MurraySchull

“The Secret” will be different for every player depending on their specific in-game actions (I.e. which order puzzles were actioned in, which option players took to solve a multi-solution puzzle early on, like Fate of Atlantis, etc.) There will be a hundred or so variations of it in the final game. We’ll all rush to this board to discuss the secret, and all be met with confusion over their secret being different, arguing with each other for weeks over what the true secret is, screaming and clamouring at Ron for answers while he looks down on us smirking… it will be glorious. Okay, I’m only half serious about this, but I am expecting a degree of a joke for the secret’s reveal, or at least something that raises a few more questions.

As much as I love this series, and have done since I was 12, I do think, looking back, that I did probably overplay them back in the day. I played them a lot as a kid when I first discovered them (simultaneously as well, which was interesting!) and not only did I cheat all the way through the series after one difficult puzzle, but I printed off WorldOfMi’s “Easter eggs” pages for all of the games and made sure that I tried *all* of them! (I had a lot of free time in the 2000’s, okay!) Even Tales, I went back and replayed often very quickly. Because of this, I feel like I've discovered everything there is to discover, and I don’t really express much emotion when playing through the series anymore as they’re just second nature to me at this point, even with years between playthroughs as it’s been since 2010. That being said… I didn’t know about the storekeeper stuff! Just tried it out and yeah, it’s great! I also only discovered fairly recently that you can get money for breath mints/the minutes from the Melee Island map pirates. Once in a while during a playthrough, there will be something new I discover, but I did most of that back discovery back in the day to be honest! For these reasons, and also due to being older and just generally having less time, I’ll definitely take my time during the first ReMI playthrough, won’t cheat (barring the hint system if required) and replay it more sparingly over time to allow myself to have an emotional attachment to it for longer.

I have now finished my playthrough of the series! After only 8-9 months since my last playthrough, mind (after receiving the LimitedRun boxset at Christmas), so I think I've got a pretty good idea now as far as my overall thoughts on each entry. Will give a very brief rundown below: - Secret is a great starting point for the games, though I'd consider it as something of a middle-ground/transitional period between the games that came before it (Maniac Mansion, Zac, Last Crusade, Loom) and the games that came after (MI2, Fate of Atlantis, Tentacle, etc.) It still feels fairly limited as far as the technicals go, (i.e. limited music, not a huge amount of dialogue, still fairly primitive in its' interface, etc.) but it really laid the groundwork for the games that followed, both in the MI series and the other Lucas games in general. Hell, adventure games in general. It's because of SoMI that I'm interested in game design to begin with. - MI2 and Curse have aged the best of all the games. MI2's puzzle design and general expansion of the world, plus the fantastic soundtrack and introduction of iMuse, makes it one of the LucasArts classics. I couldn't help getting excited at the end upon selecting Guybrush's final dialogue tree option of "This is weird... what's going on here?" knowing that we're finally going to have some degree of closure on MI2's ending after all this time. Curse's atmosphere, artwork, soundtrack, and animated cutscenes really elevates it, even after all these years. The attention to detail in the backgrounds really struck me this time, in that you can see the games' other locations in the distance, which can alternate depending on your in-game actions at times. It really makes the world feel connected and alive. And yes, for a game that had no input from the original creators in terms of the story, they did a fabulous job in continuing the series and clearly doing so with passion. - Escape probably has more dated elements in so far as the visuals, and some of the dialogue. I still maintain it's a better game than people give it credit for, but time isn't as kind to it as Curse, for sure. I also do legitimately like the designs of the world and the characters, but of course, the technology of the day limits them. I don't think incorporating a point and click interface, at least as an optional feature, would've been a bad idea either. - I don't hate Monkey Kombat like others do, but MAN I despised it this time. There was ONE "insult" that the monkeys just weren't giving me and I wasn't able to win against Jojo Jr. until one of the monkeys randomly gave it to me about 30 minutes in! At friggin' last! - Tales has probably aged the most in my opinion, and honestly, this was my least favourite playthrough of the game yet. I think I notice the dated elements more in Tales than Escape because Tales is generally aiming to be bigger and better. Escape still uses traditional adventure gaming camera angles and animations, even in 3D (with backdrops rendered in 2D of course) so because of that, I subconsciously know not to expect anything too dynamic in terms of the visuals, and I instead pay more attention to the stronger elements such as the music, the voice acting and, by and large, the dialogue. With Tales, we do have more dynamic camerawork and animations, and where Escape knows its limitations, Tales tries to go beyond them, and yeah, when we're forced to look at closeups of late 2000's low-budget, low-polygon 3D assets, with awkward expressions and dated, unfinished-looking animations dotted throughout, it does take me out of the experience moreso than Escape did. - In terms of writing, of all the games, the humour in Tales does *not* do it for me. Guybrush has amusing comebacks to make about *everything* he comes across, and practically every line is written as if a marketing executive wrote it. Seriously, count how many times Guybrush says something along the lines of "Ah... nothing like a good __________ to get you through the day!" or the like, throughout the game. Taking nothing away from the fabulous voiceover work from Dom of course, particularly in the final chapter, nor the generally good story as far as the main characters' developments and relationships go, which is probably the strongest and most meaningful developments of the series since the original games, but dialogue-wise, Tales is the weakest for me. And just weird other things like the Voodoo Lady having a different actress, and a few other spotty actor deliveries bring it down too, where EMI's voice acting is practically flawless across the board. - All three Stan voices are practically tied for me. I can't choose a favourite. I welcome Gavin Hammon back in ReMI with open arms. - Man, I'm going to miss Earl Boen in ReMI. Please don't let me down, Harnell!! I think my ranking of the series probably now goes: 1. Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge 2. The Curse of Monkey Island 3. The Secret of Monkey Island 4. Escape From Monkey Island 5. Tales of Monkey Island I still don't think lite remasters of Curse - Tales is that unlikely anymore, with ReMI reigniting "The Fires of Monkey Island" (next game title?!), and I look forward to the day when we see the announcements of their remasters coming! (Possibly in a bundle?) All I'd be looking for would be increased resolutions with upscaled art/textures, some recastings for the sake of continuity, and additional platform support. I think that's all they'd need, to be honest! Anyway, sorry for the rant, I had a spare hour! Two days to go!!

Thanks for opening the spoiler free thread! I used to visit the regular thread often, and I generally am not one for shying away from spoilers, but once that interview/preview dropped that allegedly revealed spoilers about the opening and the secret, I decided to call it there. True, that article seemed like the exception to the rule, but the fact that promotion for the game has otherwise been very close-guarded about the nature of the plot and structure of the game, down to not even releasing a demo of the opening scenes (and "censoring" some of the new gameplay video content) has really cemented it for me that I'd like to experience it all during my first playthrough. It's two days away and it feels so unreal that it's almost here. What a whirlwind these past few months have been. That April 4th announcement with the Monkey Island family (both the fan community and the talent behind the games) all coming back at once really was something special.

Hi all, has been an extremely busy month at my end and haven't had time to post about the newest developments of ReMI! Will just do a rundown: - September 19th! Amazing! Congrats to all who predicted correctly. Logical deduction wins again! - Jess Harnell as LeChuck... honestly isn't really doing it for me, but I think I can get used to it. Harnell is an fantastic talent and is excellent at comedic acting in particular, but Boen... his deep, gravelly voice just naturally lent itself to LeChuck, and he had the perfect blend of humour and dread that the character needed. As far as perfect casting goes, across any media, he's well up there for me. From the very small amount we've seen so far, this LeChuck just seems so... feeble by comparison. Where Boen felt natural, this feels like a performance, and I don't buy him as a threat yet. Forget the artstyle, I thought *THIS* would be the main reason for backlash if anything, but most people seem to be fine with it. Like I said, I think I'll get used to it over the course of the game, but I just can't help wishing that we could've got Earl back one last time, just to complete the ensemble if anything. - BUT... Jess Harnell being in the game means that we'll almost certainly have him back as the storekeeper too. Same with Rob Paulsen, now that we've seen Bob on LeChuck's ship. - Neil Ross is back as Wally! Excellent! It really looks like they've made an effort to keep the cast consistent from the rest of the series. I think that just leaves Otis now in terms of if the "main" returning characters have their returning actors. (It occurs to me that we haven't seen Meathook yet. Or Smirk. Wonder if they're still around being on Melee and all.) With both Ross and Delk, however, I can definitely hear the age in their voices compared to the older games, but of course, that's unavoidable, and I'd never consider recasting. (Also, does it bother anyone else that Murray doesn't make the "teeth-chattering" noise when he speaks? It was in all of the other games, so it feels strange that it's missing here.) - Glad that we have Gavin Hammond as Stan back. Originally, I was thinking it would be better for consistency to have Pinney from MI1/2, but if the majority of the game does take place after Tales, as we're predicting, then him sounding as he did in Tales may be the best option. He was probably also the best blend of all of the elements of Stan for me, though I do really like Pinney as well. - The interface looks amazing. I *love* what the context sensitive interface ended up being. The inner-thoughts are a fantastic addition, both in terms of the players' connections to the main character, and to provide additional context and background to the story. - As far as canon goes, Ron recently stated (or perhaps tweeted) that the games that you need to play before ReMI are 1 and 2, and if you have time, Curse. Ron also said that those were the only games he played before working on ReMI. I really get the impression that they've made an active effort to keep Curse canon, and if the boot fits for EMI and Tales, great, but they aren't actively pushing to fit them into the mould of ReMI. Already going to predict that they aren't going to acknowledge any of the robot/grandpa stuff here. - Finally... a few observations about a potential timeframe. Wally mentions that he spent "years in therapy" in ReMI, and at the beginning of Curse, Guybrush says to Wally "The last time I saw you, we were prisoners in LeChuck's dungeon" referring to MI2. Both of these add more weight to the idea that the majority of the post-carnival game takes place after Tales. Also, Stan being trapped in the coffin in MI2 and let out in Curse also makes me doubt his ReMI scenes, at least, take place in between those games. That's all I can think of for now, but I am now officially in the process of replaying the original games! Will update the thread when I've finished them all. Two weeks to go!

This was particularly common in the early 2010's, during the whole "young adult novel turned movie" phase. Lots of movies at the time were so confident and dedicated to the idea that they were going to be "the next big thing!" that they forgot to focus on just making it good. So many movies that I can't for the life of me remember the titles of now fell into the trap of starting a bunch of plot threads in the first movie, resolving none of them, ending on a cliffhanger, and never making a sequel. Which now in the grand scheme of things, ten years later, made that viewing experience ultimately worthless. Only a very small number of those franchises ultimately made it through to the end of the series as I recall (Divergent never even made the final movie due to diminishing returns and poor fan reaction.) My point is (and I know I've made this point before) I'd rather MI ended neatly (or as neatly as we could expect from Ron at least) on a strong note with as much of the legacy talent still with us as possible, than have it continue for years and diminishing in quality overtime, losing more and more of the talent over the years, eventually having to recast Guybrush with Harry Styles, or the like. I'd actually rather have a complete reboot than watch MI slowly lose, piece by piece, what makes it so special.

Very curious if they've given the game a definitive "ending" scene for the series or not. If so... man, that'll feel weird. Not gonna lie. But after all this time of not having these questions answered, and the uncertainty of weather the series would ever return, let alone Ron's trilogy being completed, it'll feel welcome. The team have made a few points of noting that the game will have a bittersweet, emotional feeling in parts. But weather that means just a general sense of nostalgia throughout, or weather it means we'll end with old-man Guybrush handing down his sword to his son is anybody's guess right now.

It's a fantastic recreation of the soundtrack! Have you thought about doing the same with MI2? Appreciate it's a bigger soundtrack, but have you thought about maybe doing the most "iconic" tracks?

I'm surprised there hasn't been more speculation on if Largo might return. He's not been mentioned or alluded to yet, but given that his ending was pretty ambiguous in MI2 (as was the Voodoo Priest's for that matter) I suppose the door might be open for him to reappear. If he doesn't, I guess we just have to assume that he and the Voodoo Priest died in the fortress explosion! (Hell, maybe Largo became one of the skeleton pirates for all we know!) I'm still very curious if all of the returning characters will have their original voice actors or not. Otis in particular. Carla seems to be her MI1 voice actress (and she also voiced the Voodoo Lady) but everybody else is unanswered on that front so far.

That's the Men of Low Moral Fiber, isn't it? The Pirate Leaders don't appear in MI2 and one of the Low Moral Fiber men is named Frank. ("Frank! Make him quit it!") I don't think the pirate leaders have canonical names yet.

Ron, Dave and Tim. Calling it!

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say... tomorrows' Monkey Island Monday will be the announcement that pre-orders have gone live... And yes, I ashamedly walkthroughed my way through MI1-4 (simultaneously as well, which was interesting!) and I got the occasional hint with Tales. For this game, however, particularly since there's some degree of a hint system included, I want to keep the experience of solving the puzzles 100% in-game. If only to rectify that mistake of how I beat the first four games almost 20 years ago!

Devolver will be bringing a collection of games to Pax West from 3rd - 6th September. Pretty much guaranteed they’ll bring ReMI and we’ll see more promo/gameplay in action.

I personally think a ReMI animation makes the most sense to do next, then Ron's trilogy will be complete in Flash Animation form! In terms of the other games, the IWWH videos kindof cover Tales, and perhaps a Curse/Escape movie could be held off for potential remasters/rereleases of the games?...

Presuming it's not referring to the other Monkey Island Mondays, I'd imagine this will be additional platforms (most likely Mac and iOS) and/or an official release date. I'm still betting on Monday 19th September, Talk Like A Pirate Day. I really liked those "Making Of" videos that we got ahead of the two special editions that went into detail about what to expect from the game. Hoping we get something like that this time as well!

Considering that one of their first scenes in SMI features Guybrush and Elaine calling each other "love muffin" "sugar boots" "honey pumpkin" "plunder bunny" etc. and ends with them looking lovingly into the night sky together, I don't think it's a giant leap in logic for Ackley and Ahern to presume that Ron would've put them together in the third game (after resolving their differences brought about in MI2 of course.) Even if that wasn't Ron's plan, I don't blame Curse for putting them together when it is/was very common for couples in movies, etc. to fight/argue in the middle of the story, and get back together at the end. Hell, even in MI2, she briefly begins to fall for Guybrush's "weakness and ineptitude" again, until she finds out that he just wants the map, of course! I just find it difficult to imagine MI now that doesn't feature Guybrush and Elaine together, and it's not as if the implication isn't there at all in the first two games. I'm just curious to the direction that their relationship would've taken in Ron's presumably 1992 version of MI3. This will be something that I'd imagine he'll be working around in ReMI.

Yeah, and there was so much, for lack of a better word, backstory, in the way that Griswold delivered his dialogue. Even when the dialogue didn't necessarily call for it, you could tell that the character had lived a full life, you felt the immense respect that he had for his family, yet there was a sadness in his voice of being the last of his line, and feeling like he's letting the family down with the family hotel business drying up. (Until Guybrush saves the day of course!) On another note... is LeChuck's stress toy La Esponja Grande?... 👀

I think he passed away a while back, actually (not certain) so I doubt it's him. He was a voice in Grim Fandango too in the casino scene.

Yeah, I'm happy with this being the final game (provided the ending delivers, of course!) I'd rather have an ending now that leaves the series on a good note, ties up as many loose ends as it deems necessary, and features as much of the returning cast and crew as possible, than launch a story-arc that lasts many, many games in which the original talent gradually disappears, reviews and overall appreciation of the series begins to dwindle, the music wanes after the original composers depart, eventually Guybrush has to be recast, etc. My one lament with ReMI happening now rather than ten years earlier is that Boen can't be part of it (unless they've worked something out behind the scenes, and that's the big surprise!) But Ron most likely wouldn't have been able to work on the game ten years earlier either, so it's really a "pick your poison" of either recasting LeChuck, or not having Ron's third game at all.

Cause LeChuck is fire. And the writers needed something that beats fire. Ice! (That and the ride is called "Monkey Mountain!")

Yeah, that's what I sa- Ohhhhhhh!! 😎 The "I" and "bench" especially sound very Boen-esque. I could see it!

Very nice! Can definitely tell that this is going to feel like the original games. - iMuse-esque transition was lovely! Can already tell that the soundtrack is going to be a highlight. - Background motion and details are crazy! The snow, the flags, the parallax, the first time we've seen snow in a Monkey Island game (bar Monkey Mountain). Not even Curse's world felt this alive. - Dom hasn't lost his touch one bit. - Great to see the dialogue trees working as we remember them. Perhaps "reactive" dialogue trees mean that some of them will be on a timer ala. The Walking Dead. That'd be a first for the MI games. - Not really in love with the first judge's talking animation with the wobbly, distorted head, but the second "ORDER IN THE COURT" animation was spot on. - There appears to be lip sync! - The voice actor of the judge... I wonder if he'll also be LeChuck's voice actor...

Thanks for the thoughts. Yeah, that’s kindof how I’m seeing it too. I think new fans/players were mostly positive about the first games’ remastered visuals. On a similar point, where I’d be happy introducing people to MI1 through the Classic Mode included in the Special Edition as it practically is the original, unaltered game, MI2’s Classic Mode in the Special Edition is a different story. Broken soundtrack/iMuse, some amended lines, no vertical scrolling, loading screens, etc.

Yeah, the Ultimate Talkie Edition would be a nice compromise (I haven’t used it since it came out, actually, maybe it’s worth looking into!) Only issue with that approach is there’s no way back to the SE visuals once the game begins. (I await the collective reply from the forum of “...and?!” 😝 , but I just hope the pixels alone are not enough to put them off!) I know MI2 has an Ultimate Talkie Edition as well, but honestly, short of a few very small things, I’m perfectly happy introducing somebody to MI2 through the SE. And that’s a sign of how well that remaster turned out, in my opinion, when MI2 is already as good as it is and I don’t have issue introducing new players to it through the Special Edition. Which, as you can tell, I’m more iffy about with MI1. (MI2 Ultimate Talkie Edition doesn’t include the remastered soundtrack, right? I figure remapping the iMuse transitions would be a nightmare, but would be glad to know if there is one!)

I'm predicting a dialogue tree scene today and some samples of voiceover. Maybe a new character, maybe a returning one, maybe LeChuck... Thinking about Tales, I wonder how/if Winslow's absense will be explained in the game. ( Assuming he is, in fact, absent from the game and they're not just hiding him... 👀 ) Maybe we'll get a weird playable demo like with MI1, which used the games' visuals and engine, but had practically nothing to do with the games' story at all. I believe MI2's demo wasn't playable (though it is possible to run some early scenes of the game included in the demo files in ScummVM apparently.) CMI/EMI/Tales gave us the opening scenes as demos, I believe. Perhaps RMI will follow in that vein and give us the pre-credit carnival scenes as a demo!