Gins

Would be cool but so would water or grog. Also it was established in MI2, that root beer only works on ghosts, not zombies, as you can douse LeChuck in it and he doesn't die. (The new leaders didn't get the memo though 😂) Related to root beer though, something that I've missed maybe throughout my many playthroughs: What are the hints that root beer is a substitute for the magic voodoo root? Just the color and the "root" in its name? Or were there more elaborate clues?

👕 I beat #Mojole #216 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 2/6 🖤💚🖤💛🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

Fangames recently came up in another topic and they seemed a good topic to make a ... topic about. I played a few back in the day. I remember in particular having played The Devil's Triangle and M:I2, but my memories of these are quite hazy since it's been perhaps over 10 years since. I was also working on a fangame myself at some point but abandoned it for other projects before I showed it to anybody. And now I spent some time today thinking about that one and what I would do differently if I'd do it today, hypothetically. Most likely I will never do it, but there is a certain itch... Also, there seems to be a list of some of the most relevant MI Fangames on Mojo, which put a smile on my face (https://mixnmojo.com/media/filecategories/Fan-Games), and if I saw that right, despite many of these old creators' pages being offline now, Mojo still seems to have mirrors. Too bad there are no screenshots to find some more easily. That said, I was thinking about maybe revisiting some of them that I might still have somewhere in my old Downloads folder, to make up for not mentioning much more here than just the title of two games I remember. So how about you guys? Any fond memories of some creative fan games?

Touché too 😁 I do hope that Guybrush didn't actually ruin people's lives and burned down attractions. If he did, and both Elaine and Stan are so casual about it, it doesn't put them in a much better light either 😄

"I know you've looked forward to this new game/attraction in the Monkey Island series/amusement park. I'll do some work/cure scurvy in the meantime and then go to bed/home. Take your time and enjoy yourself, just make sure you turn on/off the dishwasher/lights when you're done, ok? Love you honey 😘" You're right that would be weird in real life 😉 Bonus: "I wanted to surprise you and fixed you old code wheel/ship from Monkey Island 1 with some tape/tape."

Like a McDonald's in the middle of Disney World. Also a foreign takeover by an Australian who has influence over the whole world at once, with Mêlée changing too and the Monkey Head maybe being a giant robot because of executive meddling. Also explains why in Return there is like, NO trace of anything from Escape's changes (the shipyard, LUA bar, etc.) because they simply built back again after the original manager, or someone sharing their vision, returned.

👕 I beat #Mojole #215 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 3/6 💛🖤🖤🖤💚 💛💛💛🖤💚 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

What I also really like about this is, that it even canonizes various fangames, e.g. The Devil's Triangle (I don't know if anybody here has played it too, or if there is even still a way to find them these days). There were some that I played and enjoyed tremendously back in the day, which try to fill in the gaps between e.g. MI1 and MI2 (how did Guybrush end up with all this money and how did he split up with Elaine?). Hypothetically somebody, or really, multiple independent people, could make fangames with the goal of ticking all the boxes on Ron's "If I made another Monkey Island" blog post. And all of them are kind of canonized by Return to Monkey Island, since they are all possible stories that Guybrush could have made up in the theme park, that he daydreamed about, that he told Boybrush, that Boybrush is reenacting, or that might just have actually happened, and it's up to a fan to pick and choose what stories they like best. Monkey Island is no longer a series of games with a strict canon, with Return it entered the realm of mythology, where you can make up all sorts of stories featuring the Gods and explore their core personalities and interactions from so many different angles, that it doesn't matter what the canon is, you're simply using mythical characters of legend to tell a good story, or explore some scenario that nobody might have thought of before, and some fans might elevate to the status of "plausible enough to be canon" and others might simply get a good story out of it regardless. What sours this a bit is that I am quite sure Disney is quite likely to crack down on such fangames than the old Lucasfilm would have been back in the day ;_;

👕 I beat #Mojole #214 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 6/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤💚💛🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚💚🖤💛💚 💚💚💚🖤💚 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

Sounds like a good thread title, to keep these separated 😁

👕 I beat #Mojole #213 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 3/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚🖤💚🖤🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

I think one of the messages of Return, even if it is an uncomfortable one, is that, as you age it becomes unhealthy to remain invested in fantasy worlds the same way you've been as a child. As in, you can still be invested and have fun, but try to not get real life issues take the back seat to questions such as "what is the Secret of Monkey Island"? Of course, many players already realized this for themselves, so they don't want to be reminded of this uncomfortable idea while trying to enjoy the limited free time they still have as adults. ("Congratulations on figuring it out too Ron...") There are those who know this and it resonates because of that ("Yup Ron totally gets me"), and I think this group might just enjoy Return the most. Then there those who didn't think about it that way before and they say wow and might change their lives because of it. ("Ron is a genius!") And you have those who got their bubble burst and refuse to accept that message. ("Don't judge me Ron.") I want to make sure to say that I don't intend to mean any judgment, and that the quotes in brackets are just there to paint a picture, not to put people into boxes. I just tried to formulate the four quadrants of two arbitrary categories and probably most players can freely put a dot for themselves anywhere on that space. And of course such that dot can likely move about over time. My guess is that those in the first and last quadrant tend to be more disappointed with the game than those in the second and third, and that the emotions are stronger for those in the third and fourth.

👕 I beat #Mojole #212 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 5/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤💛 💛🖤🖤🖤💚 🖤💛💛🖤💛 💛💚💚💚🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

👕 I beat #Mojole #211 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 5/6 💛🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤💚💛💛🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

I imagine if a team wanted to do this again after Return, they could. So it's hard for me to fully see the extreme reactions to it's ending, since it could just be undone with a quick throwaway intro. E.g. Boybrush could simply be abducted by LeChuck in the beginning of the next game. Boybrush: "But dad said he made you up!" LeChuck: "You will find I am quite real." Boybrush: "Like the graphics of my new Playstation 6?" LeChuck: "Perhaps... but maybe more like... your uncle!" Boybrush: "Noooooo!"

What a great write-up and thanks for your honest (😜) opinion on Tales despite working on it. I remember how excited I was about it, and it really picked up around episode 3. I still remember fondly the LeSinge escape room, the manatee, the "technical limitation" jokes (Guybrush tossing items into Anemone's fountain to avoid animating a giving animation 😂), Morgan LeFlay was an amazing character and I'd have loved her to return in Return. I also remember how, due to how I perceived Elaine and Guybrush's marriage, I was rooting for Guybrush to split with Elaine and get with Morgan in the end. Was such an outcome ever considered in the writing room or was I just reading too much into it? I believe I really need to replay Tales and maybe distanced from the times back then, it might surprise me. It was after all my favorite Telltale game. Thanks for trying so hard in the face of the limitations @Jake

With all the stuff going on among fans since the announcement of Return, especially outside of here, I understand everyone's a bit more on edge, even here. I hope we manage to not let that get to us in the same divisive way as can be seen on e.g. Twitter or Ron's blog. I'm so thankful for everyone here doing their best to course correct and clarify whenever a situation shows signs of escalation, rather than leaning fully into the conflict and going scorched earth. We're all in the same boat after all, even if it looks different for everyone. Monkey Island is a magical boat that can take a crew to multiple places at once, unlike LeShip where everybody has to agree on a single destination. 😁

👕 I beat #Mojole #210 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 4/6 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤💚 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/ 🤣

I agree, a topic like that or "what defines Monkey Island for you" would be insightful. Will you make it?

To @Lagomorph01 and others who say they cannot suspend their disbelief after playing Return, I want to say I understand. Yet, not all hope is lost. Do you remember the first time you consciously realized that movies, books or even cartoons are not real, likely as a kid? Yet you probably still play games, watch movies and read books. The world of Monkey Island was clearly never real to begin with. They were video games that many people worked on, not the accounts of a historical pirate. The classic "it was all a dream" lazy ending often comes out of thin air because the writers really ran out of time and energy, but in Ron's games (also outside of MI) this layer to reality has always been hinted at from the first game, to the degree that it is even subconsciously in the DNA of the Non-Gilbert games, e.g. with the theme park references in Tales mentioned by @Jake. For Monkey Island this didn't come out of nowhere, it was the inevitable conclusion since 1989. You can still be disappointed of course, e.g. because you simply didn't like the idea or how it played out. But if you truly want to like these games, but are worried that you can't suspend your disbelief anymore, I guarantee you, you will be able to again, the same way as you can still do it for all sorts of other fictional works you already consume. All you need is a shift of perspective. Turn your head like this and squint. And the duck will look like a skull again.

👕 I beat #Mojole #209 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 4/6 💛💛🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤💚🖤🖤 💚🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

1. Revenge 2. Secret 3. Curse 4. Return 5. Escape 6. Tales Revenge is without a doubt my favorite. It takes the already brilliant Secret and makes it more of everything in all the right ways, and it just resonates with me. Guybrush's evolution from a nice wannabe to an experienced pirate who becomes full of himself to his own detriment becomes more and more brilliant every time I experience it. It has its flaws for sure, especially with some unfair puzzles and tedious backtracking, but these things are annoying once, the whole rest of the game keeps on giving on every replay, discussion and listen to the soundtrack. Secret in second because it is the original and an eternal classic. It is the giant from whose shoulders Revenge leaped even higher. CMI is so close to tying with Secret. It is in my opinion a perfect point and click. Just that Revenge and Secret hit my personal tastes better, but Curse is a fine entry point to the series. These three will likely always stay this way for me. The other three each have their own issues but like with pizza, even the worst Monkey Island games are still amazing. Return didn't quite reach my hopes and dreams but it is a perfect love letter to the series as a whole and is Ron's official blessing for the fans to accept all Monkey Island games before and after it as canon regardless of the team. EMI suffered most from its controls but was otherwise very Curse-y to me. It jumped the shark in the end by trying to connect everything with everything - Herman, and the Robot - but you know what? Back then I found that awesome. And I liked Monkey Kombat Tales is last on this list, but as said, to be the worst MI game is still no slouch (and as said the bottom three constantly change for me). I didn't care much for the Telltale formular overall, and it was the height of the "casualification" era, which alienated oldschool fans who wanted hard puzzles in favor of expanding the audience and saving the genre. And while many games from that time weren't for me, I believe they achieved that and I'm grateful for it.

👕 I beat #Mojole #208 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 4/6 💛💚💚🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚🖤🖤🖤🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

It kind of still hasn't. Those who love to speculate about the MI3a from the 90s or even the version from 10 years ago, can still do so because those games are, as per Ron, lost to time. Return actually only confirms one of the most agreed on fan theories, yet it only contributes mere clues to how it would have played out back then. I'm pretty sure a Ron and Dave helmed MI3 in the 90s wouldn't have had the literal Secret and reliving the glory days as its central themes, or even introduced Boybrush. It would have probably continued more organically from that ending, similar to CMI, have a different central theme and likely different character development, matching Ron and Dave's points in their careers from back then and taken another path to the theme park reveal. With Return, fans now have at least four potential MI futures to speculate about, all of them influencing the others: 90s MI3, 2000s MI3a, Tales season 2 and the inevitable successor to RMI. As a fan, that's awesome.

👕 I beat #Mojole #207 and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 5/6 💛🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 🖤🖤💛🖤🖤 💚💚🖤🖤🖤 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/