When you “fight like a cow” without anything going cow: find out in the review if the port of Return to Monkey Island goes … in port
With poetic and unpredictable retaliation, that of the return is a main theme for the review of today: Return to Monkey Island it is in fact marked by the mooring at the native port since the first lines of our scrutiny today. Not only Ron Gilbert, creator of the beloved (although mostly from his loyal niche) franchise LucasArts, he wanted to pick up the reins of the series exactly where he left off. Even the writer, for his part, is happy to go back to putting videogames under the microscope as is appropriate, after two away analyzes carried out in a foreign land.
We all go home, in short: both the writer and this title, the creative team behind it and the fans who have remained dry-mouthed since that distant 1991. But after no less than thirty-one years, the genre of graphic adventures has known the oblivion of the afterlife with the prevalence of other genres on consoles, before returning to a new life and second youth. The redemption has been seen especially with more intuitive platforms in their input, including Ace Attorney on Nintendo DS and Zack & Wiki: the treasure of the pirate Barbaros on Wii. On this we can reassure you: in this sense, the port for Nintendo Switch is the de facto final version of the game.
“So where did we stay?”
It will seem inappropriate to quote the late Enzo Tortora to open our review, but these are the first words that come to mind even when talking about the appearance narrative by Return to Monkey Island. The intention of Ron Gilbert and his subordinates, old or new, can be understood from the very first moments of the game: to return to the mystical Monkey Island to discover the secret that gives its name to the very first chapter of what is now a trilogy. The device, in this sense, is a framing device (or narrative frame, if you prefer the Dante language) that is also useful in the gameplay.
With a textbook trip, the game introduces us (or reintroduces, you name it) to the conventions of the genre through the eyes of Boybrush and fellow Chuckie, leading us to think that they are the sworn enemies. Guybrush Threepwood and LeChuck at an early age. In reality, the blond Boybrush is the son of Guybrush, as it turns out (the only true spoiler that we will do, by necessity) at the end of the prologue. After this tutorial, it is from Guybrush that we will take the reins, in the story of how the eponymous “secret of Monkey Island” was discovered. At each subsequent access to the game, we will find father and son on the same bench again, for a profit summary of the latest events.
Who Starts Well – Return to Monkey Island Review
There really isn’t much to say about the backbone of the gameplay of Return to Monkey Island: it will be a review as faithful to the game as the latter is to the conventions of the genre. Starting a new game allows us to savor the first flashes of modernity with which the adventure opens up even to the layman of this vein. Leaving aside theexcellent localization in Italian (which takes into account the contextual nature of spoken English), already at the initial menu we are greeted by six items, two of which deserve our full attention. If in doubt, we will review them all.
The aforementioned first start allows us to choose between a “casual mode”Which simplifies, replaces or even removes various puzzles, designed“ for the hasty player ”. Otherwise, veterans of the series who want to go back to where they were years ago can aim for the “complete monkey” with the difficult mode. Il loading of the game can be used both in the main menu and in the pause menu (where the saving accompanies it). Acknowledgments aside, the game also has its own system achievement (shared elsewhere with the reference platform).
Options for all tastes – Return to Monkey Island Review
Speaking of the last two items we alluded to earlier, in the menu of Settings there is a rich roster of options for the player. The various controls can be consulted in the voice of the same name, as well as you can set any possible volume (effects, music, environment and voices) by selecting “sounds“. The visual options they already go into more detail, allowing you to activate and deactivate the movement of the camera on board the ship, do the same with the distortion and alter the video quality. As for Interface it’s at Texts & Languagethere is something to indulge in customizing the text on the screen.
We conclude this very long preamble with theScrapbook. This colossal collection of memories serves as a recap for all pre-game events. Understandably, Ron Gilbert assumed that the many years without him at the helm (literal and metaphorical) of the pirate saga needed a hook even for a whole new audience. The album allows you to familiarize yourself not only with the narrative, but also with the point-and-click structure of the game. In short, two birds with one stone, surpassing in this sense even a more famous franchise such as Kingdom Hearts (before Melody of Memory perfected the welcome to latecomers).
Parley-mi di te – Return to Monkey Island Review
Right from the start, the game does not give us any discount on the harsh law of graphic adventures. We talk about “point-and-clickFor a reason: the genre was born with computers and the mouse in mind. And as we have also had the opportunity to specify before, it is not a genre that has had luck on consoles (for a disastrous example of clumsy game design, in that sense, see Nightshade on NES via Nintendo Switch Online). To overcome the problem, it will be our in-game avatar to act as a “cursor”: we will move Guybrush to the closest “rods”, which indicate what we can interact with at the moment.
On the one hand, the bizarre charm that adventure oozes from every pore can be seen from the very first bars of the game. The Caribbean humor imagined by Gilbert has not aged one iota, amidst bizarre insults, a lot of sarcasm and the occasional note of metaphor. To be an experience almost purely textual, as the indie successors, including the German saga Deponia and our own The Wardrobe, teach us, the script is closely linked to the experience and quality of the game. Given how archaic and obtuse this genre can occasionally turn out, it is difficult to say no to a counterpart.
What a combination – Return to Monkey Island review
Unfortunately, dialogues alone may not save the loop di gameplay for all fans. In a matter of minutes, it becomes clear how much it takes to go back and forth to generate a context to move forward. From getting a skull to more common things like borrowing a mop, the hustle and bustle soon becomes an integral part of everyday life. Of course, the glue of the whole experience always remains the enormity of dialogues (as well recited as well translated) that will keep us company: a way like any other to see the game world come to life.
The same goes for puzzles, for which we fully understand the choice of leaving players full decision-making power on the difficulty. Our Inventory it often hosts objects that will inevitably come in handy later in unexpected ways. Unfortunately, in an unintuitive way outside the niche of fans of the genre, talking to the various NPCs after taking possession of the objects is not enough: it is also necessary to hand them to them, or use them to interact with a given element, if not even combine two of them. As a loophole, newbies can “peek” at a practice in-game guide shortly after the tutorial.
Technique prodigies – Return to Monkey Island Review
This is not a typo: we are already “in the fruit”, in a certain sense. Not that you can complain: thegraphic appearance of the game is to be applauded. We have already seen polygonal chapters in the series, with fluctuating results. This is a return to origins on an artistic level, although Ron Gilbert’s choice to avoid retro graphics results in the swinging trend of “composable” sprites, similar to the characters of Scribblenauts or Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (with backgrounds similar to the illustrations of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time). Talking about it like that doesn’t do Rex Crowle’s work justice, though: it sounds derivative, while in practice it is a bomb.
Also for the sonorous there is something to rejoice about. Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian, returning from the first two episodes, imbue the entire soundtrack with a light-hearted and piratical atmosphere in every single note. The cast of voice actors, for its part, includes both many veterans and as many new faces. Only on LeChuck’s ship it is possible to hear the latter voiced by Jess Harnell, in the same scene in which the subject Bob boasts the vocal cords of Rob Paulsen: only Tress MacNeille was missing for a reunion of the protagonists of Animaniacs. Goodies aside, artistically this game does not miss a beat.
Final considerations
Graphic adventures can be a tricky genre. If you are ready to meet this reality, for 25 euro (same price as the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Additional Paths Pass) you won’t be disappointed with this great introduction to the genre. We have reviewed better introductory titles in the context of initiation (see LIVE A LIVE in this regard), so we will repeat in this case what we have already said in the past: if instinctively the genre is not for you, this is not the game that will convince you. If, however, you are willing to love it, you already do it or, better still, you are a fan of the series, it is a bargain even at full price.
The maniacal care and dedication that the development team has poured into the product is evident in every aspect, which certainly makes it an essential purchase for the most devoted players to point-and-click. If you are not, however, we still advise you to add it to your wishlist. After all, the sales on eShop never fail: the right opportunity to make your own a copy could also be the best time to give this trend an opportunity. Not that he’s one of the nicest, but if there’s an exponent worth betting on, that’s it. Welcome back to the island!
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A comeback in great shape
Points in favor
- Every staple of the genre returns …
- Packaged quality-of-life changes …
- Easy to recommend to everyone …
- Top-notch dialogue, graphics and sound
- Ironic and charismatic
- Italian localization out of the parameters
Points against
- … and every flaw
- … more like patches for new fans, though
- … but perhaps a little less for newbies