Return to Monkey Island

[Goury1]

2 minutes ago, Rum Rogers said:

I'm particularly excited about the location under Monkey Island, with classic mushrooms included. I knew there would be something else under Monkey Island in Ron's vision, or that at least it would be part of "the secret" somehow. Whatever that is, if there even IS one.

 

Hopefully it's not a Giant Monkey Robot!

[Asterothe]

These 2 quotes from the Verge interview hit me hard. This is what Monkey Island is all about!!!!

 

 

"And revisiting the world, revisiting Monkey Island — I haven’t done that in a long, long time. I remember when I first started this project, and I was writing code, and I first typed the words “Guybrush.” It sent a chill down me because I had not typed those words into code in 35 years. That was really fun to just kind of relook at the world again."

 

 "And then I told him that it was the new Monkey Island, and he was just floored. Which is a reaction I get from a lot of people. Before, when we were bringing people on, and we’d talk to them, the minute I mentioned, “I’m making a new Monkey Island….” One person literally started crying. They were so happy that this was happening. "

[Romão]

Oh, I love how Melee Town looks. Faithful to the SOMI, but still feels fresh and new

[Zaxx]

35 minutes ago, Romão said:

Oh, I love how Melee Town looks. Faithful to the SOMI, but still feels fresh and new

Yep, overall the art managed to incorporate the SoMI color palette in a very recognizable way it seems, you just get that vibe. And it's like they managed to find a good balance where those who prefer pixel art will get a lot of the benefits of that while people who prefer the remasters won't think that the art took a step back.

 

The only thing I'm a bit worried about is the nostalgia aspect, I hope they won't go overboard with that. I'm happy to see Melée Island back but I also have a tiny pyrite parrot on my shoulder saying "well it's the third time, you know". So don't Force Awakens it, Ron, please.

[Romão]

I love the art style as it is, but I'm sure it will look even better with all the little animations that will make it feel even more lively, loem you can glimpse in the trailer, like the fish bones when Murray is thrown on the water

[ThunderPeel2001]

Quote

Ron: That’s definitely one of the things that Dave and I talked a lot about when he came up and we hashed through all of this. The honest truth is that neither of us would be able to make the game we would have made back then. We’re different people. The ideas I had floating around in my head for what my Monkey Island 3 would have been, a lot of those ideas have already been done. Monkey Island 3 and 4 and 5 picked [up] a lot of those ideas, not because they stole them from me, but they did them because they were just ideas, and they were natural ideas. So I really couldn’t make the actual game. If I made the actual Monkey Island 3a, people would say, “Oh, you’re just ripping off [Escape from Monkey Island], you’re just ripping off [The Curse of Monkey Island].” I don’t think you can make that game. And Dave and I aren’t the same people either; we’re different people now than we were back then. So I don’t think you can make that. One of the things that was very important to me about this was that I did want the game to start right at the end of Monkey Island 2, when you walk into that amusement park. I wanted the game to start there.

 

So just to go back to my earlier point: This isn't the game Ron has been planning to make since 1992. I hope some of the things we see in it come from whatever earlier plans Ron had floating around in his brain, but it sounds like the overall ideas won't.

 

And this bit makes me happy:

 

Quote

Ron: I want to make this a real pirate adventure. I don’t want it to be goofy and strange, I just want it to be a good, solid pirate adventure, because that’s what I felt like the first two were. They were good, solid pirate adventures. So that was kind of a cornerstone for me, which just falls into, you know, is this game going to hold up? Are people going to like it? That’s been a huge amount of stress for me.

 

Although I feel for the stress Ron put himself under for this project!

 

Re: The artwork. I don't mind the people, I do mind the backgrounds. I could harp on why I don't understand why Melee has been changed, for example. (I know it's close, but the buildings have been moved around so they're not lined up like they used to be). That's a small thing really. By far the worst thing for me (especially the Melee Island one) is that the artist doesn't seem to understand how light works...

 

Purcell and Chan would take a crazy bit of architecture and then ground it in reality by making sure light behaved naturally. All of their drawings do this (even Purcell's most zany Sam & Max sketches). Looking at that Melee scene I just don't know what's going on. Where are all those shadows coming from? Why is the light from the window behaving like that? You may say I'm being unnecessarily anal, but for me if affects the whole mood of the scene.

 

Look how lovely and warm this scene looks, even in 256 colours.

 

 

Compare with this cold and uninviting version of the same scene. The colour palette and lighting is all over the place...

 

 

Anyway, I hope time proves me to be an oversensitive fanboy and that I grow to love Rex Crowle's work. Seeing it in action might be a completely different ball game.

Edited April 15, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[Lagomorph01]

I actually really like the new screenshots! They seem like a perfect way to incorporate grit and detail into “clean” vector like shapes, while at the same time using the familiar colour palette from the first game. The humans look interesting too, I’ll have to see it in motion, but I like what I see. It’s actually a really smart way to move from pixel art to this.

 

Don’t take me wrong, I would’ve loved backgrounds with the hand painted detail that Curse provides, but the animation would have to match that level of detail, and I’m not sure how well that would look on a budget, (Ron probably does not have the budget that Curse or Escape had).

 

I’m really sad about hearing that Earl Boen is not involved. I understand, but I would’ve loved one final take on this classic villain. Especially with Ron finally involved, he could dial it up to really scary.

Boen has such a unique and beautiful voice, it really made LeChuck for me. His replacement sure has a hell of a lot to live up to. Hopefully it’s an inspired choice.

 

Also, really excited about the mushroom hell returning! It was such a unique moment in the original, having explored Monkey Island and then ending up in this gruesome, grizzly place!

At the same time, I do hope they don’t overstuff on nostalgia locations.

[Goury1]

1 hour ago, Lagomorph01 said:

I’m really sad about hearing that Earl Boen is not involved. I understand, but I would’ve loved one final take on this classic villain. Especially with Ron finally involved, he could dial it up to really scary.

Boen has such a unique and beautiful voice, it really made LeChuck for me. His replacement sure has a hell of a lot to live up to. Hopefully it’s an inspired choice.

 

I hope they get a worthy replacement! Dominic Armato said that he hasn't heard the new LeChuck voice actor yet, and is very cyrious who they will choose for the role too! 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Goury1

[MurraySchull]

I have to admit that my excitement has been taken down a notch knowing that Boen isn't back, but really hoping they choose a very, very strong replacement voice for him to make up for it. It'd suck if we had a very off LeChuck voice just for one game.

 

On another note, I'm guessing that the man in the window on the right of the Melee screenshot is the storekeeper. If so, that likely means Jess Harnell could be back to voice him too. Him and Boen were two of the voices that transitioned perfectly into MI1SE and still gave fantastic performances despite the dialogue that was clearly written to be read.

[Goury1]

13 minutes ago, fentongames said:

On another note, I'm guessing that the man in the window on the right of the Melee screenshot is the storekeeper.

 

I think it is Rapp Scallion, the dead cook! He wears a cooking-hat!

[MurraySchull]

5 minutes ago, Goury1 said:

 

I think it is Rapp Scallion, the dead cook! He wears a cooking-hat!

 

Is that not his white/grey hair rather than a hat? Plus Scallion was on Scabb, not Melee. And that is the storekeepers' shop, so I'm still betting on it being the storekeeper.

 

If it IS Rapp, however, and he is alive here, then that could mean that the Melee section of the game takes place before MI1/2 (possibly shortly after Guybrush escapes the amusement park?) If so, that could mean that a degree of time travel may be involved...

Look at us theorising over a new Monkey Island game's plot based on a few pixels! It's the EMI days all over again!

Edited April 15, 2022 by fentongames

[Goury1]

21 minutes ago, fentongames said:

Is that not his white/grey hair rather than a hat?

 

I include a close up of the character. It does look like a cooking hat to me...

 

null

[ThunderPeel2001]

I find it interesting that no interview has asked about Schafer yet

[OzzieMonkey]

1 hour ago, Goury1 said:

 

I include a close up of the character. It does look like a cooking hat to me...

 

null

That still looks like white hair to me more than a chef's hat. He's giving me grumpy old man vibes, that's gotta be the storekeeper.

Edited April 15, 2022 by OzzieMonkey

[DM81]

Hi guys,
let me share wiht you some speculations about the art syle. I'm one of those old school guys who initially, as soon the first images of the game appeared, complained about "not be in pixel art, or too far from the style of Monkey 2, etc. etc."
But, at a second glance, I just persuaded myself that this is the style wich the "real" Monkey Island 3 would have been made if it come out in 1993.

Follow me on this point: what's the game that follow Monkey 2? It was Day of the tentacle (let don't count Indy 4 who started with the same pipeline of monkey 1).

Day of the tantacle has the same "expressionist style" of Return to Monkey Island, as many of us has spotted.

This similarity is even more closer if we look to the remastered version of DOTT.

I really think that, if Return to Monkey Island would have done in 1993, could have a visual style more similar to Day of the Tentacle than to Monkey 2 and the actual visual style fits to this perfectly -resolution apart-.

So...it's a glorious moment. This is the real Monkey 3.

Edited April 15, 2022 by DM81

[Goury1]

47 minutes ago, DM81 said:

Day of the tantacle has the same "expressionist style" of Return to Monkey Island, as many of us has spotted.

Good observation! I instantly thought of DOTT when I saw the images yesterday! And I love the style! I'm not too happy about the way the characters look in these screenshots, though!

Edited April 15, 2022 by Goury1

[Lagomorph01]

Great observation, although I’m sure the art style was specifically chosen for Dott (and Sam and Max Hit the Road).
If Ron had done MI3 back then he might have chosen a style that was more like MI2 or a maybe completely different style. We’ll never know.

[Rum Rogers]

4 hours ago, DM81 said:

Follow me on this point: what's the game that follow Monkey 2? It was Day of the tentacle (let don't count Indy 4 who started with the same pipeline of monkey 1).

Day of the tantacle has the same "expressionist style" of Return to Monkey Island, as many of us has spotted.

This similarity is even more closer if we look to the remastered version of DOTT.

 

Sorry, this is not how it works in a creative and vibrant environment such as the games industry, let alone in a game company like LucasArts at their peak.

It wasn't written in stone that the game after Indy4 would have adopted the style that DOTT eventually adopted.

The artistic/graphical style of a product is decided on a per-game basis, depending on an incredible amount of things, people, resources, budget etc.

For all we know, if MI3 was created in 1992, it might have adopted a The Dig style, a Full Throttle one or who knows what. Or, why not, even a DOTT style.

What I'm trying to say is that in a game development context 2 and 2 is not always 4.

Well, luckily it is, otherwise our computers wouldn't work and we wouldn't have games.

But if you get my drift, my point is that your deduction is just your personal hope (which I respect), not an actual deduction.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Rum Rogers

[Lagomorph01]

I just rewatched the Curse of Monkey Island intro and I miss Earl Boen already…

So curious about who will replace him.

[Glokidd]

9 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

I find it interesting that no interview has asked about Schafer yet

I was thinking this the whole time I was reading and wondering if anyone would ask.

 

I actually have a hard time believing that Emily wouldn't ask that tbh but I digress...

[Zaxx]

8 minutes ago, Lagomorph01 said:

I just rewatched the Curse of Monkey Island intro and I miss Earl Boen already…

So curious about who will replace him.

Me too but I have to say I'm not worried. I'm a huge voice acting nerd when it comes to these games, hell I didn't buy the otherwise sweet looking Skunkape Sam & Max remasters because they recast Bosco (the new less energetic version just doesn't feel like how the character was written), I never liked the Voodoo Lady in Tales of Monkey Island (sounds like a white lady doing the generic "African voodoo" voice) and Elaine in Escape because "that's just not her voice"... but with LeChuck I think it's a bit easier to sell a new actor simply because he looks different in every entry.

 

For example I think whoever did human LeChuck in Tales was great and since Return will follow the ending of MI 2 then he might be Chucky for half the game, who knows?

[Rum Rogers]

8 minutes ago, Zaxx said:

whoever did human LeChuck in Tales was great

Pretty sure it's still Earl Boen.

[Goury1]

4 minutes ago, Rum Rogers said:

Pretty sure it's still Earl Boen.

 Nope, it's Kevin Blackton.

[MurraySchull]

1 minute ago, Goury1 said:

 Nope, it's Kevin Blackton.

That shows how good Blackton was as human LeChuck, though if Rum thought it was Boen all this time! I'd like to hear how he'd have delivered "undead LeChuck." The hints of it near the end of Episode 4 showed promise in my opinion.

[Rum Rogers]

I'm impressed by his performance!

TIL anyway, thanks guys!