Developer: Terrible Toybox
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Release Date: 8th November 2022
Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo & Steam
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
▫️ Code provided by the publisher ▫️
Point-and-click games were one of my favourite genres growing up. Classics like Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and Monkey Island dominated my gaming time on PC. The puzzles could be frustrating at times and I absolutely used a guide when needed, but LucasArts always managed to deliver a story and characters that I found compelling – especially at a time when very few others were delivering such high quality. So when we found out just a few months ago that not only were we getting a new Monkey Island title, but both Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman were returning after last working on LeChuck’s Revenge back in 1991 I couldn’t have been more excited.
STORY
Ron Gilbert had previously said that he always envisioned Monkey Island as a trilogy, and Return to Monkey Island is clearly his way of following through on that while still showing respect to the games that were produced after he left LucasArts in 1992. The story is told from the perspective of Guybrush telling a tale to his son. That tale? Going after the secret of Monkey Island of course.
We start with Guybrush looking for financial backing to lead an expedition to Monkey Island in search of the secret. But after being laughed out of the Scumm bar by the new-age pirate leaders, our fearless protagonist sets his sights on joining the crew of his old nemesis LeChuck. In typical adventure game fashion though, a simple request for employment isn’t going to cut it, and so starts the merry-go-round of collecting items and doing favours to further your cause. The cast of both new and returning characters is a joy throughout the game’s relatively short run time, with the key-making, dry-witted Locke Smith being one of the standouts.
GAMEPLAY
The game is an absolute joy to navigate and control. You have the freedom to control Guybrush with the left stick while retaining the ability to cycle through objects that can be interacted with using the right stick. I much prefer this more modern approach to the point-and-click genre as it makes the whole experience more fluid and responsive. Gone are the vague commands like “Talk” and “Use”. These have been replaced with more descriptive terms like “Pick up X” and “Look up Y” etc. It sounds like a minor alteration but it gives you more sense of control over the actions you take.
Also welcome is a casual mode, which limits the number of puzzles in the game. By no means does this make the journey plain sailing though. Instead, it often removes a step from the puzzle requirements, which is ideal for those less familiar with the genre or looking to enjoy the narrative. An example from early in the game is a forgiveness frog you collect. In casual mode, you can simply give this to the character you need to mend a bridge with, but on hard mode, you need to write intimate details about the character from the information you glean around the world (which varies each playthrough).
AUDIO AND VISUALS
The team were bombarded with negative feedback on the games art style after it was shown off at a Nintendo Direct back in June. Gone is the pixel-art graphics and in comes an abstract stlye similar to games like Guacamelee that resembles a moving painting. Personally I loved the new style and thought it captured the modern take on the series that the team were going for. Meanwhile the audio throughout the game is brilliant. Each character is fully voiced and the performances are brilliant from start to finish, with a returning Dominic Artmato as Guybrush being the standout.
TROPHIES/ACHIEVEMENTS
In typical adventure game fashion, there are a bunch of missable trophies/achievements you need to watch out for. Some are only able to be unlocked if you have taken certain steps in earlier chapters as well, so you need to be vigilant. A run in hard mode is required for a few of these objectives, and there is also a speedrun trophy (2 hours of less) which I would highly recommend tackling in casual mode.
Finally, there are 100 trivia cards to collect. These spawn randomly across the games locations and so there is no guide for them. Thankfully they carry over between runs though, so you can just continue to collect them while working through everything else. The last catch is that you have to answer all 100 trivia questions correctly. A wrong answer drops the card. For this reason I recommend using this handy cheat sheet provided by The Gamer.
VALUE: The £20 price tag is ideal for a game like this. While there isn’t much replay value for the non trophy/achievement hunters of the world, the package is such high quality that I can’t imagine any point-and-click fan feeling short changed.
VERDICT
Return to Monkey Island is a love letter to fans of the LucasArts classics of the 90’s. The characters and story was a joy from the first moment to the last and the puzzles were crafted in a way that make you feel clever for solving them. When you add this together with the beautiful art style and top quality voice work you end up with one of the best point-and-click games we have seen yet. Period.
-Craig.