POLL: What are your expectations for ReMI? (Last poll for a while, promise!)

[KestrelPi]

16 hours ago, LowLevel said:

I would be fine with those 10 minutes matching what Noah said and the rest of the game being meh. 😛

There is a worry of course that if the start of the game is all it's cracked up to be, then the rest might feel like a let down in comparison. MI2's weirdness hit hard for me because it hit at the end. If ReMI's weirdness is all frontloaded and we don't see it revisted by the end, I don't know how I'll feel about that. But eh. They know what they're doing.

[Aro-tron]

I'm expecting to be somewhat disappointed, or I guess I should say that I'm tempering my expectations.

 

I guess it's kind of like when a rock band reunites after 20+ years and decides to do another album together... it's very exciting and cathartic to get to have another go-round with something that you loved so long ago, but it's very unlikely to reach the highs of the original experience.

 

The indications from the screenshots and marketing so far is that RtMI will mostly be 'playing the hits', and I like the idea of returning to Melee Island after several decades, etc. I'm going to be interested to play it and reflect on how times have changed, but I don't expect that it will be on par with the original games. That's all OK! If it's comparable in quality to Tales I will be happy.

[OzzieMonkey]

If this was just MI3a, exactly as it was described back in 2013, I think I would be expecting to be disappointed. With Return shaping up to be something very different, I'm much more excited and hopeful. I think it's going to be something special, even if the plot goes in directions that are controversial. I don't have any expectations as far as what the game SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do though. I'm only expecting to have a lot of fun, as much as I have with the previous games. I said I was expecting nothing less than MI1 and 2 greatness, but with the idea that it's as good as Curse, because that's my #1 MI game, with LeChuck's Revenge being a close second. I can see it being in my top 3 at the very least, those 2 are tough to beat; I reckon it can easily beat Secret, it's a great game but it's definitely a lot more straightforward story-wise and has a much smaller scope than the others. I also think Tales has the best story so far, so Return's competing with that, but it also has a richer vein to draw from with MI2's ending, the Secret, etc. 

Reviews will probably do fine, though I fear there will be a number of critics who can't look past their negative bias against the artstyle...I hope that doesn't happen. I reckon we're looking at 70-80. I don't think we can kid ourselves that this will be the best-selling game of the year, or even win GOTY, it's too niche. Best selling adventure game? Probably. Maybe even Ron's best selling game, I hope that for him. It won't be Devolver's best seller, they have too many other games out that aren't as niche as a point and click. 

[BaronGrackle]

1 hour ago, OzzieMonkey said:

Reviews will probably do fine, though I fear there will be a number of critics who can't look past their negative bias against the artstyle...I hope that doesn't happen.

 

I haven't read a single media article yet that shares criticisms regarding the artstyle.

[LowLevel]

I predict a strong difference between critics' scores and users' scores.

[BaronGrackle]

18 minutes ago, LowLevel said:

I predict a strong difference between critics' scores and users' scores.

Alternative: Critics stick to a 7-8 range that they casually predetermine before playing the game, based on the idea of MI being a niche title done well. Fans vote for maximum score or minimum score, resulting in an average around 7-8 like the critic score?

Edited September 8, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[Alexandra IDV]

-I expect to have a good time. To me, Tales was not an as magical experience as the first three, but I was definitely not disappointed in it - and if Return is on that level or above I will be happy. I do think it has potential to exceed that, though.

-As much as the developers try to make Return approachable to new players, this is still a niche game genre, which makes it hard to estimate how the reviews will end up - I see this all the time where reviewers familiar with certain genres tend to give very different scores compared to those new to them (both viewpoints are of course valuable to different readers).

-No chance of it outselling Devolver-published Cult of the Lamb. Might be the highest-selling point-and-click adventure game - I don't know of any particularly high-profile ones from this year other than Return, AI:TSF Nirvana Initative, and the Sam & Max S2 remaster (feel free to inform me of any I might have missed).

[Wally B.]

Another

8 minutes ago, Alexandra IDV said:

-As much as the developers try to make Return approachable to new players, this is still a niche game genre, which makes it hard to estimate how the reviews will end up - I see this all the time where reviewers familiar with certain genres tend to give very different scores compared to those new to them (both viewpoints are of course valuable to different readers).

This made me wonder, will Return to Monkey Island manage to attract new players?

It's true that adventure games are a niche genre, but maybe with all the publicity and the game being published by Devolver, could it bring more people to them?

On the same topic, how many people do you see in the future saying that this was their first Monkey Island?

Could Return be a good entry point to the series like Curse was (me included)?

[bennywhitebread]

First I wasn't fan of the graphic art direction  but after seeing some in-game videos including animations, voices, etc I think it will be a great edition !

Can't wait to play it with my son

Edited September 8, 2022 by bennywhitebread

[OzzieMonkey]

12 minutes ago, Wally B. said:

Another

This made me wonder, will Return to Monkey Island manage to attract new players?

It's true that adventure games are a niche genre, but maybe with all the publicity and the game being published by Devolver, could it bring more people to them?

On the same topic, how many people do you see in the future saying that this was their first Monkey Island?

Could Return be a good entry point to the series like Curse was (me included)?

I know this isn't entirely what you're talking about, but I have seen the mere knowledge of a new Monkey Island coming out has resulted in new people doing blind let's plays of the series to prepare for Return's release. 

[KestrelPi]

2 minutes ago, OzzieMonkey said:

I know this isn't entirely what you're talking about, but I have seen the mere knowledge of a new Monkey Island coming out has resulted in new people doing blind let's plays of the series to prepare for Return's release. 

 

I've definitely seen some of that, and last I looked the trilogy was at about 100 in the Steam charts, so definitely SOME people are buying it with a view to playing before the release. I also think some people will content themselves to watch a summary, or someone else do a let's play of the game.

 

It'd be interesting to find out how much of the eventual sales of the game came from people who have never played the originals, or from people who only recently played the originals, and how many are long-time fans. I think the price point is too high for most people to try it on impulse, so I'm gonna guess there won't be too many people in the first category, unless it reviews surprisingly well.

[Alexandra IDV]

13 minutes ago, Wally B. said:

This made me wonder, will Return to Monkey Island manage to attract new players?

I wonder. MI first got on my radar sometime in 2009-2010 when I saw old fans discussing Tales and the rest of the series online, and as a result I tried out MI1SE. I still think the previous games (or at least MI1&2) should've gotten new console ports ahead of Return, for newcomers who want to catch up.

[BillyCheers]

I have a good friend who plays a lot of video games but no real adventures (she also never played Monkey Island).

But I told her a bit about ReMI and she’ll play it on the Switch, because she likes the look, the pirate setting and everything else so far. So it’ll be interesting if she’ll have fun with it, how she’ll receive it in general and if she’ll maybe even play one of the old ones after that. 
 

So yeah, I think the MI community will gain more fans. I mean it was part of the Nintendo Direct, so some people must have heard of it. 😊

[Wally B.]

I don't know how difficult it would be to bring to consoles the first three games without them controlling weird.

Escape was already made for the PS2 and its controls kind of suit it better for a console, and Tales, while being made for the wii in mind, which essentially has point and click controls, did have ports for other consoles if I'm not mistaken.

The Special Editions too had console ports, but from what I hear, they were just "move the mouse cursor with the joystick", which is never fun.

 

From what I understand the console controls in Return had more thought put into it, and could be a new good standard on how adventure game controls could be ported to consoles.

 

The only way I could see good ports of the first three games to consoles is if they're remade from scratch with the Dinky engine and maybe HD assets for Curse

[Remi]

37 minutes ago, Wally B. said:

The Special Editions too had console ports, but from what I hear, they were just "move the mouse cursor with the joystick", which is never fun.

 

MI1 was... not good... but MI2 had a point and click interface more tailored to consoles and it worked surprisingly well. Quick and responsive. Fairly sure ReMI will be more custom tailored, though, as it sounds like they spent a lot of time on the control schemes.

[BaronGrackle]

It would be nice if the Switch library had more than RMI in its catalogue.

[Garystu]

I got into MI with the previous last game in the series (Tales), so I can see some people playing RTMI as their first.

 

They probably just won't be the people preordering and buying it on day one. Doesn't matter.

 

When I got into MI, I was aware there were existing fans twice my age. There's still existing fans twice my age. But now, its my turn to be twice as old as some newer fans. I should be feeling old I guess, but I'm actually excited about it.

 

.

 

You can get ScummVM working on a homebrew'd Switch, if you're desperate for portable Monkey Island. It has controller (move cursor with the joystick) and touchscreen support, according to the ScummVM website. I haven't tried ScummVM on Switch, so I can't say from personal experience.

 

Also, homebrewing your Switch is a WHOLE can of worms, do not do it on a lark.

[LowLevel]

6 hours ago, Wally B. said:

This made me wonder, will Return to Monkey Island manage to attract new players?

 

Good question and, for me, a quite difficult one. I don't think it's very likely, but I also know nothing about Switch, Switch players or how they are generally inclined to experiment new things.

 

One thing that I've noticed is that the game has been categorized officially as "Casual" on Steam. If the developers have developed the casual mode in the right way, I think that RtMI has a chance to attract people who never played the previous games of the series.

Edited September 8, 2022 by LowLevel
Clarified - Can I write anything here?

[ThunderPeel2001]

23 hours ago, Wally B. said:

This made me wonder, will Return to Monkey Island manage to attract new players?

 

I hope ReMI doesn't go out of its way to include newbies. Curse struck a good balance of introducing everyone, but quickly getting down to the story.

[LowLevel]

55 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

I hope ReMI doesn't go out of its way to include newbies.

 

Well, the game has a scrapbook of Guybrush's memories as an item in the inventory, so that players can consult it while playing.

 

I wonder why this kind of "reference manual" would be useful during the game.

[ThunderPeel2001]

On 9/6/2022 at 8:19 PM, LowLevel said:

I would be fine with those 10 minutes matching what Noah said and the rest of the game being meh. 😛

 

So... after all that. Did the first 10 minutes live up to your expectations?