The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the most influential games in the medium, and its legacy ripples through the industry even now. Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman, and Tim Schafer have become household names within the gaming community, and narrative games and point-and-click adventures have seen a resurgence in recent years. Now, Gilbert and Grossman have reunited to tell one, final story to bring the saga of Guybrush Threepwood to a satisfying conclusion.

Return to Monkey Island is a rare type of game that, by all measures, shouldn’t exist. It exists both as a continuation of the storyline and a testament to the trappings that made these games so enjoyable. Developed by Gilbert’s studio, Terrible Toybox, and published by Devolver Digital, Return to Monkey Island is the perfect evolution of their original style, somehow merging a sense of the new with nostalgia.

Story

As a narrative game, Return to Monkey Island is nothing without its story. As a humorous game, the story almost never takes itself too seriously. Both of these things are true, and both of them make this one of the most enjoyable video game stories of the year. It’s a raucous tale that takes the hapless Guybrush Threepwood on his grandest journey yet.

There’s intrigue, betrayal, and plenty of silliness contained within this 10-hour adventure, but there is never a stale moment. Return to Monkey Island begins on the heels of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge and chronicles Guybrush’s latest attempt at finally uncovering the Secret of Monkey Island. This time around, however, Guybrush is older, grayer, and slightly wiser than in previous entries.

In this way, Return to Monkey Island serves as both a love letter to the history of the series while also modernizing it for contemporary audiences. The game is stuffed with references to the events of the previous titles, even going so far as to immortalize them in a museum on the iconic Melee Island. But a colorful cast of new characters and environments make this an experience enjoyable for just about anyone.

Return to Monkey Island also doesn’t overstay its welcome, fitting its heartfelt and hilarious narrative into a reasonable length. There are optional conversations you can have with just about every character, but skipping those robs you of some of the best jokes in the game. Insistently asking Cobb about LOOM results in one of the best meta-references in all of gaming, and it’s something that shouldn’t be missed.

That said, this isn’t just a silly, lighthearted adventure made by developers looking to recapture their glory days. It directly deals with the notion of growing older and the dimming of that spark of youth. Guybrush isn’t a young pirate anymore, and he’s forced to deal with that and how his obsession over the years has affected his life. There’s a level of emotional depth to this game that was unexpected but extremely well done.

Gameplay

Return to Monkey Island is, at its heart, a puzzle adventure. Every story beat and character interaction is both triggered by and instrumental in some puzzle the game is setting up. You can’t even get off Melee Island without solving an intricate dance of puzzles that brings you into contact with just about every character on the island.

These puzzles range in difficulty, but they’re never so difficult as to be frustrating. For anyone struggling a bit too much, though, there’s a handy, in-game hint book that can point you in the right direction. That said, sometimes these hints are a little too vague, which can result in a slight stalling of progression. Return to Monkey Island does a good job of teaching you how to approach its puzzles, so much so that even though the difficulty increases as you progress, the puzzles seem to get easier.

This newest iteration of the point-and-click franchise takes everything that made the original games work so well and adapts it in a sleek, modern style. The verb system from the original game has been replaced with a more concise inventory system. Simply select an item from your inventory to use, whether that involves bringing it out into the world or using it on something else in your pockets.

There are also plenty of optional objectives scattered throughout the game that offer an additional level of challenge. Many of these bonus puzzles are relegated to a specific chapter of the game, though, so they do encourage careful exploration before moving on with the story. While none of these optional puzzles have any real bearing on the overall plot, they often contain some of the best dialogue in the game, so they’re worth checking out.

Return to Monkey Island also boasts two difficulty modes: Casual and Hard. The Casual mode eases new players into the experience with fewer and more simple puzzles, while the Hard mode ramps up the difficulty. I played through the game on both modes and experiencing the differences between each of them gave me an even greater appreciation for how well-designed this game is.

Audio and Visual

Return to Monkey Island has a dramatically altered art style from previous entries in the series, so much so that many longtime fans were upset with the new look. While I don’t want to minimize the feelings of others, those fans can get bent. This game is utterly gorgeous with a unique, eye-catching aesthetic that is wholly unique in the world of gaming.

It evokes papercraft, but with a rich color palette that makes every environment feel distinct. Even the character animations are flawless, leaning into that handmade vibe with simple, staccato movements. It makes the entire game feel intensely personal and handcrafted, almost like it’s one, long thank-you card to a generation of fans.

While the art style may have been somewhat divisive, the music is anything but. Many of the original themes are included here, with new arrangements to make them sound even brighter and more tropical. These classic earworms are so wonderful and catchy that I frequently found myself humming them absentmindedly long after I’d put down the controller.

What Could Be Better

The only improvement I think I could offer for this game is that the hint book could be a bit more direct after several hints. I ran into maybe one or two puzzles where I needed multiple hints, and even the final hint the book offered wasn’t enough to get me on the right track. That may just be a result of my own unimpressive puzzle-solving skills, but I’d like to believe someone else out there struggled as much as I did.

Verdict

Return to Monkey Island is an extraordinary return for one of the most iconic franchises in video games. It somehow straddles the line between an homage to its own history and a bold leap forward for a 30-year-old series. The art direction, writing, character development, puzzles, and just the general vibe of this game all feel both meticulously crafted and glued together by a beloved family member. It’s a wonderful journey that provides an emotional conclusion to the saga of one of the greatest pirates who never lived.

Return to Monkey Island is available now for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC.