LucasArts What's Your Favourite Monkey Island Game?

[jfrisby]

 

[oldbonebrown]

The Curse of Monkey Island

is at the very tippy top of nice artstyles in games!

 

[Falksi]

Just finished playing MI2. So average compared to the original, tons of padding, lazyness throughout, less satisfying puzzles etc.

Not a bad game but average at best.

 

[MRY]

Not a bad game but average at best.

Madness. Average compared to what? There are really only like 5-10 point-and-click adventure games I feel comfortable recommending from a gameplay standpoint (if that), out of hundreds of such games. What are the adventures you'd put above MI2 in that regard to get it to an "average" ranking??

 

[Falksi]

Not a bad game but average at best.

Madness. Average compared to what? There are really only like 5-10 point-and-click adventure games I feel comfortable recommending from a gameplay standpoint (if that), out of hundreds of such games. What are the adventures you'd put above MI2 in that regard to get it to an "average" ranking??

Can you read dude?

Just finished playing MI2. So average compared to the original, tons of padding, lazyness throughout, less satisfying puzzles etc.

Not a bad game but average at best.

 

[MRY]

I did see that but I did not read "not a bad game but average at best" to mean "one of the very best adventures ever made, but worse than MI1." It seemed like the point of comparison shifted between paragraphs.

 

[Falksi]

I did see that but I did not read "not a bad game but average at best" to mean "one of the very best adventures ever made, but worse than MI1." It seemed like the point of comparison shifted between paragraphs.

I'm not of fan of it and would have it down as an average experience anyway for the reasons stated.

A million other shit adventure games doesn't mean it's any more enjoyable to play.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Statement A: “Product X is average.”

Statement B: “Product X is better than almost all other similar products”

 

[Neuromancer]

Statement A: “Product X is average.”

Statement B: “Product X is better than almost all other similar products”

Both statements were made by different persons, so no contradiction here.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I just finished a complete replay of MI1. I used the Ultimate Talkie Edition in ScummVM, the voice acting for the otherwise atrocious remake was very good and worth checking out. Hadn't gone through the whole game in 30 years or more. I remembered almost everything up until Monkey Island itself, then it got a little fuzzy and I had to relearn the puzzles. The first half is definitely the best part of the game, but it remains charming even after all these years. Puzzle design is mostly great - the standout being of course insult swordfighting, which I rank among one of the best puzzles of all time - but there are a couple of clunkers in there, mostly in the latter portion, i.e. the boulder one and the one where you have to give the pamphlet to the natives (it's a pun puzzle - a head, ahead - and I suppose those are very hard to please). The art and music are amazing even now. I felt warm and cozy with a strong sense of nostalgia, and some of the jokes still made me laugh out loud even if I had already heard them many times.

On to the remaining games. I plan to do a complete playthrough of everything, including the shitty Telltale games, before the new one comes out. I only finished MI 1, 2 and Curse back in the day.

 

[Falksi]

I just finished a complete replay of MI1. I used the Ultimate Talkie Edition in ScummVM, the voice acting for the otherwise atrocious remake was very good and worth checking out. Hadn't gone through the whole game in 30 years or more. I remembered almost everything up until Monkey Island itself, then it got a little fuzzy and I had to relearn the puzzles. The first half is definitely the best part of the game, but it remains charming even after all these years. Puzzle design is mostly great - the standout being of course insult swordfighting, which I rank among one of the best puzzles of all time - but there are a couple of clunkers in there, mostly in the latter portion, i.e. the boulder one and the one where you have to give the pamphlet to the natives (it's a pun puzzle - a head, ahead - and I suppose those are very hard to please). The art and music are amazing even now. I felt warm and cozy with a strong sense of nostalgia, and some of the jokes still made me laugh out loud even if I had already heard them many times.

On to the remaining games. I plan to do a complete playthrough of everything, including the shitty Telltale games, before the new one comes out. I only finished MI 1, 2 and Curse back in the day.

Tag us in your thoughts on the remaining ones dude. I was surprised how much I preferred MI1 to MI2 when replaying them a few years back, so be interested to get your take on them.

 

[AdamReith]

Story and Writing of Monkey Island 1.
Puzzles of Monkey Island 2.
Art Style and Voice Acting of Monkey Island 3.

I hope Gimpy Gilbert and Chafey Schaffer realise how close to perfection they got only to throw it all away.

By the way has anybody played Deponia 3, that series got severely demented.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

1-3 are all fantastic games in their own right, I couldn't even say which one I liked more. They are all perfect to me. The rest of the franchise I really can't cope with.

 

[AdamReith]

1-3 are all fantastic games in their own right, I couldn't even say which one I liked more. They are all perfect to me. The rest of the franchise I really can't cope with.

Same, it's just too painful to play a mediocre game in that setting. You can feel the magic die in real time.

 

[Star Citizen]

 

[Keshik]

By the way has anybody played Deponia 3, that series got severely demented

Had to force myself to finish that, hated every character, couldn't care about the story at all. The fourth game is still on my list but I just can't get myself to do it.

 

[AdamReith]

By the way has anybody played Deponia 3, that series got severely demented

Had to force myself to finish that, hated every character, couldn't care about the story at all. The fourth game is still on my list but I just can't get myself to do it.

I felt the second one was in touching distance of MI3 with a stronger second half. The incident with the umbrella for example I thought was very inspired.

Was so excited for the third one but they got very weird with it and the puzzling is so inconsistent. Still a lot of fun for the most part but definitely nowhere close to MI quality.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Tag us in your thoughts on the remaining ones dude. I was surprised how much I preferred MI1 to MI2 when replaying them a few years back, so be interested to get your take on them.

Just finished MI2 and while I remembered quite a bit of it (all of the first half, up to the four map pieces), some bits were foggy. I think the second game has much stronger puzzles overall (favourite puzzles are probably the largo voodoo doll and the spitting contest in Booty isle), but there are some clunkers (i.e. monkey wrench). The design is of course much more convoluted, and I don't think it's nearly as charming or as funny as the first, which was more straightforward. The ending also kinda blows (I didn't remember it at all) - I'm curious to see how Ron Gilbert is going to pick up from that particular idea if the new game is planned as a straight sequel to MI2 (mostly ignoring Curse).

From a technical perspective, the art is much more proficient. But I didn't like the soundtrack as much, replaying it made me remember why I didn't like it as much as the first game when I was a wee teenage lad. Still a very good game, though.

 

[Falksi]

Tag us in your thoughts on the remaining ones dude. I was surprised how much I preferred MI1 to MI2 when replaying them a few years back, so be interested to get your take on them.

Just finished MI2 and while I remembered quite a bit of it (all of the first half, up to the four map pieces), some bits were foggy. I think the second game has much stronger puzzles overall (favourite puzzles are probably the largo voodoo doll and the spitting contest in Booty isle), but there are some clunkers (i.e. monkey wrench). The design is of course much more convoluted, and I don't think it's nearly as charming or as funny as the first, which was more straightforward. The ending also kinda blows (I didn't remember it at all) - I'm curious to see how Ron Gilbert is going to pick up from that particular idea if the new game is planned as a straight sequel to MI2 (mostly ignoring Curse).

From a technical perspective, the art is much more proficient. But I didn't like the soundtrack as much, replaying it made me remember why I didn't like it as much as the first game when I was a wee teenage lad. Still a very good game, though.

Cheers chap. That pretty much sounds about right. I missed the humour big time on my replay, it felt far more thinly spread, but when it did hit it still hit well.

I'm due to replay Curse soon. Looking forward to that.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Tag us in your thoughts on the remaining ones dude. I was surprised how much I preferred MI1 to MI2 when replaying them a few years back, so be interested to get your take on them.

Just finished MI2 and while I remembered quite a bit of it (all of the first half, up to the four map pieces), some bits were foggy. I think the second game has much stronger puzzles overall (favourite puzzles are probably the largo voodoo doll and the spitting contest in Booty isle), but there are some clunkers (i.e. monkey wrench). The design is of course much more convoluted, and I don't think it's nearly as charming or as funny as the first, which was more straightforward. The ending also kinda blows (I didn't remember it at all) - I'm curious to see how Ron Gilbert is going to pick up from that particular idea if the new game is planned as a straight sequel to MI2 (mostly ignoring Curse).

From a technical perspective, the art is much more proficient. But I didn't like the soundtrack as much, replaying it made me remember why I didn't like it as much as the first game when I was a wee teenage lad. Still a very good game, though.

Cheers chap. That pretty much sounds about right. I missed the humour big time on my replay, it felt far more thinly spread, but when it did hit it still hit well.

I'm due to replay Curse soon. Looking forward to that.

I started on Curse straight away and it's awesome so far. Funnily enough though, I remember it the least of all. I think it's because I only played through it once on release, whereas I played the first 2 games many many times.

 

[Falksi]

Tag us in your thoughts on the remaining ones dude. I was surprised how much I preferred MI1 to MI2 when replaying them a few years back, so be interested to get your take on them.

Just finished MI2 and while I remembered quite a bit of it (all of the first half, up to the four map pieces), some bits were foggy. I think the second game has much stronger puzzles overall (favourite puzzles are probably the largo voodoo doll and the spitting contest in Booty isle), but there are some clunkers (i.e. monkey wrench). The design is of course much more convoluted, and I don't think it's nearly as charming or as funny as the first, which was more straightforward. The ending also kinda blows (I didn't remember it at all) - I'm curious to see how Ron Gilbert is going to pick up from that particular idea if the new game is planned as a straight sequel to MI2 (mostly ignoring Curse).

From a technical perspective, the art is much more proficient. But I didn't like the soundtrack as much, replaying it made me remember why I didn't like it as much as the first game when I was a wee teenage lad. Still a very good game, though.

Cheers chap. That pretty much sounds about right. I missed the humour big time on my replay, it felt far more thinly spread, but when it did hit it still hit well.

I'm due to replay Curse soon. Looking forward to that.

I started on Curse straight away and it's awesome so far. Funnily enough though, I remember it the least of all. I think it's because I only played through it once on release, whereas I played the first 2 games many many times.

Yeah, it's always been my fave. Must have played it through 20 odd times over the years.

Are you playing standard difficulty or Mega Monkey?

 

[Great Deceiver]

Mega Monkey!

 

[Rincewind]

The results so far reflects pretty much how I rank these games myself (the number in the game's name is the rank).

The first one is a very focused and tight experience with a lot of charm. The second one is very good, but a lot darker, quite meandering, and it doesn't have the same level of humour as the first. Not bad by any means, though, it's just different and I prefer the first. The third one, well, I guess it's okay. Haven't played the fourth or beyond.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Finished Curse and had a blast. It's a shame about the rushed ending (final 2 acts were pretty disappointing, especially the last one, which is like MI2's final sequence except worse), but Blood Island especially was great. Amazing art/music/voices and especially impressive at the time. I remember being completely blown away in 1997.

I think Curse has the most consistent, logical puzzles out of the MIs that I've played, even though no individual puzzle stands out (nothing like the brilliance of the spiting puzzle of MI2 or the sheer creativity of MI1's recipe to get to Monkey Island), and there's significant rehashing of old ideas (insults, etc.). Mega Monkey challenge level is just about right (there were only a couple of instances where I felt a little cheated).

On to the 3d game, which I've never really played.

edit: holy shit, this is bad. I think I'm actually going to play the ps2 emulated version, the controls are slightly less unbearable.

edit2: I don't think I'll have the will to actually play through this pile of shit. It's so bad. Does it get better?

 

[Don Salieri]

edit2: I don't think I'll have the will to actually play through this pile of shit. It's so bad. Does it get better?

You know when you pull a Houdini act and make someone who disrespected you disappear? Take 'em to some empty warehouse by the docks and you boot this baby up and put a piece to their head, force them to play the entire thing. Then you let them go. Next few days they're either going to end up in an institution or a meal for the fishes. Does that answer your question?