Return to Monkey Island Reviews
Despite being set between the second and third games in the series, Return to Monkey Island feels like a beautiful climax to a franchise that's seen games spread across four decades.
Return to Monkey Island is a thoughtful retread of a genre that was once the pinnacle of adventure games, yet now feels rarely revisited, despite its influence. A lot has changed since The Secret of Monkey Island debuted more than three decades ago, but now Return feels like a fitting conclusion to everything that spawned from the original. Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman’s own reflection on the series after the game’s conclusion is poignant in its perspective that only years away from the helm could bring.
The Monkey Island series are adored because of their humor and charm, and Return to Monkey Island is no different. It retains all the same wit, puns, and groan-worthy dad jokes as the rest of the games. In fact, Return to Monkey Island feels more in-line with the earlier titles, no doubt due to Gilbert’s involvement, as well as most of the original cast. The art style might be initially off-putting for some, but it really does grow on you after a while.
A deft and heartfelt journey through nostalgia.
Return To Monkey Island might be playing the entire nostalgia hand, nevermind the card, but it's also a very good modern point and click game that makes a perfect new entry to a beloved old series.
Return to Monkey Island is a delightful adventure, and while it might not quite reach the unobtainable prestige of its predecessors, with a much more accessible design it’s destined to become Guybrush Threepwood’s most popular tale yet.
Return to Monkey Island expectedly comes packed full of smartly crafted puzzles, funny dialogue, and memorable characters. But as series creator Ron Gilbert returns to the series’ director’s chair for the first time since 1991, it unexpectedly offers a lot of heart, too. It is an adventure gamer’s delight.
Return to Monkey Island is yet another game in the Monkey Island franchise that makes only a slight effort to reflect the ever-shifting gaming landscape, while confidently clinging to the DNA that made it so beloved in the first place. And if you’re looking for the secret to creating an enduring franchise, you could do a lot worse than that.
Return to Monkey Island is a heartfelt and nostalgic return to a point-and-click adventure series that had long been left behind. It's fun, smart, and intuitive, with a story and presentation that is surprisingly self-aware. Whether this is your first brush with Guybrush Threepwood or your sixth, Return to Monkey Island is a swashbuckling adventure you won't want to miss.
A glorious return for one of gaming's most beloved franchises, that provides fan with another satisfying pirate-themed adventure, some clever dialogue and memorable characters.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ageing fans will be relieved to learn that this comeback game from Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman is not just a greatest hits rehash
It's not a perfect game, it's probably not the best Monkey Island. But, of course, it is a heartfelt love letter to everything we love about graphic adventures and, in short, a fun and nostalgic experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A wonderful love letter to Monkey Island fans that left us with a tear of joy at the end.
Review in German | Read full review
Despite the many years on his shoulders, the saga created by Ron Gilbert still seems to have a lot to tell. With Return to Monkey Island, the videogame author creates a nostalgic work, but deeply immersed in contemporaneity, which tells with the usual dose of sagacity and irony.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Return to Monkey Island brings the beloved classic point-and-click series into the modern puzzle adventure genre, and it's a perfect fit. It's a fine addition to the Monkey Island series, but it nevertheless seems held back by Monkey Island 2's strange ending. In its attempt to explain it away, it just hurts its own narrative, which had the potential for more than it achieved. But it is still a fun ride, full of wild, funny, and surprisingly sincere moments. I will be keenly looking forward to the next Monkey Island game from the mind of Gilbert and his team.
The iconic point-and-click adventure series returns with a heartfelt and nostalgic adventure that any mighty pirate would be a fool to miss.
This franchise returned in the best way, of course, with certain details that possibly will not convince at all. But if you really want to see more adventures of Guybrush Threepwood from now on, it is clear that you should not leave aside this installment. It may not be the best in the saga, but it is the latent proof that there is some interest in returning the life that he lost so long ago.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
By officially revealing the Secret and bringing the series full circle, “Return to Monkey Island” is deliberately closing a chapter in the franchise’s life. It’s not the end of Guybrush Threepwood or Monkey Island, but it’s a swan song for the bygone era that birthed them.
The special editions of Monkey Island 1 and 2 in 2009 and 2010 respectively showed that there was still a voracious appetite for more of Guybrush’s adventures, so I’m glad that Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman finally got to have another shot at “ending” the Monkey Island story in a manner which they envisaged. Return to Monkey Island is more Monkey Island, and if you’ve been missing out on that for years, this is an excellent return to form.