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[SPOILER ALERT] Chapter 4 similarity to...

AgetianAgetian
edited November 2009 in Tales of Monkey Island
Guys, have you noticed that Chapter 4 was somewhat similar to...
LOST? :) All those mysterious events that weren't explained in the same chapter and were actually left for the next installment of the game, multiple deaths, some of them under mysterious circumstances (e.g. Morgan), and this whole "island covered in a bright white-greenish flash of light" ending, with the light being quite fateful for the inhabitants of the island, looked kinda like LOST season 2 and season 4 endings... I found it a quite interesting comparison. :) And actually, all those things blended perfectly with the storyline, with the dark (very MI-ish!) atmosphere of the chapter, and with the Monkey Island style in general.
Could it have been a reference, were the authors under the influence of that TV series, or was it just a coincidence? :)

- Agetian

Comments

  • Rather DashingRather Dashing
    edited November 2009
    I'm not a fan of LOST by any means(nor do I ever want to be, it's just not my cup of tea), but:

    -Islands are not exclusive to LOST
    -Cliffhangers and mysteries are not exclusive to LOST
    -
    Death
    is not exclusive to LOST
    -
    Mysterious deaths
    are not exclusive to LOST
    -
    Important magic fog
    is not exclusive to LOST
  • AgetianAgetian
    edited November 2009
    Well, and still, it's a rather prominent example where all of the above are used together :) Of course those things you've named are by no means exclusive to LOST, but it's one of those TV series where all of them are used together and in a much similar manner of presentation. ;)

    - Agetian
  • GryffalioGryffalio
    edited November 2009
    I see what you mean, but I gotta agree with Rather_Dashing on this one. There's a thread about MI having parallels with Harry Potter elsewhere etc as well.
  • darknessofheartdarknessofheart
    edited November 2009
    The last thing I want Monkey Island to ever be compared to is Harry Potter. Harry Potter is just way to over dramatic and anticlimactic for my tastes. I read all the books and I still don't understand the magic (no pun intended) of them.
  • Rather DashingRather Dashing
    edited November 2009
    Agetian wrote: »
    Well, and still, it's a rather prominent example where all of the above are used together :) Of course those things you've named are by no means exclusive to LOST, but it's one of those TV series where all of them are used together and in a much similar manner of presentation. ;)

    - Agetian
    I just don't think a case can be made here. The only thing that might stand out in any particular story is a mysterious fog, which itself is a fairly common trope of storytelling. Fog is creepy and obscures things, and where there is obscurity there is(in the human mind) magic. In ancient times, the seas were filled with monsters because we hadn't mapped the oceans. Magic is often thought to be lurking in the night, behind corners. Children think there are monsters under their bed, in their closets, or in a dark room. Fog is convenient for magic effects in that it is wispy and can be moved around, it is easy to represent visually in all lighting, and it can spread pretty quickly and easily. Whether the concept of wind gods came before or after the idea of the pox being an airborne mist, the two concepts work really well together.
  • BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
    edited November 2009
    The truth is, Lost has thrown so much stuff into their own plot blender, that I don't think it's possible to have any sort of mysterious goings-on on any sort of tropical island without stumbling over something that Lost has done. I don't think it was intentional. More likely, it was unavoidable.

    I think it'd be more fun to find the similarities between MI and Gilligan's Island...hmmm...
  • AgetianAgetian
    edited November 2009
    Yeah, though it's not just the mist... it's the final scene with the light that actually kinda made me look the LOST way - here's a little sample of what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PTf0IwEDTM

    Then again, I agree that LOST has become rather cliche' and it's a collection of something of everything, so I dunno if it was at all possible not to have parallels with it when telling a dark mysterious story happening at a tropical island with voodoo magic going on. :confused:

    As for Harry Potter... hmm, I dunno... call me stupid, but I've read all seven books and I fail to see what obvious parallels there are between the two (HP/MI, I mean). :) At any rate, that's slightly off-topic, so I won't dig into that too much. ;)

    - Agetian
  • adventureaddictadventureaddict
    edited November 2009
    When I was hunting for the 'mysterious jungle beast' I got a bit of Lost nostalgia(and just after playing Sam & Max - Maoi Better Blues with its Lost reference too..)

    I will put it up to mere coincidence though. If Telltale meant it as a nod to Lost, I'm sure there would have been more obvious signs.

    Also, that HP thread is ridiculous. =P
  • NovotnusNovotnus
    edited November 2009
    Whole Pox thing resambles Stephen King's Tommyknockers - something that changes whole population in nasty way, so they hate some special abilities and hate anybody who's not a part of the change.
    And it's green as well : )
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited November 2009
    I am a huge fan of Lost, but honestly I do not see any connection with ToMI
  • TacobobTacobob
    edited November 2009
    What are you guys talking about? Can't you see it? Can't you see the CONNECTIONS?!

    Both...have PEOPLE.
    Both show WATER!
    Both show people in WATER!
    Both show people OUT OF WATER!
    Both have goats!
    Both have moats!
    Both have stoats!
    Both show coats!
    Both get my votes!
    Both pass notes!
    Both HAVE QUOTES!

    It's so simple, yet so difficult!

    WOW!
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited November 2009
    Hmmm they do both have people
  • TacobobTacobob
    edited November 2009
    Irishmile wrote: »
    Hmmm they do both have people

    YES! You are correct! People..WITH NAMES!
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited November 2009
    Mind = Blown.. the plot thickens
  • AgetianAgetian
    edited November 2009
    Irishmile wrote: »
    I am a huge fan of Lost, but honestly I do not see any connection with ToMI

    Well, not the connection - of course there's no direct connection, just similarity in certain effects and the manner of presentation, take a look at the YouTube video I linked above, then replay the last scene of Chapter 4, and hopefully you'll see what I mean. ;) If not, well, don't blame me for trying to make you see. :D But even if won't see it even then, would you still deny that some of the scenes and the effects used [in that youtube video and in chapter 4] (e.g. people looking at the glowing bright light, the island shown from far away with the glowing light spreading across it) are notably similar? Well, maybe it's just me then, I don't know... It's also the case that the general idea behind the event (at the most abstract level, no direct connection implied!) is somewhat similar - in the LOST scene linked above, one of the characters uses a certain *ancient technical device* to cause an event that creates a visual effect of the *glowing bright light* spreading *across the entire island* and causing a certain *fateful event* (in that case, moving the island). In ToMI ch4,
    Guybrush uses a certain *ancient technical device* (Vacaylian wind control device with La Esponja Grande stuck in it) to cause an event that creates a visual effect of the *glowing bright light* spreading *across the entire island* and causing a certain *fateful event* (in our case, curing the pox).
    .

    No direct connection, just the general similarity of course, but still - is it really not noticeable and it's just me, or does someone else see it? :confused: Just trying to understand if maybe I'm hallucinating here and I've watched too much LOST and played too much ToMI lately... :D

    - Agetian
  • FuryFury
    edited November 2009
    For once, I agree with Rather Dashing.

    You could draw parallels with pretty much everything if you read into it that deeply. For me, I thought it was pretty unique.
  • AgetianAgetian
    edited November 2009
    Fury wrote: »
    You could draw parallels with pretty much everything if you read into it that deeply. For me, I thought it was pretty unique.

    That's the sad reality of movie-making and game-making nowadays - whatever unique thing you're trying to do, it very often turns out that it's been done a few dozen times before you already. :p The difference is in the acceptance of that fact - whether one chooses to accept and acknowledge it, listening to logic and reason, or blindly ignores it and keeps reassuring himself that "no, it's unique, no matter what!" :)

    - Agetian
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