Return To Monkey Island Review - A Chimp Off The Old Block

thegamer.com:

The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge both have a very special place in my heart. They were two of my favourite games growing up, kickstarting my love of the point-and-click genre, and they particularly stand out as being two of the few games I enjoyed with all three of my siblings before they eventually ‘grew out’ of gaming.

My love for the series continued, but without Ron Gilbert at the helm, the subsequent titles never quite managed to recapture the same initial magic for me. So with Gilbert setting sail once more with Return to Monkey Island, it’s been hard not to pin all my hopes and dreams on this long-awaited comeback. Would it be just as amazing? Would I love it just as much? Would I finally find out what the secret of Monkey Island was?

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I went into things committed to getting the whole experience, choosing the hard difficulty and promising myself I wouldn’t use the hint system, like a smug elitist idiot. The idea of having a hint system so easily at my fingertips felt like cheating, and initially, I wasn’t fond of it. Ultimately, I found myself pulling out my hair over a particular puzzle and, feeling like I had exhausted every clickable item and combination with no results, that’s where the hint book came in.

Once I’d used the hint book for the first time in Return to Monkey Island, I felt less frustrated by the idea of dipping into it as needed. When I finally caved and opened the hint book, I was pleasantly surprised (and impressed) with how it worked. It doesn’t simply give you the answer but provides a subtle hint based on exactly what you’ve done so far, or where you are in