Return to Monkey Island: First screenshots show the new graphics style + many info

With the announcement of Return to Monkey Island, a joy of love went through the editors: For 30 years, Adventure fans have already been waiting for Ron Gilbert developed a new Monkey Island, which can build on the glorious time of the Lucas Arts era. And that's exactly what we should get: Return to Monkey Island is to be published in 2022 and represents a direct sequel to Monkey Island 2: Lechuck's Revenge. The new adventure around Guybrush Threepwood has been announced only with a website and a first, short telecommittance, Screenshots right from the game did not exist so far yet. However, on the website Adventuregamers.com, however, has been published a comprehensive interview with the virgin ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, who has been working on the game for two years. The interview gives not only many interesting insights into development, it is also garnished with some screenshots on which you can examine the game graphic in detail for the first time. How to detect, Monkey Island gets a fundamentally new graphic style.

• Graphic, Story, Control - All new information about Return to Monkey Island
• What do you think?

Update: You can also find more pictures at The Verge.

Incidentally, the interview led Emily Morgenti, who had already taken over the public relations work for Telltale Games and Terrible Toybox in the past. However, it is not involved in Return to Monkey Island. Here we summarize the most important information from the reading value for you. Update: The Verge has also led a long interview with the two developers.

Graphic, Story, Control - All new information about Return to Monkey Island

• Gilbert was very happy about the positive response to the announcement of the game. However, he was also disappointed about the criticism of the graphic style, which was occasionally reading in the comments: "There was some restraint because it is not a pixel style style. That makes me sad, because we have a great team, the two For years working on a game that looks great. So that makes me a bit affected. But I do not think we'll disappoint the fans. "
• Return to Monkey Island will start directly after the end of Monkey Island 2, the game will definitely start in a leisure park.
• In addition to well-known characters such as Elaine and Murray, many new figures will also occur in the game.
• As a venue, Mêlée Island and Monkey Island are already confirmed.
• Ron Gilbert has told a long time, he would only develop a new Monkey Island when he would have the rights to the brand again. In fact, the license is still owned by Lucasfilm Games that belong to Disney. However, Gilbert enjoys full creative freedom in the implementation of the game, which obviously is sufficient to him: "I did not want to make a game where someone constantly says what I have to do. This is not an order production."
• The first conversations to the game began in 2019. Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman jointly developed the idea for a new Monkey and thus went to Disney at the beginning of 2020. Gilbert admits that the project initially intimidated him. He describes the game as "problem laden" because Monkey Island enjoys such a high priority. Several times Gilbert talks about the stress associated with expectation: "Will we meet the demands? Will it be a game that really feels like Monkey Island? What if we fail?" Gilbert just would like to just "make a good, solid pirate adventure".

• The team included 25 people, but now has shrunk something again. For comparison: ThimbleWeed Park was developed by about 14 people. Return to Monkey Island also has a larger budget, from which more flows into the background graphics and animations, as this is according to Gilbert much more complex than Thimbleweed Park.

• The developers describe the graphic style as "modern" and compare it with a fairy tale book.

• Rex Crowle is the Art Director behind the game, he previously worked on titles like LittleBigplanet and Knights and Bikes. Gilbert wants to try something new with the graphic style after the last two Monkey Islands in pixel style style are already for more than 30 years. Gilbert also introduces the last three games (Curse of Monkey Island, Escape from Monkey Island and Tales of Monkey Island), all of which sat on new, different graphics styles.
• Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman originally played with the idea of implementing the game in pixel style style. However, after Thimbleweed Park, Gilbert came to the conclusion to go to another direction, also out of the desire to advance the brand and achieve new target groups. Although Gilbert loves pixel species, it also believes that the graphic style acts simply outdated for many players. Also, Grossman explained, all the decision was carefully weighed and opted for a style that best suits the game and story.
• In a commonly cited blog post from 2013, Gilbert explained, among other things, he would like to implement a "Monkey Island 3a". Thus he meant his very personal vision, as it had gone on with Monkey Island if he had not left Lucas Arts after the second part. Now Gilbert admits that many of its original ideas have already been implemented in Monkey Island 3, 4 and 5 (although he was not involved in the projects). That's why he does not hold more iron on his original plan.

• There are rumors that Return to Monkey Island will rode exactly between the second and third part. However, the developers do not think that solid chronology is too important in the series. Originally, the developers had even considered to ignore the games according to the second part, but later one gave away from the idea, as the later parts had many fans. That's why you try to preserve the canon of the games as well as possible, even if there is a few deviations or contradictions here and there. To tell the story, so you want to deliberately ignore a few smaller details when it comes to the continuity of the action. We have already seen a first foretaste in the teaser trailer in which the speaking dead skull Murray has an unexpected appearance.

• The developers put this time on a modern point-and-click interface. So there will be no actions as in Thimbleweed Park. Already with the free adventure bite Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure (2020) gilbert went into a modern direction. Gilbert had developed a new adventure engine for Delores, which is now used in Return to Monkey Island.

• The developers have already thought about how the control will work with a controller.
• Gilbert praises his team in the highest tones and emphasizes that from the beginning a course without overtime or crunch has prescribed. The developers usually work a 40-hour week so that no one is burned out at the end of the project.
• The cooperation with the composers Michael Land, Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian is so harmonious, according to Gilbert, that you do not really need to take care of them. He trusts the experienced musicians so much that one only discusses the most necessary discussion.
• Gilbert and Grossman share the paperwork (dialogues, characters, gags, etc...). Where Grossman contributes slightly more words than Gilbert, who deals more around the engine and project management. It was already the same with the first two games, where Tim Schaffer was involved.
• After the publication of Thimbleweed Park in March 2017, Gilbert initially worked for a role-playing game for a year, but Gilbert was not satisfied. After Return to Monkey Island, he may pick up the project again.

What do you think?

How do you like the first screenshots from the new Monkey Island? Do you miss the pixel style style of the first two parts or to tell you the modern look? And how do you actually think about the style of the three later parts? (Yes, even Escape from Monkey Island had his fans!) If you have more desire for guybrush's adventure, we recommend our extensive retro video to Curse of Monkey Island, in which we celebrate one of the best adventures of Lucas Arts. Although the game was incurred without the participation of Gilbert, Grossman or Schaffe, but still enjoys an excellent reputation in many fans.

If you feel like even more Lucas Arts Adventures from the good old days, we attach our tests to the new editions of Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle. And if you are more of the meaning for a certain archaeologist with slack hat and whip, we still have a retro article about Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis for you. To home page to the gallery