Ron Gilbert returns to his opus magnum adventure and may finalize the trilogy. Just a lukewarm rehash of nostalgia or the long-awaited sequel to a developer legend?
Although set many years after the events of Part 2, the story revolves around the legendary mystery of Monkey Island. Ghost pirate LeChuck starts his expedition to Treasure Island on Melee Island, while hero and would-be pirate Guybrush first visits iconic locations such as the Scumm Bar. A lot has changed on the island, but it is still the retro hub that should ensnare you with feelings of nostalgia at the beginning. Well-known characters like the voodoo lady, marketing expert Stan or Guybrush’s love Elaine are only a stone’s throw away.
Luckily, that doesn’t stay the case, and throughout the eight-hour point’n’click story you’ll also visit some new locations that will keep you entertained with plenty of puzzles and hilarious dialogue with optional answers just like back in the 1990s.
When it comes to riddles, there is a lack of memorable highlights and especially in the penultimate chapter you are sent back and forth a little too often, but the riddles are always successful. You can also choose between two levels of difficulty. Since in both cases you have access to the in-game solution help, which will explain the puzzle to you step by step if necessary, we recommend the hard mode, which brings in a little more spice. In the easy version, for example, it is enough if you hand the angry governor Carla an apology fish from the inventory. On hard mode, she defiantly refuses until you write a nice apology message on the fish. This should contain some personal information about her that you can find on the island. This will also motivate you to explore.
In terms of technology and presentation, we have nothing to complain about. The controls are direct and simple, clickable items are recognized quickly and changing locations is no annoying task thanks to a race button. The visuals with drawn backgrounds stand out positively in handheld mode once you get used to the style. Short zoom deposits, as you can see from the current ones Larry-episodes add a little more dynamic and the returning voice actors do a great job.
The biggest point of criticism: Even if newcomers use the internal “What happened before” picture book to get a charming summary of earlier events, the insanely large number of gags about the series history are lost.
