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So ........ no-one's brought this up since April? That's all about to change!

I found some tweets and other Monkey Island-related goodness -- here:

re-tweeted from Dave Grossman, co-creator

tweeted from Rob Gilbert, aka the Grumpy Gamer

And ... Discussion video from YouTube, including some replies from Ron's blog

It's quite interesting. A few people out there are rubbished this new game because it's not in the same "Pixel Art" style that Monkey Island 1 (made in 1990) and 2 (made in 1991) are. "You've betrayed us!" etc. But then again, graphics change over time. What was ground-breaking at the time of "Maniac Mansion" is now out of style.

Of course, the naysayers point out that Ron's last game, "Thimblewood Park", was in pixel art. To which the answer is: yes? And? So what?

What's your view, hmm?

Ah yes, and the release date was just announced yesterday at GamesCom. It's coming on Sept 19th! You can preorder the game now on Steam and on Switch and you'll receive an exclusive Horse Armor inventory item in the game (which affects nothing in the game whatsoever). Good old Ron Gilbert humour. I love it. (Google horse armor and Oblivion if you don't know what that's referencing)

As for the art style, I'm so bored of this debate. It's not my favourite. But I also couldn't care less. I'll play whatever game Ron Gilbert makes that has the name Monkey Island on it. I'm utterly confused why people care more about this than the fact that Ron Gilbert has returned to the franchise after 31 years.

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:58 am Ah yes, and the release date was just announced yesterday at GamesCom. It's coming on Sept 19th!

Is it a pirate themed game? Because if so, that release date is obviously intentional...

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:58 am Ah yes, and the release date was just announced yesterday at GamesCom. It's coming on Sept 19th! You can preorder the game now on Steam and on Switch and you'll receive an exclusive Horse Armor inventory item in the game (which affects nothing in the game whatsoever). Good old Ron Gilbert humour. I love it. (Google horse armor and Oblivion if you don't know what that's referencing)

As for the art style, I'm so bored of this debate. It's not my favourite. But I also couldn't care less. I'll play whatever game Ron Gilbert makes that has the name Monkey Island on it. I'm utterly confused why people care more about this than the fact that Ron Gilbert has returned to the franchise after 31 years.

Agreed. Any idea why the "art style" is even a consideration here? I don't understand why people are wasting their time on this, especially with the release date being so close. *shrug*

Surely, the important thing is that we have another Monkey Island! Huzzah!

Tawmis wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:12 am

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:58 am Ah yes, and the release date was just announced yesterday at GamesCom. It's coming on Sept 19th!

Is it a pirate themed game? Because if so, that release date is obviously intentional...

Yes it is! "Monkey Island" is definitely pirate-themed. The entire game is set in the Caribbean, where the Main Character (i.e. Guybrush Threepwood) wants to be a pirate ... and he tries to be one. He really, really tries hard to become a pirate. But he's too "adorkable" to be vicious or bloodthirsty, and he's clumsy and disorganised too. But he's fun to be around, and he does work hard at becoming a pirate.

Luckily, he has some good friends ... but he soon gains a very, very powerful enemy too. (I won't say much more or I'd spoil it!)

So if you haven't played "Monkey Island" yet, I'd recommend it. It's lots of fun.

I have it, but not played it yet. Got it from GoG when it was on sale, if I remember.

So it makes sense for the release date, as that International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Just wondering: which one did you get? The story starts in the first game and keeps going from there. So if you start playing at the 2nd or 3rd game, it wouldn't make much sense.

And yes, it definitely makes sense to release the game on ITLAPD. ARR!

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 5:40 pm Just wondering: which one did you get? The story starts in the first game and keeps going from there. So if you start playing at the 2nd or 3rd game, it wouldn't make much sense.

Imagine that. A game where the story starts in the first game. I would have thought maybe the third or fourth.

No worries. They're a lot of fun. It's just, some games have stories that are stand-alone (i.e. you don't have to play previous games to understand who's who and what's going on).

Monkey Island isn't like that.

So ... has anyone played this yet? What did you think?

Haven't beaten it yet. Really taking my time. But it's hilarious as ever. With responses like "it says 'everything must go', but it says it with numbers" it has exactly the kind of Ron Gilbert humour I've been missing in my life.

I'll give it a try. Thanks, MI!

Coming to GoG soon -


https://www.gog.com/en/game/return_to_monkey_island

I gave it a try this weekend ... but unfortunately it wouldn't run for me, since it needs Windows 10 and I'm still running Windows 7.

Oh well. I'll give it a try again when I get a new PC

Why not upgrade to Win10? It's free for Win7 and Win8 owners.

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:04 pm Why not upgrade to Win10? It's free for Win7 and Win8 owners.

Maybe Rath's machine wouldn't handle Win10 very well. Also, it's a real pain to format and install a new OS. Yes, I know you can "upgrade" but OS upgrades never work right. There's always something that gets screwed up.