Return to Monkey Island

The ending is actually as bad as people say. Generally, the game felt a little tainted by the same attitude that made the ending bad. Maybe I was just younger, but the earlier games of Monkey Island just felt wittier. Don't buy it full price. You can even get this game for free on other platforms. And even then, only play it if you have a weak spot for Monkey Island.

I'd like to say I enjoyed Return to Monkey Island and for a decent portion of it, I did. However the game is built upon two assumptions: 1. You're a Monkey Island fan. 2. You want to see the series come to a satisfying conclusion. As such, a lot of the game is built around old tropes of the series and continuously makes references back to old jokes and events from previous titles. This is fine in and of itself but something that I found made Monkey Island 1-3 continuously interesting and fulfilling was the willingness to expand its own world and venture into new territories. RtMI doesn't really tread any new ground aside from a few new locations in the latter half of the game. The story is pretty much beating a dead horse and hoping something exciting happens. And when nothing exciting happens we're supposed to sit back and laugh at ourselves for being so gullible as to expect the creators to do something satisfying with what is supposed to be the ultimate love letter to their series. Also, I'm not a fan of being given hints. Yes, it speeds the game up when you're stumped. But this is a Monkey Island game. You're supposed to sit scratching your head at least a few times thinking "What the hell do they want me to do here?" until you eventually rub the right items together and bam, puzzle solved. Giving a book of hints just takes away all the satisfaction of eventually coming to the answer by yourself. I can see what the creators were going for here. A little homage to their body of work and the nostalgia that the series evokes. I get it. But that's not an excuse to be lazy.