The Monkey Island franchise hasn’t been around for a couple of years and when I’m talking about a couple of years, I’m talking about around 30 years ago. Monkey Island was one of the best point-and-click adventures released on the first personal computers. The franchise took its time with making a new addition to the franchise. A sequel to the popular click-and-point adventure that could live up to the expectations of those old veteran die-hard fans. I’m glad to say that the game will be a great addition to the franchise and a great opportunity to introduce the young ones to a “real” adventure…
Since we’re talking about a new chapter in the franchise, you’re probably wondering whether you should replay the previous chapters and I can assure you that you don’t have to do this. It would be an awesome adventure that you could add to your list but as I said before, it isn’t necessary. The game gives you a little bit of the history of the previous chapters due to the “Scrapbook” feature. The Scrapbook allows you to turn a couple of pages to get acquainted with the characters, story elements, and villains.
“A point-and-click adventure is all about exploring the region and getting beyond certain obstacles by solving puzzles.”
The game is utterly hilarious and you can definitely feel the link with the older games if you have played them. The Monkey Island franchise is known to break down the 4th wall and make hilarious remarks about the world and the previous chapters of the game. The main character, Guybrush Threepwood returns to the stage and tells his son the story about that one time he tried to rediscover melee Island and uncover the secrets of Monkey Island. It is time to heighten the sails of our pirate ship and get ourselves a crew. It’s the perfect time to maybe re-introduce familiar faces such as Murray, the demonic talking skull.
A point-and-click adventure is all about exploring the region and getting beyond certain obstacles by solving puzzles. There are 2 kinds of modes: casual and hard. Casual mode is for the player who enjoys a great story and sometimes invests some time to solve a puzzle. A lot of these puzzles aren’t top-level and will be easier to solve. Hard mode is the top level of puzzle solving. This mode is more for the players out there who can easily spot a clue and know what it’s for. Even though there are 2 modes, there’s still the option to get some clues about solving the puzzle, for those moments when you’re terribly stuck and can’t move on with your “digital” life. The hints are also built in a way that builds up the level of “awareness”. At first, a hint might point you in the right direction and the second one might be more about showing you the place where you need to be. It’s good to have these different layers within the hint system. Sometimes, you only need that little push… Also, it’s good to know that the hints are totally spoiler free, so you don’t need to worry about skipping ahead in the story.
“Graphically speaking, the game looks great!”
One of the things that just stand out, is the use of humoristic remarks that kinda reflect how selfish a human being really can be. The main concept of the storytelling is the fact that Guybrush is making the life of all of those people around him miserable while he’s actually gaining profit from them. Instead of a sporadic joke, the humoristic writing is top-notch and you can tell that the developers want to keep the veteran players happy.
Graphically speaking, the game looks great! The colorful and bright 2D environments are giving you a vibrant feeling of something new and fresh. Even though the game itself is an old concept of a type of game, it doesn’t feel old or boring to go on this 2D adventure. The sound design is great and every dialogue feels well-written. It’s amazing to think that all of these environments and characters are drawn by hand. This of course allows the developer to really put the different characteristics of each individual in the spotlight, which allows the writers to pitch in and make quirky remarks about it. The updated graphical style gives the sequel a fresh new start.
“It’s a very simple enjoyable 2D point-and-click adventure.”
All of the controls also feel intuitive and very simple. Like the game’s type already giving away what kind of game you’ll be playing, you’re actually moving around the world and interacting with objects within the environment by pointing and clicking. You don’t need some extreme mechanics to keep the player’s interest. The fact that it’s so simplistic presented, helps the players (regardless of experience) to just pick up the game and play the game. There’s no grind, there’s no battle pass, and there’s no PVP, … It’s a very simple enjoyable 2D point-and-click adventure.
Conclusion:
There isn’t really much to say about this game but I can definitely recommend it. If you want something very simple and yet challenging that can train your brain while keeping the edge of things. This is the kind of game you’ll want to play. It’s a successful formula that’s been re-introduced by keeping the presentation simple yet intriguing. The humoristic writing will keep you invested and before you know it, the Scrapbook of Monkey Island will already have a couple of new pages added. It’s a simple game that will keep you invested without battle passes, progression or a 120 hours playthrough. Just set your mind to zero and enjoy.
8.5/10
Tested on PC
