Return to Monkey Island Reviews
Return to Monkey Island is everything I wanted and more. Daft humour with plenty of dad-worthy gags, puzzles to both frustrate and delight you, lovable throwbacks around every corner, and all while being effortlessly enjoyable. It feels like Monkey Island has fittingly come full circle with this title in many ways, and yet I can’t help but be selfish and want more Guybrush from Gilbert. There’s still room in the scrapbook for more adventures, and if we’re lucky, maybe we won’t have to wait 30 years for the next title.
Return to Monkey Island is no high flyer, but a good classical adventure game, far away from disappointment. Essentially it is fan service pure. That's a huge benefit for lovers of Guybrush's adventures, but series beginners don't really profit from the mass of allusions in any area. The great puzzle design or the top voice-over do not change anything about that.
Review in German | Read full review
I love Return to Monkey Island, and I'm excited for you to learn its secrets, too.
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
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.
A joyous adventure game that, if you've ever been a fan, should be savoured like a tall glass of aged grape juice.
When it comes to pure fan service, there won't be many better this year than Return to Monkey Island. It feels like the true sequel to LeChuck's Revenge and it feels as though its clever, self-referential wit is a product of Gilbert's return. As sad and nostalgic as parts of Guybrush's newest tale can be, I had a wonderful time revisiting familiar people and places in yet another golden-age adventure.
A brilliant return to the series at its best that modernises the point-and-click form.
Return to Monkey Island treats itself as a game that never left. In some ways, the franchise itself never truly did. Terrible Toybox uses that to do its own spin on the current adventure game formula and while some elements are for the diehard fans, it also asks some interesting questions regarding gaming as a whole and how we perceive the games that defined us as we grow older.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A hugely successful reboot for the beloved point 'n' click adventure, that achieves its comeback without sacrificing either its sense of humour or some enjoyably tricky puzzles.
All these great visuals, puzzles, and dialogues create a really great video game that doesn’t have to be ashamed of its roots. Return to Monkey Island is more than simply a nostalgia act. It has its individuality.
Review in Polish | 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.
For those of you who grew up with Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Quest for Glory and all the other great point and click games of the 90s, Return to Monkey Island is a pure joy to play. Purchase! You won't regret it. Return to Monkey Island does most things right and hopefully this is the first of more new Monkey Island games (directed by Ron Gilbert).
Review in Swedish | Read full review
Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, the spiritual fathers of Guybrush Threepwood, are back, and you can feel it in every fiber of Return to Monkey Island. Hilarious situations, clever dialogue, memorable characters, beginner-friendly gameplay, and a fresh graphic style that may not be to everyone's taste bring the game series back to where it belongs: at the top of the point-and-click games. This game is definitely more than just pure nostalgia!
Review in German | Read full review
In that, it feels like the rare auteur-driven game – where it’s not just self-aware fun, but also a piece of art with something to say about the past, the present – and even how our changing understanding of ourselves, and our stories, can color the future. It’s brilliant, and exactly what I hoped it would be.
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.
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
Return to Monkey Island is exactly what one might expect: a graphic adventure that winks at the past while at the same time managing to bring something new to the genre. A pleasant journey in which to meet many old friends, with whom to have fun in an experience that is perhaps not too challenging, but nevertheless capable of entertaining in an authentic way.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I am honestly very happy with the game overall and I am tempted to play through the entire franchise again. Thank you, Mister Gilbert, and everyone else involved in this game. For expanding the story I’ve been with since I was a kid and for hitting me right in my childhood, but in the best way.
Return to Monkey Island is well worth the wait. This is a quest for booty you don't want to miss.