BaronGrackle

You seem angry. I get angry too. But this doesn't feel like the environment. Here, enjoy this old Captain Mystery article that spews more hate at Ron Gilbert than we've probably seen in the past few months, for cultivating a section of the fanbase into diehards: https://mixnmojo.com/features/sitefeatures/LucasArts-Secret-History-6-Monkey-Island-2-LeChucks-Revenge/4

And Elaine looks virtually unchanged, to my casual eyes. I think Voodoo Lady is just wearing a different dress, but I could be off. I get it when people say that Secret and Revenge were completely different artstyles and put some backgrounds alongside each other, and I understand the assertion that "we aren't having the same conversation" if I can't see that. But amidst that, I look at Elaine. And during the dream sequence, I look at MI2 Guybrush facing MI1 Guybrush, and they feel like they're in the same reality... as opposed to Curse Guybrush standing alongside drowned Secret Guybrush, which can only feel like a break in the fourth wall. So instead of saying things like "MI1 and MI2 look like the same art style", I should shift it to something like "MI1 and MI2 have comparable character art for the main cast", and acknowledge it doesn't extend to closeups or minor characters. (Though I think Rapp Scallion's depiction is closer to the ones in Secret.)

What are the odds that Ron's going to immediately start working on a sequel using similar sprites, like he did with MI2 after MI1? Related: what are the odds that we're going to see Monkey Island merchandise, available and affordable for really the first time, and in the style of this game?

Any answer from us would be headcanon. (But it's totally because the Big Whoop Amusement Park is an elemental force of reality/fantasy beyond LeChuck's control and the Matterhorn section existed without LeChuck constructing it - it just existed because Big Whoop predates LeChuck whooaah spooky mystery child at Disneyland whoOoaaah - and obviously the room wouldn't have even been connected to the roller coaster track but Elaine saw it and pulled the levers to connect them because she deduced the probability of Guybrush being able to defeat LeChuck in that room k thnx bye.)

Like you and others said, I guess it was there in smaller amounts (without people noticing as much), and then Secret pulled off the comedy rather brilliantly. For Maniac Mansion, think of every single possible ending for that game. I think the least comedic ending is: cartoonish-looking Meteor Police are called and arrest the antagonist. I mean... I never experienced Kings Quest, but the past month I've been listening to let's plays on Youtube. So many puns. One puzzle has you bring a goat to defeat a bridge troll, with narration that says it's a well known fact that goats are enemies of trolls. I can visualize a hypothetical Monkey Island situation where Guybrush dispatches a bridge troll by "Use Goat with Troll", with the exception that he'd be carrying the goat in his inventory. Of course, the reality in Secret is that Guybrush dispatched a troll with a literal red herring, and also the troll wasn't real. So that's definitely a different brand of comedy. And perhaps it's a microcosm of the humor that set Secret apart.

I'm gradually working my way through this thread... in the earlier pages, there are comments and a magazine article quote that referred to Secret if Monkey introducing COMEDY to adventure games. I really enjoyed the comedy in Monkey Island, but I do want to point out that beforehand there were a few Kings Quests games and Leisure Suit Larry. I'd also argue that Maniac Mansion and Zak McKraken flirted with comedy. Looks like a fun community here!