It’s another one of those “why did it take me so long to get round to it” games. Well, to answer that, just take a look around the rest of my site. But here I am, having eventually played and completed it.
There was much kerfuffle about the change in graphic style between this and the original (and the remasters of those, and the Telltale Games ones) as if the pixels of the first two games were sacred and should never be altered. Even though they already had, several times. To this I say: go away. They’re fine. Better than fine. They look great. Stop whining.
It’s been a long time since I played any of the Monkey Island games in any form for any length of time, but coming to this even after such a gap was a real kick in the memberberries as so many of the characters, sounds, locations and banter are instantly recognisable. It helps that it is a direct continuation of the second Monkey Island game (explaining the unusual ending of that title) and has the original voice actors, in the most part, from the original “talkie” versions. With much of the game set on the familiar Melee Island, complete with SCUMM Bar and the Ask Me About Loom guy, it’s really like old times. Only new.
The plot involves going back to Monkey Island, as the game’s name suggests, to, you know, actually get the Secret Of Monkey Island this time. As you’d expect, that involves point-and-click adventure puzzles. Some of these are similar but different to puzzles in the older games (such as the potion required to actually get to Monkey Island), and none seem to be as obtuse as those that came before, although the pulley-in-a-rubber-chicken one is referenced. In this way, it feels easier, but it also means that everything makes more logical sense and really the only criticisms the original games garnered were about the illogical solutions, so that’s fine.
It’s as funny as you’d expect, as good as you’d hoped, and just modernised enough as you can tolerate. More like this, please.
