The Tone of Monkey Island - My Review and Suggestions for Future Episodes
I melted the edge of my credit-card by whipping it out so quickly when tales of Monkey Island was first announced. Never before had I so willingly given a developer my money, and it was with great anticipation that I awaited the release date.
To prepare for the release, I re-read Treasure Island, Return to Treasure Island, Silver, and On Stranger Tides. I also rewatched the POTC movies, listened to the Monkey Island Soundtracks, and replayed Curse of Monkey Island.
Full Disclosure of Reviewer Bias:
I rate the original games, from worst to best, as follows -
Escape from Monkey Island - This bizarre entry in the series dropped the semi-serious nature of the storylines from the original games for full-on satire and social commentary. With a maddening interface, continuity botches (that were supposed to fix other continuity issues), and the most annoying minigame ever, this entry illustrated what NOT to do with the Monkey Island Franchise.
The Secret of Monkey Island - A classic that introduced the endearing characters of the Monkey Island Universe. With clever scripting, humorous dialogue, catchy themes and memorable characters, this game could have stood alone through the ages - thankfully, the developers had more up their sleeve.
The Curse of Monkey Island - A revolution in the Monkey Island Series, this game introduced painterly landscapes and characters, perfect voice casting and music, clever puzzles, and continuity fixes. Succesfully maintained the tricky balance between humor and dark undertones that existed in the previous entry.
LeChuck's Revenge: Monkey Island 2 - The gold standard. This game successfully evolved the series, giving much greater depth to the characters and their conflicts. Each of the existing characters had aged and moved on from their "Secret" origins, and technical enhancements changed the nature of how we listened to our games. The soundtrack was endlesslyl hummable, the puzzles devilishly sadistic, and the spooky/haunting undertones pervaded the entire game. The ending generated endless controversy, fueling speculation and discussions about the meaning of it all for years.
So how does Tales of Monkey Island: The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal hold up?
Story
The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal uses a plot device as old as the hills to start off the action - starting at the end of the previous adventure. We're in familiar territory - Guybrush is about to foil the latest voodoo plot hatched
by the evil Poxed-Pirate LeChuck, and in typical Threepwood-fashion botches it.
The introductory sequence serves as a capable tutorial, introducing us to the new Telltale Interface and walking us through a few simple puzzles, before cutting to the opening credits, Monkey Island theme, and washing up on Flotsam Island, where the remainder of the game takes place.
The player is immediately given a number of tasks, and is rarely left standing around wondering what to do. Stuck? You've usually got something else to try.
In this regard, Narwhal is scripted tightly enough to allow the player to determine what order to tackle their challenges, and the story remains internally consistent.
Dialogue options might occasionally cause you to crack a smile, but few lines are laugh-out-loud funny. (Notable exception - "You've got spunk in you, kid! Pirate Spunk!" "Ew!")
Earlier games in the series seemed to offer more choice, and greater potential for silly or spooky options. Hopefully, more dialogue options will be available in future episodes.
The puzzles can be deviously tricky, but never felt cruel or unfair. (The one exception might be the Marquis De Singe/Messed up Idol puzzle, but it seems I had more trouble with this one than other folks.) While the map puzzles may feel a tad repetitive, this reminded me of old-school adventure gaming and didn't really bother me. All-in-all, solid effort in puzzle work.
Script - 2/2
Dialogue - 1/2
Puzzles - 2/2
Average: 1.6
Art Direction
The art direction REALLY shines in the introduction to the game, with a beautiful spooky storm, rain, and lighting effects. Character models are superb, and the environment gave off the perfect Monkey Island Vibe.
Unfortunately, this took a hit once we arrived at Flotsam Island. The brooding atmosphere is lost and replaced with a sunny locale. This can certainly work on a tropical island, but the 3d environments and characters when brightly lit, look plastic-y. This ends up evoking memories of Escape from Monkey Island.
Main characters are beautifully rendered. Guybrush calls back to his "LeChucks Revenge" wardrobe, LeChuck is the devil incarnate, Elaine and the Voodoo Lady are gorgeous, and the Marquis De Singe (a character I was skeptical about) fairly reeks with personality.
Unfortunately, lesser characters are standard Telltale NPC's - Mr Potato Head models with fairly generic traits. Their names are easily forgotten as soon as their purpose in the story is exhausted.
Characters -
Main - 2/2
Secondary - 1/2
Environments - 1/2
Average: .66
Sound
The music of Narwhal has the familiar Monkey Island themes going on, but felt strangely derivative of the original themes. While the old standbys are good, I couldn't help feeling that the original music didn't feel...erm...original. Hopefully later episodes will have more standout themes that I can whistle in the shower.
The voice work in the game was excellent, thanks for the welcome return of Dominic Armato. Other voice actors also filled their roles well, particularly the actor providing the voice of the Marquis De Singe.
Sample quality could have been improved, but overall this game stands up well.
Music - 1/2
Voices - 2/2
Average: .75
Technical
The game was unfortunately marred by a few technical issues. The new interface (necessary to navigate the 3d interface), while serviceable, was not a joy to work with. The "click-and-drag" mouse option was difficult to use, and the keyboard option is not particularly friendly. A true "click-to-move" option such as the old Monkey Island games or the more recent Sam and Max games would be a welcome addition, "Cinematic-Display" be damned.
Also, a number of users (myself included) ran into technical issues with the display either upon startup or after resuming the game after making settings changes.
Fortunately, Telltale support was able to find a solution to my problem within 20 minutes of submittingthe ticket. Kudos to the Telltale Support staff!
Interface 0/2
Issues 1/2 (with 2 indicating no problems)
Average: .25
Judgement, Overall (NOT an overall Average): 1.4/2 (or 70%)
What worked Best:
The introduction had exactly the right tone.
Please give us more night scenes! Monkey works best when it's dark and spooky.
The puzzles were definitely Monkey Island, and I'd love to see more brain-teasers like the "Ninja Doll" puzzle and the "Cheese Wheel" puzzle.
Despite my skepticism, the Marquis De Singe was a show-stealer - give us more memorable characters like this!
I can't even begin to describe how much I loved the Flotsam Island Map - the zoom-out is a beautiful touch!
Inventory combination also worked great. Thanks for bringing this back!
General Advice to Telltale:
The story is serviceable to start with, but needs to ground itself more in "pirate reality." Monkey Island works when it's a serious pirate story with bizzare anachronisms (like Grog Machines).
It's harder to buy into when the spooky/voodoo atmosphere is lost, or when pirates don't feel especially piratey. (For examples of GOOD Pirates, see Mancomb Seepgood, Esteban, or Largo LaGrande. Bad examples include Ignatius Cheese, Davey Newspaperman, or Crimpdigit.)
The art direction seems solid, but could stand to have more
memorable "Lesser" characters. For an example of how to do this right, look at ANY character from LeChucks Revenge or Curse of Monkey Island. You could look at any of the background characters and know that they had a piratey backstory. Pirate Glassblowers are hard to take seriously.
The interface needs serious work - at no point did I enjoy guiding Guybrush through the TOMI world - with the exception of the map screen, which was point-and-click.
Greater Dialogue Choice/Snappier Lines will make future episodes more memorable.
What was Missed:
Memorable Background Characters. (Men of Low Moral Fiber, REAL Pirates in Bars)
"Meanwhile" scenes...(seeing developments going on elsewhere keep the idea of LeChuck front-and-center, and build anticipation of a future confrontation)
Whistlable Music - paying homage to the past is great, and all of the themes that need to be there were...unfortunately, the music called back a bit *too* much to previous tracks. I'd like to see something new.
Conclusion:
Screaming Narwhal is a fun diversion, but doesn't quite stand up to Sam and Max Season2, where all cylinders were firing.
If anything, the episode suffers most from being the "First Episode."
The greatest thing that could benefit future episodes is an examination of the "Tone" of the first 3 monkey island games.
In this episode, I feel like Telltale was aiming for a combination of "LeChucks Revenge" and "Curse", but instead achieved a combination of "Secret" and "Escape."
Still, a fun ride that leaves me anticipating more!
To prepare for the release, I re-read Treasure Island, Return to Treasure Island, Silver, and On Stranger Tides. I also rewatched the POTC movies, listened to the Monkey Island Soundtracks, and replayed Curse of Monkey Island.
Full Disclosure of Reviewer Bias:
I rate the original games, from worst to best, as follows -
Escape from Monkey Island - This bizarre entry in the series dropped the semi-serious nature of the storylines from the original games for full-on satire and social commentary. With a maddening interface, continuity botches (that were supposed to fix other continuity issues), and the most annoying minigame ever, this entry illustrated what NOT to do with the Monkey Island Franchise.
The Secret of Monkey Island - A classic that introduced the endearing characters of the Monkey Island Universe. With clever scripting, humorous dialogue, catchy themes and memorable characters, this game could have stood alone through the ages - thankfully, the developers had more up their sleeve.
The Curse of Monkey Island - A revolution in the Monkey Island Series, this game introduced painterly landscapes and characters, perfect voice casting and music, clever puzzles, and continuity fixes. Succesfully maintained the tricky balance between humor and dark undertones that existed in the previous entry.
LeChuck's Revenge: Monkey Island 2 - The gold standard. This game successfully evolved the series, giving much greater depth to the characters and their conflicts. Each of the existing characters had aged and moved on from their "Secret" origins, and technical enhancements changed the nature of how we listened to our games. The soundtrack was endlesslyl hummable, the puzzles devilishly sadistic, and the spooky/haunting undertones pervaded the entire game. The ending generated endless controversy, fueling speculation and discussions about the meaning of it all for years.
So how does Tales of Monkey Island: The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal hold up?
Story
The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal uses a plot device as old as the hills to start off the action - starting at the end of the previous adventure. We're in familiar territory - Guybrush is about to foil the latest voodoo plot hatched
by the evil Poxed-Pirate LeChuck, and in typical Threepwood-fashion botches it.
The introductory sequence serves as a capable tutorial, introducing us to the new Telltale Interface and walking us through a few simple puzzles, before cutting to the opening credits, Monkey Island theme, and washing up on Flotsam Island, where the remainder of the game takes place.
The player is immediately given a number of tasks, and is rarely left standing around wondering what to do. Stuck? You've usually got something else to try.
In this regard, Narwhal is scripted tightly enough to allow the player to determine what order to tackle their challenges, and the story remains internally consistent.
Dialogue options might occasionally cause you to crack a smile, but few lines are laugh-out-loud funny. (Notable exception - "You've got spunk in you, kid! Pirate Spunk!" "Ew!")
Earlier games in the series seemed to offer more choice, and greater potential for silly or spooky options. Hopefully, more dialogue options will be available in future episodes.
The puzzles can be deviously tricky, but never felt cruel or unfair. (The one exception might be the Marquis De Singe/Messed up Idol puzzle, but it seems I had more trouble with this one than other folks.) While the map puzzles may feel a tad repetitive, this reminded me of old-school adventure gaming and didn't really bother me. All-in-all, solid effort in puzzle work.
Script - 2/2
Dialogue - 1/2
Puzzles - 2/2
Average: 1.6
Art Direction
The art direction REALLY shines in the introduction to the game, with a beautiful spooky storm, rain, and lighting effects. Character models are superb, and the environment gave off the perfect Monkey Island Vibe.
Unfortunately, this took a hit once we arrived at Flotsam Island. The brooding atmosphere is lost and replaced with a sunny locale. This can certainly work on a tropical island, but the 3d environments and characters when brightly lit, look plastic-y. This ends up evoking memories of Escape from Monkey Island.
Main characters are beautifully rendered. Guybrush calls back to his "LeChucks Revenge" wardrobe, LeChuck is the devil incarnate, Elaine and the Voodoo Lady are gorgeous, and the Marquis De Singe (a character I was skeptical about) fairly reeks with personality.
Unfortunately, lesser characters are standard Telltale NPC's - Mr Potato Head models with fairly generic traits. Their names are easily forgotten as soon as their purpose in the story is exhausted.
Characters -
Main - 2/2
Secondary - 1/2
Environments - 1/2
Average: .66
Sound
The music of Narwhal has the familiar Monkey Island themes going on, but felt strangely derivative of the original themes. While the old standbys are good, I couldn't help feeling that the original music didn't feel...erm...original. Hopefully later episodes will have more standout themes that I can whistle in the shower.
The voice work in the game was excellent, thanks for the welcome return of Dominic Armato. Other voice actors also filled their roles well, particularly the actor providing the voice of the Marquis De Singe.
Sample quality could have been improved, but overall this game stands up well.
Music - 1/2
Voices - 2/2
Average: .75
Technical
The game was unfortunately marred by a few technical issues. The new interface (necessary to navigate the 3d interface), while serviceable, was not a joy to work with. The "click-and-drag" mouse option was difficult to use, and the keyboard option is not particularly friendly. A true "click-to-move" option such as the old Monkey Island games or the more recent Sam and Max games would be a welcome addition, "Cinematic-Display" be damned.
Also, a number of users (myself included) ran into technical issues with the display either upon startup or after resuming the game after making settings changes.
Fortunately, Telltale support was able to find a solution to my problem within 20 minutes of submittingthe ticket. Kudos to the Telltale Support staff!
Interface 0/2
Issues 1/2 (with 2 indicating no problems)
Average: .25
Judgement, Overall (NOT an overall Average): 1.4/2 (or 70%)
What worked Best:
The introduction had exactly the right tone.
Please give us more night scenes! Monkey works best when it's dark and spooky.
The puzzles were definitely Monkey Island, and I'd love to see more brain-teasers like the "Ninja Doll" puzzle and the "Cheese Wheel" puzzle.
Despite my skepticism, the Marquis De Singe was a show-stealer - give us more memorable characters like this!
I can't even begin to describe how much I loved the Flotsam Island Map - the zoom-out is a beautiful touch!
Inventory combination also worked great. Thanks for bringing this back!
General Advice to Telltale:
The story is serviceable to start with, but needs to ground itself more in "pirate reality." Monkey Island works when it's a serious pirate story with bizzare anachronisms (like Grog Machines).
It's harder to buy into when the spooky/voodoo atmosphere is lost, or when pirates don't feel especially piratey. (For examples of GOOD Pirates, see Mancomb Seepgood, Esteban, or Largo LaGrande. Bad examples include Ignatius Cheese, Davey Newspaperman, or Crimpdigit.)
The art direction seems solid, but could stand to have more
memorable "Lesser" characters. For an example of how to do this right, look at ANY character from LeChucks Revenge or Curse of Monkey Island. You could look at any of the background characters and know that they had a piratey backstory. Pirate Glassblowers are hard to take seriously.
The interface needs serious work - at no point did I enjoy guiding Guybrush through the TOMI world - with the exception of the map screen, which was point-and-click.
Greater Dialogue Choice/Snappier Lines will make future episodes more memorable.
What was Missed:
Memorable Background Characters. (Men of Low Moral Fiber, REAL Pirates in Bars)
"Meanwhile" scenes...(seeing developments going on elsewhere keep the idea of LeChuck front-and-center, and build anticipation of a future confrontation)
Whistlable Music - paying homage to the past is great, and all of the themes that need to be there were...unfortunately, the music called back a bit *too* much to previous tracks. I'd like to see something new.
Conclusion:
Screaming Narwhal is a fun diversion, but doesn't quite stand up to Sam and Max Season2, where all cylinders were firing.
If anything, the episode suffers most from being the "First Episode."
The greatest thing that could benefit future episodes is an examination of the "Tone" of the first 3 monkey island games.
In this episode, I feel like Telltale was aiming for a combination of "LeChucks Revenge" and "Curse", but instead achieved a combination of "Secret" and "Escape."
Still, a fun ride that leaves me anticipating more!
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Comments
Yeah kind of stupid.If he want to give 8 out of 10 on graphics how can he do that with 2?
2.8/3?
I like your review. I kind of agree with everything you said except the music which was excellent.
I was basically rating two factors with each possible score - does it work as it's supposed to, and did I personally enjoy it?
If something was glitchy or subpar, it would only get part of a point. If I liked something, it got a full point...if I didn't like something it got no points.
I figured this was a fair way to balance what I felt the developers intended, vs. my own personal tastes.
Lorn
Awesome review, well written and very precise.
Anyway, on a scale of -1 to 2.4, I give this a 1.927
The main reason I did this is because most scores on a scale of ten are arbitrary. They may give you some idea of how the reviewer felt, but they don't usually have context.
But giving a range of 1-2, I'm judging what I felt the developers intent to be, vs. my own notions of what is enjoyable.
My concluding score (which was not an average) worked out to 7/10, or 70% if you prefer to base it off of a 1-10 scale, or a straight percentage.
Now that THAT'S all cleared up...do you have anything to say about the points I made?
Lorn
For me both options on the interface worked extremely well, were very relaxing, and I found myself using both off and on. Sorry, but some of your points are way off and up to personal preference.
The music was fine; you just have to know how to set the game up properly to balance it all out; the dialogue was hilarious and not much different than Lechuck's Revenge to me. I didn't laugh much in Lechuck's Revenge even when I first played it; smiled maybe, but didn't laugh much at it. I laughed at this game though. That's right you heard me; most of Lechuck's Revenge didn't have LAUGH OUT LOUD moments. A couple were there, like sawing off the leg, but most of the game was just filled with a fun atmosphere that brings a smile to my face. This game was the same; I laughed as much in this first chapter as I did in the first chapter of Lechuck's Revenge.
And the environments were beautiful and lively! Telltale did a great job on them; the plastic look adds to the style; it doesn't DETRACT. Give me a break. Next thing you'll be remarking how the physics on the objects in CMI were so unrealistic the game was ruined.
I'm sorry; but no. While I agree that very few of the characters in the background really shone, the rest of your complaints don't jive.
I grasp it fine, but I still think you're a weirdo
The humour of dialogues also suffered, but not that much. I had a few "roaring-laugh" moments, but I mourn the offbeat remarks Guybrush made about his inventory.
Having said this, I vote: please, better music and background characters! Music themes in CMI were real earworms, I could hum them forever!
But I still love the game, though
Anyway, if in following chapters we get to have some of THIS feeling I'm talking about and some little "alone in the jungle of Monkey Island" feeling, I'll be TOTALLY happy with ToMI having in it "a little of this and a little of that" from other monkey chapters.
Good Work
And since this is sort of a review of your review I'd say that if you want people to read what you have to say, don't use any kind of numerical rating in it. The posts above should make that clear
While I was playing this episode, I found myself really analyzing the original game, and thinking about the things that I thought worked and didn't work in the series. There's a special kind of chemistry that takes place when Monkey Island is working, but it's a fine line to walk...and you can feel it when it doesn't.
I think a few people may've taken my review as negative, and that wasn't at all my intention. I thought that Narwahl was a good introduction, but also felt that it made some of the same mistakes (in my opinion) that Escape from Monkey Island (in particular) did when trying to reinterpret the story.
In the interest of stirring debate, I'd like to reply to some of your posts and see if we can really hash out what makes the perfect Monkey Island Atmosphere for the community.
Secret Fawful:
I'm glad that the interface worked well for you. I had two major complaints about the interface.
The first was that the "click and drag" option didn't give me the precise control that I wanted. It's usefulness seemed to vary depending on the position of Guybrush in the scene, and I noticed that many times when initiating the click to take control, Guybrush would reorient himself to a new facing - which destroyed the immersion.
In frustration, I would navigate with the arrow keys - this control felt MUCH better, as I had the fine control I wanted...but I often felt that the camera defeated my efforts, obscuring part of the scenery that I wanted to see.
Both instances ended up pulling me out of the game itself and forced me to think about the interface. A good interface (in my opinion) should get out of the way and not draw attention to itself.
This is not the case at all. On initial installation, I did feel that the music and sound effects overpowered the dialogue, so the first thing I did was enter the options menu to balance out music, sound effects, and speech.
Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying the music was bad. I thought the compositions and intrument selection was fine, and was very happy to see a return to the Imuse-style music switching.
My complaint was that the music sounded as though it had been cribbed from earlier episodes in the series. The music didn't strike me as original so much as derivative of what had come before. What new music did exist didn't stick with me...if I had to try and hum any of the new stuff, I'd be hard pressed to remember the melody. Contrast that with Woodtick or Plunder Island, and you'll hopefully see what I was getting at.
This is probably just going to come down to a difference of opinion. Also, I do want to clarify - I'm not saying the environmental work was bad. In fact, I loved the design of the courthouse and the laboratory of the Marquis De Singe! What I was trying to explain was that in the bright lighting of Flotsam, the artificial elements are more easily noticeable. I did NOT see this problem during the introductory sequence, during the storm - the rain effects and darker color palette complemented the characters and the environment perfectly, and was probably my favorite "artwork" section of the game.
You can argue that the plastic look is a stylistic choice - I would guess only the developers could comment on that - but to me, this made the landscape in the brightly lit environments feel less painterly, and more artificial, and drew me a *bit* out of the experience.
Not at all...remember, I'm commenting on TONE more than anything here - and you seem to be inferring that I'm trying to pick on the episode. The truth is, I had a really great time with Narwhal, I just think that later episodes could use some small improvements to more fully attain the Monkey Island style.
feverfew:
I think you hit the nail on the head with Palido and the Barbershop Quartet. In previous Monkey Island games, secondary characters (and background characters) were instantly memorable - they each had a unique design (as opposed to generic Leonard Steakcharmer models with moustaches and different clothes), and they all felt like real pirates with particular quirks.
Contrast this with the secondary characters in Narwhal (such as Davey or Crimpdigit) and you have characters that serve their purpose in the story...but they're forgotten as soon as they're out of scene.
Note that this ISN'T a problem with main characters! Guybrush, Elaine, LeChuck, the Voodoo Lady, and the Marquis De Singe were all handled perfectly! When time is given to give the characters depth, they really shine! Every character, whether main or secondary, should be treated the same way.
One problem that I think Narwhal and Escape both suffer from is the idea that ALL of the Pirates in this universe are wannabes, just like Guybrush.
In The Secret of Monkey Island, I believed that Mancomb Seepgood, Esteban, and the Important-Looking-Pirates in the Next Room were all bloodthirsty buccaneers...they might have been scared off of the seas by LeChuck, and cowering in the bar drinking grog, but I never doubted for a second that if LeChuck was taken care of, they'll all hop back onto their ships and start murdering, theiving, and drinking as good pirates should.
Contrast that with Davey and the Crimpdigit - One is a newspaper guy, one makes glass unicorns - and they're each "pirates." The pirate thing feels like a sideline.
Part of what made Guybrush so charming is that he's out of his depth. HE is a wannabe, everybody else is a real pirate. If EVERYBODY has the same schtick, Guybrush loses some of his charm.
lparcshinoda:
and...
Megaloman:
Apparently the interface bothered me more than some other folks. I'm willing to concede the point, as controls come up to personal preference more than anything else. My main problem was that the interface felt like it was working against me, rather than with me.
Finally...my OWN take on the "Secret"...
I've always felt that the end of LeChucks Revenge *almost* tells us the truth, but most people feel there are only two explanations - either LeChuck and Guybrush are brothers trapped in a carnival, and this has all been in Guybrush's imagination, or LeChuck was almost defeated by Guybrush and LeChuck quickly cursed him in the Carnival of the Damned to escape and wreak havoc another day.
My take is that it's all a dream...sort of.
I think Monkey Island is what happens when a writer becomes obsessed with a story, and something happens to him.
Imagine (if you will) an author who has been obsessed with pirate stories from a young age. Maybe he took a ride on Pirates at the Caribbean as a child, and that sparked his imagination.
As an adult, he's struggling to be published. He has a strained relationship with his brother...maybe they both like the same girl.
He's struggling to get a historical novel published on the golden age of piracy...when tragedy strikes. He's in a car accident. Maybe he gets hit in the head with an oar. (Remember falling from the tree in MI2?)
Whatever the case, he's in a coma, and his mind is fractured.
Memories of his childhood swirl around with the real legends of the pirates, and his own reality is created as his mind tries to mend itself.
One of the developers themselves recently stated that in HIS mind, nothing in the Monkey Island games existed until Guybrush arrived. Essentially, it's all there because he NEEDS it to be there.
This also provides an explanation for the anachronisms in the games...the carnival, the grog machine, Used-Ship Salesmen, etc.
These anachronisms are his fractured mind trying to claw its way back to reality...the author very nearly reached consciousness at the end of LeChucks Revenge, but a relapse plunges him back into his coma, which his subconscious explains away as a "Curse."
Granted, this is just my OWN explanation...but I think it explains for ME why the weird tone of "semi-serious piracy with flashes of modern anachronism and humor" WORK. The anachronisms have to be RARE, and the story has to be SERIOUS with FLASHES of absurdity and humor.
Push it too far, and it starts to break down into reality, and you lose the voodoo/spooky underpinnings.
Here's to hoping the author never wakes up. (How's that for a morbid thought?)
Lorn
Why would anybody write so much text for those minor flaws????!?!?
I take writing and design very seriously, yes.
Yep...what I'm trying to get to the core of is WHY do you like (or conversely, not like) the Monkey Island games?
MOST fans would seem to agree that the first 3 games are great, while the fourth lost "something" (although there's a wealth of arguments about what that something was, or what order the games should ultimately be ranked in.) (Apologies to those who saw "Escape as a classic)
What I'm trying to get the community to discuss is...why did you love these games in the first place? What was it about them that hooked you into a magical place? What voodoo was it that drew you in?
Understanding what that unique combination of factors was is the first step in recreating it.
Yes, but that's not to say that everything is subjective, either. If you dismiss every contrary opinion without discussion, what's the point of discussing things in the first place?
I'm not really trying to spark argument here, or say that I'm right and everybody is wrong. What I really want to do is foster debate - and find out, what makes a Monkey Island game GREAT instead of GOOD - to the community as a whole?
Lorn
I must thank you for the review as I couldn't help but simply nod in agreement! Some of the points simply explained what I already felt but didn't realize why I felt that way,that is until you put it in such a lucid way.
I think what your review (or rather, criticism, taken in its finest meaning of the word) shows is that Tales got most of things right and that it would take just a few little tweaks to make the experience that much better. The points I would like to re-emphasize are the following:
Guybrush should be an out-of-depth character. While this is a cliche in many adventure games (see Leisure Suit Larry, Space quest), it has never been done as well as in Monkey Island and, for that proper monkey feel, I think this should be maintained. There is a possible exception to this, though, depending on which way the story turns. The ending of Ep. 1 suggests that Guybrush and LeChuck might have a sort of a role reversal in the future, and in such a scenario it makes perfect sense that Guybrush is actually an accomplished pirate. I'll reserve my judgement on this topic until later.
Support characters need to be more piratey. The pirates of Flotsam are just too "soft". One can not imagine them having any pirate history. If they were just a bit more fleshed out in terms of their past or connections, then they would be much more believable. It is just a matter of adding a few more dialogue choices to make them a bit more fleshed out.
I hope that Telltales read your original post as that is probably one of the best constructive criticisms I read on just about any topic, ever.
That's my real goal here. Something that has really impressed me about Telltale is their willingness to engage with the community, and to make changes along the way to produce a better product.
While Narwhal was a great introduction, I did feel that it had a few "off" beats...nothing major, but the biggest problem that I found was tone.
I wanted to see if the community agreed, and if so try and discuss what worked (and what didn't) in a constructive way, in the hopes that Telltale (and us as fans) can try and understand what it is that hooks us into this universe int he first place!
I think this take could actually be a lot of fun. One of the funny things about LeChucks Revenge was that Guybrush had EVOLVED. He's trying SO hard to be a mighty pirate - he's got the beard, the coat, pockets full of loot, AND he's killed LeChuck...and people STILL don't take him seriously.
The converse of this - Guybrush infected with LeChucks Mojo - could be really interesting.
In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Will Turner went from being a blacksmith who wanted nothing to do with piracy, to the black-shirted, ring-locked, Errol-Flynn-style replacement for Davey Jones! This evolution of character is vital, and seeing a badass Guybrush could be a lot of fun, if handled correctly!
I agree, although I think it's also important to pay attention to the character design. I refer to Davey and Crimpdigit as "Mr. Potato Head" characters - they're generic Telltale NPC's. While I'm sure this makes developing the game much faster, it also robs the characters of their individuality - and memorability.
Contrast this with the Marquis De Singe, who obviously had some thought put into him. Prior to the release of the game, I was skeptical of this character...I didn't like the concept.
Telltale succesfully designed, casted, and implemented the character though, and made me appreciate what they were doing. I'd like to see more of this.
Winslow strikes me as an in-between character. He's sort of generic, but has just enough personality to make me want to see him fleshed out much more. Give him an interesting backstory (and maybe more of a lead role) and there's a potential for growth in this character!
Lorn
There haven't really been real pirates in a Monkey Island game since Secret. We might see some again in ToMI but only because of the pox.
What's strange is that the quest of ToMI revolves around stopping the Pox from turning all the pirates into rude, fierce people, but shouldn't those be the least of the required character traits for a typical pirate? The way the pirates behave under the pox is the way they should be naturally be behaving all along. Since this is Monkey Island we shouldn't expect raping and pillaging, but the pirates should at least be naturally a little rough around the edges.
Granted, Guybrush is as nice a guy as you'll find, but the whole gag is that he's a pirate wanna-be.
I'm not sure if I'd go that far. Largo LaGrande certainly qualified (at least for me), and I thought the Pirates of the Barbery Coast did as well. (Cutthroat Billin particular!)
Piracy was their FIRST vocation...and they turned to other pursuits, each for their own personal reasons.
Even then, they were happy to return to the sea once you'd proved your worthiness to captain a ship, and quite cheerfully mutineed (in the politest way possible) as soon as the ship crashed on Blood Island!
Absolutely...while the pirates have always been humorous, they've also always had an edge. It says something that I remember the names of Mancomb Seepgood, Esteban, Largo LaGrande, and heck...even the LOOM guy...when I can't reliably remember the last name of Davey Nippercut (hope I got it right this time!)
I think this is exactly right...and this is a large part of the reason why I suggested that the main problem that I see in this first episode is tone.
With just a very slight shift in perspective, I think the series can hit the notes they want, but they have to turn it a little bit darker, a little bit more serious, and with memorable characters who serve as more than puzzle devices.
Lorn
The pox would act as a pretty convenient device to reset the pirate behaviors?
That would be a neat climax to the end of Season 1, too. LeChuck destroys La Sponje Grande, Elaine falls for LeChuck, and the pirates have all reverted to cutthroats....
Then...
TO BE CONTINUED.....
Lorn
You put it best:
"Monkey Island works when it's a serious pirate story with bizzare anachronisms (like Grog Machines)."
Overdoing it like was done with EFMI, is a bad idea and should be avoided.
edit; I also rate MI2 > MI3 > MI1 > MI4
Agreed. While a lot of other criticisms on the site have been about the UI and such, this gets right to the bottom of the game: the story.
I think it would be a good idea for Telltale to read some old pirate mythology and stories, to really get the feel of the game down.
I'd also just add that I think having a LOOK function is essential to Monkey Island, not only just by tradition, but even to the humor. Half of the fun in the previous games was just looking at things, and that would set up a great line or subtle insight. There just needs to be more things to see and interact with.
The puzzles really need to be harder. The classic Monkey Islands even had diversionary tactics at times to throw you off of a puzzle a little bit. You had to think of alternatives, or discover really clever solutions out of a ton of options or after a long time. All the solutions are at your feet and linear in this one, and while they were clever enough, they weren't a satisfying challenge. One in particular that I was struck by was how easy it was to
I'll explain:
1. The most important part of an adventure game is interacting with the world. They have removed the verbs, and decreased the variety of interaction... Finding ways of increasing this would ultimately create more fun.
2. Movement now requires constant attention. For a game that hasn't meant to be about controlling and directing your character it seems strange that you should have to actively hold buttons down when you want to move. A simple click of the mouse made everything so much easier, and it meant while travelling you could do other things in the background such as check the screen for hotspots with the mouse... It also meant that I could lean back on my chair and play the game much more casually.
I am not necessarily suggesting they switch back to point 'n' click. However, I believe it would be wise to (a) increase the number of ways the user can interact with the world, and (b) change the control scheme in a way that means it does not need total supervision to move from one place on the map to another. That is, think of the controls in a more adventure-centric way.
And although I really loved episode 1, I do think this is a very valid discussion with some great points being made
Woah, nerdy comment!!!
BTW, I read you're studying computer games programming, so can I ask you something in PM?
Ya know, I took a degree in computer science, now I'm taking my 2-years specialization and then I'd like to take a master in game development.
Lemme know if you got time to answer
I am really impressed that Telltale has such great customer relations. Other companies would keep a well-defined wall between themselves and their consumers, with every statement released approved by lawyers beforehand.
Telltale not only talks to us directly, they ask us for our opinions, solicit comments for actual inclusion into their projects, and aren't afraid to make jokes.
Kudos to Telltale, and I hope they take the comments in this thread for what they are - constructive criticism and thinly veiled adoration for your efforts.
Lorn
I commented in another thread that I felt the music sounded less expansive than CMI's soundtrack. This is heard most in the familiar opening theme music which sounds quite artificial and synthesised. The S&M score was excellent and I know Telltale have the resources to include more real instruments to perform the game music. The organs and guitars for Monkey Island are far easier to come by than a horn section for Sam & Max.
The strange thing is, The Secret of Monkey Island is a pretty good game. The script is tight, the humor is funny, it strikes all the right notes - but I'm convinced that it's really LeChucks Revenge that cemented "Secret" as a classic.
To look at it another way, if The Secret of Monkey Island had been a standalone game, I have no doubt that people would still have fond memories of it.
But would it be a classic?
When LeChucks Revenge started, it was obvious that time had passed in the Monkey Island universe. Guybrush had a beard, a ponytail, and a snazzy new pirate coat - not to mention loads of Pirate Loot.
Largo LaGrande was introduced as the new tough, and LeChuck was scarier than ever as a pissed off reanimated corpse.
And the ending - while some people see it as a negative, I am CONVINCED that the controversy itself is what set everybodys imaginations on fire. 17 years later, we are STILL debating what it means - and everybody has a different interpretation.
By including this ambiguity, we as the players get to choose how to interpret the story, and that works retroactively in "Secrets" favor.
As to the music, I don't mind synthesized so much - heck, that's no different from the original two games.
I guess what I was disappointed by with the new music was that, after playing it, I don't remember it.
When I'm in a monkey island mood, I constantly find myself whistling the themes from Woodtick, Phatt Island, or Plunder Island. These melodies had staying power, and would cycle in my head for hours at a time.
I didn't feel that from this episode, and I think that's a bit of a shame.
Lorn
Perhaps one thing is that Guybrush, in every other game, was set up on each island of his own free will. The first episode of MI5 is very similar to the first episode of MI2 in that Guybrush wants to find a way off the island, by means of a ship. The main difference is that Guybrush is not on Flotsam of his own free will, and consequently, neither are we. Both we and Guybrush want to get off Flotsam as fast as possible and see what the world of MI5 really has in store for us; to explore the mysteries and understand this new and exciting story. Perhaps the tone of Flotsam is one of "we want to get away from here as fast as possible to get into the real grand epic story, but we can't because we have all these big obstacles in our way". And I think that's mainly what Episode one is all about. In that way it pretty much does its main purpose as a first chapter, establishing Guybrush, the quest, the characters, and the mythology of the games, but not the grand world of Monkey Island itself; as we have yet to see that until episode 2 or however it will be shown to us. And because of that, I'm much more excited for Episode 2 than I was for Episode 1, and I think my excitement will grow for each new episode, greater than that for the last. And that's what episodic gaming is all about.
I'm a very opinionated MI fan, so normally when I see so many personal opinions in a review like yours my first reaction is to pick it apart. Not so in this case, as your review eloquently sums my exact thoughts on ToMI. I almost wish we could go for beers, just so we could have lengthy geeky discussions on the minutia of Monkey Island. (Doesn't it drive you nuts when people accuse you of taking your passion too seriously?)
In any case, I'd like to especially second the need for a more brooding, more piraty atmosphere. I remember as a kid playing SoMI for the first time, one of the emotions evoked was a feeling of dread -- like, "what is this Guybrush character getting himself into!". Now it seems like Guybrush is, for lack of a better description, at the top of the pirate food chain since he's ostensibly less of a wannabe than all the other 'pirates' in MI land. Also I really miss the quaint-yet-dark and eerily brooding lantern-lit firefly-infested MI world of yore. The brightly-lit locale doesn't quite match up with my romanticized vision of what a Pirates of the Carribean-inspired world should look like.
That said, the devs have promised somewhere in the forums that future episodes will have much ‘darker’ settings, which gives me hope considering that Telltale games always improve with each successive episode.
Also with regards to the humor not being "laugh-out-loud", I actually think it's about as good as it could be without the benefit of the hilarious Tim Schaffer working on it. That guy is renowned for being the only guy in the industry who can evoke a gut-laugh from a video game, a feat that is apparently almost impossible to achieve.
All-in-all, great game... Out of all the MI games I'd rate it somewhere in the middle, although future episodes have the potential to rival the best ones (which IMO are MI 1&2). Interestingly, I find it to be a perfect amalgum of all 4 MI games, since it melds an equal number of elements from each. Now if they could remove the MI 4 part of that equation in future episodes...
Secret Fawful:
This is a very good point, and something that I hadn't actually considered. By limiting our ability to jump into the main plot, we really ARE working against the same frustrations that Guybrush himself is. We feel the frustration more viscerally because have internalized his own goal. Awesome point!
I think this also underscores the need for the "Meanwhile..." sequences we've seen in the other games. They give the player a brief moment to breathe, rewarding us for completing a puzzle (thus giving us a sense of accomplishment), while also teasing us with a little bit of plot.
Because Guybrush and LeChuck are the two most important characters in the game, we really need to keep them front and center - even if they're not in the same scene.
We only see LeChuck briefly in the intro, and briefly at the exit of the game...to my mind, he felt criminally underused in this episode.
I'm also more excited for the next episode than I was for the first - I'm just looking forward to the tonal shift which I hope will occur. Episodic gaming is a very exciting medium for me, because it gives you time to reflect on the progress of the story. In this way, it's a lot like the penny dreadfuls that used to be published.
Trivia: Treasure Island was actually written as a serial in a magazine, released in installments. The story itself wasn't actually widely noted until the entire story was collected into a book, after which it became a classic. I suppose this game itself is art imitating life, in that regard.
Shanksworthy:
It would be fun, wouldn't it? A buddy of mine and I get together for lunch on most working days, and the hour is usually spent in conversations just like this one. We spend a good deal of our time discussing the latest movies, books, and games that we enjoy, and critiquing them. While some people don't really appreciate deconstruction, I really enjoy trying to understand why some stories work, and stroke a chord inside you - and others somehow miss the mark. The most fascinating stories for me to deconstruct are the ones that ALMOST work - the ones that you see a seed of greatness in that just didn't quite receive the polish it needed.
Have you ever been on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride? I suspect you have, because you've evoked the dock area perfectly.
Walt Disney wanted you to be intuitively aware that you were about to enter an area that was magical. On the dock, it is dark and brooding...fireflies flutter around in the misty atmosphere.
When you actually board the ride, you're carried down a waterfall...and you enter the Caribbean.
It's subtle, but everything leading up to the boat ride communicates that you have entered another world.
Ron Gilbert captured this mood PERFECTLY in LeChucks Revenge. Woodtick has the exact same atmosphere as that dock, especially by the time you reach the cemetary. I think this "otherworldy/spooky/magical" feeling is what is in desperate need of revival - and that requires a serious approach with "real" pirates, odd and funny though they may be.
Of course, these aren't the historical pirates - they're the romantic pirates that Robert Louis Stevensen himself created. But those images have endured for a reason - the dress, the language, the mannerisms - despite their crude ways, we love these characters for not adhering to the rules of society, and living freely as we wish we could.
I do agree. Nobody in the industry has been able to make me laugh like Schaffer, and his absence is felt. I think his humor has much to do with why "Curse" tickled my funny bone so much.
Lorn