Return to Monkey Island Reviews
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.
Return to Monkey Island isn’t a grand reinvention of point-and-click adventure games in mechanics or narrative ambition. It is, quite literally, a return. It sticks to its own identity, and aims to be the best version of itself – a comforting, charming game with great characters and amusingly esoteric puzzles. That a new Monkey Island game exists with Gilbert and Grossman at the helm makes Return to Monkey Island an attraction well worth the curiosity. And that this traditional format still satisfies while remaining largely unchanged, several decades later, speaks volumes about how timeless their ideas and this world have always been.
They say you can't go home again, and there are few wells more daunting to return to than Monkey Island. But with Gilbert at the helm and Grossman by his side, Return to Monkey Island really is the full monkey.
Return to Monkey Island is what it was meant to be. Art, sound, dialogue; it's all part of its blend of playable and communicative talent. It's perfect again.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I would say that I’m truly glad this game exists in the way it is presented. It does play a little bit on nostalgia, but it does not stop there. It has successfully established itself as a great game in itself, not hiding behind the nostalgia of the previous entries.
Guybrush is back... again, to thwart the actions of Le Chuck and to learn the secret of Monkey Island!
After more than thirty years it's so nice to have the original developers Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman and the team bring the originality and charm of the first games back for this last outing. There's actually quite a touching note that becomes available after completing the game that goes into some details about the development of Return to Monkey Island and it really does just feel right (perhaps more for us older gamers who grew up with it than people just joining it now). If you were a fan of the original game/s then absolutely grab a copy… it's a nostalgic joy and will warm your heart better than a bottle of Rum.
Return to Monkey Island is the third episode of Monkey Island that we didn't have, which comes thirty years later with a load of innovations compared to LeChuck's Revenge, but which we now take for granted. The ability to make the most of all the innovations of the genre, combined with the original sense of humor of the series and the extraordinary experience of the authors, makes this game an easy success.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A joyous adventure game that, if you've ever been a fan, should be savoured like a tall glass of aged grape juice.
Return to Monkey Island is a nostalgic and fun swashbuckling experience that delivers an adventure that fans of the series and genre have been waiting years for.
Return to Monkey Island is remarkably balanced in bringing the new and the classic together for a cohesive, nostalgic and relevant work that celebrates the legacy of the franchise while elevating it to a new level in today's entertainment industry.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It took a lot to Return to Monkey Island. Like I said in my intro, there was a lot of hesitation that came with me starting this game. Media revivals are extremely hit-and-miss, and I couldn't stand to watch a franchise so close to me fall apart. But when the credits rolled and I wiped the tears from my eyes, I realized why I was actually scared. I already knew when I started that I didn't want it to be over.
Return to Monkey Island is a tight hug for fans of the series. The game features familiar mechanics from the original games with the addition of elements that make the adventure more intuitive and dynamic. Despite its accessibility, it will hardly be as attractive to those who don't know the details of Monkey Island's history, being a product intended mainly for older fans of the series. But that doesn't take away from its shine. All elements of the game manage to captivate the player in the story brilliantly. It's a light, innocent and funny adventure that oozes charisma in all its aspects, just like in its first games.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
A brilliant return to the series at its best that modernises the point-and-click form.
Return to Monkey Island returns the series to the highs of the first two games, delivering a hilarious and surprisingly touching story of trying to recapture past glories.
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 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.
Return to Monkey Island is profoundly nostalgic and relentlessly funny, and I'm once again a kid, laughing at Guybrush's umpteenth last-ditch efforts to distract his opponents with, "Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!"
The iconic point-and-click adventure series returns with a heartfelt and nostalgic adventure that any mighty pirate would be a fool to miss.