Return to Monkey Island

Did you enjoy The Secret of Monkey Island and its sequels? You'll probably enjoy this one, too. Same goofy humor. Same obscure puzzles. Just with some modern polish and a very, very heavy dollop of nostalgia. But ... is it necessary to play this? Is it necessary for this game to even exist?

You see, the game does exactly what it says on the tin: takes you back. But here's the thing: the original Secret of Monkey Island still exists. You can go play it right now, and that's the elephant in the room that keeps swishing at you awkwardly with its trunk while you play this game, prompting the question: What is the point of it? In Return To you revisit many of the same locales and meet many of the same characters. The graphics are updated, but the music is pretty much identical. And, yes, of course there is a new story and new puzzles. But, really, why do this? Why not create a new adventure with new characters in new places? Were there any loose ends that needed tying up from twenty years ago?

It turns out that there were none.

I didn't dislike it. But I would have been perfectly satisfied without it. Possibly even more satisfied, because I'm a bit annoyed at how hard it tries to make me feel something that I'm already perfectly good at feeling. I can't in good conscience give it a thumbs down because it's not a bad game, but I'm here to tell you that even if you're a fan of the series, like me, skipping Return To is totally fine.

I do have to dish out one complaint: the achievements are horrible. Many of them involve mindless repetition, are fragile, and are generally very not fun. Why would you put a feature in your game that is not fun? Do you not understand the point of games? Hugely bad design here.