Return to Monkey Island

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 232 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 150 out of 232
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 232
  3. Negative: 45 out of 232

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  1. JazGalaxy
    Oct 16, 2022
    6
    As a massive fan of Thimbleweed Park, I was extremely disappointed by Monkey Island. I basically kept playing in order to finish it despite being bored most of the time. The game's writing is basically exactly what you would expect. It's relentlessly silly, but in a predictable way that an AI could generate if it was fed the previous 2 games. Everyone says pretty much exactly what youAs a massive fan of Thimbleweed Park, I was extremely disappointed by Monkey Island. I basically kept playing in order to finish it despite being bored most of the time. The game's writing is basically exactly what you would expect. It's relentlessly silly, but in a predictable way that an AI could generate if it was fed the previous 2 games. Everyone says pretty much exactly what you expect them to all of the time. The games graphics are amazing, despite what you may hear. The vector images and textured art allow your brain to activate your imagination to interpret a scene, which is an element of pixel art that HD renderings often miss. The game feels more "alive", as a result, than other HD games. The inference is terrible, however, and feels made for touch screens. It's context sensitivity ruins a lot of the exploration from previous games and feels hollow. Where the previous game allowed the PLAYER to take actions, and then the game generated pithy outputs, the new game literally puts a prompt to "comment on x" on the screen that is literally a quip generating button. It's less fun and takes power away from the player.

    But the real reason the game is below "fun" is that the puzzles are tedious, boring and obtuse. For instance, one puzzle has to feeding an NPC who complains of his food being bland. The solution to the puzzle is to apply fire to it. Like... what? There is an in-game hint guide, so it's impossible to be stuck and have it not be by choice, but once you look up a solution and find that the answer is absurd, it ruins the game. You no longer want to put up with any frustration because the answer might be stupid and you would never figure it out.

    In the end... this game is just unfun. It's a MASSIVE disappointment because of how much I loved Thimbleweed Park. I hope Gilbert to returns to TP and abandons Monkey Island.    … Expand
  2. TwoEars
    Oct 11, 2022
    7
    How to brew Return to Monkey Island soup:

    30% Rehashed nostalgia and familiar characters 20% Rushed development and questionable art style 15% Good puzzles and quite a few lazy ones (even on "hard") 15% Monkey Island magic and new funny material 10% Monkey Island music 10% Flat ending Let simmer in a big kettle and add a flattened skull. It's probably not a bad game but it's    How to brew Return to Monkey Island soup:

    30% Rehashed nostalgia and familiar characters
    20% Rushed development and questionable art style
    15% Good puzzles and quite a few lazy ones (even on "hard")
    15% Monkey Island magic and new funny material
    10% Monkey Island music
    10% Flat ending

    Let simmer in a big kettle and add a flattened skull. It's probably not a bad game but it's hardly the best in the series if you've played the previous ones, and it's not exactly a stellar standalone game for newcomers either. Probably an 8 score game if the ending had been better, and still not sure about the art style.    … Expand
  3. xergiok
    Jul 30, 2023
    5
    Return to Monkey Island is a well written adventure game. Ron Gilbert, the creator of the first two games, is back at the helm, and he found a clever way to essentially continue the story from where he left off in Monkey Island 2 without 'de-canonizing' the other games (although, I'm sure many would have been happy to forget Escape from Monkey Island). Thematically, it's a more thoughtfulReturn to Monkey Island is a well written adventure game. Ron Gilbert, the creator of the first two games, is back at the helm, and he found a clever way to essentially continue the story from where he left off in Monkey Island 2 without 'de-canonizing' the other games (although, I'm sure many would have been happy to forget Escape from Monkey Island). Thematically, it's a more thoughtful sequel than games 3-5; it really ties Guybrush's story together. While I realize that retreading the past is kind of the point, the fact that a big part of the game is set on a carbon copy of Melee Island from the first game was perhaps more pleasing to a returning creator than to the rest of us (we already got a graphically retouched version of Melee in the special edition). Also, I'd argue that the number of old characters repurposed to fill new roles felt gratuitous already by the fourth game. Even though the game is self-aware about it, the nostalgia-angle has already been thoroughly milked in previous titles. Be that is it may, the actual adventure is as well crafted as ever and the dialogue is excellent (as you'd expect).

    Gameplay-wise though, it's a a disappointment. This is an adventure game that doesn't trust you to play it. By severely limiting the number of actions you may (attempt to) perform, a lot of the lateral thinking involved in solving the puzzles is gone, and the world just doesn't feel interactive. This is a major problem with the game. Even if most attempted actions don't do anything in classic point and click adventure games, there's value in the feeling of it potentially doing something. I'm very surprised the Gilbert seems unaware of this. I'm not saying that the old 12-verb system would have been the better choice here, but rather that a game like Curse of Monkey Island struck a much better balance in terms of complexity vs user friendliness, and this new system holds your hand too anxiously. The puzzles themselves are mostly well crafted. While the new simplified gameplay makes the game too easy (and I played on hard, mind you), you can still get stuck on simple puzzles that are just counter intuitive. A puzzle where you need to simply re-enter a room, took me way too long to figure out, because it doesn't make sense. Similarly, I was stuck forever on another puzzle because it seems I disagree with the developers about the meaning of 'left' and 'right' in terms of rotating motions. No adventure game experience is free from a few hiccups like these, though, and your mileage may vary.

    Speaking of Curse of Monkey Island: compared to that game from 1997, the production values in terms of the graphics are underwhelming. I rarely complain about graphics in games, but I feel Return to Monkey Island really does have a problem in this department. The art style is so avant-garde that it forgets to be graphics, i.e. it's not immersive. The design of the characters' faces feel too abstract and lifeless to allow facial expressions to aid the comedic writing. It's a far cry from the sublime character animations of Curse of Monkey Island (again, from 1997!). Some have pointed out that the wobbly, elastic quality to the animations make it feel like a 'cheap flash game', and well... they have a point. Every installment since Curse has been underwhelming in terms of character design, animation and atmosphere, adding to the persisting feeling that we still haven't seen a proper Monkey Island game since the first three.    … Expand
  4. Stratos2000
    Jan 12, 2023
    6
    What could be the dullest puzzle for a point and click game?
    Maybe basic "There's a lock. FIND the KEY and USE it to the LOCK."
    Okay, now let's include dozen of those in this game!
    Sigh, I played the game through anyways, it had its moments but most of it was kinda unchallenging, repetitive and boring.
  5. anarion321
    Sep 24, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm a hardcore monkey island fan and I'm saddened to say this game could be the worst of the series. For me it would be difficult to chose the best one in the first 3 games, but probably would be the 3rd, then the Telltale Game and finally, the 4th (most of the bad score would be the ending though), before this one came up.

    Will say positive things first, the music it's just perfect, they never got this wrong. The game works smoothly, translations seems to be very good, gameplay has become simplier and works well, you can see still creativity in dialogues, puzzles...the puzzles are well done, they are not really hard, all the clues are there and well setup in dialogue with one sentence or one key word it's pretty well made.

    I will be kinda neutral on the art, it's not really a favorite of mine, but got to say that works well in some places. What I dislike the most is the way the portrayed Guybrush, he looks ugly, and he never looked like that in any game, at most, dumb.

    Now, the ugly would be the actual plot, I think I get they want to sell this is a story telled to a kid and the things he tells are not actually what happened, not accuratelly at least, or just straight made up, and with that they want to get away with it, not actually telling the Secret and other things, but to me, lands as an excuse at the end, bad writting. If you don't want to tell the Secret (let's face it, it's kind of impossible to find something great to satisfy people), just make up something else, like the other games. This is the only game that at the end amounts to nothing, there's no payoff for me. Every other game had an actual end to the story. Seems to me they want to reminiscent MI2, with the odd ending, but even there you got an ending that somewhat clearly tells you you were on a Lechuck spell or something. This game ends up with Guybrush finishing his story on a bench, looking a bit traumatized maybe, serious at least, maybe selling the vibe of a more serious and dark plot in his stories, that he does not tell his kid and that's why his stories end up weird (at least, MI2 and this game). I think I get that but again, seems lazy to me.

    This game it's mostly hundreds of little puzzles chasing a macguffin, decorated all the time with huge nonsense, going to monkey island to find that the Secret is actually on Melee ¿? solving a lot of puzzles to get the macguffin, returning to Monkey Island and ending with a nonsensical bizarre ending in an amusing park, the secret being a T-shirt like MI1. It really adds nothing to the overall story. There's really nothing moving the story but the macguffin, they want the Secret because they want the Secret. In other games there was other plots moving the story, Elaine being kidnapped, Lechuck coming back to life, Elaine being cursed and Lechuck being a threat to all creating a massive army in his park, Lechuck becoming the leader of the 3 islands while you have to fight a legal battle somewhere, Lechuck becoming human.....There were many plots, in this game I just can say that they want to find the treasure and puzzles happen in the way.

    Another thing I dislike a lot is Elaine in this game, she's a loving wife that's more like a pet than anything, it's not like the strong woman she is in other games. Maybe because it's a story for their kid she's portrayed as a loving mother? Regardless, she's only there to appear unexplicably a few times and move the plot forward nonsensically, like fabricating a ship, dealing with bad guys and rescuing everybody, a super mama maybe. In the game they sell you a plot about Elaine discovering that in Guybrush quest there's rampage going on, he's doing harm to people, and even sabotaging Elaine work a bit, I was expecting to have to face angry Elaine at some point, but no, it just end up in a dialogue with Elaine telling you the bads you've made, how she had to fix some of it and still being supportive and helping you, no payoff to that plotline.

    Getting Gilbert back on track I was hoping to get a more serious tone and deep storytelling to be honest.

    Finally, as a fan of all the games, I have to say that I liked it when I saw that they actually featured and recognize all of them, I feared they made a reboot going back to the 2nd, but in the end, they don't really do it because they take a few things of them, but forget many, or so it seems to me, I've tried to exhaust all dialogue options, but maybe miss a few. For example, they recognize Carla getting a public job thanks to Guybrush in MI4, and they say that's how she end up being mayor, but there seems to be no mention on Herman being Elaine grandfather, and how he end up losing the job and go crazy again, and with that, many more little examples.

    I will end saying that I was also kind of dissapointed to not have real gameplay of swordfight, or something akin to it. I will always love the swordfight in MI3, best of all.    … Expand
  6. bokarsh-z
    Sep 24, 2022
    5
    ========
    only worth 15 dollar
    ========
    - 8-10 hours long.
    -vomiting characters design but loved environments.
    -meh puzzles.
    -happy they didnt ruin the music.
    -oh ending was pile of **** and disappointment ruined the franchise.
  7. dangelman
    Sep 26, 2022
    5
    I've never played the series and decided to start with this one since it was renowned and I'm familiar with point & click adventures (I've obviously watched a recap of the previous chapters).

    The gameplay is pretty basic, I expected something more intrigate and mind-poking, but it may be because I chose the first difficulty option; perhaps veteran suited me more. Graphically it's    I've never played the series and decided to start with this one since it was renowned and I'm familiar with point & click adventures (I've obviously watched a recap of the previous chapters).

    The gameplay is pretty basic, I expected something more intrigate and mind-poking, but it may be because I chose the first difficulty option; perhaps veteran suited me more.

    Graphically it's definitely not bad as many would swear. I'd have appreciated better animation tho.

    I liked the writing, it was quirky, but the plot...
    Firstly I was expecting something longer, and more complex, and the ending was so disappointing. i read it was something the author reused to cope with the fact that he would never satisfy the expectations, so he simply bailed from trying. That's the overall vibe I'm getting for the entire game. It could have been much more, but something went wrong.    … Expand
  8. Randomkiller08
    Sep 28, 2022
    5
    Its an ok enough game from an puzzle standpoint but the ending is terrible and they made Guybrush into an cruel ****
  9. CommanderCoolbe
    Sep 20, 2022
    5
    Putting aside the contentious choice of graphical style, Return To Monkey Island lacks a lot of the charm of the original games. Straight up failing to capture the essence of Monkey Island along with including a few scenes that seem to be Ron Gilbert upset that his creation outgrew him and throwing shade at his "fans". The game also features an overly simplified UI. Every item you canPutting aside the contentious choice of graphical style, Return To Monkey Island lacks a lot of the charm of the original games. Straight up failing to capture the essence of Monkey Island along with including a few scenes that seem to be Ron Gilbert upset that his creation outgrew him and throwing shade at his "fans". The game also features an overly simplified UI. Every item you can interact with boils down to a left click or right click option and as such, the puzzles, even on the harder difficulty are so easy even a games journalist could get through them. As for the ending, we already had this before Ron, when you fall back on this yet again, it loses most of its punch.… Expand
  10. donnaluisa42
    Sep 21, 2022
    5
    I don't really get the hype, but then again I didn't play the original games. It seems like an average adventure game to me owing a lot to the nostalgia. After playing Brok the investigator which released recently or Unavowed from Wadjet eye I see the rift, if anything it doesn't have the tons of choices and narrative content these games have and this leaves a sour taste. Oh and theI don't really get the hype, but then again I didn't play the original games. It seems like an average adventure game to me owing a lot to the nostalgia. After playing Brok the investigator which released recently or Unavowed from Wadjet eye I see the rift, if anything it doesn't have the tons of choices and narrative content these games have and this leaves a sour taste. Oh and the animation is really low budget and lazy.
    Play it only if you're a fan of the series, otherwise there are much better modern adventure games out there.    … Expand
  11. kabamaru
    Sep 24, 2022
    5
    Sadly, I changed my review score from 10 to 5. At the beginning I loved it. Then, after a good deal of time, I finished it... And it is then, that one can realise that the whole game is built around this ending. I daresay that the whole decision to make the game was built around the ending. It is difficult to justify criticism without spoiling it, so I will only say it is done soSadly, I changed my review score from 10 to 5. At the beginning I loved it. Then, after a good deal of time, I finished it... And it is then, that one can realise that the whole game is built around this ending. I daresay that the whole decision to make the game was built around the ending. It is difficult to justify criticism without spoiling it, so I will only say it is done so clumsily.

    What begins as a fresh and interesting adventure, soon becomes a plot mess without a true goal or a way out. It seems that near the end, budget/time constraints or the creator's sour mood, led to a hasty completion. The holes are numerous and many things are left unexplained. Then, comes the ending. Without needing to say anything about its content, it offers poor plot armour and indicates that Ron wanted to be the one to have the final say in the series. After how he treated his own franchise - and our very beloved - I don't think that anyone is going to trust him again with another entry - even with another game.

    The sad thing is, I feel sad for him. He could have made this a celebration. A thing to remain in history for its brilliance and wholesome completion, his own return of the king, but he chose to express his feelings, sour and grey as they are, through it. I feel sad that he didn't have anyone else to express them and he chose to kill it as he did. No monkey island entry will come after that. It can't be done and no one will ever trust him again to buy another entry. Poor Guybrush....    … Expand
  12. MJoZ
    Sep 23, 2022
    7
    Oldschool great game with a lot of humour.
    Love the world of pirates and how the characters expand during the story.
  13. Gameboii
    Sep 25, 2022
    7
    Funny and fun game, I wanted to play it with my kids but they weren’t interested
  14. Lov3Glov3
    Oct 23, 2022
    7
    It's a great experience for those who grew up with the original point n' clickers. As a modern game, it's still pretty decent. Nothing about it really sticks out to me except for the nostalgia of the original games. Unfortunately, the difficulty is dumbed down for this new generation of gaming. Hours were dedicated to trying to find the craziest path to your objective, and now you're givenIt's a great experience for those who grew up with the original point n' clickers. As a modern game, it's still pretty decent. Nothing about it really sticks out to me except for the nostalgia of the original games. Unfortunately, the difficulty is dumbed down for this new generation of gaming. Hours were dedicated to trying to find the craziest path to your objective, and now you're given a hint book that can be too enticing to read through from time to time. The comedy is still pretty on point if you know the originals, finding that perfect balance of nostalgia and new. You'll get your fill here if you're a fan of the first two Monkey Island games. I just don't think much else will.… Expand
  15. Hackattaque
    Sep 24, 2022
    7
    I had fun playing Return to Monkey Island, but overall would rank it 7.5/10 overall, similar to other recent games by the old LucasArts veterans like Broken Age and Thimbleweed Park. The interface is excellent, the visuals are great and the writing sharp. And, at 10 hours in length, the game is good value for money. I was left wanting more, though. Some old faces felt either underused orI had fun playing Return to Monkey Island, but overall would rank it 7.5/10 overall, similar to other recent games by the old LucasArts veterans like Broken Age and Thimbleweed Park. The interface is excellent, the visuals are great and the writing sharp. And, at 10 hours in length, the game is good value for money. I was left wanting more, though. Some old faces felt either underused or underdeveloped (especially the return of 'Plunder Bunny'), some puzzles were a little light, and the ending was an anti-climax. I hope there'll be more additions to the series and I enjoyed this, but it falls short of classic.… Expand
  16. Gittoplo
    Oct 24, 2022
    7
    Not bad just didn't feel like a proper game. Still fun to play and a must for Monkey fans.
  17. philzlz
    Oct 9, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As someone growing up with Monkey Island it was a pleasure to revisit the setting and characters. While the new style received some flak before release I got used to it in minutes and even enjoyed it after a while. Dialogue was funny and voice acting great.

    Unfortunately the ending soured the whole deal, there is nothing more anticlimactic than completing the final riddles, excited for the big showdown and then seeing this the developer bailing out in the last minute. It is not fun or quirky and left me a bit disappointed.    … Expand
  18. Gamerguz
    Oct 24, 2022
    7
    I really love the humour, puzzles and gameplay!
    It's a game worth every cent!
  19. x6_Balan
    Dec 23, 2022
    7
    Entretenido y cumple perfectamente con la nostalgia, que al final es lo llamativo de este título.

    También creo que si no fuese Monkey Island con todo su lore el mismo juego sería un 5 o menos. Es un título que merece la pena solo si viviste los inicios, no solo por la nostalgia, si no para entender el motivo por el que este género a día de hoy es muy difícil de verlo y de que triunfe    Entretenido y cumple perfectamente con la nostalgia, que al final es lo llamativo de este título.

    También creo que si no fuese Monkey Island con todo su lore el mismo juego sería un 5 o menos.

    Es un título que merece la pena solo si viviste los inicios, no solo por la nostalgia, si no para entender el motivo por el que este género a día de hoy es muy difícil de verlo y de que triunfe realmente.

    Lo mejor:
    Música, guión y guiños de la historia.

    Lo peor:
    El género, creo que no podían hacerlo mucho mejor en nada, pero no da más de sí.    … Expand
  20. sadmammal
    Jul 5, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's a solid game that probably seems worse because of what it's supposed to be. It falls apart at the end, and I don't mean THE end, but the whole final part. It lacks punch, it's too uncommitted, and the last puzzle is probably (cute reference and all) the most underwhelming of the whole game (in a section that was notably underwhelming in general).

    It lacks a good amount of life and charm. The story seemed way too understated and trying to not get in the way of the game too much (when it should be one of its stronger points). It misses more creative puzzles, the kind that gets stuck in your head for a while. Contrarily, every puzzle made me feel as if it was always missing a step or two (it's too easy too get a key, it's far too whatever to go into Lechuck's ship, it's far too straight-forward to win the three trials, far too much boils down to "put the peanut in the peanut hole"). The islands feel empty and without much to do in them (there are two locations that exist for what amounts to a SINGLE TRADE, and that makes them seem rather pointless for most of the game) and the travel feels too inconsequential. It never made me feel clever, nor was I ever amused by nothing done by the developers. It's mostly fine. Just fine. And that's a shame, because even the parts that I enjoyed when I go back to them in my head feel brought down for what it's mostly a nothing entry in a great series.

    I didn't mind the graphics, even if they lend themself to a couple of cartoony moments that I didn't particularly like. The music is good, but I don't recall anything groundbreaking.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best PC Game of 2022
26
#26 Most Discussed PC Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 54
  3. Negative: 0 out of 54
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 25, 2024
    100
    The game deserves to be called one of the best point-and-click adventure games of recent times. It continues the narrative and completes the old story to general satisfaction. It blends tradition with innovation and isn't afraid to reckon with both its own legacy and the genre as a whole. [Issue#322]
  2. GameGrin
    Dec 14, 2022
    100
    Guybrush’s new adventure is every bit as fun as his previous ones. This is a triumph of a game that manages to live up to exorbitant amounts of expectation and ticks every box.
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  3. Riot Pixels
    Oct 22, 2022
    65
    No one asked Guybrush to return, but he came anyway and crashed his own party. In the beginning, you try your best to acclimate to the unusual visual style, hoping that your patience will eventually pay off. In the end, you wonder how they managed to screw up a decent game with such a vile ending.
    Read full review
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