So, you've probably read by now that a sequel Monkey Island game has
been announced, head by the series' original creator, Ron Gilbert
himself. While details on the game are scarce, apparently this is a
sequel to "Monkey Island 2" (the last game Gilbert helmed), leaving
the status of the later games somewhat in doubt. The new games,
Gilbert has opined, will be intentionally obtuse and difficult, as a throwback to the older titles.
Honestly, I can't say I'm too excited about this. I enjoyed the
original games, and concede they were both influential, imaginative
and fun titles, I never thought the early games themselves were as
great as some people insist. The puzzles were lame (and often
illogical), and a lot of the humor was more of the "hey, aren't we all
such oddball characters" rather than proper jokes. Amusing, but an increasingly thin foundation on which to rest a comedy game (later
games improved in this area dramatically).
The most notable thing about the games was more that they were moving
away from the idea that games should be punishingly challenging. The
original "Secret of Monkey Island" was a far friendlier and generally
more FUN game than Sierra or Infocom titles; it was a game that WANTED
you to finish it, as opposed to one that did everything it could to
prevent you from reaching the end. This, more than its cartoony world
or wacky dialogue, is what made the game so memorable. Stripped of
that novelty and played without nostalgia, the original Monkey Island
game in fact aren't all that much fun anymore. They're in fact rather
shallow and devoid of gut-busting laughs. In fact, now that the ideals
it promoted have become commonplace and expected the original "Secret
of Monkey Island" is - dare I say it? - actually a bit boring.
"Monkey Island 2" improved on the first; it added even more oddball characters and more - and better told - comedy, and "Curse of Monkey
Island" took the idea and just ran with it. But even by the third
game, the franchise was starting to feel a bit stale; it was the same
joke being said over and over again. "Escape From Monkey Island" had
its moments, but it was becoming increasingly tired; the episodic
adventures created a decade later were just treading water. I can
appreciate how and what the original did, and loved the works that
followed it, but honestly? I don't need to revisit Guybrush
Threepwood's Caribbean. I've been there, seen that, got the souvenir
mug.
So, yeah, "Return to Monkey Island"? No thanks, not me. I'm happy to
go somewhere new with Ron Gilbert - "Thimbleweed Park" was a blast, "Deathspank" was interesting (if a bit heavy on 'its funny because
it's weird' vibe Gilbert seems to love so much)... heck, I even
enjoyed his Pajama Sam and other kiddie titles just because they were
so imaginative. But I'm happy to leave Threepwood in the past. He's
done good work but like a good pirate treasure, let's leave him
buried.
IMHO, YMMV, of course.
So, yeah, "Return to Monkey Island"? No thanks, not me. I'm happy to
go somewhere new with Ron Gilbert - "Thimbleweed Park" was a blast, "Deathspank" was interesting (if a bit heavy on 'its funny because
it's weird' vibe Gilbert seems to love so much)... heck, I even
enjoyed his Pajama Sam and other kiddie titles just because they were
so imaginative. But I'm happy to leave Threepwood in the past. He's
done good work but like a good pirate treasure, let's leave him
buried.
On Monday, April 4, 2022 at 4:55:12 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
The only thing I remember was the insult duel, that was fun.
Looking at you Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy.
It can also get a bit much, sprinkled around instead of trying to
make everything funny seems to work better. Fallouts 1 & 2
did that real well.
- Justisaur
So, you've probably read by now that a sequel Monkey Island game has
been announced,
IMHO, YMMV, of course.
On Mon, 04 Apr 2022 19:55:05 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
IMHO, YMMV, of course.
I am looking forward to it. Adventure games used to be my bread and
butter but I basically stopped playing them in favor of RPGs and
strategy games but I still play them from time to time. This thread
reminded me that I need to play Thimbleweed Park since I have it
sitting in my Epic Library.
And in other adventure game comeback news... Ken and Roberta Williams
are also working on a game now.
Regarding the humor it is totally objective, I still fire up the
originals from time to time and love the humor, but YMMV.. and I dont
mind playing decent adventure games. Looking forward to it.
The general problem I have with adventure games (including
point-and-click) is that there's a lack of balance when creating puzzles
in that I either get the answer straight away or you just end up
randomly doing things hoping you can second guess what the designer was >thinking.
Regarding the humor it is totally objective, I still fire up the
originals from time to time and love the humor, but YMMV.. and I dont
mind playing decent adventure games. Looking forward to it.
On 06/04/2022 09:28, Werner P. wrote:
Regarding the humor it is totally objective, I still fire up the
originals from time to time and love the humor, but YMMV.. and I dont
mind playing decent adventure games. Looking forward to it.
Oh I agree and for me I think I'd go as far to say that personally I
don't think games are a very good medium for it as generally comedy is a passive activity for the 'audience'. Things such as drama, tension,
intrigue etc. I think can work as being an active participant can
actually increase them as you're more engaged with what's happening.
Just my thoughts obviously.
On Wed, 6 Apr 2022 09:13:57 +0100, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:
The general problem I have with adventure games (including
point-and-click) is that there's a lack of balance when creating puzzles
in that I either get the answer straight away or you just end up
randomly doing things hoping you can second guess what the designer was
thinking.
I wish I had your problem. I was never any good at adventure game
puzzles, any of them, even the easier ones. I always factored in the
cost of the hint book as part of the purchase price back in the day. I
sucked at these kinds of games, but I enjoyed them anyway.
And I agree completely, Hitchhikers was too hard to be any fun. But I
never finished a single text or graphic adventure game without outside
help of some kind.
Am 06.04.22 um 11:21 schrieb JAB:
On 06/04/2022 09:28, Werner P. wrote:Not necessarily so, humorous games just have become somewhat forgotten. Monkey Island, the Space Quests, Leisure Suite Larry were huge back then. Also on the action side never forget games like Earthworm Jim or BCs
Regarding the humor it is totally objective, I still fire up the
originals from time to time and love the humor, but YMMV.. and I dont
mind playing decent adventure games. Looking forward to it.
Oh I agree and for me I think I'd go as far to say that personally I
don't think games are a very good medium for it as generally comedy is
a passive activity for the 'audience'. Things such as drama, tension,
intrigue etc. I think can work as being an active participant can
actually increase them as you're more engaged with what's happening.
Just my thoughts obviously.
Quest for Tires, which transported cartoon humor. Then do not forget the first 2 fallouts where the humor came in in small doses but totally unexpected and really hit you hard.
I just wished more comedic games were made.. I prefer laughter any day
over flying limbs and blood.
"Hitchhiker's" was just /mean/. I mean, it had wonderfully clever and
witty writing, and some of its puzzles were fiendishly challenging (I remember the Babel fish puzzle fondly), but it was a perfect example
of the sort of game that didn't want you to 'win'.
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 297 |
Nodes: | 16 (0 / 16) |
Uptime: | 127:41:25 |
Calls: | 6,663 |
Calls today: | 1 |
Files: | 12,212 |
Messages: | 5,335,087 |