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Oh wow... DID NOT KNOW THAT. I mean, I think where I fall on this is that the literal SECRET, as it were, is that there is an amusement park that actually exists and that some amount of what we're seeing is fantasy. Which, I mean, it's easy to overthink, but we've been buried in a metric crapton of "clues" pointing directly at that since the very beginning. How MUCH is fantasy is where things start to get subjective, I think. Bits of it? Some of it? Most of it? All of it? Hard to say. I don't know if Ron and Dave have very clear notions of where those lines are drawn, or if it's kind of fuzzy for them too. But while it's fun to ponder (and I intend to continue doing so!), I feel like that's of secondary interest. Like so many good stories, it isn't about what it's About. And what it's About is abundantly clear, even if what it's about isn't.

At this point, I think the puzzlemaster Lynchian/Terry Gilliam interpretation would be that Guybrush was an orphan who took solace in imagining pirate adventures at the Big Whoop amusement park, and everything — EVERYTHING — else is a defensive construct of his mind, including Elaine and his family. Only now he's trapped and can't cope without the fantasy, and lives life as a tripped out semi-vegetable in a late-stage Sam Lowry dreamworld. Whenever he gets a little too close to reality, things start to fray and fall apart because he just can't handle it. The choice to shut down the carnival and move on with his life ends with him looking peaceful — completely alone on the bench — because he's finally reached a level of comfort with the truth and he and his mind are all there ever was. But if he refuses that reality and turns around, he's fully embraced the fantasy, and sails off with his fictional love in his fictional piratey world. I don't think that's it. But I like it 🙂

I adored the ending so much. It hit home for me personally, as I was once able to walk around the sets of a large pirate-themed attraction and It felt just like that moment, where I was transported back onto Melee and the world around me came to life.

2nd run (in english that time) and... ❤️

HEY! Finishing Return, it blew my mind to see Stan being a constructor of "Adventure Parks". I never saw that coming. There was no hint at this anywhere in the whole series. Right? Wait, hold on.

I think this is from Part 1 or 2 …

Like a lot of people here, I initally had the "what the hell" reaction. And I thought about it, for several hours and up to this morning. Then the whole thing grew on me, it just clicked! I wrote some scattered notes about the ending, which I'd like to share with you: So, what did I gather from all of this? I think that the secret (in a way) is that the Monkey Island saga are Guybrush's adventures, as told by him to his son (kind of like how it happens on the TV show How I Met Your Mother, which means: exaggerating them and changing their details when he feels like doing so) . This reasoning allows for every single game - even the monkey head becoming a robot - to be canon (if we really want to talk about canon anyway). The games are just a visualization of Guybrush's adventures, but in the way he tells them to his son: e.g., EFMI happened, but some details might not be necessarily real. The actual secret that Guybrush found that day might not be important (and in fact it might have been fairly disappointing to him, a thing which brought him out of the "loop" of the obsession over this fabled thing). But the bottomline is that this is a father teaching a valuable lesson to his son: if you build up exaggerate expectations over something, it will NEVER live up the hype and you might risk obsessing over it endlessly. Of course there's still some room for interpretation, IMHO; the very ending might even be literal, in the sense that Monkey Island stories might be: In part tales of Guybrush in his very early youth, lived in the times in which the very concept of pirating was starting to go out of fashion and "modernity" was starting to sink in; In part outright fiction which he made up for his son while working (after his youth) as a flooring inspector for a pirate themed amusement park. This reasoning might even justify the fact that Elaine found the map to a treasure, just to help him relive those same very old adventures. Finally, the final decision about what the secret is up to the player: what was the secret? Gold and jewels? Friendship? It's better not to know it? Anyway we decide, this choice will directly influence the post-credit scene, which might actually might constitute the only things which we are sure that really happened in that world. Again, we are the one to decide what really happens! We can even re-open the "employees only" door with Stan's keys and take the backwards path for a different ending with a different post-credit scene (Guybrush and Elaine sailing on a ship), which might just mean: Guybrush didn't want to believe/know the secret, so he just bailed on it, with the consequence that the MI stories are real and not some kind of metaphore. I think this is a clever way to try and make everyone happy.

Hello! I finished the game last night, had the classic "Huh.", and then warmed up to it. Then I went to bed. And this morning, my partner asked me about the ending, so I told her what happened. And I talked and talked, tried to explain what was going on, which I couldn't, but I kept talking in excitement, and the longer I talked the more tears where flowing. Really!? Stupid game makes me cry and I don't no why? I wasn't able to explain really what was going on, but I felt this strong warmth from this game. The letter really hit my heart. Can't even make sense of all these feelings while writing you this. And I love it. I already miss the game, and I want to replay it immediately.

Seconded. And it's why I was frustrated by some of the discussion on OTHER BOARDS we will not mention, because some people saw this ending as a rehash — Ron and Dave going back to the same old, same old. A tease. A prank. Letting you think there would be a resolution and then giving you the same ending yet again. Lucy pulling away the football one last time. And I just wanted to jump through the screen, "Nooooooooooo! Don't you see it? THIS is the changeup ending. THIS is the time Guybrush finally walks away and seems at peace with it. Cross-reference that with the strong themes of aging, relevance, etc. and this ending is the crysknife that slowly and quietly slipped through your shield, and you didn't see it until it was pressed up against your side."

Somehow Monkey Island returned... And we're playing it. I was fortunate enough to be a playtester on the game so I already got to the end a while back. I am extremely eager to discuss the entire game with all of you so I made this thread. I'm guessing it'll take a little while for others to get there but in the meantime this thread is GAME WIDE spoilers. That means ending discussion etc is fair game in here! I'm going to hold off on posting my thoughts for a minute so some others can catch up but... I can't wait. It's been a long few months holy hell.

They had to cut her to avoid the game getting an “M for Mature” rating. They said her character brought in too much violin-ce.

Alright, I have played all of the game, and I have opinions: I will start wiith this: the Artstyle. It was a controversial change... and it's not my cup of tea. This said? I pictured the reason why Ron and Dave had picked this style and... it worked. From the beginning to the end. I busted in laughter when the reveal of the cliffhanger of Monkey Island 2 was treated with such a simple yet fitting hilarious joke, I was a bit miffled by how much the Amusement Park had been changed, It looked more like... in-line with the world ... now, here is a thing. I have never been in Guybrush X Elaine. In Secret, it was an hilarious joke and it fizzled out before Revenge. I never bought the relationship in Curse, it was awful in Escape, got incredibly cringe in Tales ... and yet, I really liked it in Return. Elaine might be at her best period, doing her own thing, yet being supportive and around Guybrush when needed. The whole 'irresistible charm' bit actually took me by surprise ... However, I am sad to say, I didn't like LeChuck. In the games, he was either kind of a buffoon or, in a few rare case, a complete threat. Somehow, this version doesn't quite commit to either. I also dislike the fact HE is fictional, when the presence of Chuckie implied he was 'realer' than most.I did like the way his love for Elaine was framed as completely false, though, and he had some moments he hit just right (like how he dealt with Iron Rose and kept punching anyone dumb enough to challenge him to a sword fight). Of all things, LeChuck felt the one who got shafted the most Missed Opportunity: Gullet should have been a zombie version of Largo LaGrande, as both fill the similar role of being small guys with huge egos who prop themselves up by hiding their softer sides and bullying those who can't fight back. I love the new version of Insult Swordfighting as the Chum story-telling arc. Pretty sweet and ties up to the ending I liked a lot the new character, they had a lot of personality and quirks, enough for me to wish for them back in other stories! The final Puzzle made me giggle: the very first puzzle in all the franchise, before even booting up the game fully. OF COURSE this had to be 'final boss' of the franchise. We had crossed reality! I never had an issue with the ending, but I love how 'compromising' this is, allowing the fans to choose what is the Secret. Personally, I see the Secret being a story, ever changing with time, audience and narrator: so this is why the Secret in 1 was 'Hell inside the Monkey Head', in 3 was 'gates of hell', in 4 was 'GIANT MONKEY GUNDAM' and so on and so forth. When the hypothetical 'Monkey Island 7: Wally Has Had Enough', there will be a new Secret of Monkey Island to find and explore. And it's sad how some people missed it and are just 'so it's just Monkey Island 2' Right now, despite some off things, I feel like Return is my favorite Monkey Island, and I look forward to playing it a few time. I may not have agreed to how the story was all the time, but it was the story Ron and Dave wanted to tell and to see their success all I can say is .... BRAVO!

Yes, I tried to read that thread but my spidey sense started to tingle as if some statements wouldn't have been written if the writer didn't have post-prelude information. It was more of a feeling than anything else, but I'd rather go into that forum section when I finish the game. 🙂

I mean honestly the idea that Guybrush is a Sam Lowry / Brazil like figure responding to trauma with fantasy is also just *chef's kiss*. In fact the retreat back to fantasy ending kind of cements that interpretation, as well as the fact that you can...

I think it makes perfect sense, but it doesn’t make the literal interpretation any less valid. This is what I love about meta endings. You can get different meanings from them depending on what level you’re reading them. It can be a story about a pirate. It can be a story about an orphan lost in a fantasy world. It can be an allegory of Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman’s work, something that makes us reflect as players – was the Secret that important, in the end? It can also just be, and we don’t need to overthink anything, just feel. I absolutely love that.

Finally... It comes next week. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdeditions/monkey-island-book-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-saga

PS — all times refer to the one true time zone: the one I’m in. ;

Don't know if it is the good topic but... How not to have a thought for the cook's monologue?

I wish people would already record some of the in-game music. I'd like to listen to the soundtrack outside the game!

Giving myself a BIT of credit:

I guess this counts as fan music? 😛 This is awesome, I didn't know @Dmnkly played the accordion! I really have to follow up and join the jam with bass and drums...

Come to think of it, I suspect anybody who grew up on Terry Gilliam is primed and READY for this kind of ending 😄

Mind. Blown.

Again, I apologize for my English. I’m French. I’m trying my very best. Also, I realized I barely read other people’s posts because I was so in shock about what I experienced. I absolutely love these interpretations, and it seems like we all felt the same way while finishing the game. I, too, had to stop the game and just think for 10 minutes, then talk to my wife, then think again… It’s now been two hours, and I feel like I’m not gonna be able to sleep. I especially love demone’s analysis. Thank you so much for that. And yes, for sure, you’re both right. We don’t need a final battle. I’m so into that kind of stuff, usually, I didn’t realize how powerful it actually is to just not have one. I love the fact that Guybrush is finally at peace with his life. I was playing with my daughter earlier today, and I couldn’t stop thinking about old Guybrush telling fun and silly stories to his kid. It’s so touching. The last shot is literally him being at peace. It’s beautiful. I felt like I was seeing both Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, finally done with this chapter of their lives. … Also, I just realized I’m talking to Dominic Armato, which is adding another meta level to everything. I love your voice, by the way – my family has been hearing you almost non-stop for two days. A bit unrelated, but now, every time I play a new game, my three year old daughter looks at the main character and goes: “… Is it Guybrush?!?”

I hadn't even realized there wasn't a battle against LeChuck until people online started pointing it out! Now I kind of wonder what one would be like, but I also think its pretty great that they didn't do it. LeChuck is stuck on the wheel, now along with Madison and her crew, but Guybrush managed to get out (it seems, at least?!). I know the folks who like Tales had wondered if any of its plot elements would come up in Return, especially the LeChuck/Guybrush/Voodoo Lady stuff that appeared in the very late parts of Tales' story. I didn't expect them to reference any of it, and they didn't, BUT when I think back on those parts of Tales, I remember Elaine was consistently pushing Guybrush to not keep falling into the same patterns (which LeChuck was insisting the Voodoo Lady was forcing them into through deceit). In Return, Guybrush actually escapes the pattern, with some nudging from Elaine, but LeChuck definitely does not! Guybrush eventually pops out of it to a theme park where everything is stuck on loop, but he's not part of it anymore, and can go home. I know that is probably not the primary read of that ending scene, but that whole notion of Guybrush and LeChuck on an endless wheel from Tales re-entered my brain this week and I was glad to see that Return has some resonance and resolution to that thematic arc, even if the "lore" parts about the voodoo lady are left behind.

There seems to be. Haven't done this yet though: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2060130/discussions/0/5241649843399175667/

Did the Prelude tonight! I guess I owe an apology to my defamation of Bill Tiller. The Calvin and Hobbes stuff is definitely there. I wonder if that Chucky kid is ever weirded out that Mr. Threepwood has so many stories about fighting a pirate named LeChuck. I shall continue following this string to see where it leads.

The prologue presents the idea that the world of the games is part of a storyworld that exists somewhere between how father Guybrush retells his adventures to his kid, how Guybrush remembers them himself, and how his kid imagines them. It cleverly speaks to the subjective nature of video game narratives, where the players inhabit a story the developers programmed, and re-tell it in their own way. It also strikes a delicate balance between resolving the LeChuck's Revenge cliff-hanger and honoring the previous three Monkey Island games that came after that cliffhanger. In fact, the neat way Return's answer to the Revenge cliffhanger builds on the narrative baggage of the previous games, especially the idea of Guybrush as an older, married, established as pirate who has had lots of adventures, makes me wonder whether a satisfying resolution would have even been possible in 1992. I feel like both MI1 and MI2 benefited from this sense of nagging dread, which helped to balance the general corniness of the world. Both games are constantly hinting that there is something actually quite terrible about treasure you're seeking. In Secret, it's a portal to Hell, which gave me the absolute heebie jeebies as a kid. It sort of feels like you're on the edge of unraveling the entire world. In Revenge, that same sense of dread is still there, in particular with the cutscenes that show LeChuck closing in on Guybrush each time he finds a map piece. However, Ron has admitted that he wasn't sure how to end the game, and I think he went with something that felt uncanny the same way that Hell did, without really knowing how the cliffhanger would resolve. So there's this great sense of the world collapsing in MI2, but how do you come back from that? I can believe that Ron possibly intended the games to be sort of like a child's fantasy, but I think that idea works more as a vibe than as an overt plot point or M. Night Shyamalan twist. I think he was able to get the dread of the MI2 ending by sort of subverting that child-like vibe and making it overt in a way that feels uncomfortable and wrong. But it does kind of write the story into a corner. I never wanted a Monkey Island 3a that revealed that the previous games were imaginary, and I also never though the anachronisms were something that needed to be explained. Even if you do want those things explained, that's nowhere to start the first chapter of a computer game that might be another player's entry to the series. Return makes the Childbrush section work because seasoned players understand it in context of Revenge, while newer players will just experience it as a 'junior pirates' tutorial section. No one was doing in-game tutorials in 1992. It's possible that Ron had a great resolution planned for the start of MI3a, but he certainly didn't stick around at LucasArts to tell it. I find it hard to believe that it would have felt as natural of a resolution as what Return delivered. And in a weird way, I'm kind of glad to have had 20 years of speculating about what that resolution could have been. It's been fun!

A couple more bullet points: I like the writing, I think it's the snappiest the game has been for a while, but I feel like we could have had more classic 'pick your favourite of four jokes' for Guybrush to interrupt with moments. I wonder if that's partly Schafer's absence being felt. After Full Throttle and Grim I always considered him the king of dialogue trees. I liked the ones in this game where it was basically 4 variations of the same line. LeChuck's voice was no substitute for Earl Boen's version, but for the story they were telling I don't think it had to be. Pre-voice LeChuck was full of menace especially in 2, while post-voice LeChuck became more of a comedy villain. In Return he's more ... sad. This is a LeChuck who doesn't know why he's doing it any more. It's become a rote, almost corporate exercise. He can barely inspire enthusiasm in even his most loyal crew, and I don't think we're supposed to be scared by him. Maybe that's a shame as I love the design and was hoping for a steer back towards menacing-lechuck that we never really got to, but I see why they went this way for the story they told.

Blown away by this game so far, for reasons everyone else is saying. They went all in on character with those closeups and the first-person mouseover text and I am LOVING it. The mouseover text is so elegant, a wonderful touch. The scrapbook discrepancies felt to me as specifically retcons to present Guybrush and Elaine's relationship as smoother and sweeter all along (even in light of all the new mushy lenses to view the series through). Don't know where the game will go, but their first interaction was hecka wholesome. I played Curse for the first time recently (no nostalgia) and that game putting them in love after MI2 is wild, the biggest retcon. For Return to embrace the marriage as it's doing, it may as well in turn make a few small tweaks to support that. That's how it came off to me at least. What a needle thread, and yes! This feels like a Humongous game for a wider audience. The Prologue's tone is great and so in line with those games! This feels like it's taking a lot from Humongous so far. Those games dropped the verbs necessarily all the way back then, and were breezy clean adventures for it (with very simple puzzles). Making them for kids but enjoyable by parents meant simple and readable, going down smooth, with high quality and good taste. This is finally taking up that torch and going further with it. There's heritage down to specific presentation too. Clicking on a character and hearing a small tree-less interaction, then clicking again for a different also snappy interaction is straight from those games. Marrying LucasArts adventures with some Humongous flow and readability is working really really well so far.

Well, I feel weirdly pleased with myself about talking so much about how all the pre-release speculation is part of the fun of all this, and that we should value that more, in the context of the ending I just watched. Also: here is a list of idle thoughts I've had while and after playing the game that are in no particular order: I can not imagine them coming up with a better solution to the end of MI2 than the prologue. It ticks all the boxes I wanted it to: it surprised me (a little bit, I did call some of it), it leaves a lot open to interpretation, and it allows for an explanation of some of the mystery surrounding the series without removing the kind of eerie ambiguity that it needs. It somehow performs the magic trick of making it so that everyone who has had an idea about what was going on the end of MI2 gets to be a LITTLE bit right. Except people who thought it was all just a voodoo spell and nothing more? I guess those people would have a hard time claiming they're right. No but hang on, since we're never shown what REALLY happened in Guybrush's version of events, even THOSE people could claim that LeChuck still placed Guybrush under a spell at that part of the story, and everyone STILL gets to walk away happy. Remarkable. I think the way they treat Elaine in this game is as good as possible, given that they didn't want to address the trouble the relationship has been in, in the past. It makes sense to me that she is here own person, with her own agenda, not directly supporting his agenda (and having her own) but not going out of her way to interfere with it, either. I think that's a fairly healthy way to run a relationship between two people whose ambitions might occasionally otherwise cause tensions. Structurally the game feels quite different to the ones before it. For the first 3 parts we explore some specific locations, then only when it gets to part IV does it feel like the game really opens out with island hopping fun and a high number of nested puzzle threads happening at once. I don't think it's a negative, it's just not quite how I imagined it working. Melee really does feel like the most important island in the game. It has the most characters and locations over all, and it features in more of the parts of the games, and so forth. I'm fine with it. Terror Island just was a terrifying island. I guess sometimes it does live up to the name. Huh. That said, I don't know if I really got a sense of place with the other islands in the same way as Melee. They don't feel quite so lived in, quite so fleshed out as, say, Booty, Scabb, or Phatt, or even Plunder and Blood Island. I can't help but feel like they come off more like... places that exist in order for Guybrush to have puzzles in them, rather than places with their own life independent of whatever Guybrush is up to. Brrr Muda comes closest to feeling like it is a real place, but it's still a bit empty. Most people just grunt. There's a town hall, a courthouse and a prison camp and a castle, and the town hall is basically rooms set up for 3 trials. I'm not quite lost in the vibe of it in the same way as something like Scabb.

My stages of dealing with the ending: Slight disappointment. Think about it for ten minutes; things sink in; not actually that disappointed. Think about that I've been thinking about it for ten minutes -- must mean they've done something right. Appreciation sinks in. It was the "right" thing to do. Set up the second play-through. Plan on re-watching Twin Peaks: The Return. (And possibly The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.)

To me the "less extravagant park" looked like it was the same one, just 20 years or so later, implying that this indeed happened before - in which case the original Chuckie would still be quite the mystery. Speaking of which, Monkey 2 implied that Guybrush and LeChuck/Chuckie were the only "real" characters. In Return it's now Guybrush and Elaine (and Stan) instead. Maybe Ron swapped LeChuck and Elaine in that role because of the marriage.

Did anyone yet mention that the checklist on LeChuck's motivational pamphlet gets filled out as you do stuff in the game?

https://youtu.be/wTvL88J5QHo

Yes! I thought I saw a couple of PoTC references scattered throughout, including one to the ride that inspired the game (that inspired the movie, that changed the ride).

To me the most unexpected reference was the one to Jack Sparrow when asking about the coffin. Liked that a lot, considering the connections of MI and Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Dead Dead Dead" takes an awful lot of patience. Good thing we have phones these days to look at while we wait.

It seems to me that in the context of the extra note that you find in the scrapbook after completing the game (the "we're about to start developing this thing" note) this game effectively frames all Monkey Island games (including Return) as allegorical rather than literal, and is the clearest indicator to me that the entire point of Return is to cement the fact that the games are a reflection of what the authors are going through, and not meant to be thought about in any literal way whatsoever. There are funny characters along the way, funny ideas and events, but they're reflections on personal life - kind of like how The Matrix is sort of all about transhumanism, but really it's all about transsexuality and everything in the story is an allegory for the layers of disguise that society requires people to wear. The ending we get to in Return is the point at which for me Ron and Dave take out a baseball bat and start hitting you over the head and saying "do you get it yet? the 'secret' doesn't matter! it's an allegory!!!" Monkey Island is then a series about the adventure of living life, not literally about pirates (or monkeys, or demonic skulls), but the challenges that you face as you grow up as a human being. So roll on the next Monkey Island game all about the challenges of retirement homes, I guess. Maybe I'm completely off base, but that's what I took from it.

Go for it!

Ooh! I think I saw others in a Steam post but can’t find them now. I hope they have the time to both list them all out somewhere on a wiki or GitHub, AND time to do a full keybind screen at some point. I’d really like to put “open inventory” on middle click in a future playthrough.

I think we're supposed to experience the blurred lines of this, somewhat, in order to allow for the interpretation. Part of it is that the worker coming in and booting them out of the tunnels impinges on the fantasy somewhat, and what we see over the next couple of minutes is a bit like when you're slowly waking from a dream you're becoming aware of and noticing it makes less and less sense until the logic of it unravels. So in a way to me it's not SUPPOSED to make sense, there are supposed to be gaps and inconsistencies, and into those gaps and inconsistencies you can insert... the start of CMI, or the end of it. The other thing about it is... you know how when you're a kid sometimes you go somewhere and it seems like the grandest, best place in the world, and then maybe later you see pictures of it or revisit it and you realise 'oh wait. This place was actually very bland, or even gross'. Similar with that comment that they make about Scurvy Dogs being the best food ever. They clearly aren't, but I remember the feeling of thinking some pretty bad food was amazing as a kid. So maybe when they emerge from the tunnels what we're seeing is the kids' idealised view of the park, and when they walk back again we're seeing it a more as Guybrush might see it, when we meet up with him. We're gently moving from the kids' perspective of the story to Guybrush's closer-to-reality but still-ambiguous version.

Your English is great, but since you started your post with that, in my head I had to read it with a French accent. C'est la vie! Also, can we talk about the music for a bit? This game basically had wall-to-wall music, and some locations (like LeChuck's ship) switched - no, faded! - between variations, Woodtick style so subtly. I was so glad we got that. Orchestrations were very similar to MI2, with the occasional orchestral grandeur (especially during the endgame), but mostly a smaller, softer ensemble. This probably helped keeping the budget for live musicians in check, but some of the new themes, like Scurvy Island, are really wonderful variations on the MI music formular. A few points of criticism: Some themes were misplaced. Sure, more of the Woodtick music is always great, but what did it have to do with the sea map? A variation on the sea map cue from CoMI would have been nice (or something entirely new). Also, no variations of the chapter screen music (as far as I can tell). This is something that CoMI got SO right, with every chapter getting its own little spin on the title card. I can't imagine that it would have exploded the budget to record some alternates of that. Anyway, with so much interactivity in the tracks, it'll probably be difficult to adapt it into a format to fit a soundtrack release. Still, I SO hope we'll get one!

Your English is great. If you hadn’t said anything nobody would have noticed

So I've been talking to people on reddit, discord, etc. about my thoughts on the game: Absolutely loved it. The framing device/the explanation of the end of MI2 was just genius. Michael Land's score is brilliant, although it's missing some catchy themes of its own. The highlights of it being the points I recognised themes from the other games (Scabb Island cemetary as part of the LeShip music; the map music being Woodtick from MI2). The puzzles seemed a bit easier than maybe Curse, Escape or MI2. The chapter 5 puzzles and the codewheel reminded me a lot of Fate of Atlantis. So the ending. Like many people it seems, the ending made me go 'huh'. In fact I think I uttered a "Really..." when stepping out into Melee Alley at the end. It left me initially feeling cold and dissapointed. Reflecting on it after sleep and 23 hours later, I appreciate and quite like the ending - with everything Ron and Dave were trying to say throughout the game about the persuit of the secret; their letter in the scrapbook about their thoughts. They could never deliver a secret that would satisfy the fanbase, and on reflection what they have delivered with this game in regards to the secret is perfect. My only downside to the ending is that I would have liked to have seen some sort of real confrontation between LeChuck, Guybrush and Lila. Even in an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade style "Leave the secret Guybrush, you don't need it" type of resolution. I think my initial "huh" at the ending would have been tempered somewhat by that. Absolutely amazing game overall and Ron and the team really delivered something special. I think my favourite is still MI2 then Curse, but this is up there for me below those two. Now to just work out how to find Cogg Island. I've seen it in the concept art in the credits and I know it's one of the achievements.

I'm playing it right now and am about halfway through it. It doesn't add that much but I actually appreciate what is there. The old pirate leaders are a good example: In regular mode their shop just appears out of nowhere and their descent from the throne is barely touched on. In the Writer's Cut there is a lot more information about both things. Good dialogue, too. I suppose I can see why they did streamline the game, but for more... enthusiastic... fans, I think the Writer's Cut is the "ultimate" option.

Only had the chance to play one or two hours yesterday, (the baby was having tummy trouble), but I absolutely adore what I've played so far!

Demone, I think you're very much in the right place on this, and I'm probably going to end up restating a lot of what you said. Whilst in Seattle a couple of weekends back, I told Ron and Dave that I kind of see them as Lynchian figures. By which I mean that I'm not 100% certain whether they know precisely what they're doing and it's up to us to decode it, or whether things aren't set in stone even in their own minds and the ambiguity is, in itself, part of the goal. But most importantly — same as I feel with Lynch — I'm not sure it matters. There's a very simple, surface way to interpret the ending. There are various meta levels you could easily apply to it. There are a lot of angles from which you can approach an interpretation. But I guess I'm just not convinced that ANY of them carry any weight beyond that which we feel compelled to add. The story isn't about the secret. It never really was. The possibility of learning some deep secret was *never* the real appeal of Monkey Island for any of us. And my feeling is that they've given us a nice soft landing to become comfortable with its ambiguity. Whether Guybrush is a pirate or a flooring inspector (or both), whether the stories are true or embellished tales or total fabrications for his kid's benefit... who cares? I'm reminded of how the Coen brothers kicked off Fargo with the completely fabricated "fact" that it was based on a true story. But a story doesn't have to be lowercase true to be uppercase True. Whether or not you're comfortable with the ending depends, I think, on whether that distinction is important to you.

I feel like this thread needs a HERE BE DRAGONS header, or something along those lines 😄 Worst-case scenario, Jake, you and I can just shoot the shit here until everybody else shows up.