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Yes, the whole stuff surrounding Ron Gilbert is annoying. I mean my take away from Return is that it was an acknowledgement from Ron that Monkey Island never was and never will be fully his, and that in that spirit all ways of telling the story are valid. So were they really that afraid of letting him know they were doing a side thing? On the other hand, this is exactly in the spirit of the sort of thing that it should be possible to do with Monkey Island post-return. Could not care less if or how it fits in the timeline since Also fine with how Guybrush looks here, it's completely in keeping with the character style of Sea of Thieves and it looks in some shots of the trailer it's an attempt to be closer to the hair colour depicted in the first two games, which I'm into. Part of me wants to say, look, it's not very deep and we don't need to overanalyse it. People in Rare were clearly into the Monkey Island games having already inserted a homage, someone at LucasFilm said 'hey do you want to make a thing' knowing that Return would make Monkey Island a bit more relevant again and the Rare folks were into it. Sea of Thieves is good, Monkey Island is good, this crossover event will probably be a nice time for people who like both those things. As much disdain as I have for brands and corporate culture... I do think it's possible to just enjoy that a thing exists and someone cared enough to make it happen. Because I find it hard to believe that this was done cynically, and it wasn't just some people's passion project. No matter how well Return did, nobody was looking it and thinking 'right, now time to find new ways to exploit that Monkey Island cash cow.' I think as fans we probably overestimate how much currency Monkey Island really has in this day and age. This exists, and it'll probably be made with love. There are worse fates for a series.

I was only half-watching the XBox show, so this was a very pleasant surprise! More Monkey Island is more better, in my eyes. Plus, I've always been kind if interested in Sea Of Thieves, but never quite enough to actualy buy the game, so this might push me over the edge. The big Steam Summer Sale is coming on June 29 (I love that they just announce all the sale dates now), so I think I'll pick it up then. So glad they got the original voices!

Yet more evidence for the boxers-or-briefs debate, I see!

Point taken but i just wanna point out that stans jacket was accurate. I’ll admit i had to squint to double check. Not sure if it was because it was too dark or there was just so much going on that it got lost but it is definitely doing the thing.

I kind of like that Guybrush looks a bit wonky. The hair style even seems to homage the hideous MI:SE hair, which is actually very funny. Other than that, I'm not at all invested in the art style of this game. Seeing Stan swinging his arms around in 3D without his jacket being a repeating pixel pattern was almost painful. It made me reflect that a lot of what I liked about these games was not what they represented, but how cleverly they were designed. Like, I don't care if LeChuck actually has a dead crow on his hat. I really appreciate how Purcell worked that into the sprite design, but to me it's not an interesting choice in 3D, even though it's now become a calcified part of the character design. Part of me feels a little bit sad that so many fans who were repelled by Return just wanted something like this - a Mario Movie version of Monkey Island. On the other hand, it does make me appreciate Return a lot more.

Blondebeard's 25 year, long game has finally reached its end. I look forward to the announcements of Psychonauts 3: Razputin's Domain and iMuse Island the album.

Ok, I re-watched it and I can see that they did keep the pattern static. I just don't think the effect is the same in 3D. I feel like the original effect was a design solution borne of the limitations of the technology they had. It was one of the places in MI where you could see the seams of the game, and I always liked that part of the experience. This, on the other hand, just feels like a call-back for the sake of nostalgia. But I am clearly not the audience for this game - I never felt the desire to walk around the islands and feel immersed in the pirate world like I know some people have. I'm happy for those of you who are going to enjoy this, and also relieved that Return came out before this did.

I expect it will be a loving tribute that won't involve the original writing team. Hey, lots of people think that worked out reasonably well for Curse!

Someone explained that this content will most likely be permanently available!

Sea of thieves is on pc as well!

Wow, I wasn't expecting another Monkey Island entry so soon. That's awesome that Sea of Thieves finally embraced its inspiration, they had already included a well-known MI Easter egg since before. I suspected as much, but I'm sad to hear Ron wasn't asked to consult in any way (once again). Especially since it seems like the developers hold the original games in such high regard. Ah well. At least Dominic and friends appear to be back. This might be enough to get me to buy an Xbox...

I'm not sure I'd have it any other way than this being a lovingly reference laden nostalgia-fest. I mean the alternative would be for it to be a serious attempt at expanding the MI universe and I think Rare would be first to admit that they haven't really earned that. Sure, I think ReMI opens up the possibility of lots of different kinds of stories being told by lots of different people but LOOK, we literally just got a new Monkey Island game last year, one we never expected, so I'm not going to begrudge if Rare don't set their storytelling ambitions any higher than 'a fun romp through some familiar locations and characters'. To me that almost feels like the MORE respectful way to do something like this. edit: possibly the rudest thing they've done is forever taken the name The Legend of Monkey Island out of commission for this.

For whatever it’s worth, Escape and Tales both had 3D characters and used the same basic effect as Sea of Thieves for Stan’s coat.

Yeah, it's definitely a subtler effect than it usually is, since they're using a semi-realistic cloth texture and the shadows and highlights are all moving with his arms as they would in 3D. But the actual checker pattern is pleasantly static. As for Guybrush, it definitely looks like the sort of design you'd come up with by extrapolating solely from MI2 without reference to his later looks. I don't love it and I don't hate it, but it fits well with the story they're trying to tell. His actual face I suspect is assembled from the game's existing character creation assets, which would explain why it lacks a certain guybrushiness.

Fair. Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy this exists. Not so fussed about the story (which I'm expecting to be weak) but the idea of walking around the islands in 3D is a dream. I will definitely play and try it, even if Ron wasn't consulted and Guybrush looks like he's be recast by way of Ecce Mono.

They definitely aren’t the real islands. In the interview Mike Chapman admits that all the Tall Tales take place in the Sea of the Damned. He says that in the context that they will be in spaces safe from PvP, but that also likely says a lot about where this all fits from a Lore perspective in Sea of Thieves: the Sea of the Damned is Sea of Thieves’ Limbo realm between deaths (where if you are lucky the Ferryman takes you back to the Sea of Thieves after you die instead of leaving you stuck somewhere in the Sea of the Damned). The Sea of the Damned is haunted by ghosts and memories. Those likely aren’t the real islands but the Memories of them. (Many of the NPCs like Stan would likely also be Memories.) Lore-wise this was also the case for much of A Pirate’s Life, the Pirates of the Caribbean Tall Tales, where most of the locations were the Memories of Captain Sparrow out in the Sea of the Damned. Guybrush getting accidentally trapped into his own memories of Secret of Monkey Island sounds very Guybrush (especially after Return).

This is my biggest fear (at least regarding MI). I'd rather have it stay in obscurity with the occasional gem appearing whenever we least expect it... But I guess capitalism's gonna capitalate. (is that a word?)

I'm kind of happy about the universal enthusiasm in the comments but ... it shows what absurd expectations Ron Gilbert had to fend off for Return. These are the fans that the Monkey Island franchise would have needed last year. I haven't seen a single commenter go "well, the cheap graphics don't really fit the franchise" or "actually, Guybrush couldn't grow a beard" or "why have they emasculated the main char" or "so Murray is gay now?!?" or "actually, this would look so much better with MI3 graphics" or "did they have to steal the tired old Spaceballs joke?" or "they better not have an MI without Elaine!" ... They just enjoy the whole thing. Now I do want to play it. Damn.

If the trailer is any indication, its just rehashing SoMI's Greatest Hits TM in full 3D. Sounds like something that would have been really novel for 2003. I understand the novelty, but yeah. I'll also probably stick to watching it on YouTube. Not onboarding onto a GaaS just for this. a part of me wants to be excited for Rare developing a Monkey Island thing but im not. oh well

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I’m excited to return to monkey island!… again

OK, we really need to play Sea of Thieves this time! Who can I crew up with?

Hm. I’m surprised, but not overly enthusiastic. It seems like a huge love letter to Monkey Island, without really bringing anything new to the table. I love the amount of detail they put into this, with getting the original cast (although, is that Jess Harnell? He sounds different,) and the amount of locations and winks to the lore, but the trailer doesn’t seem to do anything but “show fan favourites” and, to me, seems kinda fan arty because of it. The art style doesn’t help either. I’m curious to how this unfolds, but seeing I don’t have an XBox nor Steam, I doubt I’ll ever play it. (Btw. Guess we’ll finally know for sure which way the alley is connected to the main street in Mêlée Island.)

Oh great, now they're locking Monkey Island into Xbox AND Steam, just wonderful. I have to pass with heavy heart. Goodbye, cruel world of Monkey Island. Given the gameplay, I might be better off with a good ol' youtube video anyway. 😔

There's an interview with Creative Director Mike Chapman, where he goes into more detail. Timeline-wise, it's set after the end of Curse of Monkey Island: So could be an interesting 'what if'. Maybe these aren't the 'real' Melee Island/Monkey Island and instead are versions within the Sea of Thieves. Either way I am hyped and here for this.

There is definitely a lot of variance in the alignment. An interesting detail I never noticed until looking at the separate layers just now is that the back piece actually has a lot of redundant face that is covered by the front layer: It’s a shame they didn’t just go all the way but you could probably get a perfect version of each character by using the two, even if the wheels themselves don’t align quite right.

http://www.oldgames.sk/codewheel/secret-of-monkey-island-dial-a-pirate

Hah, the song is over 10% of the time spent on the run! Nothing they can do about that, of course, but it's pretty funny. I suppose they just have to enjoy it.

Whoops, tomorrow's solution was accidentally published! It has now been fixed. Just repeat that answer tomorrow. 🤷‍♂️

https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer/110527367608903722 disney gonna disney.

Aah, so you don't have to sit through the song. But wait! How are these guys skipping it completely?!