The ending of Chapter 4 (spoilers AND grievances)

edited November 2009 in Tales of Monkey Island
SPOILERS AHOY

Okay. I loved this chapter. I think it's the best chapter of MI since MI2. It's the first chapter I've played without a walkthrough since CMI. Everything about it was great...

except the end.

I love the story and I love what happened, but we have this GREAT sequence of the pox being eradicated with great graphics (though could have used more music), and then we have LeChuck returning, building up to what should be a great great cliffhanger, and storywise it is.

Earl Boen is back and gets... two weirdly recorded lines? People have been asking for this and should be screaming YES! when they hear the familiar voice, but we didn't even get a signature "Yarrr!". Also his new ultra poxed form is exactly the same, no great transformation sequence, and then, without any music or dramatic cinematography like the previous sequences, Elaine just goes to clash swords, and we are left only with the ambient forest music. It all just fell flat for me. Also the music in the whole episode was really oddly quiet, I had to lower the sound and voice volumes to hear it properly.

Hopefully we'll get some prime CMI style Earl Boen back in Chapter 5 and more of Michael Lands epic music, hopefully in all the right spots.

Comments

  • edited November 2009
    I have to agree on the lack of dynamics in certain scenes.
    I don't recall the final one so well, but it particularly striked me during the opening... That scene where the flotsam pirates are running up to guybrush to get him... The overall introduction WAS greatly done, but at this point it really felt weird and, yeah, rather flat.
    I even thought something was wrong when i got to the chapter 's name screen, which should feel quieter than what has happened and kinda break the dynamics. Here, it just stayed on the same level, making the whole thing all the more flat.
    Of course, what came next was great, but those 30 seconds or so did threw off.
  • edited November 2009
    Yeah I mean everything that they did do was GREAT but its the things that were missing (music at crucial points, more fancy animations at LeChuck's transformation, more speaking for Earl, etc) which make me semi wish they had spent another week on it.

    Imagine how cool it would have been to see human LeChuck rise into the air, go limp, and then have green light shoot out of his eyes and mouth and fingertips as his beard fell off and the demon version grew in, his eyes and face transforming and the classic CMI style Earl Boen YARRRRRRRR as the screen went white and the chapter ended with LeChucks theme booming from the speakers.
  • edited November 2009
    Actually i'm not sure if SEEING him transform back into Evil Chuckie would have been so necessary... Sometimes that kind of stuff is best left unseen (AND it probably saves lots of time and money as well ;)).

    But as i said, i'll have to see the scene again to really comment - I remember the basics, but not quite how it was done in details.
    We still basically agree anyway : it was overall pretty good, but did miss some punch to really make a great impression.
  • edited November 2009
    I'm guessing all that good LeChuck stuff is being saved for episode 5. We just needed to have a grand cliffhanger here.
  • edited November 2009
    It's little surprise that you think this is the best chapter if you normally use walkthroughs.
  • edited November 2009
    I normally start without them, then 1/3 of the way in get stuck and read it JUST FOR ONE hint and end up using it for the whole thing.
  • edited November 2009
    DeLuca wrote: »

    Imagine how cool it would have been to see human LeChuck rise into the air, go limp, and then have green light shoot out of his eyes and mouth and fingertips as his beard fell off and the demon version grew in, his eyes and face transforming and the classic CMI style Earl Boen YARRRRRRRR as the screen went white and the chapter ended with LeChucks theme booming from the speakers.

    It would have been lame.

    LeChuck is coming back next chapter, lots of Earl Boen then.

    Such weird complaints on this forum.
  • edited November 2009
    Of all Lechuck's forms, Zombie lechuck is my least favorite. Demon Lechuck being the most awesome followed by ghost, and I'm hoping Telltale will bring back a focus on those or create an awesome new one (maybe the pirate god form is a hint? or does living nice lechuck count as a form?)
  • edited November 2009
    My favorite LeChuck is Zombie, my least fave is ghost.... Actually scratch that my least fave is Human... Sorry TTG but I did like it when he was evil in ToMI
  • edited November 2009
    Good LeChuck was interesting. For me, the demon LeChuck was just boring because I didn't like the direction his character took after MI2. Ghost was alright (it was his original incarnation after all, and SoMI:SE did a good job with his sprite I think). Let's all pretend stone-LeChuck didn't exist! :)
  • edited November 2009
    Good gravy, this episode actually left me feeling rather angry. Yes, it was superb in so many ways (the atmosphere of the island, the heady mixture of great puzzles tied to an interesting storyline). It's probably the best thing Tell Tale have ever done and I loved it. Definitely up there with the best of the Monkey Island canon. But when it was bad......... it was so bad.

    When it was announced that game was coming out early, all I thought was "I hope they didn't rush it. If they brought the game in ahead of schedule, I hope they took the time to fix all the bugs before they release it, and really make it polished."

    But then I come across really, really obvious bugs. The burnt-out lamp attracts bugs after Guybrush places it on the alter? Eh? Guybrush constantly referring to the lamp as though it's illuminated? Considering the fact that the lamp SHOULD be burnt out by the time you reach the alter (if you're getting the ingredients in order) this is a pretty shoddy bug. How on earth did Q&A miss it?

    Also, a quick note to whoever is responsible for the music: Yes, we all know about leitmotiv, but you don't need to change the music every time we speak to a character!

    Ok, so that's obviously pretty small stuff, but then things got ugly...

    The conversation between LeChuck and Guybrush where the latter says, "Yeah, Elaine's a real handful"... yeesh! When did Guybrush become a dick? I know he's meant to be a loveable dufus, but here he's downright offensive, misogynistic, even.

    Then it gets worse: Mother-in-law jokes...? Has the series really stooped that low? What is this? Bad 80's stand-up? I could link to some comedians where that type of humour would slot right in, but it wouldn't be suitable for younger readers.

    Then came the: Worst. Death. Ever (#1). How you made me not care about the death of a character I previously loved is a wonder for the ages. What were you afraid of? Upsetting the five year olds in the front row?

    Then there was the lack of blood. Ok, so Monkey Island has never featured blood, but guys... when it's painfully obvious there should be blood, then it just gets stupid (and it being missing was possibly one of the reasons I spent the scene going, "wtf?" instead of, "Crikey! Morgan's dead!"). There must have been a way to do this without it just being baffling and confusing and weird and stupid. Surely.

    Then came the worst death ever #2. Ok, this one wasn't so bad because at least the audience is thinking, "I wonder how Guybrush is going to get out of this", instead of, "who is going to star in Chapter 5?!". So the shock comes from LeChuck turning evil once again... although as the OP has pointed out, it was a bit of an anti-climax.

    What? Why? When? None of these questions were answered in order to make the shock feel palpable (come to think of it, have you guys been taking writing lessons from JK Rowling?).

    One final thing: If this series ends with Guybrush having his hand magically re-attached I will be VERY upset.

    Sorry to be so curmudgeonly, but I guess it's easier to focus on the things that have upset you than the million other wonderful things. (It really was a fantastic episode guys, well done.)
  • edited November 2009
    When it was announced that game was coming out early, all I thought was "I hope they didn't rush it. If they brought the game in ahead of schedule, I hope they took the time to fix all the bugs before they release it, and really make it polished."

    Early? they released it second to the last day of the month... It was the latest release date yet, for ToMI.
    I do however get the feeling it was worked on until the last minute there were plenty of bugs but I suspect they will have it all fixed on the DVD..
  • edited November 2009
    i have to admit i was quite shocked of guybrush getting killed
  • edited November 2009
    Then it gets worse: Mother-in-law jokes...? Has the series really stooped that low? What is this? Bad 80's stand-up?

    I only noticed one mother-in-law joke in this chapter. There were two or three in Chapter One.
  • edited November 2009
    doggans wrote: »
    I only noticed one mother-in-law joke in this chapter. There were two or three in Chapter One.

    Almost every reference to the
    lion paw
    was a mother-in-law joke. I guess you could count that as one big joke, or several smaller ones. But I do remember a few in Chapter One as well.
  • edited November 2009
    Irishmile wrote: »
    Early? they released it second to the last day of the month... It was the latest release date yet, for ToMI.
    I do however get the feeling it was worked on until the last minute there were plenty of bugs but I suspect they will have it all fixed on the DVD..

    Lol, really? It felt early! :)
  • edited November 2009
    Lol, really? It felt early! :)

    thats cos the chapter 3 relese date was late in month 2 if it was at start it feel like ages
  • edited November 2009
    I guess I can see why TV Tropes has a field day with this forums.
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