I belong to that branch of gamers who started their video game journey in front of a Pentium with Windows 95 instead of a PlayStation. And among the “pre-installed” games I found on my PC, the first two episodes of Monkey Island were proudly there. I played them repeatedly, and I have no problem admitting that I often used the solutions provided in the magazines of that time.
The beauty and spirit of the adventure were not in the least affected by the fact that I used a guide to progress. My love for graphic adventures slowly faded over time, and that’s why I’ve played Curse of Monkey Island only recently, allowing First Person Shooters to take my heart at that time. But I will hardly forget the pleasure of taking the magazine and reading the bizarre solution to a Monkey 2 puzzle while I was at home with a fever (and therefore happily exempt from school duties).
When I received the news of a new chapter in the series, I was extremely happy. And, to make it short, I immensely appreciated this new iteration of the franchise. Although skeptical at first about the graphic style, I can only commend the Devolver Digital team for choosing this option, definitely low budget but impactful nonetheless. The style is fluid, well-defined, and easily recognizable, I couldn’t ask for more.
The story is also very beautiful and truly embodies Ron Gilbert’s original vision of what Monkey Island should be. Speaking of this aspect, I noticed how much the original creator wanted us to know that he had grown, that he is no longer the boy who created the first two Monkey games, and the most powerful thing was recognizing that I had also grown in the same way, projected towards an adult and normal disillusionment. Sad? Very much so. Ingenious? Let’s say yes, but I expected it. Does it blend well with everything? Absolutely! During our growth process, we become different people, so it’s natural that our perception of the medium, especially of a genre of the medium that was practically considered dead and has changed so much since the 90s, namely graphic adventures, is profoundly different. And that’s why Return of Monkey Island spends lot of effort on taking us by the hand into that world once again, gracefully, with a refined and well-oiled gameplay, thanks also to a series of aids that should be mandatory in every remaster of titles belonging to the same genre.
Everything flows smoothly, the game works, and the magic is there, albeit under a different lens. I didn’t buy the physical edition, which was excessively expensive, but I happily played it on the Steam Deck and the Switch. To add a big box to my collection, I printed a repro that I found online, it’s gorgeous and ready to be displayed on my dedicated shelf.
Post Scriptum: I’m playing Escape now and I’m planning to play Tales right after, I know I’m late but my Steam Deck is allowing me to recover gracefully those games from the past.
