previous games a bit too much. When left to its own devices, Return to Monkey Island has some sharp insight into the world and humanity’s more selfish side. Guybrush himself has a habit of ruining lives just to further his personal goals, and it’s really given the spotlight. It’s less wacky than the latter-day Monkey Islands and closer to the sharp wit of the first two titles, and I think that’s what I and a lot of other fans? were hoping for.

It also marks the return of Dominic Armato to the role of Guybrush’s voice. While he didn’t take on the identity until the third game, he’s sort of become the de facto voice of Guybrush. He has this sort of ineffectual front that makes him seem naive while secretly being dizz??yingly acidic. He’ll charm you with his naivety, then steal a precious family heirloom just to ruin it to get an item of questionable value.

??Other big voi?ces make their return, but since so much time is spent listening to Guybrush and so little of it on the other characters, Dominic’s return is rather key.

No, you say bye first

The big question here is if Return to Monkey Island manages to reach the quality of the original classic titles. The answer is yes, but also no. This is absolutely the closest the series has come to returning to its pinnacle. The puzzle design, the charm, and the game’s flow are all pretty much spot on. Above all, the humor is still as sharp? as a shattered Jolly Rancher, landing a lot of chuckle-wo??rthy strikes.

However, it’s the third time this joke has been told, and time hasn’t made it any fresher. So much of Return to Monkey Island is callbacks that it doesn’t feel like it stands on its own. It’s an excellent companion piece for the other games, and a love letter to the fans of the series, but I also feel like it takes a few jabs at them. I can only ever see myself playing it again in?? sequence with the rest of the series. At the same time, it’s a breath of fresh air after the middling titles we’ve been given since 1991. At least we can stop holding our breath and laugh again.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Terrible commenters take even more from the internet

Return to Monkey Island was showcased on Tuesday, during the Nintendo Direct Mini showcase. It was an exciting gameplay reveal for the newest entry. But not long after, Monkey Island writer and director Ron Gilbert a??nnounced he was shutting down comments on his personal ??site.

Gilbert's personal blog Grumpy Gamer has been a repository for his writing, thoughts, and an occasional April Fools' actual-announcement. Despite all that, after revealing Return to Monkey Island gameplay during the Dire??ct, comments flooded into the blog. Angry, mean ones.

We're not going to share them here, but suffice to say, I've gone back to look at some and they are pretty bad. Most of them complain about the art style before veering off into wild??, personal attacks and spiteful rhet?oric. In response to how rough things were getting, Gilbert confirmed he's closing the comments down and going quiet.

"I'm shutting down comments," Gilbert wrote. "People are just being mean and I'm having to delete personal attack comments. It's an amazing game and everyone on the team is very proud of it. Play it or don't play it but don't ruin it for everyone els??e. I won'??t be posting anymore about the game. The joy of sharing has been driven from me."

Dominic Armato, the voice behind Guybrush Threepwood, shared the comment and frustrations on Twitter.

//twitter.com/SkilletDoux/status/1542333041887961??088

Not very constructive

W??hile Gilbert is going qui?et, the blog is still up. It's frankly, honestly, very frustrating to see this sort of thing. Disappointment that the art style doesn't one-to-one match your wildest dreams or rosy nostalgic remembrances is one thing.

But from the Return to Monkey Island comments I saw, some were mixing that with appalling vitriol. As Gilbert writ??es, play it or don't, but that doesn't mean you need to make peoples' lives miserable in the process. It doesn't do anything for anybody.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3mxq44HhnU

Return to Monkey Island ships off for PC and Nintendo S?witch sometime this year.

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Avast ye, the first trailer for Return to Monkey Island is finally here!

The Monkey Island games are heralded as some of the best point-and-click games ever made, so fans are pretty thrilled to be getting another mainline game twelve years after the series' last release, which was a special edition of the first two games. Another sequel is long overdue, and thankfully the developers behind the project, Terrible Toybox, just released a new trailer to satiate us as we wait for the game to drop later this year. The trailer was also posted by Monkey Island's beloved designer and creator Ron Gilbert, who shared the news with the exact type of humor we'?d expect f?rom him.

The new trailer shows off Return to Monkey Island's revamped art style, which captures the quirkiness of the characters and world perfectly. Although we didn't get to see all that much of it, the gameplay itself looks like the classic Monkey Island experience we know and love. Story-wise, our plucky protagonist Guybrush Threepwood promises we're in for an adventure with "ships, fights, love, treasure, betrayal, and root beer."? As an avid lover of all things pirate-related myself, I do??n't think there's much more I could really ask for.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3mxq44HhnU

I can be pretty hesitant about sequels this far out from the originals, especially when a series' legacy is on the line, but I have to say that I've been blown away by everything I've seen of Return to Monkey Island so far. It also says a lot that they have some of the original creators involved. At this point, I'm optimistic that the game will bring a thrilling adventure from a classic series t??o a brand new audience.

Return to Monkey Island takes to the high seas sometime in 2??022 for PC and Nintendo Switch.

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The beloved series makes a triumphant return

Of all the games in the point-and-click genre, the Monkey Island series is up there as being one of the most classic. The first four games in the series were created by George Lucas' video game studio LucasArts (now known as Lucasfilm Games), and are known for their witty dialogue and challenging puzzles. Now, thirteen years after the last release in the series, Monkey Island's original director Ron Gilbert and publisher Devolver Digital have announced that they have a new title, Return to Monkey Island, releasing in 2022.

In addition to Gilbert's return, other developers attached to the project include original co-writer Dave Grossman, and composers from LucasArts Michael Land, Michael McConnell, and Clint Bajakian. Tim Schafer, another Monkey Island co-founder now known for creating the Psychonauts series with his studio Double?? Fine, will no??t be rejoining the team.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sahskKAxSCY

Devolver Digital released a teaser trailer on their YouTube channel, which basically serves as a cute way to drop the news by way of a little animated scene, as opposed to showing us anything substantial about what the game will be like. If it's any indication of what the art of Return to Monkey Island is?? going to look like,? though, I think we have a lot to look forward to.

While Return to Monkey Island will technically be the sixth game released in the series, it will serve as a direct sequel to the second game, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, which was originally released in 1991. After taking to Twitter, Gilbert shared that he and his team at Terrible Toybox have been working on the game "in complete secrecy," and while he may want Disney to sell him the Monkey Island IP, this is certainly the next best thing.

_{[Featured Image Source: NME]}

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