OzzieMonkey

I think that's highly unlikely, purely because that's where they show off all their new streaming content and whatever new Star Wars/Marvel stuff is coming out. Monkey Island would get lost in the shuffle.

I hope for July, because I'm DYING for it, but really, it depends on when the game is out. If say, the game doesn't release until the end of the year, does it make much sense to release another trailer then, only for the hype to have died down 5 months later? July would make sense if the game was out in late July/August/September. I can see it being out by then, but then I also thought it would be out before Summer Game Fest, so what do I know? We know that there's a rumoured Nintendo Direct at the end of this month, but I don't dare to hope for a trailer there, we all remember the Devolver showcase rumours. Other places it could turn up are Gamescom in August (with a huge German audience) or PAX West in September. Personally, I'm starting to think that it won't be shown at an event, but instead just hit the internet with nothing to compete with it. Disney likes to make sure that nothing else takes the attention away from their product, so it would make sense from a marketing standpoint to make sure it's the only game in town, so to speak. Whenever the trailer comes, I hope there is a release date attached that is not far off from it. A month tops.

Oh yeah, I can understand that. Balancing the trade off of insider information with the isolation it brings is definitely a tricky balancing act. I have the tiniest bit of experience with that in that for about a year or so I wrote for a short-lived online magazine and got to review a few of Telltale's episodes, and the part I relate to the most in your post is what you said about experiencing an unpolished build of a game. I don't think it was ever a hugely unfinished copy that I had to write about, but there were certainly aspects that weren't done yet and it made me wonder if the experience was somewhat tainted. As a fan, I think I would regret seeing something like a pre-alpha build of ReMI because it would lack a lot of context that makes the truly big moments land the way they're intended to for an audience on a first playthrough. With all that said, I do remember reading Mojo's reviews of the Tales episodes in advance of their release and really enjoying the first impressions they gave off while keeping enough of the big surprises on lock so as not to blow anything. It built the excitement for finally getting to play it myself, which is usually the main reason I read reviews for something I know I'm already on bored for; Mojo's always been very good at non-spoilery reviews that give you just enough to make you that much more interested; alternatively, if it's a negative review, you at least know you've been warned, and it hits differently when it's coming from them cause it's one of us saying it, you know?

A thought occurred to me... assuming that most of Ron's 2013 blog doesn't completely hold, what are the chances that we see any reviews of the game before it releases? One of his points was that he didn't want the press getting a hold of the game before we did, which I can understand, especially if he reveals the Secret; I can just imagine some rookie journalist with no background in the rest of the series being assigned the game to write about, and spoiling it outright in a review because they don't understand its significance. I wonder if he would make some exceptions, such as allowing Mixnmojo to review it early...how ould the staff here feel about such a big responsibility? I imagine though that because Ron is required to work with Disney on this, that they would have final say on something like that as I would guess it's outside of the creative freedom part of their agreement.

I'm not opening myself up to be let down again 😂

It's also really imposing for a logo so simple. That font is just striking and fits the piratey aesthetic of the games perfectly.

That top one especially really gives a sense of how big Monkey Island itself is. That's definitely something you want for a place that's meant to contain a mysterious Secret. My hope for Return is that there is a lot of unexplored areas of the island we get to see as Guybrush gets closer to uncovering the Secret and maybe revealing new mysteries.

This looks great! I think I might've said this earlier, but I would love to see Rex take on MI1 and 2 in this art style. It's also quite amazing how quickly a screenshot can feel more Monkey Island-y just by adding Guybrush into it. It's all going to sink in when we finally see him and I will drown in my own tears of happiness, mark my words.

I always find it really funny how much LeChimp looks like Homer Simpson.

That's probably the safest bet, Anything else would be the icing on the cake. At this point, whatever they show I hope the release date isn't far off from it. It would be REALLY hard to watch a really short trailer tomorrow for example, followed by "coming December 14th" or whatever.

This probably works better as a poster for MI2, but it's also just generally a really great piece of art. We can only hope that the official poster has as much detail and care as this. I'm still really torn about whether I want Steve Purcell or Rex Crowle to do the box art. There is something intriguing about the mystery of what Rex could do versus kinda knowing what Steve Purcell's style is.

I'm hopeful that we'll get a better idea of the story, especially as far as the canon of all the games is concerned. Also, as much as Ron may want to keep a lot of the plot under wraps to maitain the surprise for fans, he needs to give new people to the franchise some incentive to jump on board with the rest of us. Having said that, I also think that the highlights of whatever is shown next will be Guybrush's appearance along with whatever the new interface is, so they got my vote. I would LOVE to hear LeChuck's new voice too, but I have a feeling we'll be waiting for the game to come out to hear that for the first time.

On that note, SURELY at some point in Return he'll get called Thimbleweed, right?

Finally! A good one. 👕 I beat #Mojole #87 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 4/6 💛🖤🖤🖤🖤 💛💛🖤🖤💚 🖤💚💚💚💚 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

Yes...yes it was. 👕 I beat #Mojole #86 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 3/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚🖤🖤💛🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

I think people have been grossly overthinking Ron's tweet about this. It's a joke about there being no monkey wrench puzzles in the game. I can think of no story reasons to bring Jojo back but a heck of a lot to keep the Voodoo Lady around. As for Tales, they were just getting started with that turn, this game could do a LOT with her.

Interesting that this comes AFTER voices have been mastered. I guess the process is done in chunks?

They're fighting with crates in their hands, one could say they're....boxing

I watched the VOD today and holy crap...the hype is real. I'm more hyped for this than anything in years. Now what's a guy gotta do to get a drink trailer around here?

Speaking of outfits, I once went to a video-game character themed dressup party as Guybrush from Curse....nobody had a clue who I was...uncultured dairy farmers.

I'm reminded of that hilarious anecdote Tim told about how the chef and Captain Dread's chip had the same character number and there was a bug where it used to chase you around the island yelling "no good punk" and "transient hooligan" etc. Btw, who else wants Ron to keep that bug in where Guybrush's mouth flaps rapidly if you move the controller when he talks?

To be honest...that actually sounds pretty cool! It's so wild to me that we know there's a new Monkey Island game coming out but we've yet to see the lead character (or any of the main cast) ...has that ever happened for any of the other games? I think it's gonna hit me in a whole different way once we see more familiar things that make us go "oh yes THIS is a Monkey Island game", not to imply that what we've gotten so far ISN'T Monkey Island, I don't feel that way at all, just that we've mostly seen what's new (art style, the locksmith, a judge, snowy island) and a very fleeting glimpse of the old (Murray, Melee wideshot and alleyway). It's when we start to see those characters again that it'll truly feel like we've come home. One look at Mr Threepwood is that powerful.

That...was rubbish. 👕 I beat #Mojole #83 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 6/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤💚 🖤💛💚🖤💚 🖤🖤💚💚💚 🖤💚💚💚💚 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

Another thing we don't know is what look they've decided to go with; the shorter Guybrush from the first 2 games or the taller, lankier one from Curse onward, or something new? That would have an effect on how he fits into those scenes. Maybe the size of the locksmith door is a good indication, unless he's meant to be comically smaller? I suspect that, given we start at the amusement park, Guybrush will initialy be a child, so there's that.

I pretty much agree with what you're saying, though idk if downhill is exactly the right word; that to me at least implies that the game is just bad after Melee, and I wouldn't say that, maybe just that the game hits its peak early and the rest is a lot more straightforward. MI2 feels a lot less like that; you start with a miniturized version of The Three Trials puzzle structure with the voodoo doll and then the game really opens up. Curse feels like an even balance going from a small Part 1 to a whole island to explore, before giving the game room to breathe with a return to insult swordfighting and then a whole new island to explore, until the end which does feel abrupt (what I would give to see that extended rollercoaster sequence implemented in a remaster 🤤 ). Escape does that pretty nicely too actually, and Tales, while limited by the episodic model, was very engaging for the most part. In Return, I hope to see something along the lines of MI2's open space but with Curse's pacing, albeit with a more substantive final act. It's also interesting that the series' namesake is probably the least interesting place to explore overall, and at risk of expressing another unpopular opinion, I actually think Escape improved upon MI1's depiction in terms of giving you more stuff to do, even if the stuff you were doing wasn't always ideal. The Church of LeChuck is a great location, for example. I hope the island is used appropriately in Return, and I'm also curious if Ron will keep the carnival being on Monkey Island as canon or not.