5 ms·

Curious if playing any/all of the earlier releases is worthwhile before diving into this.

RajT88 4y ago
To understand where the plot picks up, you should (re)play MI1 and MI2. A few things I understand were borrowed from Curse of MI, but you don't need to know them beforehand. They were borrowed because they are charming and funny, not because they add something to the canon (cannon?).
- nottorp 4y ago
  > To understand where the plot picks up, you should (re)play MI1 and MI2. Actually you should just play them because they're bloody brilliant, as jonplackett said. There are remakes for modern ish systems available: https://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monkey_Island_Special_Edition/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monke... https://store.steampowered.com/app/32460/Monkey_Island_2_Special_Edition_LeChucks_Revenge/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/32460/Monkey_Island_2_Spe... 3 4 and the Telltalle series... you won't miss much. But 1 and 2 are why this game launch made it even to HN.
  - udp 4y ago
    > 3 4 and the Telltalle series... you won't miss much. Fair enough about the others, but that’s a controversial opinion about 3, which is critically acclaimed and a classic for anyone played it as a kid in the late 90s. It only gets criticised because Ron Gilbert wasn’t involved. The voice acting cast from it are nearly all in Return, along with lots of references, so it’s canon for Gilbert purists now too!
    - nottorp 4y ago
      I'm not criticizing it, I just don't remember the plot which says something. Was it the one with monkey combat? And time travel? Or time travel was in 4...
      - seba_dos1 4y ago
        Monkey combat and time travel were both in 4 (Escape, the clumsy 3D one). Curse was the 2D-cartoon one with demon LeChuck, Elaine turned into gold statue, chickens and rollercoaster of death.
        nottorp 4y ago
        Seriously. I just skimmed through a youtube playthrough. I've definitely played it (3 i mean). Still don't remember what it was about.
  - CrLf 4y ago
    MI3 may not have had Ron Gilbert’s involvement, but fits perfectly with 1 and 2. It’s an awesome game. MI4 was OK, but not memorable, and the 3D wasn’t a good fit for it.
  - seba_dos1 4y ago
    IMO the only game where you won't miss much is the fourth one - Escape from Monkey Island. All the rest were pretty charming.
- seba_dos1 4y ago
  All the previous MI games are canon to the new one, although the whole MI canon isn't exactly very strict in the first place anyway.
  - RajT88 4y ago
    It is a little loosey-goosey, but I understand* there's now 2 timelines, which I'm going to come up with some arbitrary labels for: - 1, 2, Return <- "Gilbert Canon" or, "OVA" - 1, 2, Curse, Escape, Tales <- "Extended Canon", "Guybrush Universe", "Guybrush Muyou" A little bit of Curse is going into Return, which is the loosey goosey part**. Memorable characters/gags, and less the events of Curse. * Full disclosure, I haven't played Tales, or Return yet. * *Well, also PC gaming is a thing in the MI universe, and pirates are shilling LOOM in the SCUMM bar.
    - seba_dos1 4y ago
      > * Full disclosure, I haven't played Tales, or Return yet. Yes, I can tell. Return to Monkey Island explicitly references events from all the previous Monkey Island games. When it comes to the timeline, I won't comment on it, as that's kind of a spoiler. It becomes obvious early in the game though.
      - RajT88 4y ago
        > Yes, I can tell. Return to Monkey Island explicitly references events from all the previous Monkey Island games. I mean. I have a day job. I won't have time until the weekend to play it. It's only been out like 9 hours!
jonplackett 4y ago
You should play 1 and 2 just because they’re bloody brilliant games
- exDM69 4y ago
  I won't disagree, but there's a bit of rose tinted glasses of nostalgia here. A few years back I tried playing The Secret of Monkey Island again (special edition from Steam), and it wasn't quite as great as I remembered. The special edition has got voice acting, but the original script (which was for text) doesn't lend itself to voice acting (dialogue feels odd) and having it text only felt a bit archaic.
  - jonplackett 4y ago
    IMHO monkey island 2 holds up best. It’s so well written and I love the music. Rose tinted? Possibly. But underneath the tint it’s still solid gold. One of my favourite games I’ve ever played.
  - gpderetta 4y ago
    I replayed the remakes of 1 and 2 with my son 2 3-4 years ago and we both greatly enjoyed them. I think they held in up very well. Voice acting was great.
codetrotter 4y ago
Alternatively, if you want to experience the previous games but don’t feel like playing them you can watch full playthroughs of the previous games on YouTube without commentary. For example: Curse of Monkey Island - No Commentary Play Through - THE SCUMM BAR - https://youtu.be/zfAo3O2qZR0 https://youtu.be/zfAo3O2qZR0 The same channel that posted said video has posted full play through no commentary videos of other games in the series also. I watched a few of these a while ago during night time as while I was falling asleep. As a mix between background noise and something that I paid some amount of attention to. Same way that a friend of mine likes to put on movies sometimes when going to sleep.
lawn 4y ago
Both M1 and M2 are classics. I personally really loved Curse of Monkey Island as well. If you don't have time or energy for that though, I'll echo that watching a let's play is also very good.
- udp 4y ago
  CoMI (which is 25 years old) definitely is a classic to my generation, who mostly played it before any of the other games. It just gets complained about by older folks who played 1 & 2 first because Ron Gilbert wasn’t involved - which I can understand, but it’s a shame because it’s such an incredible game.
NohatCoder 4y ago
Game 3 and 4 (The Curse of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island) come with the caveat that they are from the Windows 9x period. Getting them to run reliably on a modern computer is an adventure in its own right.
- heeen2 4y ago
  protondb says they work out of the box on linux for some people https://www.protondb.com/app/730830 https://www.protondb.com/app/730830 https://www.protondb.com/app/730820 https://www.protondb.com/app/730820
- toast0 4y ago
  > Getting them to run reliably on a modern computer is an adventure in its own right. I always enjoyed this meta game back when it was fiddling with config.sys and such. Shouldn't need that for a 9x game, but other fiddling would make sense.
- udp 4y ago
  3 has worked perfectly on ScummVM for at least a decade, and you can buy it on Gog. 4 is indeed very much a pain (and so are the controls). The PS2 version is better than the PC version in my experience.
  - boudin 4y ago
    There was ResidualVM for Escape from MI which has been merge with ScummVM. I haven't tried in a while but it was playable from what I remember (even if controls were still a pain)
    - boudin 4y ago
      It's in good shape indeed: https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/DEV/comi/ https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/DEV/comi/
    - udp 4y ago
      I didn’t know that - I’ll have to check it out, thanks!
aidenn0 4y ago
The first two are wonderful games. Charm aside, they are quite fair for adventure games while not being easy (though if you want easy, walk-through guides are a click away)
exDM69 4y ago
In the main menu of the game, there's a "scrapbook" feature with a brief history of Guybrush Threepwood's adventures if you haven't played the earlier editions. But the game (as far as I played it so far) contains a lot of characters and jokes that might be more fun if you've played the earlier ones. If you want to play them, there are "special editions" of the first two in Steam. They have improved graphics and voice acting, with the option of switching to the original graphics and back with the press of a button.
Tarsul 4y ago
I played 2hours and actually it is definitely so much for fans that I would say everyone should play at least the first one (secret of monkey island) first before playing this one (and then why not play the second one, too? :D). So much I can say: This definitely feels like a Monkey Island game.

To understand where the plot picks up, you should (re)play MI1 and MI2. A few things I understand were borrowed from Curse of MI, but you don't need to know them beforehand. They were borrowed because they are charming and funny, not because they add something to the canon (cannon?).

nottorp 4y ago
> To understand where the plot picks up, you should (re)play MI1 and MI2. Actually you should just play them because they're bloody brilliant, as jonplackett said. There are remakes for modern ish systems available: https://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monkey_Island_Special_Edition/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monke... https://store.steampowered.com/app/32460/Monkey_Island_2_Special_Edition_LeChucks_Revenge/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/32460/Monkey_Island_2_Spe... 3 4 and the Telltalle series... you won't miss much. But 1 and 2 are why this game launch made it even to HN.
- udp 4y ago
  > 3 4 and the Telltalle series... you won't miss much. Fair enough about the others, but that’s a controversial opinion about 3, which is critically acclaimed and a classic for anyone played it as a kid in the late 90s. It only gets criticised because Ron Gilbert wasn’t involved. The voice acting cast from it are nearly all in Return, along with lots of references, so it’s canon for Gilbert purists now too!
  - nottorp 4y ago
    I'm not criticizing it, I just don't remember the plot which says something. Was it the one with monkey combat? And time travel? Or time travel was in 4...
    - seba_dos1 4y ago
      Monkey combat and time travel were both in 4 (Escape, the clumsy 3D one). Curse was the 2D-cartoon one with demon LeChuck, Elaine turned into gold statue, chickens and rollercoaster of death.
      - nottorp 4y ago
        Seriously. I just skimmed through a youtube playthrough. I've definitely played it (3 i mean). Still don't remember what it was about.
- CrLf 4y ago
  MI3 may not have had Ron Gilbert’s involvement, but fits perfectly with 1 and 2. It’s an awesome game. MI4 was OK, but not memorable, and the 3D wasn’t a good fit for it.
- seba_dos1 4y ago
  IMO the only game where you won't miss much is the fourth one - Escape from Monkey Island. All the rest were pretty charming.
seba_dos1 4y ago
All the previous MI games are canon to the new one, although the whole MI canon isn't exactly very strict in the first place anyway.
- RajT88 4y ago
  It is a little loosey-goosey, but I understand* there's now 2 timelines, which I'm going to come up with some arbitrary labels for: - 1, 2, Return <- "Gilbert Canon" or, "OVA" - 1, 2, Curse, Escape, Tales <- "Extended Canon", "Guybrush Universe", "Guybrush Muyou" A little bit of Curse is going into Return, which is the loosey goosey part**. Memorable characters/gags, and less the events of Curse. * Full disclosure, I haven't played Tales, or Return yet. * *Well, also PC gaming is a thing in the MI universe, and pirates are shilling LOOM in the SCUMM bar.
  - seba_dos1 4y ago
    > * Full disclosure, I haven't played Tales, or Return yet. Yes, I can tell. Return to Monkey Island explicitly references events from all the previous Monkey Island games. When it comes to the timeline, I won't comment on it, as that's kind of a spoiler. It becomes obvious early in the game though.
    - RajT88 4y ago
      > Yes, I can tell. Return to Monkey Island explicitly references events from all the previous Monkey Island games. I mean. I have a day job. I won't have time until the weekend to play it. It's only been out like 9 hours!

jonplackett 4y ago

You should play 1 and 2 just because they’re bloody brilliant games

exDM69 4y ago
I won't disagree, but there's a bit of rose tinted glasses of nostalgia here. A few years back I tried playing The Secret of Monkey Island again (special edition from Steam), and it wasn't quite as great as I remembered. The special edition has got voice acting, but the original script (which was for text) doesn't lend itself to voice acting (dialogue feels odd) and having it text only felt a bit archaic.
- jonplackett 4y ago
  IMHO monkey island 2 holds up best. It’s so well written and I love the music. Rose tinted? Possibly. But underneath the tint it’s still solid gold. One of my favourite games I’ve ever played.
- gpderetta 4y ago
  I replayed the remakes of 1 and 2 with my son 2 3-4 years ago and we both greatly enjoyed them. I think they held in up very well. Voice acting was great.

codetrotter 4y ago

Alternatively, if you want to experience the previous games but don’t feel like playing them you can watch full playthroughs of the previous games on YouTube without commentary. For example: Curse of Monkey Island - No Commentary Play Through - THE SCUMM BAR - https://youtu.be/zfAo3O2qZR0 https://youtu.be/zfAo3O2qZR0 The same channel that posted said video has posted full play through no commentary videos of other games in the series also. I watched a few of these a while ago during night time as while I was falling asleep. As a mix between background noise and something that I paid some amount of attention to. Same way that a friend of mine likes to put on movies sometimes when going to sleep.

lawn 4y ago

Both M1 and M2 are classics. I personally really loved Curse of Monkey Island as well. If you don't have time or energy for that though, I'll echo that watching a let's play is also very good.

udp 4y ago
CoMI (which is 25 years old) definitely is a classic to my generation, who mostly played it before any of the other games. It just gets complained about by older folks who played 1 & 2 first because Ron Gilbert wasn’t involved - which I can understand, but it’s a shame because it’s such an incredible game.

NohatCoder 4y ago

Game 3 and 4 (The Curse of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island) come with the caveat that they are from the Windows 9x period. Getting them to run reliably on a modern computer is an adventure in its own right.

heeen2 4y ago
protondb says they work out of the box on linux for some people https://www.protondb.com/app/730830 https://www.protondb.com/app/730830 https://www.protondb.com/app/730820 https://www.protondb.com/app/730820
toast0 4y ago
> Getting them to run reliably on a modern computer is an adventure in its own right. I always enjoyed this meta game back when it was fiddling with config.sys and such. Shouldn't need that for a 9x game, but other fiddling would make sense.
udp 4y ago
3 has worked perfectly on ScummVM for at least a decade, and you can buy it on Gog. 4 is indeed very much a pain (and so are the controls). The PS2 version is better than the PC version in my experience.
- boudin 4y ago
  There was ResidualVM for Escape from MI which has been merge with ScummVM. I haven't tried in a while but it was playable from what I remember (even if controls were still a pain)
  - boudin 4y ago
    It's in good shape indeed: https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/DEV/comi/ https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/DEV/comi/
  - udp 4y ago
    I didn’t know that - I’ll have to check it out, thanks!

aidenn0 4y ago

The first two are wonderful games. Charm aside, they are quite fair for adventure games while not being easy (though if you want easy, walk-through guides are a click away)

exDM69 4y ago

In the main menu of the game, there's a "scrapbook" feature with a brief history of Guybrush Threepwood's adventures if you haven't played the earlier editions. But the game (as far as I played it so far) contains a lot of characters and jokes that might be more fun if you've played the earlier ones. If you want to play them, there are "special editions" of the first two in Steam. They have improved graphics and voice acting, with the option of switching to the original graphics and back with the press of a button.

Tarsul 4y ago

I played 2hours and actually it is definitely so much for fans that I would say everyone should play at least the first one (secret of monkey island) first before playing this one (and then why not play the second one, too? :D). So much I can say: This definitely feels like a Monkey Island game.