MurraySchull

GUYBRUSH: I found it... After 32 whole years of searching... The Secret of Monkey Island... (opens treasure chest) GUYBRUSH: Wow! It's- *credits*

Oh, yes! That's been a consistent factor in all the games, so I'd imagine they'll be here too. Wonder if there will be special camerawork involved this time, given the engine it's being developed in. The atmospheric effects really help to bring the world to life this time around.

I've also realised with ReMI that there really seems to be an effort to maintain the geographical consistency with the other games. Granted, this was only really an issue in Escape, where Melee and Monkey Islands were basically completely redesigned for seemingly the sake of it (even taking the puzzles in Escape into account, it seems like they could've mostly gotten away with keeping the layout of the previous games' islands consistent), plus the Tri-Island area map screen was completely reworked (Phatt/Booty were nowhere near each other, for example) but it is nice to see that with ReMI, they do want to maintain the layout of the islands from previous games, which helps maintain the illusion that, even between games, it's all the same world.

I think it makes sense to end the series here. Ron's finally getting his third part made after over thirty years. The secret will be out. The majority of the cast and development team are returning while they're still with us. The opportunity is here to close a door that's been left open since Guybrush stepped into the amusement park. Creatively, I think ending the series here, providing it delivers, feels right. Plus I feel MI works best with long gaps between games. The excitement generated by ReMI's announcement was electric. I don't think that would've felt the same if it was coming off the heels of MI2SE for example, nor would a ReMI2 for that matter if it was announced within the year. If there were to be another Monkey Island game after this, I imagine it'd be further into the future and it'd moreorless be a complete reboot. (Not to mention, it would likely not have the original development team and would likely see more studio intervention from Disney.) That being said, I'd be open to Curse, Escape and Tales being remastered if we're going to strike while the iron is hot! Hell, if they can work out a deal with Telltale (or whoever owns Tales nowadays!) I'd be open to those three games being bundled together into a single release and each given a moderate remaster. (i.e. console support, increased resolution, Curse/Escape in widescreen, Alexandra Boyd as an option for Elaine in Escape, Leilani Jones-Wilmore as the Voodoo Lady in Tales, etc.)

Considering that the game has been rated (T) hopefully that means it shouldn't be too far off! I think late summer could be likely. Also looking over that opening with the scrapbook. I wonder if that's how the game will actually begin, or at least be along these lines, cutting back to the scrapbook occasionally in-between acts. The game kindof being told in flashbacks with an "older" Guybrush looking back on his journey of discovering the secret could be an easy way of instituting time-skips in the game. Perhaps Act 1 takes place directly after MI2, and at the end of Act 1, narrator Guybrush says "and so, my quest to discover the secret began. The next twenty or so years were filled with a number of... interesting things... but I never veered from my path... Almost. There was a talking demonic skull at one point, a barbershop trio, chain restaurants, a giant walking statue, a fangirl mercenary, a big sponge... amongst other things... but at long last... after years of searching... I finally had a new lead on the secret..." and the game picks up in the post-Tales world. Also, man, the colour palette of the game is fantastic. Plus the motion in each of the screens really makes the world feel alive. And people are comparing it to MI1SE's art?! No way. This is ten times more cinematic, fluid, alive, visually pleasing, and... well... finished looking... than anything we got there!

Otis is an unexpected return too! Guess it's possible he'll have the same voice actor as well. Man, by the time this game is out, some of these voice actors will have been voicing these same roles over a 25 year period! How many of them at the time must've thought that Curse/Escape would just be a one-off gig!

The Steam page has a brief, if vague, plot summary: Return to Monkey Island is an unexpected, thrilling return of series creator Ron Gilbert that continues the story of the legendary adventure games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. It’s been many years since Guybrush Threepwood was last locked in a battle of wits with his nemesis, the zombie pirate LeChuck. His true love, Elaine Marley, has turned her focus away from governing and Guybrush himself is adrift and unfulfilled, having never found the Secret of Monkey Island. Hip, young pirate leaders led by Captain Madison have shuffled the old guard from power, Melee Island has taken a turn for the worse, and famed businessman Stan has been imprisoned for ‘marketing-related crimes’. Banter with old friends and new faces on familiar islands now under dangerous new leadership. Then, take to the high seas and explore the new and unknown as you work your way out of tough predicaments. Clever puzzles, bizarre situations, and devastating ripostes are all that stand between Guybrush and glory.

And there it is! Woah, it's really looking nice!! Art and animation seems to go hand in hand really well and it's looking very cinematic with the dynamic camerawork and life in each scene. Didn't expect to see so many returning characters either! A few immediate thoughts (will update as I process them): - Carla seems to be back, and appears to be voiced by her SMISE voice actress, who also voiced the Voodoo Lady, Lelani Jones Wilmore, and since both characters appear in this trailer, I think it's safe to assume she'll be playing the Voodoo Lady again! - Man, hearing Dmnkly again after all these years... it's like no time has passed at all! - The "Tell Me About LOOM" pirate can be seen in the background of the bar! - The three pirates in the Scumm Bar appear to be new characters rather than the pirate leaders. - Everybody seems to be pretty much wearing their Monkey Island II attire. But the journal at the beginning references Tales, so it's still slightly confusing timewise as to when this game is set! - Wally appears to be back, and has a new office/island it seems! Wonder if he's voiced by Neil Ross once again. - No glimpse at LeChuck's voice yet. I guess they'll save that for the main game, if not sooner. ALSO... WEBSITE UPDATE!! LOTS ON IT!!! Return to Monkey Island | Coming 2022 STEAM WISHLIST: Return to Monkey Island on Steam (steampowered.com) NINTENDO WISHLIST: Return to Monkey Island para Nintendo Switch - Nintendo

I think Alexandra recorded over Skype for the Special Editions since she was in the UK. If she had that small a role in this one, I feel like they could’ve just done the same again. But Ron’s tweet makes it sound like they did fly her in to record in person. Plus at one point, there was a consideration to make Elaine playable in ReMI, so if the story is still similar, I’d imagine she’ll at least have a fairly significant role. Also, voice recording is done and no mention of the Voodoo Lady so far. Am going to take a guess and say that she’s the character from Ron’s “character lineup” tweet that’s not returning. Maybe Tales already pretty much covered what his original plans were for her, so he’s decided to sidestep her for this game.

MI is still very much a niche property for adventure gamers at the end of the day (in that it is very rarely referenced outside of the adventure game genre and the average joe in the street most likely wouldn't be able to name it), but as with most niche properties, the fans are more likely to be proportionately more loyal and devoted than if it were a mainstream property, since it feels more personal. Hell, most of the people on these forums were here 12-13 years ago for Tales and the Special Editions, if not 22-25 years ago for Curse and Escape! The community is smaller, but also more devoted. That being said, when the ReMI announcement trailer came out, it was fluctuating between the #5 and #10 trending spots on YouTube worldwide, and not just in gaming! That has to be a good sign. Granted that I doubt the release itself will garner the same level of attention, nor the second trailer most likely, but just the fact that MI was back after all this time was enough for even casual gamers to be shocked and happy with the news, if not ecstatic.

"Stan's Previously On Monkey Island!" That sounds pretty interesting, actually. Wonder if they're planning to recap Curse-Tales or if it would just focus on the first two games.

Definitely going to replay the whole series in the leadup to ReMI, but would prefer to have a release date first so that there isn't a long gap between finishing the original games and starting ReMI. My plan is to play the Non-Ron Trilogy (CMI, EMI and TMI) followed by the Ron Trilogy (SMI, MI2, ReMI) so that MI2 can lead naturally into the new game! Since it feels strange to begin at Curse, however, I may play the classic modes of MI1/2 beforehand, and then my MI1/2 playthroughs before the new game will be the SE's. (That way, too, I'd be moreorless playing them in the order of release!) MI aside, I want to have a Lucas/Lucas-esque marathon at some point to celebrate ReMI's release. The DoubleFine remasters. Hit The Road (plus the Skunkape remasters). The other Lucas games. Thimbleweed Park (which I've only played on release and not with the patches). And Broken Age, which I have yet to play.

Going back a bit in this thread... After all these years, I genuinely never considered Guybrush entering Melee Island through the archway at the top of the mountain before. Now Ron's hinting that it might be important... Another "underground tunnel" entrance would be my guess.

Maybe if Stan's scenes take place after Tales, it might make more sense. Otherwise, I guess Stan just goes through voices depending on the business he's trying to push! (Think the cabinet of heads in Return To Oz but with voiceboxes...) "Naked attorney at law!" Hehe. Some 1970's sitcom style shot framing would probably be appropriate in that instance! Knowing Stan, though, I'd imagine he'd have a new career before settling on law! (Wonder what it'll be in this game, thinking about it... Don't think we've had a "Previously Owned" business since MI2.)

Yeah, I'd be happy with Chalk too. And having a past relationship with Ron makes it more likely, I think. I'm going to take and guess that we'll, at the very least, hear a preview of him if there's a new trailer for Summer Game Fest. Looks like Gavin Hammond is confirmed as Stan, then! Though it does make the continuity of the whole thing weird, we've been there and back with Elaine before, and Hammond was great in Tales.

Dom! Welcome back! Can't wait to hear you as Guybrush again after all these years! ( Actually, while you're here, do you know who is voicing LeChuck in the game at this point? And have you heard their performance?... ) Next week is Summer Game Fest, so I feel it's pretty likely that we'll finally see some more ReMI content there. I'm gonna predict a new trailer and a release date. Feels like ages since the last official piece of news!

Maybe the "Mysts of Tyme" where Guybrush meets himself in the swamp? Guybrush initially thinks the "other him" is just Pegnose disguised as him again, but upon confirming that they're both thinking the same number, he believes they are one in the same. (You can also shoot the other Guybrush with the gun that he gives you! It causes a paradox later, but still, it's a fun easter egg!)

Yeah, I thought the insult sword fighting in Tales was a nice evolution of that puzzle, in the sense of making it three-way, complimenting one participant and insulting the other. But I don't know how much potential it would have beyond that puzzle given that it was pretty straightforward. The Insult Sword Fighting in SMI, while it could be tedious, did involve more trial and error due to the variations of insults/comebacks that were available, and CMI was pretty much the same puzzle just with rhyming. EMI's Insult Arm Wrestling was essentially the same puzzle but without the grinding of finding the insults first (and there is also an optional Insult Sword Fighting in Ozzie's house that you can never win due to his use "Australia-themed insults" which Guybrush can only respond with variations of "What?!" "I didn't get that" etc. which I enjoyed!) Maybe we'll have a callback in some form, but given how MI2 didn't repeat too much from SMI in terms of puzzles, storylines, etc. maybe ReMI will also move on and give us mostly new material, puzzles, etc. Something that takes advantage of Ron's new game engine would make it unique too. P.S. Go to 8:48 to get a vague idea of how much knowledge Ron still has on Insult Sword Fighting...

I definitely had the feeling in MI1SE that the game wasn’t meant to be read, and could feel some of the actors struggling with many of the lines, but you’re right, the fundamentals were all there and in place. They likely just needed better direction, and the overseers of the voicework likely needed more farmiliarity with the material. Some still came out perfectly, though. Like LeChuck and the storekeeper. I definitely had that feeling far less in MI2SE. Maybe it’s just down to it being a better written game in terms of dialogue, or maybe the direction improved, but I felt the cast, particularly Dom, managed that game a lot better.

I have a theory that the word "love" being spoken aloud was a result of the word being present in the "dialogue dump" from the games' script. The word appeared in the Guybrush script, so they had Dom read it just to cover all bases, likely without having a clue where it appeared in the game! Plus. the joke is ruined in the SE on two accounts. With subtitles on, the word "love" isn't positioned properly over his face, and with the subtitles off, the word doesn't even appear! I doubt that part went through any kind of testing!

I've been meaning to play Broken Age since it became available for free during the pandemic. Will get around to that at some point soon. Also need to replay Thimbleweed Park as I've not played it since launch, and not with the patched updates at all. I actually did replay the MI games over the Christmas holidays after receiving the complete, ultra definitive never-gonna-be-another-one Monkey Island Anthology Collection from LimitedRun ( 🙄 ) but am definitely going to have to do it again with ReMI coming out. Maybe I'll build up to it by playing Curse - Tales, then MI1/2 leading straight into ReMI. I only finished playing the outstanding LucasFilm/LucasArts games a few years back. I never played Zak McKracken to the end until then as I just found the dead ends so frustrating, but eventually beat it using a walkthrough, ultimately feeling like I wasn't missing much barring the awesome theme tune. That may have also been the first time I'd finished The Dig too. Will likely replay all the Sam & Max's when The Devil's Playhouse remastered arrives. I like playing these games in a set if you haven't worked that out yet!

I'd imagine that with 10,000 bugs currently open, it would be a struggle to even get the game to run!

Yeah, I'd be happy with Garry Chalk. And I believe he could be a strong possibility as well since he's already worked with Ron on Thimbleweed Park. Wonder if they've cast the role/recorded yet...

Yeah, I'd usually follow that mindset too when recasting a character, but given that it's just this one game* , I'd rather have a performance that tries to follow along the lines of the LeChuck we've gotten to know and love. (Though admittedly, Boen is a hell of an act to follow!) I feel like the other recastings in the series were a lesser issue. Stan's voice changes in every new game it seems (and from our discussion the other day, that may have been welcomed!) and Elaine in EMI, I always assumed was American just to make the Herman Toothrot twist seem vaguely plausible. (They could've made Herman British, I guess, but that would've probably been a giveaway!) LeChuck is more important to get right, in my opinion. I trust them to make the right choice in regards to him. *I'm presuming that Monkey Island will be done after this. At least in its' current form. We're getting Ron's third game and the closure that his trilogy never had, and let's be honest, may not be lucky enough to have all of the series' talent still with us in the years to come. I think a rerelease of CMI, EMI and TMI, all remastered and ported to consoles, is increasingly more likely, however.

I just don't want LeChuck's voice to sound really different/off just for this one game. That'll stand out tremendously if practically everybody else feels like (literally) a voice from the past except for him. I hope they get somebody who can imitate Boen's delivieries/voice closely enough while still giving a great performance. Similar to what Kevin Blackton did with human LeChuck in Tales. While we're throwing in suggestions, I remember there was a character in The Devil's Playhouse who sounded similar to LeChuck at times (the squid that lived inside Papierwaite, I forget the characters' name, I'm sorry!) If they can achieve the best of both worlds, I'll be happy.