One of the things I always think about when I play this game is how inherently being actually kind of a funny-ass game is sort of its thing. Like I love the way Guybrush moves around, the exact speed he walks and his blank little dot eyes. I love how much it says about his character. This dude looks truly lost sometimes, he stands completely still while he scans the room. It's basically an automatic set-up to any punchline. There is almost zero ludonarrative dissonance here. Just an absolute rager. Awesome game.

As adventure games from this period go, this is a fine one. It certainly has some of the trappings of the genre, like a few puzzles with tenuous logic. I only had to look up a handful of them in the end, though. Conversely most of the puzzles made a lot of sense, and I had a few satisying "A-ha!" moments throughout my playthrough.

The real star of this game is the writing - consistently funny and witty, with amusing callback gags and wordplay. The characters are likeable and funny, the story arc broadly makes sense and the conclusion is satisfying. Easy to recommend!

I didn't grow up playing this.

But its charm makes me feel like a child near a warm fire and christmas tree, reading an I-Spy book.

Somehow, the game resonates a raw feeling of wonder.

I just couldn't get over it, the incredibly tense finale of The Beast Within haunted my 8-year-old self for weeks (and still does to this day), what could possibly replicate such a mystery ? What could even come close to the feeling of accomplishment after finding the answer to such twisted puzzles ?
This was way too much dopamine than my brain could handle at the time, so of course after being told that, not only did such a game exist, but it also is one full of PIRATES and ADVENTURE (!!!), the right thing to do was to boot it up and drop it almost immediately after.

It all made sense, pirates have been romanticized to death : they're brave, adventurous, out-there people with their paraphernalia of swords, parrots, wood legs and hooks, surprisingly warm figures for the imagination, and an illusion that Guy Threepwood seems to be the last one to still believe in.
It's a deeply charming game that time, somehow, hasn't even been able to approach, let alone touch.
Every. Damn. Line. Works to a point it's pretty much unbelievable, it's already a feat to write comedic dialogue that always sticks the landing, but still managing to hit at full intensity over 30 years later is the stuff of legendary writing.

It took me a whole decade of my life to travel back and forth from Monkey Island, but the feeling of closure these fireworks brought might, in fact, be an even more incredible experience than getting out of the final labyrinth that haunted a child's mind.

By the mid 1980s, George Lucas had created one of the most impactful, successful, and iconic film trilogies of all time. With Star Wars concluding, though, it was time for Lucasfilm to expand its horizons, and as a result, Lucasfilm Games was founded. The next step would normally be obvious; start development on licensed games, based on the hugely popular film series you helped create. Only one problem; the rights to Star Wars related video games were, until 1992, held by another company. So until then, Lucasfilm Games would have to rely mostly on original game concepts to get their foot in the door-though they did dabble in some movie related titles, such as Labyrinth and later on, Indiana Jones. But as is often repeated, restriction breeds creativity, and use of original IPs was a blessing in disguise to the developer. Some early employees even conceded that, were the Star Wars license available from the start, they likely never would have even made original games. It's a good thing they did; after breaking into the critical mainstream with their '87 title Maniac Mansion, they would go on to refine their formula into the beginning of their most popular original IP; The Secret of Monkey Island.

By 1990, LucasArts (as they were to be known for the next few decades) had developed their skills in the point & click adventure genre to a point where its releases were anticipated, and with Secret of Monkey Island, they had their biggest hit yet. They had already cultivated a bit following with some of their previous titles, and in ways, SOMI displays early LucasArts at their best; an adventure game with simple controls, low stakes (death is near impossible), and most importantly, clever writing and memorable characters. Is these last elements that make this game so fondly remembered, and so much of the game's appeal is timeless as a result. Everyone remembers the "you fight like a cow" insult swordfighting minigame, but the truth is that many parts of the game are genuinely funny and charming.

And the voice acting, added in the 2009 remaster, really helps with bringing characters to life and giving them their own identity. The music and ambient sound design is also improved in the redesign, and it's appreciated that you can swap from the remaster to the original game with the press of a button, allowing you to enjoy both the old-school layout and the modern voice acting and music in equal measure. It's also the first game in the SCUMM engine that features dialog trees, allowing the LucasArts team to really flex their writing muscles, and allow you to get the best experience out of the game.

Progression in Secret of Monkey Island is tied to a series of environmental puzzles, and while this type of game has mostly faded from the mainstream gaming landscape, it's still intuitive enough for anyone to play and understand. SOMI is, at its core, a relatively simple game, which gels well with its parodic and goofy narrative, but doesn't pair so well with some of its puzzles. Perhaps kids in the 90s simply had more time on their hands, because a good amount of environmental puzzles in this game are either very vague or borderline unthinkable; it seems like the only true way to figure them out naturally would be to try everything. This design philosophy works pretty well in the beginning of the game, but once you make it off Mêlée Island™, you often have too many items and too many options for things to be worked out reasonably. Finding the solution to a problem can be equal parts "oh man, I should have known that'', and "how was I ever supposed to figure that out?", and while the remastered edition does have a hint system in place, it still has difficulty walking the line between 100% trial and error and a direct guide of what to do.

It's only natural, then, that some would resort to walkthroughs or guides in order to pass by some of the particularly cryptic or confusing aspects of Secret of Monkey Island. That's not very surprising; what is surprising, though, is how enjoyable the game can still be, even when its main gameplay gimmick can be inconsistent. Every character, every interaction, every observation in this game just breathes charm and wit, and it's still devilishly clever in all the ways that count. Its enjoyability sans gameplay is probably its most impressive aspect, and it's a testament to LucasArts writing team that a game could still be fun even if you took all the "game" out of it. The best way to experience Secret of Monkey Island is personal preference, of course, but even with its handfuls of obtuse puzzles and confusing quests, you're still likely to have a jolly good time with it.

(This review is mainly focusing on the Special Edition of the game that was released in 2009)

As a kid, I was never really a diehard fan of point and click adventure games, I never played much of them. However, this game, and the sequel, was an exception, my dad bought it (idk whether he bought it for me or not, lol) and decided to let me have a go at it. Needless to say, my 5 year old self was mind-blown when he saw it, I wasn't particularly good at the game because I was so young at the time, and it took me YEARS to figure out how to actually beat the game (for the record, I first played this all the way back in 2010, and it didn't take me til 6 years later when I finally finished the game), and when I finally did finish the game, I wasn't disappointed in the absolute slightest.

The first thing that caught my attention was the game's humour which consists of witty dialogue, verbal humour, and hilarious antics, with a little silliness and self-awareness added to the mix. This is the type of humour I adore, every scene in the game never failed to make me smile, chuckle, or burst out in laughter. I enjoyed every single character in this game, Guybrush is a charming protagonist, and his quirky personality and interactions with the people around him entertained me thoroughly, and LeChuck is an excellent villain, he's both completely and utterly evil and also threatening for the characters ingame whilst also being funny and unforgettable for the viewers. I could go and on, and on, and on about each individual funny moment that the excellent dialogue and writing has to offer, but that would take up the entirety of the review.

Another thing I enjoy is the problem solving. The main reason why I was never a huge fan of problem solving video games in general is mainly because a majority of games way too hard to make them as cryptic and hard to figure out as possible, and as an autistic person myself, my attention span is pretty bad, and I am simply not good as memorising shit or figuring out puzzles like that. Monkey Island, however, doesn't try that; the puzzles, while not super obvious to figure out, are not too difficult to solve, they demand creative thinking and never veer to the realm of them being just frustrating, it has the right balance. When I was a kid, I never could solve any of them, but as I got older, I started to memorise them much more, to the point where I managed to get it down to a T, and figure out exactly how to solve everything and to beat the game.

Not to mention, can I just also comment about the music and sound environment? It's beautiful, they perfectly set the tone and mood of the action that takes place (the theme song is absolute banger and you can’t convince me overwise). I especially love the ambience in places where the music is faded away, and the game allows you to have this feeling tranquility as you listen to the sounds of the peaceful ambience in the area that you're in (honestly surprised there has never been hour long chill out YouTube videos of the video game's ambience).

The Secret of Monkey Island is a timeless classic, an absolute gem in the world of point-and-click video gaming. If you somehow didn't understand my feelings of the game, just go buy it yourself, and make up your own mind, you won't regret it, trust me.