Not so much the framing device stuff, that's fine. After all, MI2 is my favorite of the whole series.
I didn't like the anticlimax stuff with LeChuck. I was hoping for a confrontation of sorts after the last puzzle and instead it just... peters out.
The fact that the story theme kind of centers around the joy of sharing a new story with people puts how the internet treated Ron Gilbert pre-release in a super harsh light. Honestly? Fuck, like, 90%+ of the internet. The art style really grew on me as I played.
I figure it didn't really matter what the ending *was* with LeChuck, since we know he'll just come back for Guybrush's other adventures in the other games. Might as well go for a goof on Boybrush, that's the most Guybrush thing he could do.
I figure that this opens up a timeline for new adventures with Guy, Elaine, and Boybrush. If they decide they want to revisit it sometime.
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COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Not so much the framing device stuff, that's fine. After all, MI2 is my favorite of the whole series.
I didn't like the anticlimax stuff with LeChuck. I was hoping for a confrontation of sorts after the last puzzle and instead it just... peters out.
The fact that the story theme kind of centers around the joy of sharing a new story with people puts how the internet treated Ron Gilbert pre-release in a super harsh light. Honestly? Fuck, like, 90%+ of the internet. The art style really grew on me as I played.
Ending.
If the amusement park bit is actually representing what happened, then there was no confrontation with LeChuck.
Guybrush snuck down there and stole the key to Secret while LeChuck was distracted fighting the remaining pirate captain. Then, depending on player's choice, he either used it to get the Secret and was disappointed in it, or got away with the key and dropped it in the lava after credits.
Gilbert is starting to really play with endings now. Reminds me of The Cave.
In that there are multiple endings?
I remember the ending to Thimbleweed Park being.....underwhelming.
It's the third game (of his, that I've played) that's ended with
it's all a dream/movie/game, here's sets of the places you visited, come behind the scenes and see it all took place on a soundstage, all of it was fake, the story didn't matter, you will not be getting a satisfying conclusion. This includes Monkey Island 2 (less so 'it was all a game'), Return to Monkey Island, and Thimbleweed Park. I've played the Cave but I can't remember its ending. You can't make a point about it being about the journey not the destination with a paid adventure game. No one expects Guybrush and LeChuck to have an epic QTE battle to the death, but LeChuck and the other character shouldn't just disappear either.
It's not a revelation at this point, it's just not valuing our time as players.
Gilbert is starting to really play with endings now. Reminds me of The Cave.
In that there are multiple endings?
I remember the ending to Thimbleweed Park being.....underwhelming.
It's the third game (of his, that I've played) that's ended with
it's all a dream/movie/game, here's sets of the places you visited, come behind the scenes and see it all took place on a soundstage, all of it was fake, the story didn't matter, you will not be getting a satisfying conclusion. This includes Monkey Island 2 (less so 'it was all a game'), Return to Monkey Island, and Thimbleweed Park. I've played the Cave but I can't remember its ending. You can't make a point about it being about the journey not the destination with a paid adventure game. No one expects Guybrush and LeChuck to have an epic QTE battle to the death, but LeChuck and the other character shouldn't just disappear either.
It's not a revelation at this point, it's just not valuing our time as players.
The ending for this one doesn't quite do that, though? Boybrush immediately calls Guybrush out on it being an awful ending, and starts asking what really happened. Which Guybrush mostly brushes away.
And then Elaine comes and tells Guybrush about another adventure they can go on.
I had a wonderful time with it and enjoyed the ending we got but there definitely seemed to be a thematic direction this was all going that I'm a little surprised the whole game swerved on.
You had the new kids using new magic usurping the old order. Old Melee island businesses closing and old characters having to adapt or move on.
Guybrush's path of destructions felt a lot more serious here with it causing kinda horrifying problems and Elaine putting the pieces together regarding it all. Then LeChuck's crew was getting generally tired of his shit and his moustache twirling nonsense was being made fun of so there was this running theme of both Guybrush and LeChuck being stuck in these old ways only now it's being actively called out
So basically I felt that both Guybrush and LeChuck would both get some browbeating and have to deal with moving on and getting old like the rest of the melee island. Maybe even have to learn some begrudging respect for each other and finally stop fighting and work together to deal with the new kids on the block and have a satisfying resolution where everyone stops letting the hunt for the secret dominate their lives and work to rebuild Melee better than ever after it got quaked.
All that said
The ending I got of him reemerging into the theme park but turning off all the lights and leaving the secret unopened there felt right too. Gave me that same feel of just getting over it all and much like with the Chums, telling the story with embellishments and tangents and flavorful descriptions just for the sake of telling the story to his kid for fun.
Course then it gives me Guybrush sitting there looking still a bit obsessed so it torpedos that closure a bit.
Thematic wobbliness aside the game was just delightful. It's a great refinement of the old lucasarts adventure formula with the puzzles all being pretty fun and nothing making me wonder what drugs the puzzle designer was on to connect the logic dots like the old days. I hope this spurs a return to this style of goofy adventure game cause they're always a treat. I'd love to see what Zak McKraken is up to these days 👀
Just finished this today.
Didn't much like the ending.
Went back and did things differently, and liked it a bit better.
Still don't like how there was the constant theme of
Guybrush being an enormous jerk about finding the Secret, and then there's no comeuppance at the end.
I guess Guybrush is just a jerk now.
Puzzles were pretty good though.
Only got stuck on the second last puzzle because my solution made more sense to me than the one presented.
I thought the grates on the ground were microphones.
And all the interactions with the statues were Guybrush saying nice things.
So, I had him stand on the microphone and say not nice things.
Sore arm: inspect museum key and snicker
Screaming monkey: blow up fish and use it to burp
Headless monkey: inspect slime head "Urgh, it's not just the heads that are slimy"
What I hadn't realised was
that I could take my stuff back from the first floor monkeys.
Overall pretty good, but the ending was unsatisfying.
Just finished this today.
Didn't much like the ending.
Went back and did things differently, and liked it a bit better.
Still don't like how there was the constant theme of
Guybrush being an enormous jerk about finding the Secret, and then there's no comeuppance at the end.
I guess Guybrush is just a jerk now.
I mean, we're talking about the same Guybrush who sank his crewmates ship, stole Wally's monocle, got a chef fired, etc. He's always been a jerk, the game just acknowledges it now.
Well, the first one was an accident, and he returned the second. I don't remember the third.
They seemed less vicious than what transpired in this game.
What with
wrestling toothrot, pulling apart the crown with his teeth, and the whole curse of the secret thing that didn't turn into anything.
It was just all-consuming for him, and getting the secret didn't really come with any comeuppance.
I mean they even say as much at the end
with le chuck's flyer ticking off how close you are to being le chuck, and Flambe saying that the two of them deserve each other.
And so, after basically turning into Le Chuck, there's no reflection on Guybrush's part at all.
So.. is there any value left in him as a protagonist?
Posts
Good thing I am at the very beginning.
Seems to be reviewing well, though.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
When you're done, apparently there are quite a few small variations in the ending:
https://mixnmojo.com/features/sitefeatures/The-Many-Epilogues-of-Return-to-Monkey-Island
I didn't like the anticlimax stuff with LeChuck. I was hoping for a confrontation of sorts after the last puzzle and instead it just... peters out.
The fact that the story theme kind of centers around the joy of sharing a new story with people puts how the internet treated Ron Gilbert pre-release in a super harsh light. Honestly? Fuck, like, 90%+ of the internet. The art style really grew on me as I played.
I figure that this opens up a timeline for new adventures with Guy, Elaine, and Boybrush. If they decide they want to revisit it sometime.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Ending.
Guybrush snuck down there and stole the key to Secret while LeChuck was distracted fighting the remaining pirate captain. Then, depending on player's choice, he either used it to get the Secret and was disappointed in it, or got away with the key and dropped it in the lava after credits.
In that there are multiple endings?
I remember the ending to Thimbleweed Park being.....underwhelming.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
It's the third game (of his, that I've played) that's ended with
And then Elaine comes and tells Guybrush about another adventure they can go on.
"It was all a dream!" was all a dream, basically.
I had a wonderful time with it and enjoyed the ending we got but there definitely seemed to be a thematic direction this was all going that I'm a little surprised the whole game swerved on.
Guybrush's path of destructions felt a lot more serious here with it causing kinda horrifying problems and Elaine putting the pieces together regarding it all. Then LeChuck's crew was getting generally tired of his shit and his moustache twirling nonsense was being made fun of so there was this running theme of both Guybrush and LeChuck being stuck in these old ways only now it's being actively called out
So basically I felt that both Guybrush and LeChuck would both get some browbeating and have to deal with moving on and getting old like the rest of the melee island. Maybe even have to learn some begrudging respect for each other and finally stop fighting and work together to deal with the new kids on the block and have a satisfying resolution where everyone stops letting the hunt for the secret dominate their lives and work to rebuild Melee better than ever after it got quaked.
All that said
Course then it gives me Guybrush sitting there looking still a bit obsessed so it torpedos that closure a bit.
Thematic wobbliness aside the game was just delightful. It's a great refinement of the old lucasarts adventure formula with the puzzles all being pretty fun and nothing making me wonder what drugs the puzzle designer was on to connect the logic dots like the old days. I hope this spurs a return to this style of goofy adventure game cause they're always a treat. I'd love to see what Zak McKraken is up to these days 👀
Oh and the last big puzzle being a
Didn't much like the ending.
Went back and did things differently, and liked it a bit better.
Still don't like how there was the constant theme of
I guess Guybrush is just a jerk now.
Puzzles were pretty good though.
Only got stuck on the second last puzzle because my solution made more sense to me than the one presented.
And all the interactions with the statues were Guybrush saying nice things.
So, I had him stand on the microphone and say not nice things.
Sore arm: inspect museum key and snicker
Screaming monkey: blow up fish and use it to burp
Headless monkey: inspect slime head "Urgh, it's not just the heads that are slimy"
What I hadn't realised was
Overall pretty good, but the ending was unsatisfying.
They seemed less vicious than what transpired in this game.
What with
It was just all-consuming for him, and getting the secret didn't really come with any comeuppance.
I mean they even say as much at the end
And so, after basically turning into Le Chuck, there's no reflection on Guybrush's part at all.
So.. is there any value left in him as a protagonist?