We decided not to give it a score rating since, IMO, it doesn't work as a stand alone product. We'll give a true "review" with a score for the whole season when it's done.
Contains some opening scene spoilers because there's not much way to discuss the game meaningfully otherwise, so purists consider yourself warned. This is another reason why this series becomes increasingly difficult to cover individually. If you always end with a cliffhanger anything you say about a chapter will be a spoiler.
Be warned, this does contain some spoilers, as you'd expect from a review with actual footage of the game contained within. = P So don't watch it if you want to go in completely fresh!
Personally, it's whetted my appetite even more - I can't wait for the release! = D Luckily I have work to distract me until then, heh.
I found it took me a really long time as I didn't use hints and got really stuck on some puzzles.
I whined a great deal about the character model reusage for 101 but they did an EXCELLENT job fixing that problem by sprucing up the characers. I loved the
hand chopping off
bit - it actually shocked me - and the new LeChuck instead of being a downer is exceptionally awesome. The new voice actor does a great job as a human LeChuck - it has it's own identity, it's own character.
That's my favorite bit of Tales - there's a lot of meaty character development here. I was playing on 3 but it was still beautiful as hell - prettier than CMI even. I loved the ending.
The only thing I didn't like was
Morgan LeFlay.
I was disappointed because it was misleading and the actual character was annoying.
Also it's funny to have an MI character with cleavage.
I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed. None of the valid criticisms of the first episode were corrected for this one. The scenery was samey, very uninteresting or different. The existence of mer-folk in monkey island? That struck me as really wrong, but I can get over that. The main thing I hate is how easy it is, and also how cutesy it seems. It's like it's a casual game now. It's just...the whole feel is just on the wrong track for me. Not to say that it's BAD, I'm just disappointed.
The twist with LeChuck is interesting. The end was actually very cool. I like how the pirates are meaner, but there still weren't any memorable characters or outstanding lines really. I snickered a couple times, but it was just pretty flat, short, and boring. Now 40% of the season is done, I was hoping it would REALLY pick up by now, but it didn't feel any better than the first one to be honest, in fact it felt worse to me. Even easier, the locations even less varied, explorable or interesting. And almost the exact same jungle! I was shocked at that. They give you the map to island hop which I was totally excited about, and then you realize there really isn't anything NEW to explore. Just a couple barren one-scene islands that look the same, and the main locations only have a couple spots you can go each. The puzzles were totally one-dimensional and obvious, and had very little creativity (and when they did on the surface, it was borrowed from previous games like the rubber tree). Why would there be a BBQ in the middle of the jungle that just happens to be perfect for melting your metal? That just makes no sense, there was never any challenge, it's all pre-setup for you. *sigh* I REALLY hope it picks up.
I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed. None of the valid criticisms of the first episode were corrected for this one. The scenery was samey, very uninteresting or different. The existence of mer-folk in monkey island? That struck me as really wrong, but I can get over that. The main thing I hate is how easy it is, and also how cutesy it seems. It's like it's a casual game now. It's just...the whole feel is just on the wrong track for me. Not to say that it's BAD, I'm just disappointed.
The twist with LeChuck is interesting. The end was actually very cool. I like how the pirates are meaner, but there still weren't any memorable characters or outstanding lines really. I snickered a couple times, but it was just pretty flat, short, and boring. Now 40% of the season is done, I was hoping it would REALLY pick up by now, but it didn't feel any better than the first one to be honest, in fact it felt worse to me. Even easier, the locations even less varied, explorable or interesting. And almost the exact same jungle! I was shocked at that. They give you the map to island hop which I was totally excited about, and then you realize there really isn't anything NEW to explore. Just a couple barren one-scene islands that look the same, and the main locations only have a couple spots you can go each. The puzzles were totally one-dimensional and obvious, and had very little creativity (and when they did on the surface, it was borrowed from previous games like the rubber tree). Why would there be a BBQ in the middle of the jungle that just happens to be perfect for melting your metal? That just makes no sense, there was never any challenge, it's all pre-setup for you. *sigh* I REALLY hope it picks up.
Yea I don't feel the games are as funny as the first three monkey island games, and are much easier. It feels like it was designed to be easy too, as if the puzzles weren't the point of the game .... but playing the games have still been fun, especially because of the new 3d engine.
I don't have a problem with there being mer-folk, its just strange that they happen to have an island set up that everybody knows about, instead of being some elusive creatures like you'd expect. Kind of takes the fun out of it.
Overall, I liked the episode. Some very nice humor and some cool ideas etc. I liked it at least as much as the first episode... they're turning out better than I had expected.
But - there are things about the games I don't like much at all, mostly things people have already complained about before.
* The first and most obvious one is the repeated character models. I don't like these models very much in the first place, and having them repeated all over... meh.
* Low resolution textures. I'm not a graphics whore by any means, but in adventure games, graphics can greatly add to the atmosphere. And I've always disliked blurry textures, from the early days of 3D.. I have a lower tolerance for mediocre 3D and blurry textures than I have for bad 2D, for some reason.
It's not *that* bad, but the textures are often pretty blurry and the character models look dated. In fact, the Merfolk town reminds me of something taken from WoW.
* Strange artifact puzzles. All these strange puzzles involving various old machinery you find in the jungles... they don't strike me as particularly 'Monkey Island'ish'... I thought it was a bit off in the first episode but didn't mind all that much... but seeing it repeated in the second episode threw me off a little.
* Jungles! I don't like labyrinths, even if they're simple... I just find mazes boring. I hope they stop putting these jungle mazes into the episodes.
Well, that's pretty much all I have to complain about. Of course the episodes are really easy, but I'm not disappointed by that... if you've played prior Telltale games, you'd be expecting that.
it was hinted as it being a returning character and it wasn't.
I also found the character's actual personality kinda dumb.
EDIT: Oh yeah the jungle thing sucked. I was like "What the hell." But I got over it.
I like Morgan. She might well make a better couple with Guybrush than the current Elaine, for she at least shows some respect. But maybe that's just me.
Overall I'm enjoying this episode (haven't completed it yet) and it's a strong second chapter. I particularly like the interaction between Guybrush and LeChuck and it seems like the humour and writing has been taken up a couple of notches.
But... but... it doesn't have the classic (Monkey Islands 1 to 3) feel or atmosphere. It feels like a generic fantasy setting with Monkey Island characters sprinkled on top.
Merfolk legends told around the campfire? Sure. Spooky sailor-talk about Merfolk? Yeah, why not. Spinner Cay? Nope, it doesn't work for me. The supernatural has always been a big part of the series but intelligent fantasy races just don't fit into the previously established theme, style, or setting. I really don't think that the idea of a thriving Merfolk community fits in well with what's gone before.
Still, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that the series isn't what it once was and I'm enjoying Tales for what it is now rather than for what it isn't. It's a funny, exciting, colourful, quality adventure game.
I must praise Telltale's listening skills! The major complains about episode 1 were fixed!
1 - Repeated models: While they are still repeated (and the reasons why have been discussed to death, so I'm not even gonna go there), there's a lot more customization of the characters, you can actually distinguish them from one another, as opposed to episode 1, where the nose guy, glassblower and peglegged all seemed the same guy to me.
2 - Character personality: As opposed to chp1, the characters really got interesting and charismatic. I'll never forget the two infected pirates and their captain! And Winslow really came into is own! In a post regarding episode1 I said he wasn't charismatic enough to be Guybrush's crew (since his previous crews were very interesting characters), now I TAKE THAT BACK!! His the perfect crewmate!!
3 - Funny factor: I LOLed my way through this chapter, while on the 1st one I mostly smiled.
4 - Difficulty: Some might argue, but I found this chapter to be much harder than the first.
5 - Mood/atmosphere: We now have a fully pirate-infested episode with different locations (compare spinner cay to spoon island) and a dark, gloomy setting (the likes we havent seen since MI2).
Regarding Mer-Folk: Some may argue it is to far-fetched for Monkey Island, but Sea creatures and monsters, such as mermaids, the kraken, sea serpents,
giant whales (in this case manatee, hehe) swalowing entire ships
, etc ARE part of REAL pirate-mythology!
(While giant Monkey robots are definitly not!)
So it fits the Monkey Island world perfectly!
Regarding human LeChuck: I certainly found it funny, but (the part from now on is just a fanboy being picky) I miss the old badass LeChuck of old (the one we havent seen since 1997, MI3). When I was a kid playing MI2 I really was afraid when LeChuck appeared! I was afraid to play the final part of the game at night! Lol. You may wonder: afraid of a bunch of pixels?!?! Back in 1991 those were state-of-the-art high resolution graphics. I think the new-comers really must experience LeChuck in all his rotten, nasty, bloodthisrty, gory, undead self! "It's LeChuck in all his gory... err, glory!"
Merfolk legends told around the campfire? Sure. Spooky sailor-talk about Merfolk? Yeah, why not. Spinner Cay? Nope, it doesn't work for me. The supernatural has always been a big part of the series but intelligent fantasy races just don't fit into the previously established theme, style, or setting. I really don't think that the idea of a thriving Merfolk community fits in well with what's gone before.
I think it would be something different if Merfolk were rare for humans to find; the idea of a Merfolk city just sitting there on an island that every pirate knows about is strange.
I think it would be something different if Merfolk were rare for humans to find; the idea of a Merfolk city just sitting there on an island that every pirate knows about is strange.
Exactly. It's stupid. And if that wasn't enough, the merfolk had ZERO personality to them, and their "city" was absolutely nothing. Basically a dock with two places you could go. The more I think about it, the more terrible that is. At the very least, if you're going to go off the deep-end and include mermaids in MI, at the VERY least make a rich, killer underwater world to explore. not a bait shop and a library door, with a couple islands around that are exactly the same style as the island in the last game.
it would be one thing if this was a fan made game or something, but this is Grossman himself. it's very clear at this point, to me at least, that this series is going to AT BEST fall right alongside MI4 in quality, but quite possibly be worse. no way it's going to rival the first 3, and i don't think that's an impossible task.
Exactly. It's stupid. And if that wasn't enough, the merfolk had ZERO personality to them, and their "city" was absolutely nothing. Basically a dock with two places you could go. The more I think about it, the more terrible that is. At the very least, if you're going to go off the deep-end and include mermaids in MI, at the VERY least make a rich, killer underwater world to explore. not a bait shop and a library door, with a couple islands around that are exactly the same style as the island in the last game.
it would be one thing if this was a fan made game or something, but this is Grossman himself. it's very clear at this point, to me at least, that this series is going to AT BEST fall right alongside MI4 in quality, but quite possibly be worse. no way it's going to rival the first 3, and i don't think that's an impossible task.
zero-personality? seriously? i thought they were hillarious. How come having a character who turns from a human to a ghost to a zombie to a demon is a-okay but mer-folk is just too much? I really think we shouldn't tie this series down too much. This isn't like indiana jones meeting aliens, this is pretty acceptable addition to the series.
peh, at this point i feel these two episodes are on par with mi3 at the very least.
[tangent] Yes, because aliens are far more plausible than either the 'wrath of God' inside the Ark, melting the faces of Nazis; special magic stones or a centuries old knight guarding a cup that can give eternal life.
The reason why Crystal Skull had aliens is because it's inspired by the B movies of the 50s, the time period in which it is set. The originals were inspired by the adventure serials of the 30s, in which it is set.
Back on topic with Monkey Island, I have to agree with one of the previous posters that I was very underwhelmed by the merfolk. As they said, 3-4 locations is very poor and hardly in-depth when you look at the kind of underwater world a game like Bioshock is capable of producing.
<Insert usual gripe about a lack of point and click for movement>
It is at least better than MI4 at the moment (sorry Sean and Mike and anyone else who worked on it, but the game was by FAR the worst Monkey Island game and possibly worst LEC adventure game ever.).
Great work by Michael Land on the music, some of it sounding very much like music in MI4 (the good LeChuck theme springs to mind as sounding very MI4).
3/5 here in arbitrary scoring, in game preference:
[tangent] Yes, because aliens are far more plausible than either the 'wrath of God' inside the Ark, melting the faces of Nazis; special magic stones or a centuries old knight guarding a cup that can give eternal life.
The reason why Crystal Skull had aliens is because it's inspired by the B movies of the 50s, the time period in which it is set. The originals were inspired by the adventure serials of the 30s, in which it is set.
Back on topic with Monkey Island, I have to agree with one of the previous posters that I was very underwhelmed by the merfolk. As they said, 3-4 locations is very poor and hardly in-depth when you look at the kind of underwater world a game like Bioshock is capable of producing.
<Insert usual gripe about a lack of point and click for movement>
It is at least better than MI4 at the moment (sorry Sean and Mike and anyone else who worked on it, but the game was by FAR the worst Monkey Island game and possibly worst LEC adventure game ever.).
Great work by Michael Land on the music, some of it sounding very much like music in MI4 (the good LeChuck theme springs to mind as sounding very MI4).
3/5 here in arbitrary scoring, in game preference:
MI2
CMI
MI1
-
-
SoSC
LotSN
-
-
-
MI4
On the Indiana Jones topic, the problem wasn't plausibility, its that they wanted a real divine Holy Grail of Christ and aliens to co-exist in the same universe... at which point it just starts feeling cheesey.
Kind of the same thing when Batman meets a character that can do magic or meets up with Superman. The whole atmosphere of the series gets thrown out the window. I get what they were going for when they did it (B movies) but its close to coming to the line where you "jump the shark".
On Monkey Island, I don't get where people are coming from when they say any mermaid at all is incompatible with a pirate story. I don't really like how mermaids were handled in the game though , like I said.. I think it was kind of stupid.
Merfolk legends told around the campfire? Sure. Spooky sailor-talk about Merfolk? Yeah, why not. Spinner Cay? Nope, it doesn't work for me. The supernatural has always been a big part of the series but intelligent fantasy races just don't fit into the previously established theme, style, or setting. I really don't think that the idea of a thriving Merfolk community fits in well with what's gone before.
Did you forget the troll in Secret of Monkey Island? There is nothing weird about mythological creatures in this game. The reason it feels so different is that this game doesn't deal with the Secrets of Monkey Island like the first four did. It appears to be completely unrelated.
Did you forget the troll in Secret of Monkey Island? There is nothing weird about mythological creatures in this game. The reason it feels so different is that this game doesn't deal with the Secrets of Monkey Island like the first four did. It appears to be completely unrelated.
You mean the pirate in a costume extorting a toll from passers by? Yes, I remember.
You mean the pirate in a costume extorting a toll from passers by? Yes, I remember.
Yeah, but Guybrush didn't know it was a guy in a costume, so to this day Guybrush thinks theres a troll in Melee Island.
As for the Mer-folk...I thought it was a bit strange having mer-folk right there in the open, but after much thinking....I decided it was part of the joke.
I really liked this episode, i loved the music (i really wish they bring a soundtrack for this game)the location was different and interesting, i like how they used the redish clouds remind me of curse of monkey island cover, i wasnt too keen on how you walk into the jungle because it seems like a repeat of the previous episode,i did want it be lenghty though aswell,looking on the map it seems that theres only going to be few islands to visit, until the suprize later in the game (it seemed like a pirates of the carribiean thing) but this episode seem to be more adventerous looking with sea creatures involved....sounds kind of bad i know, but Morgan Deflay is kind of hot, and the way elaine is treating guybrush it seem like Elaine perfers Lechuck and that Guybrush would get with Morgan well temptory(i think he has a slight crush on her,cause she think the world of him), but i cant wait for the third chapter, but hopefully it would be alot more longer and more locations to visit
when they first mentioned Mer-folk, i thought the whole level would be underwater, cause you always see Guybrush going on islands, and it would be interesting take on to see its all under the sea
zero-personality? seriously? i thought they were hillarious. How come having a character who turns from a human to a ghost to a zombie to a demon is a-okay but mer-folk is just too much? I really think we shouldn't tie this series down too much. This isn't like indiana jones meeting aliens, this is pretty acceptable addition to the series.
you found the mer-folk hilarious? what lines? I'm really curious. They had no humor at all, just totally bland humans, little bubbly girls. Just bizarre. You would at least expect them to be like...I don't know, a little different being that they are FISH PEOPLE! haha.
I can accept that argument about ghost pirates and stuff, but Monkey Island's style has always shrouded those things in rumors and mystery and VOODOO (key factor) and just really fit the story. You don't just walk right up and have fun light-hearted talks with, say, unicorns like it's nothing. Here, you just rode right up to little silly island with mer-folk with no kind of sense of it being a deep secret or discovery, or do to something like voodoo curses. it's VERY odd take on the monkey island universe. had it been presented differently, i think it could've been far more natural and acceptable.
peh, at this point i feel these two episodes are on par with mi3 at the very least.
seriously?? in what way? certainly not in richness, detail, puzzles or creativity.
I liked the mer-people.
Love the androgyny stile.
It would be out of place for me if we found they were just regular beatifull mermaids, but the twist around their asexual look was really accurate for MI in my opinion.
I agree with some here. I don't think merfolk as a "oh that's nothing strange around here, we see those all the time" ruins the atmosphere. I mean there is absolutley no mysterious atmosphere whatsoever. If you had found them in say an underwater "fate of atlantis" style city ok, but I think TT are pushing the comedy aspect too far, trying to parodize leaving the whole setting feeling generic.
Ep.2 is better than Ep.1 in almost all respects: dialoge, cinematography, art direction (especially the final sequence!). I like the puzzles better in Ep.2, but a look at the board suggests that the puzzles are not universally enjoyed.
The only complain I have in Ep.2 is that it is far too short. TT episodes tend to follow the 3-or-4-acts-plus-boss-level scheme. For example: in Ep.1 we have:
Prologe/Tutorial
Act 1:
Three Acts of Piracy
Act 2:
DeSinge's Clinic
- short but satisfying, puzzlewise.
Act 3:
Activating the Wind Idols
"Boss Level":
The Mutinying Hand
But Ep.2 is essentially:
Prologe:
Morgan La Flay
Act 1:
The Three Artifacts
- Lots of island hopping, which make this act seem longer, but the puzzles themselves are simple.
Act 2:
The Siege
- essentially a single puzzle:
cooking up a fake turtle
Boss Fight:
McGillicutty
Telltale used to be very good at surprising us: when we think the game is over, there comes another act. I expected that in vain in Spinner Cay, that after you defeat the boss you'll come across yet another trouble that you have wrap your mind around. But no, although the final cutscene is absolutely amazing, it is still not a puzzle.
Telltale used to be very good at surprising us: when we think the game is over, there comes another act. I expected that in vain in Spinner Cay, that after you defeat the boss you'll come across yet another trouble that you have wrap your mind around. But no, although the final cutscene is absolutely amazing, it is still not a puzzle.
I agree completely. It felt as if something were missing, and puzzles always were much more obvious than expected: LeChuck's dialogue offered many possibilities (just think of the Soda Poppers - Brady Culture confrontation in Save the World), but the actual solution was terribly straightforward; the whole DeCava mystery had the most unsatisfying outcome one could think of (reedeem a coupon?!); the turtle replacement was unmistakable. Many times the player just had to accomplish an elementary task: free Elaine from the broken statue, give LeChuck the prying tool, click on the freaking map (the joke wasn't that innocent, all in all). It wasn't hard at all - people are having problems with unfair pixel hunting (bucket, island...), not with the actual puzzles -, and above all it was disappointingly predictable: the single exception was the extraordinary opening sequence.
Everything else was outstanding: art direction, acting, music, writing. But Spinner Cay fails one of the essential prerogatives of a true Monkey Island experience (a prerogative in which Screaming Narwhal superbly succeeded): truly fun gameplay.
Personally, I think the game misses the anchronistic elements.
What made the original MI and MI2 fun was how the modern world was constantly seeping in the piratey Carribbean setting, creating both amusing jokes as well as kind of an unsettling atmosphere (let's not forget the magnificent ending of MI2 when both Guybrush and LeChuck go "behind the scenes").
"Tales" seems to prefer strange mythological creatures and Indiana Jonesy machinery to these anachronistic elements and I cannot understand why, since they are a very strong part of MI lore. That's precisely why mermaids feel more out of place then a circus tent in the middle of a jungle, a gas-powered stove in the lighthouse or a fake waterfall run by clanking machinery.
But all in all, I liked "Siege". And I think that once the entire Season is complete in its entirety it might be worthy to be called a "true" MI sequel.
Btw I still like that "Tales" so far omitted any kind of MI4 reference, and I hope it will stay this way. I might have accepted how MI3 dealt away with MI2's great ending and destroyed the entire Burtonesque undercurrent, but what MI4 did to the series was...ugh.
I just finished the episode today in one go, and can say that i'm quite pleasantly surprised. I already quite liked Ep1, but this tops it in nearly every respect. The suprise stems from my experience with Telltale games that the second episode was almost always the weakest of the season (with one exception - I'm looking at you, meatballs), so my expectations were rather low.
But in terms of storytelling, settings and characters, this comfortably trumps "Launch".The recurring character start to settle into their roles, and I especially grew fond of Winslow, even though he is getting creepier by the moment (i get it, use the map... sheesh). I also quite liked the Merpeople, especially Anemone with her rather weird notion of flirting. The sea creatures were quite a surprise for me, being so non-derivate for a TTG game. I just don't quite know what to make of human LeChuck yet.
My only nags are that the epsiode seems shorter than the first (might be the lack of map puzzles though), the repeated jungle, glitches in the skybox, the ridiculously low-res background at the Marquis' place and the lack of a villain comparable to the Marquis (I loved him the first time round).
But those are all minor complaints... big thumbs up to Telltale for what I think is their finest product to date. And an extra thumb for that short flashback to the Marquis, that was a really neat cinematic note. Also, the soundtrack seemed much improved over the last episode, especially in Spinner's Cay. Can't wait to order the CD
Comments
If the review version is out... where the retail??????
good review though.... now I'm wanting it even more.
I know, but that doesn't still my hunger.
(However if you scroll all the way down to the bottom and then 3 lines up, you have no chance to run into any spoilers.)
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/preview/pc/tales-of-monkey-island-chapter-2/
We decided not to give it a score rating since, IMO, it doesn't work as a stand alone product. We'll give a true "review" with a score for the whole season when it's done.
Contains some opening scene spoilers because there's not much way to discuss the game meaningfully otherwise, so purists consider yourself warned. This is another reason why this series becomes increasingly difficult to cover individually. If you always end with a cliffhanger anything you say about a chapter will be a spoiler.
Be warned, this does contain some spoilers, as you'd expect from a review with actual footage of the game contained within. = P So don't watch it if you want to go in completely fresh!
Personally, it's whetted my appetite even more - I can't wait for the release! = D Luckily I have work to distract me until then, heh.
•Cons:
◦Can’t think of anything
SPOILERS
I found it took me a really long time as I didn't use hints and got really stuck on some puzzles.
I whined a great deal about the character model reusage for 101 but they did an EXCELLENT job fixing that problem by sprucing up the characers. I loved the
That's my favorite bit of Tales - there's a lot of meaty character development here. I was playing on 3 but it was still beautiful as hell - prettier than CMI even. I loved the ending.
The only thing I didn't like was
Also it's funny to have an MI character with cleavage.
So your main problem with the pirate hunter was that it wasn't who you wanted it to be, is that right?
The twist with LeChuck is interesting. The end was actually very cool. I like how the pirates are meaner, but there still weren't any memorable characters or outstanding lines really. I snickered a couple times, but it was just pretty flat, short, and boring. Now 40% of the season is done, I was hoping it would REALLY pick up by now, but it didn't feel any better than the first one to be honest, in fact it felt worse to me. Even easier, the locations even less varied, explorable or interesting. And almost the exact same jungle! I was shocked at that. They give you the map to island hop which I was totally excited about, and then you realize there really isn't anything NEW to explore. Just a couple barren one-scene islands that look the same, and the main locations only have a couple spots you can go each. The puzzles were totally one-dimensional and obvious, and had very little creativity (and when they did on the surface, it was borrowed from previous games like the rubber tree). Why would there be a BBQ in the middle of the jungle that just happens to be perfect for melting your metal? That just makes no sense, there was never any challenge, it's all pre-setup for you. *sigh* I REALLY hope it picks up.
Yea I don't feel the games are as funny as the first three monkey island games, and are much easier. It feels like it was designed to be easy too, as if the puzzles weren't the point of the game .... but playing the games have still been fun, especially because of the new 3d engine.
I don't have a problem with there being mer-folk, its just strange that they happen to have an island set up that everybody knows about, instead of being some elusive creatures like you'd expect. Kind of takes the fun out of it.
EDIT: Oh yeah the jungle thing sucked. I was like "What the hell." But I got over it.
But - there are things about the games I don't like much at all, mostly things people have already complained about before.
* The first and most obvious one is the repeated character models. I don't like these models very much in the first place, and having them repeated all over... meh.
* Low resolution textures. I'm not a graphics whore by any means, but in adventure games, graphics can greatly add to the atmosphere. And I've always disliked blurry textures, from the early days of 3D.. I have a lower tolerance for mediocre 3D and blurry textures than I have for bad 2D, for some reason.
It's not *that* bad, but the textures are often pretty blurry and the character models look dated. In fact, the Merfolk town reminds me of something taken from WoW.
* Strange artifact puzzles. All these strange puzzles involving various old machinery you find in the jungles... they don't strike me as particularly 'Monkey Island'ish'... I thought it was a bit off in the first episode but didn't mind all that much... but seeing it repeated in the second episode threw me off a little.
* Jungles! I don't like labyrinths, even if they're simple... I just find mazes boring. I hope they stop putting these jungle mazes into the episodes.
Well, that's pretty much all I have to complain about. Of course the episodes are really easy, but I'm not disappointed by that... if you've played prior Telltale games, you'd be expecting that.
I like Morgan. She might well make a better couple with Guybrush than the current Elaine, for she at least shows some respect. But maybe that's just me.
But... but... it doesn't have the classic (Monkey Islands 1 to 3) feel or atmosphere. It feels like a generic fantasy setting with Monkey Island characters sprinkled on top.
Merfolk legends told around the campfire? Sure. Spooky sailor-talk about Merfolk? Yeah, why not. Spinner Cay? Nope, it doesn't work for me. The supernatural has always been a big part of the series but intelligent fantasy races just don't fit into the previously established theme, style, or setting. I really don't think that the idea of a thriving Merfolk community fits in well with what's gone before.
Still, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that the series isn't what it once was and I'm enjoying Tales for what it is now rather than for what it isn't. It's a funny, exciting, colourful, quality adventure game.
1 - Repeated models: While they are still repeated (and the reasons why have been discussed to death, so I'm not even gonna go there), there's a lot more customization of the characters, you can actually distinguish them from one another, as opposed to episode 1, where the nose guy, glassblower and peglegged all seemed the same guy to me.
2 - Character personality: As opposed to chp1, the characters really got interesting and charismatic. I'll never forget the two infected pirates and their captain! And Winslow really came into is own! In a post regarding episode1 I said he wasn't charismatic enough to be Guybrush's crew (since his previous crews were very interesting characters), now I TAKE THAT BACK!! His the perfect crewmate!!
3 - Funny factor: I LOLed my way through this chapter, while on the 1st one I mostly smiled.
4 - Difficulty: Some might argue, but I found this chapter to be much harder than the first.
5 - Mood/atmosphere: We now have a fully pirate-infested episode with different locations (compare spinner cay to spoon island) and a dark, gloomy setting (the likes we havent seen since MI2).
Regarding Mer-Folk: Some may argue it is to far-fetched for Monkey Island, but Sea creatures and monsters, such as mermaids, the kraken, sea serpents,
Regarding human LeChuck: I certainly found it funny, but (the part from now on is just a fanboy being picky) I miss the old badass LeChuck of old (the one we havent seen since 1997, MI3). When I was a kid playing MI2 I really was afraid when LeChuck appeared! I was afraid to play the final part of the game at night! Lol. You may wonder: afraid of a bunch of pixels?!?! Back in 1991 those were state-of-the-art high resolution graphics. I think the new-comers really must experience LeChuck in all his rotten, nasty, bloodthisrty, gory, undead self! "It's LeChuck in all his gory... err, glory!"
That's all folks! (for now)
I think it would be something different if Merfolk were rare for humans to find; the idea of a Merfolk city just sitting there on an island that every pirate knows about is strange.
Exactly. It's stupid. And if that wasn't enough, the merfolk had ZERO personality to them, and their "city" was absolutely nothing. Basically a dock with two places you could go. The more I think about it, the more terrible that is. At the very least, if you're going to go off the deep-end and include mermaids in MI, at the VERY least make a rich, killer underwater world to explore. not a bait shop and a library door, with a couple islands around that are exactly the same style as the island in the last game.
it would be one thing if this was a fan made game or something, but this is Grossman himself. it's very clear at this point, to me at least, that this series is going to AT BEST fall right alongside MI4 in quality, but quite possibly be worse. no way it's going to rival the first 3, and i don't think that's an impossible task.
zero-personality? seriously? i thought they were hillarious. How come having a character who turns from a human to a ghost to a zombie to a demon is a-okay but mer-folk is just too much? I really think we shouldn't tie this series down too much. This isn't like indiana jones meeting aliens, this is pretty acceptable addition to the series.
peh, at this point i feel these two episodes are on par with mi3 at the very least.
[tangent] Yes, because aliens are far more plausible than either the 'wrath of God' inside the Ark, melting the faces of Nazis; special magic stones or a centuries old knight guarding a cup that can give eternal life.
The reason why Crystal Skull had aliens is because it's inspired by the B movies of the 50s, the time period in which it is set. The originals were inspired by the adventure serials of the 30s, in which it is set.
Back on topic with Monkey Island, I have to agree with one of the previous posters that I was very underwhelmed by the merfolk. As they said, 3-4 locations is very poor and hardly in-depth when you look at the kind of underwater world a game like Bioshock is capable of producing.
<Insert usual gripe about a lack of point and click for movement>
It is at least better than MI4 at the moment (sorry Sean and Mike and anyone else who worked on it, but the game was by FAR the worst Monkey Island game and possibly worst LEC adventure game ever.).
Great work by Michael Land on the music, some of it sounding very much like music in MI4 (the good LeChuck theme springs to mind as sounding very MI4).
3/5 here in arbitrary scoring, in game preference:
MI2
CMI
MI1
-
-
SoSC
LotSN
-
-
-
MI4
On the Indiana Jones topic, the problem wasn't plausibility, its that they wanted a real divine Holy Grail of Christ and aliens to co-exist in the same universe... at which point it just starts feeling cheesey.
Kind of the same thing when Batman meets a character that can do magic or meets up with Superman. The whole atmosphere of the series gets thrown out the window. I get what they were going for when they did it (B movies) but its close to coming to the line where you "jump the shark".
On Monkey Island, I don't get where people are coming from when they say any mermaid at all is incompatible with a pirate story. I don't really like how mermaids were handled in the game though , like I said.. I think it was kind of stupid.
Did you forget the troll in Secret of Monkey Island? There is nothing weird about mythological creatures in this game. The reason it feels so different is that this game doesn't deal with the Secrets of Monkey Island like the first four did. It appears to be completely unrelated.
You mean the pirate in a costume extorting a toll from passers by? Yes, I remember.
Yeah, but Guybrush didn't know it was a guy in a costume, so to this day Guybrush thinks theres a troll in Melee Island.
As for the Mer-folk...I thought it was a bit strange having mer-folk right there in the open, but after much thinking....I decided it was part of the joke.
when they first mentioned Mer-folk, i thought the whole level would be underwater, cause you always see Guybrush going on islands, and it would be interesting take on to see its all under the sea
I can accept that argument about ghost pirates and stuff, but Monkey Island's style has always shrouded those things in rumors and mystery and VOODOO (key factor) and just really fit the story. You don't just walk right up and have fun light-hearted talks with, say, unicorns like it's nothing. Here, you just rode right up to little silly island with mer-folk with no kind of sense of it being a deep secret or discovery, or do to something like voodoo curses. it's VERY odd take on the monkey island universe. had it been presented differently, i think it could've been far more natural and acceptable.
seriously?? in what way? certainly not in richness, detail, puzzles or creativity.
Love the androgyny stile.
It would be out of place for me if we found they were just regular beatifull mermaids, but the twist around their asexual look was really accurate for MI in my opinion.
The only complain I have in Ep.2 is that it is far too short. TT episodes tend to follow the 3-or-4-acts-plus-boss-level scheme. For example: in Ep.1 we have:
But Ep.2 is essentially:
Telltale used to be very good at surprising us: when we think the game is over, there comes another act. I expected that in vain in Spinner Cay, that after you defeat the boss you'll come across yet another trouble that you have wrap your mind around. But no, although the final cutscene is absolutely amazing, it is still not a puzzle.
I agree completely. It felt as if something were missing, and puzzles always were much more obvious than expected: LeChuck's dialogue offered many possibilities (just think of the Soda Poppers - Brady Culture confrontation in Save the World), but the actual solution was terribly straightforward; the whole DeCava mystery had the most unsatisfying outcome one could think of (reedeem a coupon?!); the turtle replacement was unmistakable. Many times the player just had to accomplish an elementary task: free Elaine from the broken statue, give LeChuck the prying tool, click on the freaking map (the joke wasn't that innocent, all in all). It wasn't hard at all - people are having problems with unfair pixel hunting (bucket, island...), not with the actual puzzles -, and above all it was disappointingly predictable: the single exception was the extraordinary opening sequence.
Everything else was outstanding: art direction, acting, music, writing. But Spinner Cay fails one of the essential prerogatives of a true Monkey Island experience (a prerogative in which Screaming Narwhal superbly succeeded): truly fun gameplay.
What made the original MI and MI2 fun was how the modern world was constantly seeping in the piratey Carribbean setting, creating both amusing jokes as well as kind of an unsettling atmosphere (let's not forget the magnificent ending of MI2 when both Guybrush and LeChuck go "behind the scenes").
"Tales" seems to prefer strange mythological creatures and Indiana Jonesy machinery to these anachronistic elements and I cannot understand why, since they are a very strong part of MI lore. That's precisely why mermaids feel more out of place then a circus tent in the middle of a jungle, a gas-powered stove in the lighthouse or a fake waterfall run by clanking machinery.
But all in all, I liked "Siege". And I think that once the entire Season is complete in its entirety it might be worthy to be called a "true" MI sequel.
Btw I still like that "Tales" so far omitted any kind of MI4 reference, and I hope it will stay this way. I might have accepted how MI3 dealt away with MI2's great ending and destroyed the entire Burtonesque undercurrent, but what MI4 did to the series was...ugh.
But in terms of storytelling, settings and characters, this comfortably trumps "Launch".The recurring character start to settle into their roles, and I especially grew fond of Winslow, even though he is getting creepier by the moment (i get it, use the map... sheesh). I also quite liked the Merpeople, especially Anemone with her rather weird notion of flirting. The sea creatures were quite a surprise for me, being so non-derivate for a TTG game. I just don't quite know what to make of human LeChuck yet.
My only nags are that the epsiode seems shorter than the first (might be the lack of map puzzles though), the repeated jungle, glitches in the skybox, the ridiculously low-res background at the Marquis' place and the lack of a villain comparable to the Marquis (I loved him the first time round).
But those are all minor complaints... big thumbs up to Telltale for what I think is their finest product to date. And an extra thumb for that short flashback to the Marquis, that was a really neat cinematic note. Also, the soundtrack seemed much improved over the last episode, especially in Spinner's Cay. Can't wait to order the CD
To me, this is EXACTLY as bad as Indiana Jones meeting aliens. Thank you for this excellent example.
The hot tub.