

Stubbornness will decide how much time you get out of it, but I clocked a comfortable 12 hours across a few days, and it never once felt like a chore, thanks to its tight pacing and compelling stakes. I was profoundly stumped a handful of times, but this was significantly mitigated by the built-in hint system, which is well-written and vague enough to be respectful to the many eureka moments Return has to offer. But that’s not to say Return To Monkey Island is easy. I played on the hardest difficulty, and I didn’t struggle as much as I have in previous entries. There’s your classic disguise plot, ingredients to gather, and stubborn leader to depose, but it also veers in many unexpected directions involving chicken grease, algebra and avocado fizz. As Guybrush, you wander around vibrant hubs, chatting to charming characters, investigating their abodes and procuring items to combine and conjure puzzle solutions. Not to break tradition and perform heresy, Return To Monkey Island is still very much a point-and-click adventure game, though it feels more at home on a controller nowadays (the Steam Deck being my vessel of choice). What follows is a uniquely resonant reckoning for those ‘in the know’, but Return To Monkey Island ventures far beyond fan service and proves itself a very clever and well-made game for newcomers outside its reverie orbit. Clumsy wannabe pirate protagonist Guybrush Threepwood returns to Melee Island to confront old friends, charter a ship and figure it out once and for all. While Gilbert wasn’t involved in Curse (1997), Escape (2000) or Tales Of (2009), their contributions to the Monkey Island mythos are still heartily respected, with characters and in-jokes popping up all over the shop for the lore nerds to titter about.īack in the driver’s seat, the question Gilbert ponders in Return is a simple but highly effective one: “What was The Secret of Monkey Island, anyway?”. Return picks up immediately after the events of 1990’s Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, which makes sense, as this also marks the return of the series creator, Ron Gilbert, to Monkey Island. READ MORE: Best Nintendo Switch games: What are the best Switch games in 2022?.It answers difficult metatextual questions with surprisingly moving answers, all the while delivering everything that fans might expect from such a coveted sequel. Return To Monkey Island is a brave and refreshing adventure game about confronting your own legacy. Now in its 30s, the sixth entry in the point-and-click series is acutely aware of the nostalgic burden it carries.
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It has been 32 years since The Secret of Monkey Island warped the video game landscape with its timeless wit and mechanical ingenuity.
