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Well, after speed-reading all of 26 pages of discussions about endings, fan-theories, disappointments, marriage, storytelling and meta-narrative, here I am. I already gave my interpretation of the ending on another thread, but reading all of your posts, I felt like adding something to the conversation. This ending not only gives more freedom to future creators to make other Monkey Island games and makes completely canon all the previous games, but also gives freedom to the player (us) to take every possible path we could take in the games and still count them as "canon". To me the point isn't that we are Boybrush listening to Guybrush tell his story, we are Boybrush reenacting the story, and every little change we make is "canon", because it's just a story we are making ours. Of course we are guided by Guybrush/the game designers, and following the major story beats, just like Boybrush does, but we can change the details without feeling that "oh, I was wrong, this isn't how it went, because a later or earlier game contradicts this". I don't know if this is making any sense, I'm mostly rambling at this point, but I feel like it's an important point the one I'm trying to make. As an example I can imagine a future Monkey Island game where Carla or Otis or Meathook can ask Guybrush if he remembers who brought him back from Monkey Island in the first game, and while he answers that he was Herman with his ship, they can say "it was US you idiot!" and it would work, since that's a thing that can happen in Secret, even though future games go for the Herman's ship ending. In short, there is no real way the things in the Monkey Island games happened, there is only the way we decided they happened by playing the games. In an incredible moment of brilliance, the game and the developers are giving the players complete freedom of choice and interactivity with the game, not only in a gameplay sense, but in a storytelling sense.

What I also really like about this is, that it even canonizes various fangames, e.g. The Devil's Triangle (I don't know if anybody here has played it too, or if there is even still a way to find them these days). There were some that I played and enjoyed tremendously back in the day, which try to fill in the gaps between e.g. MI1 and MI2 (how did Guybrush end up with all this money and how did he split up with Elaine?). Hypothetically somebody, or really, multiple independent people, could make fangames with the goal of ticking all the boxes on Ron's "If I made another Monkey Island" blog post. And all of them are kind of canonized by Return to Monkey Island, since they are all possible stories that Guybrush could have made up in the theme park, that he daydreamed about, that he told Boybrush, that Boybrush is reenacting, or that might just have actually happened, and it's up to a fan to pick and choose what stories they like best. Monkey Island is no longer a series of games with a strict canon, with Return it entered the realm of mythology, where you can make up all sorts of stories featuring the Gods and explore their core personalities and interactions from so many different angles, that it doesn't matter what the canon is, you're simply using mythical characters of legend to tell a good story, or explore some scenario that nobody might have thought of before, and some fans might elevate to the status of "plausible enough to be canon" and others might simply get a good story out of it regardless. What sours this a bit is that I am quite sure Disney is quite likely to crack down on such fangames than the old Lucasfilm would have been back in the day ;_;

Because I wanted to be able to take a better look at the ReMI game files, I made a viewer to do exactly that! Presenting: ThimbleMonkey (screenshot in spoiler) It's build in Python 3.8 with PySide (based on Qt), so it should work on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. There is an explanation on how to run it in the included readme on the linked GitHub page. To run it on Windows and MacOS, simply download the compiled executable from here, unzip it, and run ThimbleMonkey. The readme also has an explanation on how to run the Python scripts directly on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. This is version 0.0.1 because it isn't entirely finished or feature-complete, but I wanted to release it now to encourage file mining. Plus I'm going on vacation now and I didn't want to let this project uselessly linger on my harddrive during that time. [crossed out because no longer relevant]. This code, like my MonkeyPack project is heavily based on Dinky Explorer (previously Thimbleweed Park Explorer), so thanks! I hope you all enjoy!

This seems interesting. I’m not sure how I’ve never come across this! Unless it’s what the upscaled BGs I’d seen turned into. The site seems to be in a wonky state — the menu has dead links and the videos are gone too. I can’t really get a feel for what this thing is actually going to look like, so there’s no alternative, I’ll have to give it a go tonight.

Don't have a comparison, but you can see they got a real orchestra to record parts of it... AI upscaled and widescreened: http://www.grimwidescreen.com/

I’ve not heard of anyone getting anywhere in earnest with the updated game, however someone did AI upscale some of the extracted backgrounds and yes it produced promising results. There might be some harder work in the areas where video clips are overlaid upon the backgrounds, as they’d need to be upscaled too in a way that blends. Examples are the mail sorting room, underwater sections, Rubacava’s water, festival, etc. It’s a project I’d love to see happen. I found the camera-relative controls worked great on the PlayStation controller, however point ‘n’ click or tank are my favoured on computer.

Maybe you still wouldn’t even get to read it until after the credits when he pieces it back together, and it goes in the scrapbook.

There's quite a few things that could be improved in Grim Remastered (note: whatever issues Remastered has, it's still easily the best version of the game -- the controls and the music are worth it for them alone). Here's a list of improvements I made on my last playthrough of the Remastered (note: a lot of these are in the original)... Year 1 Pigeon shadows next to balloon clown Manny doesn’t smoke after Glottis talks about the “noxious fumes” IT guy’s mouth doesn’t animate (in hallway) IT guy’s lips anti-aliasing is off Bread texture is too low res No suction sound when Manny puts the balloon in the pneumatic tube Eva gets stuck in a pose if you talk to her twice at the LSA Spider show after it runs away from Glottis’s heart Year 2 Manny’s ever glowing cigarette Climbing into Totos Santo’s place, Manny’s animation jumps Pixellated Gold Flakes Gold Flakes bottle rotates when Manny drinks it Gold Flakes is still "Golo Flakes" on the PS4 (most irritating thing ever) Seabee: Terry’s top left arm doesn’t animate Sea animation isn’t smooth looping Hard edged anti-aliasing on the telescope Membrillo - background plants in foreground (dots) Mask clipping on lift (upper level) Mysterious non-objects outside Maximino’s (just across from the folding bridge) Membrillo’s fork when Manny hand’s him the metal detector Nick’s cigarillo case doesn’t quite look right when he dropped the key. They fake front is still visible when he switches it to normal mode Nick just disappears when he goes off to talk to Max Kitty Cat announcer stops running Toto Santos talking on phone drowned out by Naranja’s snoring Naranja’s dogtags don’t match Manny’s description (“Seaman Anselmo Naranja Ensign, Third Class”) Manny’s hand shoots out his back while he’s talking to Charlie about his suitcase Doug’s shirt sleeves are transparent The key uses Nick’s cigarillo box for a texture… including his initials Year 3 Manny smokes underwater… At least on conveyor belt screen (idle animation) Manny can stand on the conveyor belt without being moved by it? Water animation looping issue (as with other screens) Crane sound drops out if you move and stop twice Hair curlers animation loop juddering Ocean horizon is not flat Level animation bad Coral doesn’t glow (the only thing in the game which is described as glowing) Pugsy’s hammer reappears in his hand when he laughs after throwing it at Manny Too loud crying of the Angelitos Meche’s skirt changes as she smokes Chain jammed with curlers are WAY TOO LOUD Animated mask on the chain is off on the conveyor belt Dropping the chain into the open hole doesn’t do anything (can’t see chain — presumably you should) Stockings texture is terrible Bust-all texture is terrible Meche goes through the motions every time Manny enter’s Dom’s office — bug? Wrong flower logo on gun End of video — when Meche gets gun — jumps terribly to back into game No noise when Manny turns safe wheel (fixes when zoomed in once lock is exposed) Manny’s hand goes berserk when he’s turning the wheel with one hand (zoomed in) Year 4 Intro video cuts out as Glottis falls off building (Esta bien becomes Es—) Manny’s arm texture is very blocky in the inventory Shadows are incorrectly visible on the gondola housing room Rubacava: Manny says the bridge “used to” fold out before he’s tried the lever, but doesn’t after he has. Bug? Ship in a bottle texture is crappy Eva’s head is facing the wrong way Bowsley can has glitch on it Sewers: Floor is in foreground Backstage: Manny’s head goes behind background when climbing up ladder Dialogue clipped: “Hey, get lost pal. No auto—“ Grinder disappears when it’s put back in the bigger grinder Bone chipper creates huge shadow on the floor when it is run No shadow on wall when Manny climbs ladder in alligator room The bingo board goes blank on the second question (Casino) Manny’s head goes through his caul when he jumps down off the ledge on the roof No shadow from the headlights in The Meadow

The way I see the ending (having finished it a couple of days ago) isn't "it was really all a dream". To me this ending changes nothing on the discourse about "is the Monkey Island world a fantasy or reality?". We now kinda know what Ron thinks, thanks to the interview with Cressup, but in that same interview he does states that what he thinks doesn't matter. He does imply what his vision is, but never states it, because the ending of the game (so the "canonical" secret) is made open to interpretation. Even better, the game let's you decide what the secret of Monkey Island is, and that is the real answer. To me the meaning of the ending is that it really doesn't matter if it's real or not. Monkey Island is a videogame world, it's not real to begin with, but it feels real to us, to Boybrush, so in our mind it becomes real (not in a delusional way, like someone suggested, but in a fantastical way). But we do have to acknowledge that it's not real, that it's fiction, and that there's a moment where it's time to get out of the fiction, even if it's too early for us. We can decide to stay in the fiction, be greedy and selfish and isolate ourselves in our own fantastical world, or get out and share it with those you love. Maybe it's a bit cheesy, but that's how I perceived the ending. Probably not what they meant, but I don't really care about that, because I know I'm not getting it "wrong", and neither is anybody else. Ron himself said that he didn't want people getting stuck on the idea that whatever he says is canon and that that's the way it is and can be no other way. This ending, for me changed nothing about my enjoyment or perception of the other games (I mean, not in the grand scheme of things, it's not like I'm going to play Curse and think "oh, what does it matter, it's only a fantasy world in a theme park...").

Had Ron and Dave made this game in 1992, I'm sure it would have been very different. But unless I'm mistaken, I believe the notion that Ron HAD ideas for MI3 back in 1992 assumes facts not in evidence. I mean, I'm sure his mind wasn't a total blank. But has he ever said that there was any vision for MI3 back in the day? Again, I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that never existed. It seems that for those who feel dissatisfied with the ending, there is a theme of feeling like they just wanted closure. But may I suggest the possibility that you're just overthinking it? I mean, there is a lot of ambiguity around the specifics, but I'm not sure how much more clear RtMI can be about the core revelation. The Secret of Monkey Island is that these stories are fantasies inspired by an amusement park. And in the fellas' defense, they've basically been telling us this for 30 years — in ways both subtle and less subtle — right from the first two lines of the first game. What constitutes "reality," so to speak, is much more unexplained and nebulous. Do Boybrush and Elaine exist? Where are the lines between Guybrush's fantasy and reality? What's the back story? How do all of these pieces fit on the timeline? My hunch is that these are intentionally very undefined because — to put it bluntly — who cares? It's interesting to ponder, but at least as far as this chapter is concerned, as they say quite explicitly, that's not the part that really matters. I'm not sure if the disappointment some people experience stems from feelings of ambiguity beyond the secret, or that RtMI's big reveal is hammering home confirmation that the secret is a fairly obvious thing that's been staring us in the face the whole time. (Or from something else, I don't mean to put words in anybody's mouth.) But FWIW, I really don't think there's a lot of wiggle room around what the core of the revelation is. Like I said way upthread, I get the impression that people's comfort with this ending largely comes down to whether you're comfortable with a lot of peripheral ambiguity, or if you really want everything spelled out to the letter. This definitely isn't the latter. But just because an ending is ambiguous, that doesn't mean it can't bring closure. My opinion is that yes, the game obviously and quite intentionally leaves all kinds of loose ends hanging. But when it comes to the primary themes of the story, the heart of the matter, the capital T Truth at its core, it really wraps things up quite nicely while still giving us a bunch of other stuff to play around with. And speaking for myself, that's what I want from a Monkey Island game. I don't want everything spelled out. I don't want a neat package where everything is carefully explained. To me, that hazy, ambiguous half real, half fantasy isn't the thing Monkey Island is trying to work through to get to a destination. That IS the destination.