Escape from Monkey Island

Original thread here...

I'd read the above thread and it got me to thinking. Where did the Monkey Island franchise go wrong? On one hand, it's great that the series is still around and as such, is still played by (dare I say) millions around the world. But ask any fan of the series what their favourites were and 9 times out of 10 they'll tell you... The first 2 with the 3rd not far behind.

Sometime last year I had the pleasure of stumbling over this article, written by the one and only Ron Gilbert, which he gladly allowed me to re-publish on XboxOZ360-Gamer as I felt it was a great read. The general feeling from that article is that there are inherent flaws in adventure games in general and balancing entertainment and difficulty is well, difficult. It's been a feeling of mine that even today, almost 20 years on, these beliefs in adventure gaming still very much apply today and should be heeded. But enough of that...

The Curse of Monkey Island was, well, it was the logical evolution of the series. As MI2 from MI1, the 3rd iteration was the next step in the series and one that held true to the concept of point & click. Plus, although the quality of the visuals from the 3rd was a massive step from the first 2, there was no such "step" from the 3rd to the 4th.

Sure - make something 3D and like WOW, it looks soo awesome, but the truth is no, the quality of the art within the game suffered dearly with the move to 3D rendering. The art and style in MI3, although departing from the obviously aged (and classic) look of the first 2, still held true to the IP and even moreso, allowed for further artistic flair. Why the move? And an even better question, why not make another Monkey Island for the fans instead of for the $$$.

Why not? Why not work on and develop another addition to the series holding true to it's origins? It seems that (as raised in the original thread) that if it's not Star Wars, then it's not worth bothering. Which is sad, as I don't know how many times I've gone over and over finishing the first 3 titles just for the heck of it, each time finding something else that I'd missed and having a little giggle to myself. Where is that quality? If anyone knows, please come and tell me as I'd like to know myself. :)


          ~DarkArmada