[LucasArts Soundtracks "CD Audio" Soundfonts]

So, I've been making music for 10+ years and unsurprisingly, some of my biggest influences are the amazing LucasArts composing trio of the 90s, Michael Land, Peter McConnell, and Clint Bajakian. I've spent a lot of time reading interviews (Thanks MixnMojo!), studying midis (Thanks Highland Productions!), and researching what equipment they used in the day (Thanks Mr. McConnell!) In my spare time, I've remastered a few of my favorite tracks from the old mt-32/sc-55 days using the synths and samples that they used (Proteus modules, K2000, E-MU sample cds, etc.) in the vein of the SoMI CD soundtrack or the remastered tracks on the CD release of Hit The Road! So I figured, maybe I can take this idea to a whole new level. What if I made custom, specially optimized SoundFont banks for each game that use the sounds and samples from the modules they would use for their CD remasters? That way, you can have the quality of those CD soundtracks, without sacrificing the amazing features of the iMuse system! So my question to all of you is, which ones would you wanna see first? Lemme know your thoughts in the comments!

[Decompiling ReMI]

I'm sure something will pop up eventually, pretty much always a given with this fan base. Might take a bit because the engine was made in house by Ron Gilbert and David Fox, I think originally for Thimbleweed - Dolores.

 

Edit - Uh...nvm. Looks like someone's already figure it out lol

 

[Return to Monkey Island = Twin Peaks: The Return (change my mind)]

I HAD THIS EXACT THOUGHT WHEN I FINISHED IT!!! I'm a huge David Lynch fan and it was pretty obvious that Ron is pretty big TP fan after playing Thimbleweed Park (hrm, TP...coincidence?) A lot of the themes and story beats are almost exactly the same. The whole idea of chasing the glory days, both of the original towns are falling into a state of ruin as the old guard is phased out, and that ending had some real "What year is it?" vibes. Heck, both of them have insanely meta endings that acknowledge each of their mediums. I could rant for a while about all the similarities...and maybe some day I'll do that lol

[POLL: Now the dust has settled how do you feel about Return to Monkey Island?]

It wasn't exactly a religious experience...but it's definitely the closest a video game will get to one, at least for me. I can't remember the last time a game left me thinking about it for weeks. I wasn't sure if the ending would be able to live up to what I imagined but it actually managed to hit all the notes I wanted it too and it made me really emotional. None of the other games had an ending that left me thinking "Y'know, this really would be a good end to the series." but I'd be genuinely okay with this being the end. I really think Ron and Dave knocked it out of the park on this one and gave the series the perfect send off it deserved.

[Unpopular opinions]

Oh boy, I got a few bad takes.

 

1. I actually love EMI and I think the 3D art is perfect as an adaptation of CMI's art style. Monkey Kombat just felt like the games insult sword fighting and I don't mind it.

 

2. I could never really get into LOOM. I've tried multiple times but just never get invested. Especially weird because I make music, so you'd think I'd love the music system.

 

3. I think the world of Monkey Island shouldn't be real. Love me some goofy pirate fun but I think having that somewhat sinister and emotional layer on top makes the world far more interesting.

 

4. Tales might be my least favorite in the series. I think episodes 4 and 5 are absolutely fantastic but the first few feel like a slog. Also, I REALLY don't like the art style. I understand that TT had a deadline and a budget but I find the character designs to just be really unappealing and I think EMI did a better job of translating the CMI style to 3D.

[Return to Monkey Island 🚨GAME-WIDE🚨 Spoiler Chat]

8 hours ago, madmardi said:

I just did another quick playthrough trying to pick up some more trivia cards and achievements, but it's really the ending that's still on my mind...

 

I've now played through about 5 of the different ending options, and read the Mojo article to look at the rest, but I have to say I've been thinking about the ending to Return non-stop since I originally finished it. My goodness... I think it's going to take me a really long time to process all this!

 

 

Besides some of the items Jake mentioned above, for me the most emotional part was turning off the lights and leaving... First time I played it I don't think it really hit me as hard as my mind was so overrun with everything, but now the more I think about it I just start feeling really... emotional.

 

I guess for me it's really about realizing that it's all over (for now) and it's back to reality. When Guybrush appears surprised to be back in the alley he makes the comment, "Oh no... not yet!" and the sadness in his voice.... just gets to me. And it's exactly how I feel.

 

Personally, life's been super busy and stressful these past few years, and hearing about Return's announcement was an unexpected oasis of excitement that I didn't ever expect... and something I didn't realize I desperately needed. I've been looking forward to this game more than any game I've ever looked forward to in my life, and even though I've been swamped with both personal and work stuff these past few months, I carved out some time this week to focus on just this - escaping from reality for a few days to go on an adventure as a loveable pirate. Unfortunately, after this weekend (that's all I could allocate) it's really back to reality for me, and all those things I've been pushing off. Sure, both Guybrush and I can always return to those old adventures (and potentially even new ones?) but that has to wait until another day... as it's closing time. <Sigh>

 

I really really loved the ending, and I think it tied together so many themes for me throughout the series, not just MI1 and MI2. If there was one reservation I had as I played Return, it was that I struggled for a while trying to piece together 'when' the story took place. And more specifically, it bothered me that there wasn't clearer references to some of the events from Escape. That being said, I loved the scrapbook and the reference to the 'cushy government jobs', and I felt they did a respectful job with Herman, and by the time I neared the end of the game I was okay with how they chose to handle past cannon. And then ending came. For me it felt like it made everything okay and wrapped all 6 chapters of the series together into one nice big bundle, allowing me to understand that these are all just separate adventures stories that are just meant to be... fun. And that's it. They allow Guybrush (and all of us) to escape from our lives as flooring inspectors, and temporarily enjoying being a pirate. And I'm okay with that. 

 

And if this is our last adventure together... I will be okay with that too.

 

Damn... I feel like I've been stabbed in the heartstrings!

Really glad to hear I'm not the only one who got emotional at the end. I flat out started crying and whenever I think back on it, I start getting teary eyed. Like, the ending just felt so profoundly beautiful to me. And that last moment with Guybrush sitting on the bench, it left me with this warm but sad feeling of finality that I've always wanted. I've always been one of the people that weirdly enough, didn't want the world to be real. I've always felt like it gave the series this sort of emotional core to it. That no matter how mundane and soul crushing the real world can be, there's an escape in this fun pirate world we're all so invested in.

[Control scheme for Switch **chefs kiss**]

The controller setup is fantastic! I played on PC and decided to give the controller a try so I could get cozy in my bed and never even thought about switching back to mouse. It really shows off how well they streamlined the mechanics. 

[Details of Return to Monkey Island]

I noticed an electrical cable hanging above one of the monkey statues during the final puzzles! Gonna end up scanning through every background for weeks, looking for little hints to the ending lol

[Return to Monkey Island 🚨GAME-WIDE🚨 Spoiler Chat]

Wow, so I just finished the game and absolutely loved it! The writing and jokes were top notch, the puzzles were really well designed and didn't delve into moon logic, and the art style in motion looks fantastic. The thing that really stuck with me though, was that ending!

 

Now, we all knew the end was gonna be divisive, one way or another. The biggest question looming over the world of MI has always been "is any of this real?" and I think they did a good job of leaving it ambiguous enough that it's still open to interpretation. I've noticed though, that a lot of people who want the world to be real have been relatively...unimpressed with the ending. They wanted the answers to all the questions to be laid bare and definitively answered, a big final confrontation with LeChuck, and a Secret that would live up to the years and years of hype. After ruminating on the ending for a while and seeing what other people thought, I decided to start a playthrough of the writers cut. I ended up checking the to do list and saw the item of "Find the Secret and relive the glory days" and it finally hit me. I'd seen this before...roughly 5 years ago...

 

Return to Monkey Island is Ron Gilbert's Twin Peaks - The Return! IT'S EVEN RIGHT THERE IN THE NAME!!!!! Almost everything is exactly like what happened when TP S3 came out. A series that has been in stasis for years, with so many questions left unanswered and the original creator coming back to fulfill their vision how they see fit, fanbase reaction be damned. Their both about chasing that feeling of reliving the glory days and answers that could never truly satisfy everyone and that you should enjoy the journey, rather then trying to get to some all encompassing Secret that could never truly live up to the expectations. You're supposed to treasure and relish in all this new time we get with these characters and this world that we all love!

 

There was never gonna be an ending that could live up to the expectations of so many years of pondering and I really think this is the best and most tasteful way they could've approached it. All in all, it was really cool seeing my favorite game series tale so much inspiration and lessons learned from one of my favorite TV shows ever!