LucasArts What's Your Favourite Monkey Island Game?

[AdamReith]

I love the ending of MI2, it's one of the most memorable endings ever - and better still for never being properly resolved by Ron. There's only 2 MI games.

I just googled this so I'd get the details right but there seems to be a little amiguity about the ending online. I just assumed you were supposed to take it on face value and you were playing a stupid child hallucinating about being a pirate the whole time.

There are interesting fan theories online that the ending is actually you falling under LeChuck's spell which is dark and much more interesting. I think that interpretation is so much more interesting I'll just choose to believe it instead.

How did you interpret the ending in order to love it so much?

 

[Darth Roxor]

my interpretation of the ending is that it's dumb

 

[Falksi]

Yeah, my interpretation was that they'd run out of ideas, thought it'd be the last game in the series, and thought "fuck it, lets just do something daft"

 

[AdamReith]

Yeah I feel the same way, they looked at all the work that the ending to the first one took to set up and decided to just Twilight Zone us instead.

Fuck you Ron.

 

[Maxie]

It has always seemed to be that Schafer is to be blamed for all the idiocy in MI2, but looking at Thimbleweed Park I'm not so sure anymore

 

[oldbonebrown]

 

[MRY]

I don't see any way for the ending of MI2 to make sense and enhance the game. "It's all a dream" (or spell) is question begging because it doesn't answer how Guybrush or LeChuck would be able to imagine the Pirates of the Caribbean setting of the game as simply part of a Disneyland-style theme park (or imagine, say, a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin). The conventional take I've heard is that there are "tells" throughout both games that you've been in fantasy of an adventure spawned by a theme park (the "Grog" dispensers, for instance), and that the ending is real (up to a point). But honestly, "the further imagined adventures of Guy and his big brother" seem like an even worse direction to go in than claiming that LeChuck had just cast a spell over Guybrush. At that point, the stakes of the game are messed up and it either ends up being trivial or going in some American McGee's Alice "abused kid has coping fantasies" direction, neither of which would be much fun.

 

[negator2vc]

Secret of Monkey Island

Has the best (tight) story, best puzzles, best ending (I still have nightmares about the ending of MI2!)
best fighting minigame
I am talking of course about the original version and not that crap latest enhanced version.

The second best is Curse of Monkey Island with the best NPC of all times! Murray!
Also it's had the second best fighting minigame (I just loved the songs in the ship battles)
Unfortunately the cartoon graphics, the weird story-puzzles, the long dialogues didn't do any favors to the game :-(

The only good about MI2 was the graphics (for the most part). Everything else was crap!

The rest of the games simply don't exist for any sane monkey island fan!

 

[Terra]

MI2 is my favourite, though the ending was... well, not great. Gilbert's been on about making "his" MI3 for years if he could ever secure the rights but I dunno, especially after Thimbleweed, I have a suspicion he always wanted to confirm the "it's all pretend" theory, which would be complete shite compared to Curse's continuation.

Only thing missing from MI2 was the sword fighting really.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

I remember Secret to have a very nice mysterious atmosphere, when I played it for the first time long ago. I had very good time with Curse too, but I played it in avery positive time of my life, so maybe that was the reason.

 

[Falksi]

I remember Secret to have a very nice mysterious atmosphere, when I played it for the first time long ago. I had very good time with Curse too, but I played it in avery positive time of my life, so maybe that was the reason.

Melee island, the first part of Secret, is just fucking magical. Makes things feel far more "adventurery"

 

[Star Citizen]

Curse for me. I loved 1 and 2 too as well as Escape even, but Curse with that dank Star Wars budget along with its fantastic art + humour as well fun atmosphere sealed the deal for me. Next up definitely 2 though. Game ventured into the morbid and that art direction was on fucking point.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

For me it's Curse. I remember when this game got released back in 97. I was so impressed by the artstyle, the voice acting, the music, the exotic atmosphere, the sheer fun it was to play. And I still find it to be one of my favourite adventures and it still looks great after 23 years. I played parts 1 and 2 after Curse but found them very entertaining and memorable (my favourite way to experience the first two parts is in the Ultimate Talkie version => http://gratissaugen.de/ultimatetalkies/monkey1.html ). I never really liked Escape (found it unfunny and terribly clunky to control) and I totally abhorred the artstyle of the Telltale adaptions so I never played them.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Curse here too. And I too dislike its ending, not the "boss fight" part the theme park, its all a game/dream part.

While I was trying to survive LeChuck (and trying to pick up his used underpants...) I thought that place is something like a "Death Star" that LeChuck is building.
Eventhough I was young when first finished it that ending really left a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

[4r14dn3]

The Curse of Monkey Island is the proof that what was great about the series up until then very little to do with the leads but more with the general company culture and talent at LucasArts. Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert don't deserve to be game developer celebs, the ending to the second game was terrible and nothing they have done since the LucasArts days have been worthwhile at all. Curse might have been rushed towards the end and actually had some of the ending cut just to save space and not bloat into an entire stack of CDs. Despite that it is easily the best game in the series. The art direction is stunning, the production values are great and everything you could want in a Monkey Island game is in there. It's like a playable cartoon that hits all the right beats. Let's face it, Murray the talking skull is a better character than anyone they had in the first two games and the voice acting lends itself very well to the game.

This is my jam.

 

[MRY]

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert don't deserve to be game developer celebs, the ending to the second game was terrible and nothing they have done since the LucasArts days have been worthwhile at all.

Psychonauts is not a perfect game, but it's very good.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert don't deserve to be game developer celebs, the ending to the second game was terrible and nothing they have done since the LucasArts days have been worthwhile at all.

Psychonauts is not a perfect game, but it's very good.

I think we both know that the edge is strong with the OP, but Grim Fandango is also great.

And although I don't know how much influence Tim Schaefer had on them, as a father/uncle I find both Costume Quest and Stacking very charming and fairly unique.

 

[JarlFrank]

Monkey Island 2 has always been my favorite since I was a child, despite the ending.

 

[Kalin]

Never liked them tbh

 

[JarlFrank]

I don't see any way for the ending of MI2 to make sense and enhance the game. "It's all a dream" (or spell) is question begging because it doesn't answer how Guybrush or LeChuck would be able to imagine the Pirates of the Caribbean setting of the game as simply part of a Disneyland-style theme park (or imagine, say, a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin). The conventional take I've heard is that there are "tells" throughout both games that you've been in fantasy of an adventure spawned by a theme park (the "Grog" dispensers, for instance), and that the ending is real (up to a point). But honestly, "the further imagined adventures of Guy and his big brother" seem like an even worse direction to go in than claiming that LeChuck had just cast a spell over Guybrush. At that point, the stakes of the game are messed up and it either ends up being trivial or going in some American McGee's Alice "abused kid has coping fantasies" direction, neither of which would be much fun.

I don't buy the whole "it was all a dream/all a game between two kids" angle because of what happens at the end of the ending.

Chucky's eyes flash with lightning, implying he's genuinely some kind of evil voodoo dude.
Elaine is still hanging on her rope and asking "What's taking Guybrush so long?"

It's heavily implied that it's NOT just two kids playing a game.

 

[MRY]

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert don't deserve to be game developer celebs, the ending to the second game was terrible and nothing they have done since the LucasArts days have been worthwhile at all.

Psychonauts is not a perfect game, but it's very good.

I think we both know that the edge is strong with the OP, but Grim Fandango is also great.

GF is still LucasArts.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert don't deserve to be game developer celebs, the ending to the second game was terrible and nothing they have done since the LucasArts days have been worthwhile at all.

Psychonauts is not a perfect game, but it's very good.

I think we both know that the edge is strong with the OP, but Grim Fandango is also great.

GF is still LucasArts.

You’re right of course. I guess I was just rolling my eyes before I finished reading the entire post and my reading comprehension suffered as a result.

 

[RobotSquirrel]

Secret for me just because it represents a period of the games industry that was comfy and I'll never forget it. The first time loading up Monkey Island on a DOS computer in the early 90s is something that stays with you for a long time.
My first playthrough was memorable and cemented a lot of my love for those early adventure games. Revenge was a bit eh in my eyes but that's because I was a kid at the time anyway and a lot of it went over my head. By the time Curse came out I was more aware of how things worked in games and I found Curse was more enjoyable than Revenge because Curse came out at around the time I was a teenager so it resonated better. The second game went over my head a bit as it was a bit harder to get around than the first game that damn diving puzzle lol.

 

[Alex]

I actually liked the ending of the second game; and didn't like much how the third game handled it. I suppose, however, that it is arguable whether there was any way whatsoever to continue from the second game. The ending, of course, left way too much open to be satisfying as an ending to the series; but it is possible there is no way to make a third entry that would make the ending of the second feel satisfying. I dunno, maybe, but considered in itself, still I liked that the second ending (together with the weird areas of the island) implied a whole lot (including contradictory things).

 

[JarlFrank]

Monkey Island 2 has always been my favorite since I was a child, despite the ending.