demone

Also, IGN posted a new video featuring the Voodoo Lady. Not really implicating her having serious involvement in the overarching story, at least in terms of her agenda, but one short clip at the beginning of the game isn't too much to go off of, especially since the video was more about a feature rather than her character. Trying to be vague for anyone who hasn't seen the video.

I also love this. To think Dom was afraid that Ron hated him at one point. I think in addition to this game just being real, it's great to see Ron and Dom hanging out and really becoming good friends.

Just watched the IGN scrapbook video. Dom does such a great job here of inserting genuine emotion into Guybrush's character, specifically when talking about Elaine.

Yup, seeing "Return to Monkey Island" download is just surreal. It's real, it's actually happening lol

Same for me. It's not showing up in my feed on my home screen yet.

This is another pretty interesting overview/slight interview. Similar to previous ones, no real spoilers, but some additional details (including confirmation where players will get the hint book), so a skip for anyone being extra cautious: https://www.fandom.com/articles/the-creators-of-return-to-monkey-island-talk-pirates-at-pax-west I might be misreading, but there seems to be an implication that we might get more backstory on Guybrush and how he wound up on Melee Island, why he wanted to be a pirate so badly, etc.

I really like that Guybrush seems pretty unaffected by the old pirate leaders not acknowledging him as a pirate. Implies we'll have the more confident Guybrush we had in MI2 and Tales. After all he's been through and done, he really has nothing to prove to them, who hid in a bar afraid of LeChuck and seemed to have done or accomplished nothing else. Though it is a little heartwarming that they remembered him nearly right away. My guess is that he'll need something from them which will require him to prove himself in silly, new trials they made to get an item or funding for his expedition.

I think the implication was that they joined the rest of the pirates in looting the mansion.

I actually really loved how Tales started years later and just dropped us at the end of Guybrush's latest adventure. It was a nice way of just saying "We're back after so many years and not missing a beat." I think for most games and media in general, whenever there is a gap, it's because they eventually want to make entries to cover it. Star Wars and Kingdom Hearts do this to almost a fault I would say. When done right, it can be extremely satisfying but other times, it's answering questions no one really asked or cared about and was simply better left up to the imagination of the viewer/player. Sometimes less is more and I really enjoyed just hearing vague references to what Guybrush went through, knowing full well it was a joke and also just a nice way to build out the universe a little more subtly. The one gap I always wanted filled though was after MI2 and here we are, less than 9 days away from getting more of that context.

No more, can't take much more hype lol Less than 10 days. Tomorrow starts the single digits.

Thank you my friend, good to know!

I've been debating. I preordered on both Steam and Switch, but I'm leaning more towards Switch. On the one hand, my laptop surroundings make a better place for snacks and a drink and I've always played these games on my computer first, but I would love to play this game for the first time on my big screen without having to worry about connection issues between my TV and laptop, so Switch is increasingly looking like my choice. Mostly though, it's because my WIFI on my computer isn't the best all the time and I think you need to be connected to continue to play Steam games. I might be wrong, as I never purchased from Steam or even really used it before. If that is indeed the case though, I don't want to risk my experience being interrupted, especially if it's during a crucial story moment like the reveal of The Secret lol

Having some scattered thoughts. With what is being teased as being finally going to be revealed in this game, there are are only a few others things that I think would be the icing on the cake. Largo; he doesn't necessarily need to be in it that much or even at all, but I would love some closure with his character's fate. The Voodoo Priest: based off the developer commentary for MI2SE, it doesn't seem like he was meant to be a character of any particular importance, but it would be cool if they found a way to reintegrate him, especially with Ron replaying that game before really working on Return. Tim was inquisitive about the character in the commentary, so perhaps the character is something that drew Ron's eyes as well upon a fresh replay. From Tales' story arc: the voodoo's lady's agenda and perhaps some inclusion of Morgan. I'm really holding my breath on that last one, but you never know. I'm assuming/hoping midnight EST on the 19th. That's typically when Switch games get released in my experience, but this could be a unique circumstance. I think we'll have a better idea when/if the game is available for pre-download. Once it's pre-downloaded, than it's literally just a countdown. For what it's worth, I preordered on Switch and Steam and got an email earlier this week, informing me that my payment for the Switch version is expected to be posted to my account around September 12th, so perhaps pre-download will be available then.

Not to add to speculation, but I remember Dave mentioning he really wanted to get Tim involved for Tales, but contract negotiations were nearly impossible. And same thing, Tim, as I remember anyway, was relatively quiet about Tales, but a year later was having fun with both Ron and Dave doing the commentary for MI2SE, so I think all three of these guys still love and respect each other. I would imagine it was something similar in this case. Dave was actually relatively free when Ron approached him since he just finished a recent project and, even then, it took 9 months to get everything in order. I would imagine with Tim running his own company, working on multiple big projects, it just made it impossible.

Damn, almost 11 days left. This is surreal. I actually took that Monday and Tuesday off; I've never done that for a game ever. That is going to be a special, long weekend for me. After my regular weekend plans, my goal is to replay my favorite parts, from my save files, of the previous 5 games on Saturday and Sunday nights. I'm really hoping Return will be available to play at midnight. I plan to replay and re-watch the final part and cutscene of LeChuck's Revenge right before starting Return to Monkey Island. I plan to crack open a bottle of my favorite Victory beer; Golden Monkey (I know it seems too perfect, but it really has been my favorite beer for years now) to commemorate the occasion. 11 days. I can't wait.

Ron did mention very early on in a tweet that Murray is in the game "big time." I love Murray, so I'm incredibly happy with that, but particularly because I wouldn't say he's been overutilized in the series. Curse was his grand debut. Escape he was just put in for the sake of it for a small portion (you don't even need to talk to him) and Tales he was only in one chapter, in a great capacity though. I would have no problem if his role is more critical to the story and has more interactions with other characters. Again, so long as his inclusion makes sense. Ron and Dave have mentioned many times it was important to them to include returning characters in a capacity that fits and not forced in for simply nostalgia reasons. So, I have no fears in Murray's role in this game.

Thank you, @LowLeveland @Remi. I edited my post to try to make that clear as well.

I'm basically torturing myself at this point reading all these interviews lol, but man are they hyping me up even more. I'm more excited about just starting at the carnival again than the Secret potentially being revealed. Preordered on both steam and switch. Also, saw another interview on Ron's Twitter. Apologies if this has been posted already: Fair Warning; there aren't necessarily full-blown spoilers in this interview, but Ron and Dave do get pretty deep into a story element and there are some implications on items and a puzzle. If you are really bunkering down from any real news, I would give this a skip. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/09/weve-finally-seen-return-to-monkey-island-in-action-looks-great-full-of-laughs/

Honestly, I always viewed the Voodoo Lady's actions and words in Tales as more of a conclusion for her character than any of the previous games. Simply not knowing anything about her after an entire series would've made her character feel a bit empty, which I felt about the character in Curse and Escape. Finally learning a bit more of her past with De Cava and knowing that she's not simply giving Guybrush advice, but does have a goal of her own, adds a lot of layers to her character and made past actions actually make more sense. Yes, one could make the argument that not knowing the specifics of that agenda could be seen as a sequel hook, but I always thought the game's writing did a good enough job to leave you with just enough clues to come up with your own conclusion. As Jake said, it's nice to have a plot point like that where everyone has a unique perspective on it. She's neither good nor evil, but is working to keep things a certain way. It's a nice culmination of her character and, again, I saw it as a nice conclusion for her character is many ways.

I also share the opinion that they wanted to make it clear that this isn't necessarily, definitely the final one. As soon as the site was updated, certain websites wrote articles with headlines like "Return is the Final Monkey Island" despite the fact that Ron said pretty early on in interviews that he wouldn't say no to making another if they had the right story. If anything, he just made it clear that, at the very least, he needs to take a break from the material and let his brain rest before considering diving back into the same series. I'm expecting this game will be a conclusion to the story arc established in the first game, but will still leave things where another one could easily come after it. I think almost everyone here got that same impression. I think there will also be a lot of surprises in terms of what is referenced from the other games. I think those type of plot points would be strictly off the table with marketing; they don't even want to hint at it. I'm actually a little surprised that nothing of the Voodoo Lady has been shown outside of one clip of her in the first trailer. If she isn't featured in the final Monkey Island Monday, it would make me think something big will be going on with her in this game.

Just for fun, since I've already replayed all 5 previous games over the summer, I'm re-watching old interviews with Ron. There's one from 2009 PAX after he gave the keynote about how he would love to do another Monkey Island game. 13 years later, here we are.

I really loved when Ron talked about making adventure games for kids. I played almost all of them as a kid growing up: Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, Freddy Fish and they are really where I found my love for adventure games. I was a huge fan of Ron before I even knew who he was. In fact, I only found out he made all those games about 10 or so years ago.

Wow, Dave hasn't aged a day. It's great to see all these guys hanging out and just having a good time. I never thought I would live to see this day lol It must be so surreal for Dom; hanging out with these guys, having some good food and drinks, promoting the game after being afraid for years that Ron wouldn't like him. Happy for the guy. Ron, Dave, and everyone else all seem like such good people to work with.

Wow, Ron really dislikes the whole porcelain gag. I sorta thought he was just being sarcastic on Twitter, but he really wants that thrown out. Now that I think about it, I guess it's not the type of humor Ron would write. Also really respectful how he admittedly still hates Elaine and Guybrush getting married, but knows too many people love that plot point to undo it.

I can almost see it being similar to the money from the start of MI2, where Guybrush brags about how he will be sailing in first class. Only this time, he says things like "I'm sure this invaluable silver horse armor will be crucial towards discovering the Secret of Monkey Island (TM)", or "Only an idiot would order this in advance unless it did something useful."