Ask me about a Monkey Island Catch-All

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991)
The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)
Escape from Monkey Island (2000)
Tales of Monkey Island (2009)
Return to Monkey Island (2022)

Thirteen years since the last game in the series, Return to Monkey Island is both nostalgic and modern. Much of the game takes place on Mêlée and Monkey Islands, and many familiar characters make their return. The game also features a built in hint system and optional puzzles which reward achievements. If you come back to an old save, the game will catch you up with the story in a way that works with the plot. While the setting may not be familiar to new players, the game represents a strong evolution of the formula that is more newbie-friendly.

If you've played other games and enjoyed them, you should definitely play Return to Monkey Island. If the series has intrigued you, I think this can be a good place to start.

However,

Spoiler:

Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.

Started RtMI yesterday and am about an hour in. The art style has grown on me, but seeing how Melee and its inhabitants have changed makes me a bit sad so far.
Some jokes have been pretty good, and I've enjoyed the references to past games.

I'm so glad this thread exists. I'm going to try to genuinely do the puzzles when I start some of the previous games. If I get stuck I don't want the outright answer, but maybe I'll ask for gentle hints or suggestions? The fear with google is it'll often tell me exactly what to do, but that's not how I want to experience it.

Amoebic wrote:

I'm so glad this thread exists. I'm going to try to genuinely do the puzzles when I start some of the previous games. If I get stuck I don't want the outright answer, but maybe I'll ask for gentle hints or suggestions? The fear with google is it'll often tell me exactly what to do, but that's not how I want to experience it.

So, to prepare for the new game I've been playing MI1 and MI2. I played then as a kid, but never finished either. And while MI1 had some esoteric puzzles, they were not crazy complex. I've finished it and moved onto MI2. MI2 is crazy complex. I cannot imagine playing it without a guide open. But I wish you luck.

I'm happy to provide hints when needed. Universal Hint System (UHS) is also great, since it gives gentle hints based on questions, much like Return does. Here are the links:

The Secret of Monkey Island UHS

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge UHS

MI2 is definitely more difficult, since (as was the custom of the time) sequels had to have harder puzzles.

At some point they're no longer even "puzzles" per se. More like, riddles, ones that are very specific.

Despite not being a Gilbert+Grossman game, I'd say The Curse of Monkey Island is very much worth playing and it's currently $2.50 on GOG (or $7 on Steam). Escape from Monkey Island costs the same but it's nowhere near as good. The Tales game is not bad.

I'm exceedingly fond of Curse of Monkey Island myself, it has some of the best insults. "I'll leave you devastated, mutilated and perforated." But they're all amazing. Yes, even Escape from Monkey Island has its moments. I'm glad to see people going back to it. We'd actually played some Monkey Island games for the adventure game club a couple of years ago: Curse of Monkey Island in December 2019 (incidentally, nice banner image!) and Secret of Monkey Island in October 2020.

Curse of Monkey Island is my favorite of the series. Murray is the main reason I place it "a head" of the original two.

Well, I paid more than $20 for a computer game - but adjusted for inflation it’s probably ok.

Finished Return to Monkey Island last night. it was great. Some people might find the ending controversial, I think it fitted quite nicely. Wasn’t a fan of the art initially, still don’t love the character design but the backgrounds are great.

Reminds me that:

I’ve played the first game so many times I can just about recite all the lines off the top of my head. This was the game that got me into gaming.

I’ve played the second game a lot.

I’ve played Curse a few times and Murray is awesome.

I’ve played Escape once and all I can remember is some stupid monkey combat thing.

Tried Tales briefly a long time ago but it didn’t click with me at all. Wondering if it’s worth another go.

Redherring wrote:

Well, I paid more than $20 for a computer game - but adjusted for inflation it’s probably ok.

Finished Return to Monkey Island last night. it was great. Some people might find the ending controversial, I think it fitted quite nicely. Wasn’t a fan of the art initially, still don’t love the character design but the backgrounds are great.

Reminds me that:

Speaking of reminding me of Monkey Island stuff, English is my second language so the first time I played the first game, I did not know what the idiom "red herring" meant so I did not get that joke. I only got it when I played the Special Edition.

Good documentary about the making of Return. Now I want to visit Cogg Island.