The announcement earlier this month of Return to Monkey Island was rather exciting for series fans of all ages, perhaps particularly those of us wearing comfortable shoes and considering a trip to the Garden Centre as a day out. Published by Devolver Digital, Ron Gilbert's studio (Terrible Toybox) is developing, and it will be a successor to the first two games in the series - The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.
It's a project that looks set to bring together key creative figures from those first two PC releases, including Dave Grossman. Last week Adventure Gamers shared an excellent interview with both Gilbert and Grossman, along with some rather lovely screenshots of the game. As you can see below, it's going for a stylised 'modern' look.
In terms of the details of the interview, it's full of lots of interesting insights into the creative process of the duo, how the project initially came together and more. One section that got our interest related to the game's approach to point-and-click; Gilbert outlines that it'll have an evolved approach, rather than a faithful recreation of an old-school user interface like that of Thimbleweed Park.
There is pointing and clicking. That is true. [laughs] Interface-wise, this one does other things, you know—[we’re] having fun and advancing things. It’s obviously not the seven- or nine-verb interface from Thimbleweed or back in the day. We did a lot of playing around when Delores came out (a free spin-off to Thimbleweed Park), with interface and stuff, and we just kept looking and evolving. An important part of this, in some ways, is keeping and evolving the genre. Not letting it get static, saying, “Well, that’s what we did thirty years ago, so that’s exactly how we’re going to do it these days.” In some ways, that was Thimbleweed Park. So this game, we really have looked at things we can do that are going to be different and better and more streamlined, and Dave and I spent a lot of time looking at the interface going, “What is important to people? What are people trying to do?” I don’t want to say exactly what we did yet, but it is definitely a really fun evolution of the interface.
Due out this year, currently there are no confirmed platforms for this release. We hope that the genre and previous Switch support from Devolver Digital and Terrible Toybox points to a likely version on Nintendo's system; time will tell.
Let us know what you think of the screenshots, and be sure to check out the full interview at the link below.
[source adventuregamers.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 30
I can never look at a lanky, long faced monkey the same way ever again.
Looks like the special editions for 1 and 2. I approve.
It will be interesting to see what they do to evolve the game. While I have a lot of love/nostalgia for the genre, revisiting some of the classics recently showed me how limited these games could be by modern standards. If anyone could do it, I imagine it would be this development team!
@Fizza Leave my mother alone!
(Sorry mum)
I’d better see Ignatius Cheese in there!
@XiaoShao I agree but I’m not sure what they could do really to change that
I was joking earlier, but reading some of the comments here has got me thinking: as someone who has only really played Ace Attorney in regards to the point and click adventure genre, is Monkey Island any good for someone with that kind of background? I've heard horror stories from similar games about the obtuse answers some of them expect (such as using a pie to beat a yeti or something like that) and was wondering, as the trend setter, if MI is better than that?
Can we play it in the original (pixel) art style as well? I'm not a big fan of how this looks.
I need this yesterday.
@Fizza Well I don't know about Monkey Island, but I played Ron Gilbert's Thimbleweed Park, and I found it hilarious. It does have some fairly obtuse puzzles, but luckily they decided to put in a robust hint system to negate the need to use google. I can imagine that the Monkey Island games would be harder since they lack this system, but at the same time you can use Thimbleweed as a starting point to gauge if you'd like to continue with the genre.
@Abeedo Thanks for the info! I'll see if I can get it once I'm done with The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles!
@Fizza it probably does get a bit obscure at times, particularly towards the end, but nowhere near as bad as some point and click games. It’s definitely a good entry point, or even the best, if you want to see if you like these kind of games.
@Fizza I also recommend the Hidden Object genre, which has elements of Point-and-Click, too. These games are laidback and have a hint reveal system if you need it. They also usually have beautiful art. Anything published by Artifax Mundi, which are usually on sale. I pick them up for about $2.
However the Point-and-Click genre is definitely the more obscure, but also the more fun to solve because of it. You get these “Aha!” moments and start to understand how the designers’ minds function; which helps solve future puzzles.
Every Monkey Island has its own visual artstyle. I really love this one!
I'm diggin' this look. It's like a more stylized version of Monkey Island 1 Special Edition's art style.
@Fizza They were probably talking about the Monkey Wrench puzzle in MI2, but anyways, yeah, Monkey Island 1 is definitely a good starting point for anyone who wants to get more into point and clicks. I'd also recommend the other Lucasarts adventure games(most of which were rereleased or remastered), and the Sam & Max Telltale series.
Really interesting art style. Can't wait to see it all in motion. I will say I am a bit nervous about how Guybrush will look, though. The character models are very stylized, so I'm curious to see what he'll look like. The big question: will he have a beard??
@ImmaWario Same. I always felt Guybrush was a sort of dumb/naive but pretty good looking, baby-faced guy (as shown in MI and MI2). It felt a bit weird from MI3 on, where they went with a traditionally "funny looking" character design. I don't know, I feel like Guybrush as a handsome clueless guy (who can't grow a beard) is just funnier as a concept. It would also explain Elaine's attraction to him.
I still have to get used to this art-style. I prefer the cartoony look from Monkey Island 3
Monkey Island 2 and 3 were perfections. I hope this one is good!
@Fizza If you want to play a great classic point and click adventure, I would highly recommend checking out Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. The original version is on GOG.com and well worth a look if you are interested in the genre.
Am I blind or do I not see our favorite "mighty pirate" in any of these?
man that looks like the monkey island at home (sadly).
As long as Murray is in this, count me in (also hope Dominic Armato reprises his role, but I'd be very surprised if he didn't so I'm not worried. if they could get Murray's voice actor then SURELY the MAN himself will be a part of this!)
I’m not picking that up
I like the art style. I like Monkey Island. It therefore follows.....
@Abeedo "I can imagine that the Monkey Island games would be harder since they lack this [hint] system"
The Universal Hint System is pretty good: https://www.uhs-hints.com/
The screen shots look great, can't wait for more news ,
‘Special edition’ wasn’t special. It was awful, badly done photoshopped versions of an incredible game that didn’t need anything added. This Return to MK is no different. Stop messing with things that are perfect. I feel sorry for people who think this game is good in its photoshopped crappy form. The original had magic and you shouldn’t try shape those pixels into blended, botoxed representations.
Leave MK alone already. Thank god the originals still exist.
This looks awful. I absolutely hate this art style - it's utterly soulless. I can't believe some of you people are actually praising this trash.
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