Comment by Razengan
6 days ago
God, I wish a new modern game would capture the essence of Monkey Island, which for me was the ISLANDS themselves.
I didn't care much about the actual main story, Ron Gilbert was never serious about the story anyway (and he coldly murdered it in the long-awaited "official" sequel, Return)
But I loved how each island was like a unique mini world onto itself, and as a kid it really struck me how it was always night on some islands and always day on others (which I later liked to headcanon as being set on a tidally-locked planet :)
Chapter 2 of LeChuck's Revenge is one of my best memories in gaming. Why haven't any modern games tried to recapture that piratey seabreeze freedom of exploring many different islands?
Maybe they could pull a Thimbleweed Park and do a "spiritual successor" in all but name, like it did with Maniac Mansion, and call it Ape Archipelago or something :)
> I didn't care much about the actual main story, Ron Gilbert was never serious about the story anyway (and he coldly murdered it in the long-awaited "official" sequel, Return)
I get what you mean, but I thought Return was a genuinely good game, done with passion, and miles better than the other MI sequels after 2. Of course, the original MI is still my favorite, followed closely by MI 2.
It's a shame some fans turned so toxic, Ron Gilbert had to turn off comments in his blog (edit: but I see has has since turned them back on. Yay!).
When I was a little kid Monkey Island honestly felt magical, even though the gameplay is essentially a linear puzzle it really did feel like you were walking around a little living world and just how cinematic and seamless the opening titles are to the first scene too just didn't feel like any other videogame, more like a little movie world.
But yeah the best thing about it was always the atmosphere and world, less so the writing.
I would have loved if Guybrush vs LeChuck were just something in the background lore, and you were an actual nobody pirate just hanging out with random characters like Kate Capsize, Stan, and all the other quirky one-shot NPCs and have side quests with each.
Like imagine a side arc to overthrow Governor Phatt and so on :)
The artwork is an unique style and a part that takes most time, trying to find artists that who are available for commission is where I'm struggling at for my game.
Trying to keep integrity and genuine without using AI but it's looking like I may have to originate to pixel art style.