Return to Monkey Island Physical Box Release

[MichaelSon]

IT IS FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!

 

Limited Run Games is planning to release a physical release of Ron Gilberts latest installment of the Monkey Island series: 

 

https://limitedrungames.com/collections/coming-soon/products/return-to-monkey-island-collectors-edition-pc

 

What bugs me though; this game has already  been sold out although it hasn't even been officially on pre order (like LOOM is currently on Jan. 14th 2023)

 

But wait, there is more:

Another screen shot shows that appearently there has already been an pre order last year - or is this planned for this year?

 

 

But MixnMojo says that it will be starting 20.01.2023.

 

Does anyone know more on this?

Edited January 14, 2023 by MichaelSon

[Laserschwert]

The "sold out" is just a bug in their site that happens on all pre-orders that haven't started yet. And the date on the image is just an error, which was probably an earlier date they wanted to hit and forgot to update. Easy.

[Didero]

Oh wow, there's even an Anthology Upgrade Kit to add RtMI to the box's logos, nice.

 

Now I just have to decide if I want a PC AND a Switch edition, and if one or both should be the fancy edition...

[Scummbuddy]

As someone that hasn't made time to play the game, are these five fancy different keys five actual inventory items in the game?

 

But there is no way I'm going all-in to get all of these keys. There has been enough say on Limited Run (and some other similar companies) feeding off people's compulsions to no be left out and MUST buy all products and versions.

[LuigiHann]

1 hour ago, Scummbuddy said:

As someone that hasn't made time to play the game, are these five fancy different keys five actual inventory items in the game?

 

But there is no way I'm going all-in to get all of these keys. There has been enough say on Limited Run (and some other similar companies) feeding off people's compulsions to no be left out and MUST buy all products and versions.

 

Spoiler

Yes, the keys are a reference to keys that are collected in the game.

 

Yeah, hm, the five different keys being represented across different editions of the game is both kind of a cute idea, and also kind of an insult to anyone who might want to collect all of them. Any one person who wants all of them would have to buy an absolute ton of redundant items to get them. The listing does explicitly describe the keys as something to collect, so I suppose they're tacitly expecting that people would trade or sell things amongst each other?

[Laserschwert]

I firmly expect some key-less Collector's Editions to show up on eBay after they've been shipped.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Laserschwert

[BillyCheers]

Although I'm not really a collector of game boxes (anymore), I was quite impressed by the Collector's Edition at first: I still like the artwork a lot and the items are cute (especially the pin). With the booklet (presumably based on the ones of MI1/2), LeChuck's flyer, the letter and the scrapbook are nice paper supplements and the soundtrack on top is pretty cool, too. From the picture, it's probably safe to assume that it's a very stripped down album with the most important tracks only. That's a pity, but unfortunately I wouldn't have expected more.

At first glance, the only thing I don't like is the poster. LeChuck photoshopped into the sky this way just looks cheap...
The keys I personally do not find so problematic, but of course: For absolute collectors, this leaves a very bitter taste.
After thinking about it for a while, I think I'll pass, because it'll end up just lying around somewhere - and I think $90 is pretty steep. Let's see.

 

Secretly I rather hope for a vinyl release of the (hopefully not too shortened) soundtrack. For that I would be willing to spend such a price.

[Jake]

I hope it has an excerpt from Guybrush’s memoirs on the back of the box!

[MurraySchull]

Very pleasantly surprised to see that an upgrade kit will be available for the Anthology set. I'm not the physical collector that I used to be when I bought the anthology set (in 2020!) , so I think I'll skip over the individual ReMI box and get the upgrade pack just for the sake of completion. Also, I *really* hope they've taken this opportunity to switch the Curse/Escape logos to the correct order on the outer sleeve. (They are corrected in the promo art, but we can only hope that the same revised visuals will be ported over to the actual outer sleeve. That was a really embarrassing mistake last time.) The ReMI collectors edition items are cool, but I think the ones in the upgrade kit will be enough since it'll also include one of the golden keys, and I don't know if I'd make active use of the other collectors items, even for display.

 

Part of me is also tempted to pick up a PS5 copy of ReMI, even though I don't own a PS5 and have no plans of getting one at this time (not until my 4K Blu-ray player dies at least) but I also feel like this will be the only opportunity to own the game physically. (Hmmm... maybe I'll keep it sealed!)

[Alexandra IDV]

Really like the look of the big box, but as usual with these types of CEs I'm not that interested in the things included in it - and certainly not enough to pay the higher price. I'll be getting the standard Switch edition.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Alexandra IDV

[neoncolor8]

I just realized that once again there's a character on the cover (of the soundtrack) that doesn't appear in the game. Another victim for Terror Island in the making. 

[Alexandra IDV]

10 hours ago, neoncolor8 said:

I just realized that once again there's a character on the cover (of the soundtrack) that doesn't appear in the game. Another victim for Terror Island in the making. 

I asked Ron and Dave about this on Twitter, and turns out the violinist was made solely for the teaser trailer.

 

 

[MurraySchull]

Regarding the order of the games being incorrect on the 30th Anniversary Limited Run set, I looked back over the promo art of the set and saw that the order was actually correct there:

https://limitedrungames.com/products/monkey-island-30th-anniversary-anthology-pc

 

But somewhere in-between promo and print, the order got switched. I would *hope* that they’ve fixed the order now that they’ve created a new version including ReMI, but if this is anything to go by, there’s no guarantee. Is there a way of ensuring that the error will be fixed before we put the money down on the upgrade collection? Seems like LimitedRun have basically shut off public interactions on their social media.

Edited January 19, 2023 by fentongames

[Semsajah]

$160 delivered for pc collectors edition where I live so naaah

[MurraySchull]

If you wanted to buy all of ReMI's collectors editions and golden keys in one bundle... turns out you can do just that!!

Return to Monkey Island Gold Key Bundle – Limited Run Games

 

EDIT: Also, preorders are live now!!

Edited January 20, 2023 by fentongames

[Udvarnoky]

Now that's just some conspicuous assholery, putting Mojo well within its rights to snark it to the moon.

[Lagomorph01]

I hate that physical releases have come to this… I just want a nice boxed version like in the old days. Not some overpriced, belated, badly redacted fanbox with some poorly made trinkets…

[MurraySchull]

Nicely done! 😜

 

Surely having ONE collectors set, the anthology upgrade kit, and the other three golden keys for a relatively lower price would’ve been a more enticing option than including an additional, and redundant, THREE copies of everything in the collectors editions!!

 

At a push, include all four game platforms if they have to just to avoid having to make multiple listings, but we don’t need four copies of EVERYTHING in the gift sets!!

 

I kindof hope this backfires and they reconsider that listing to a more reasonable alternative.

 

 

I’ve gone for the stand-alone physical edition of the game on PS5 (I don’t have a PS5 yet but it’s next in line when my 4K Blu-ray player dies) and the anthology upgrade kit. I’ve also dropped LimitedRun an email to check if the games on the side of the box will be ordered correctly. Will post the response when/if it arrives.

Edited January 20, 2023 by fentongames

[Jake]

7 hours ago, Lagomorph01 said:

badly redacted fanbox

What the hell does this even mean?

[LuigiHann]

11 hours ago, fentongames said:

If you wanted to buy all of ReMI's collectors editions and golden keys in one bundle... turns out you can do just that!!

Return to Monkey Island Gold Key Bundle – Limited Run Games

 

Oh, that's nice of them to make that afforda....

 

Oh.

 

And yeah, I don't quite get what "redacted" means in this context, but I have to kind of agree with at least some of the sentiment. I'd rather have a nice-looking throwback PC game "big box" with a couple of nostalgic paper feelies and a sturdy game case within, compared to a lot of these extravagant collector's editions where the game itself starts to feels like an afterthought. The Monkey Island anthology set came with a lot of cool stuff, but I really do wish they could have packed the statue and book outside of a more reasonably-sized display box to show off on a shelf... because the box we did get is literally too large for any of my shelves.

 

The RtMI box pictured on the Limited Run site looks like it's probably about the dimensions I'd picture for a retro PC game box, but I'd be nervous to make assumptions after I so underestimated the size of the Anthology box. Seriously I hate to complain about that set because it's such a nice tribute and it's full of such cool stuff but it is literally sitting in the corner of my living room floor because where else am I gonna put it. And it's funny because this happened to me twice: the amazing interactive Linking Book box that Cyan put together for the Myst series 25th anniversary collection was also about twice as big as I thought it'd be. At least that one fits snugly into a bookshelf. Ah well.

[Lagomorph01]

9 hours ago, Jake said:

What the hell does this even mean?

Sorry!! I used the wrong word here! I meant “badly edited”, in dutch the word for text editing is “redactie” or “redigeren”. That’s where the mistake came from. 😅

 

I’m referring to the Monkey Island anthology where they put the logo’s in the wrong order and, if I remember correctly, delivered a book which had some questionable spelling and grammar.

[MurraySchull]

43 minutes ago, Lagomorph01 said:

I’m referring to the Monkey Island anthology where they put the logo’s in the wrong order and, if I remember correctly, delivered a book which had some questionable spelling and grammar.

Yeah, the book was very extensive and clearly had a lot of effort put into it, but it definitely needed another proofread. There’s a lot of, mostly minor, typos and grammatical errors here and there that add up over the course of the book (i.e. Earl Bone) and one or two misplaced sections. (An El Pollo Diablo anecdote midway through the MI2 retrospective.) It’s also fairly unbalanced in the sense that MI1 and 2 have a significant number of pages devoted to them while Tales has maybe four.

[Vainamoinen]

On 1/18/2023 at 9:18 AM, Alexandra IDV said:

I asked Ron and Dave about this on Twitter, and turns out the violinist was made solely for the teaser trailer.

 

I was so looking forward to her. That was a great design, and she would have sounded great in a combo with Jojo.

[LuigiHann]

Maybe someday Violin Skeleton will get a cameo in a future game, like how Return to Monkey Island had

Spoiler

a "cameo" for the box art pirates from MI1

 

[MurraySchull]

LimitedRun have responded to my email regarding the ordering of the titles on the spine and have stated that the order will be "printed as shown"in the attached image.

 

Hopefully this will indeed be the case as the promo art on the 30th Anniversary collection from 2020/2021 was correct as well, only to be incorrect upon printing! At least there's less reason now for the order to still be broken on the reprinted editions, plus the fact that they've been given the heads up!

 

P.S. That golden key bundle seems to be gone! 🤭

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by fentongames