I finally finished Legend of Monkey Island. I liked it, mostly. I really like how it fits snugly in between Curse of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island. I also love the idea of a curse that makes Guybrush, and presumably Elaine in future chapters, relive memories of past adventures that create a skewed version of whatever island is being remembered.
That accounts for the appearance of Murray. I really loved Murray in this one, especially after he gets a body. The animators deserve a raise for Murray's walking animation alone. As for the cursed captain, I hope it's not just a way to mash franchises up that is forgotten next chapter. If you talk to him after you pick up Murray, he remembers the Sea of Thieves and complains that no one believes him. That would mean he's real and somehow made it to Melee Island but got stuck up on the wall by the three pirates. There's a lot of potential for story there and I hope Rare doesn't squander it.
The Pirate Lord invited Guybrush and Elaine to honeymoon in the Sea of Thieves but at the end of the chapter, it's revealed LeChuck seeks his power and impersonates him to dupe the pirates in the Sea of Thieves. Presumably, it's LeChuck that invited them there, which would make perfect sense for him. But if he's real, then hopefully they explain how he's there and not stuck in ice, considering the timeline.
I also thought the puzzles were fun. I liked how they integrated the Sea of Thieves mechanics into the puzzles too. The sword, tankard, and lantern all were used fantastically. The crane puzzle, especially, was great. It was a head-scratcher, especially when the crane wouldn't lift it. I was stuck for a while before I jumped into the water to see what was going on and saw the frayed ropes. That puzzle was something that felt like it could have been in the series proper.
The music was also used well, with the Monkey Island theme popping up as you approached Melee, the familiar SCUMM Bar music that faded out in volume as you got further away from the bar, and Walt playing the skeleton ship theme on his violin. Bonus points for the name Walt, too.
But there were things I really didn't like. Hunting for pieces of eight was tedious and not fun at all. At the end of the chapter, I searched all around for 200 pieces of eight so I could buy the history book. Corina the Voodoo Lady kept saying I still had to do more on Melee Island, but eventually, I just gave up and told her I wanted to leave with only 196 pieces of eight collected. The walk up and down the hill to get to the lookout and back wasn't fun, and he didn't have enough pieces of eight for the trouble. I kept jumping off early on the path down and losing health. Jumping down and getting hurt was worth it though, because it cut down on all the tedious walking.
I really hope the next chapter ditches the money collecting and long walks because it felt like artificially extending the time required to finish the chapter. I like the idea, but the execution is somewhat lacking so far.