Tales needs more dark/gross settings and props
Spoilers for chapter 4 ahead.
Here me out. I personally don't think adding dark drama (e.g. Morgan's death, Guybrush's death) is the right way of making the series more 'dark'. The MI series has been dark in its own piratey way, and these new developments, though quite emotional, just didn't feel very MI for me.
When we look back at the old MI games, what made them lovable was their dark humor and settings. When I think of the dark aspects in the older MI games, I think of the graveyards in MI2 and Curse, the Monkey Island underground, gross piratey items like the navigator's head, eyeball necklace, largo's spit etc. We need to bring back more of these kinds of settings/items, and build puzzles around them!
Here me out. I personally don't think adding dark drama (e.g. Morgan's death, Guybrush's death) is the right way of making the series more 'dark'. The MI series has been dark in its own piratey way, and these new developments, though quite emotional, just didn't feel very MI for me.
When we look back at the old MI games, what made them lovable was their dark humor and settings. When I think of the dark aspects in the older MI games, I think of the graveyards in MI2 and Curse, the Monkey Island underground, gross piratey items like the navigator's head, eyeball necklace, largo's spit etc. We need to bring back more of these kinds of settings/items, and build puzzles around them!
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I understand what he's getting at, but I'm not sure how easy that would be to do. 1 & 2 were aided by not having voices and the art style, I can't say I really got that dark vibe in 3 at all.
I suppose the key to it would be having stretches where Guybrush is alone, like travelling the underworld in 1 or trying to resurrect the chef in two or hearing the bones song. Chapter 5 would would actually be the perfect time for it.
I don't really understand what people want when they say "dark" anyway. It seems to mean something different for everyone.
I think you're right in the settings, though. I've written elsewhere on why places like Blood Island were successful, compared to the ones more recently, and I think the settings just seem like less efforts in them. (Like with Flotsam: here's a plate, here's a village, here's a ship, and here's a maze; the end.)
I thought the bag of legs was pretty gross last chapter though.
SMI: Head of the Navigator, the caves of Hell, the Monkey Head itself looked grotesque and dark and scary.
MI2: Humour was basically dark throughout, sometimes morbid. Digging up Grandpa Lagrande (then the sudden sillyness of Guybrush losing his pants), spitting contest, LeChuck's fortress, Rapp Scallion sequence.
CMI: Map to blood island, blood island itself, Murray (dark and morbid, while being a funny "sidekick"), Minnie Goodsoup and the story behind it.
EMI: Jambalaya Island (:P)
Tales: Part 4 in general was relatively dark and moody, while feeling a lot more piratey and Monkey Island-ish than most of the other parts.
For the last time, in the name of all that is good and decent in this world, NO.
Isn't it dark enough?
You want dark, take your laptop to the nearest cave and then play it. THAT'S dark.
*wins Goldilocks award*
Oh snap son, there be some bears comin' your way!
EDIT: Whoops, I already did.