The MONKEY ISLAND and other Adventure Games thread

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

RIP Earl Boen

[Jay 37,355]

I should be able to FINALLY play the new game this week

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

On 07/01/2023 at 10:16 AM, Marian Schedenig said:

RIP Earl Boen

 

Very sad, his turn as LeChuck was probably my favourite performance in the whole series. His absence was definitely felt in Return, though it sounds like he had not been well for a while and I completely respect his decision to not come out of retirement for it. It's also a massive loss to voice acting at large, his voice was one of a kind but so versatile. I hadn't realised how many things I'd heard him in until I looked it up just now.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Look behind you! Limited Run Games are (as expected) doing physical releases of ReMI, with the boxed collector's editions including the soundtrack and other goodies:

 

[Jay 37,355]

Finally!

 

I will be ordering

Strange there's no Standard Edition available for PC, just consoles

[Romão 2,274]

Ah, finally, the very first Monkey Island soundtrack released physically. I might get this for that alone

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

Strange there's no Standard Edition available for PC, just consoles

 

Perhaps because it'd just be the game files burnt on a disc, which anyone with a disc burner can do themselves. But I was waiting for the collector's edition anyway.

 

1 hour ago, Romão said:

Ah, finally, the very first Monkey Island soundtrack released physically. I might get this for that alone

 

Who knows, perhaps it's just a bunch of MP3s on the included USB stick. An actual audio CD (and optionally digital files as a bonus) would be nice, but I expect we'll at least get a properly curated album in good quality.

[Romão 2,274]

You can get a Wadjet Eye Humble Bundle for just 10$. That's a good deal for 14 highly regarded point and click adventures. I have never played any of them, but they do have great reputation and it seemed like the perfect deal to try them out. If anyone else is interered:

 

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/wadjeteye-sixteen-years-of-adventure

[Jay 37,355]

Just ordered the physical PC edition from Limited Run Games

[Romão 2,274]

On 20/01/2023 at 3:04 PM, Jay said:

Just ordered the physical PC edition from Limited Run Games

 

My main reason for eventually ordering this is the inclusion of the soundtrack album. However, the description on the website seems to imply that the soundtrack is paired somehow with the game itself on disc, but what does it really mean? A two disc set with the game on one disc and the score on another? Both things on the same disc? The last one seems very unlikely, as the score would have to be really short.

[Romão 2,274]

Has anyone played The Case of the Golden Idol?

 

 

 

I've heard great things about it, specially from Lucas Pope, the creator of Papers, Please and The Return of the Obra Dinn, which seems like a top level endorsement 

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

On 20/01/2023 at 4:04 PM, Jay said:

Just ordered the physical PC edition from Limited Run Games

 

I finally did so, too. I was going to right away when it came out, but then held off because the protective case they suggest putting it in was out of stock. I decided to wait for a couple of days, and when I checked again yesterday, it was available again… and I ended up deciding I don't need it anyway and placing the order without it.

 

Now we wait… until autumn, I guess?

 

On 26/01/2023 at 3:15 AM, Romão said:

My main reason for eventually ordering this is the inclusion of the soundtrack album. However, the description on the website seems to imply that the soundtrack is paired somehow with the game itself on disc, but what does it really mean?

 

Last I checked, I didn't read the description as implying anything more specific than that the soundtrack is included in some way. A physical CD would be nice, but I suppose it's most likely that the disc and/or USB drive holding the game has an additional folder with a curated soundtrack album in the form of MP3s or, if we're lucky, FLACs.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

On 26/01/2023 at 3:15 AM, Romão said:

My main reason for eventually ordering this is the inclusion of the soundtrack album. However, the description on the website seems to imply that the soundtrack is paired somehow with the game itself on disc, but what does it really mean? A two disc set with the game on one disc and the score on another? Both things on the same disc? The last one seems very unlikely, as the score would have to be really short.

 

I just saw that the soundtrack is "listed" on the preview image:

 

So it appears to be on the same CD as the game itself. Certainly in the form of audio files.

 

This article about the new Maniac Mansion box (which I'm not getting) is also interesting:

Quote

 

“Maniac Mansion was available on the Commodore 64, Amiga, and DOS computers, among others” Fairhurst explains. “If you put the screenshots next to each other, they may not seem that wildly different, but there are nuances between each version, and players have emotions tied to specific versions depending on which one they played as a kid. We include back-ups of every possible version so there’s a way to experience each one. These boxes became sort of archive for each game, with every version on a USB drive.”

In addition to the game itself, these limited-edition box sets feature a number of enticing items, including both recreations of original materials and brand-new surprises. In addition to a lenticular pin that portrays a Maniac Mansion hidden moment, the different boxed sets also include their respective soundtracks. “We record them straight from the actual hardware itself,” Fairhurst notes, “so the NES soundtrack comes right from the cartridge. It’s the same with the PC version, though we can also use an emulator. It’s all about accuracy.”

 

 

If I read that right, the sets include all versions for all platform on the USB drive (which is cool), but you only the the PC soundtrack with the PC box and the NES soundtrack with the NES box (which is not so cool).

[Jay 37,355]

Huh.

[Jay 37,355]

 

[Thor 7,503]

One of these days, I hope to have a 'gap' in my schedule to play that game (as a download to my laptop, I don't have any other means to play it). Looks more doubtful with my original choice, however, i.e. to replay all the previous games (both the original ones and the Telltale ones) before doing so.

[Jay 37,355]

Why did you put 'gap' in quotes? 

[Thor 7,503]

I don't know, Jay. I sometimes put things in quotes if the meaning is somewhat loose and free, that's just my style. As in, what would constitute a 'gap' in my schedule in this case, and how long would it take me to play through the game, that kind of stuff.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Thirty Years Later: Scoring "Return to Monkey Island"

A video of a talk by Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1029371/Thirty-Years-Later-Scoring-Return

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Thirty Years Later: Scoring "Return to Monkey Island"

A video of a talk by Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1029371/Thirty-Years-Later-Scoring-Return

 

That was amazing, thank you!

[karelm 2,913]

13 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Thirty Years Later: Scoring "Return to Monkey Island"

A video of a talk by Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1029371/Thirty-Years-Later-Scoring-Return

Aww, I was mentioned in their presentation!! Though completely unexpected, that meant so much to me!!  Love these legends!  I've been fans of them since the early 1990's!  They are legends. 

[Jay 37,355]

Woah

 

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

Woah

 

 

 

 

That looks cringy as hell. A whole game riffing on "millennials, am I right?", I'll pass. A shame, because I quite like the art style.

 

 

On 30/01/2023 at 1:14 AM, Romão said:

Has anyone played The Case of the Golden Idol?

 

 

 

I've heard great things about it, specially from Lucas Pope, the creator of Papers, Please and The Return of the Obra Dinn, which seems like a top level endorsement 

 

This game, on the other hand, is phenomenal. I can't recommend it more. I knocked it over in a night (I ended up going to bed late because I was so hooked, I didn't care). It's similar to Obra Dinn (which I loved), but a very different experience. I'm salivating for more games like these two. It's a genre I never even knew I wanted - old-school adventure game but with a focus on logical deduction. I'm surprised there aren't more out there.

[Romão 2,274]

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

 

This game, on the other hand, is phenomenal. I can't recommend it more. I knocked it over in a night (I ended up going to bed late because I was so hooked, I didn't care). It's similar to Obra Dinn (which I loved), but a very different experience. I'm salivating for more games like these two. It's a genre I never even knew I wanted - old-school adventure game but with a focus on logical deduction. I'm surprised there aren't more out there.

 

I've just finished it a couple of weeks ago and I also thought it was absolutely terrific. Not quite as innovative or engrossing as Obra Dinn. but still quite unique. I too hope more games are done in this vein. And even when you do get stuck, they never get frustrating and make force brute into solving the scenarios

On 18/04/2023 at 12:49 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

Thirty Years Later: Scoring "Return to Monkey Island"

A video of a talk by Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1029371/Thirty-Years-Later-Scoring-Return

 

 

That was absolutely amazing. This score will work wonderfully with a proper curated presentation. Let's hope the upcoming Limited Run edition tackles this properly

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

3 hours ago, Romão said:

I've just finished it a couple of weeks ago and I also thought it was absolutely terrific. Not quite as innovative or engrossing as Obra Dinn. but still quite unique. I too hope more games are done in this vein. And even when you do get stuck, they never get frustrating and make force brute into solving the scenarios

 

I missed this when you first posted it. Looks interesting!

 

3 hours ago, Romão said:

That was absolutely amazing. This score will work wonderfully with a proper curated presentation. Let's hope the upcoming Limited Run edition tackles this properly

 

At least McConnell "confirmed" that the box will contain the music "on CD". At least if he's informed enough about the detailed contents and it's not just the game on CD and the music on something else. I also wonder how long a properly curated, reasonably complete version of the score would be?

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I don't think I've recommended this yet?

 

Think Gillianimations with puzzles and renaissance music. It's currently on sale on Steam, and also in a bundle with Four Last Things (to which this is the sequel) and another game by the same creator. I haven't played those yet, but Calvary was a hoot.

 

The third part of the trilogy is currently in production:

 

[Romão 2,274]

On 20/04/2023 at 9:07 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

I don't think I've recommended this yet?

 

Think Gillianimations with puzzles and renaissance music. It's currently on sale on Steam, and also in a bundle with Four Last Things (to which this is the sequel) and another game by the same creator. I haven't played those yet, but Calvary was a hoot.

 

The third part of the trilogy is currently in production:

 

 

 

That looks like an absolute hoot  Just bought the bundle

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

For anyone who liked The Case of the Golden Idol, they recently released 3 new scenarios as DLC, titled The Spider of Lanka. While not as rich and compelling as the original 12 chapters, it's a great expansion and a fun way to spend a couple of hours!

 

Here's hoping for more DLC and a full-fledged sequel in the future.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Anyone ever played any of Dave (the other) Gilbert's adventures? I've been aware of his existence for a while via Twitter, but haven't yet tried any of his games myself. I went to the Reboot Develop conference two weeks ago where he was in the audience for a few talks and was endlessly praised by ex-Revolution's Tony Warriner (who did one talk himself and was in the audience for another one with Charles Cecil), so now I'm eager to try some of his games - but there are quite a few that sound very promising (both those developed and those just produced by him), so it's hard to decide where to start.

[Romão 2,274]

21 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Anyone ever played any of Dave (the other) Gilbert's adventures? I've been aware of his existence for a while via Twitter, but haven't yet tried any of his games myself. I went to the Reboot Develop conference two weeks ago where he was in the audience for a few talks and was endlessly praised by ex-Revolution's Tony Warriner (who did one talk himself and was in the audience for another one with Charles Cecil), so now I'm eager to try some of his games - but there are quite a few that sound very promising (both those developed and those just produced by him), so it's hard to decide where to start.

 

I bought the humble bundle pack that included most of the games he did fir Wadjet, but I've still yet to play them. Time has become a even more precious commodity since becoming a father. I should try them, as some seem to be quite short

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I don't think I've been aware of Sea of Thieves until now. Apparently it's some pirate-themed action-adventure MMO. In any case, they've just announced a Monkey Island themed expansion:

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Steam now has a sale on Wadjet Eye Games releases, most of them down to 70%. I still haven't played any of them, and I don't know where to start… I might just get them all.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

New Broken Sword announced - and a hand-drawn hi-res remake of the original, too:

 

[FunnyML 82]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

New Broken Sword announced - and a hand-drawn hi-res remake of the original, too:

Finally. I once did an upscale attempt of a background to see if that's even possible:

Spoiler

I hope they'll also remaster the music. The Wii version had great quality music files, but only half of the original score was used there. Very eager to hear who's gonna score the new game too, though since Pheloung passed away in 2019.

[filip 53]

I dislike the game itself immensely but was hoping for an official soundtrack release.

 

Yet an actual release was not on my bingo card:

 

https://www.qobuz.com/nz-en/album/return-to-monkey-island-michael-land-peter-mcconnell-clint-bajakian/yner99r4v2o2b

[Romão 2,274]

That's amazing news!

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

5 hours ago, filip said:

I dislike the game itself immensely but was hoping for an official soundtrack release.

 

Yet an actual release was not on my bingo card:

 

https://www.qobuz.com/nz-en/album/return-to-monkey-island-michael-land-peter-mcconnell-clint-bajakian/yner99r4v2o2b

 

Well, a soundtrack will be included in the still pending production limited deluxe boxed release of the game, so I'm not that surprised they're also offering it on its own. As they should.

[filip 53]

43 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Well, a soundtrack will be included in the still pending production limited deluxe boxed release of the game, so I'm not that surprised they're also offering it on its own. As they should.

Hmmmm... were remastered Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle soundtracks made available?

[Laserschwert 475]

4 minutes ago, filip said:

Hmmmm... were remastered Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle soundtracks made available?

Nope. But even those will be on CDs in their respective Limited Run Games collector's editions (still in production).

 

To be fair though, the DOTT remastered soundtrack is utter crap. Full Throttle on the other hand even got some MIDI samples swapped for live instruments, I think.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Grim Fandango did get an expanded soundtrack release for the remastered version of the game. Not physically though.

[filip 53]

I didn't ask about Grim Fandango though. I know both the OG and Remastered have soundtrack releases. Though I couldn't find a lossless version of the expanded Remastered Director's Cut one... :/

 

9 minutes ago, Laserschwert said:

Nope. But even those will be on CDs in their respective Limited Run Games collector's editions (still in production).

Oh are they really still in production? lol. I guess fingers crossed they get standalone/digital versions too around the limited run release.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

11 minutes ago, filip said:

I didn't ask about Grim Fandango though. I know both the OG and Remastered have soundtrack releases. Though I couldn't find a lossless version of the expanded Remastered Director's Cut one... :/

 

Just wanted to offer some additional perspective. I'd been kicking myself for almost two decades for missing out on the original GF album. And yes, it's lossy only as far as I know.

[Romão 2,274]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Grim Fandango did get an expanded soundtrack release for the remastered version of the game. Not physically though.

 

Didn't it get a vinyl release?

[Jay 37,355]

Yeah

 

https://www.iam8bit.com/products/grim-fandango-2xlp-vinyl-soundtrack

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Oh. Ok, no digital-physical release then.  

[Romão 2,274]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Yeah

 

https://www.iam8bit.com/products/grim-fandango-2xlp-vinyl-soundtrack

 

I deeply regret not getting that while it was still available.

 

That and Thimbleweed Park, that although not written by the LucasArts trinity, had great music a particularly good album presentation 

[The Dark Trilogy 39]

On 14/09/2023 at 11:50 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

Oh. Ok, no digital-physical release then.  

 

The "digital-physical release" is bundled with the Grim Fandango Remastered Collector's Edition from Limited Run Games.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

27 minutes ago, ckappes said:

The "digital-physical release" is bundled with the Grim Fandango Remastered Collector's Edition from Limited Run Games.

 

D'oh. And it's an actual audio CD? I remember seeing the CE and deciding against it because of the price, and the fact that it apparently doesn't contain the Linux version (but I have that digitally anyway), and because I think it looked to me like the disc would just contain the game and the audio files that I already bought online. Limited Run Games's product descriptions are really always rather fuzzy…

 

I was still sad to miss it (it's one of my top favourite games ever). Having an actual soundtrack CD included (for the shelf) might have been what would have nudged me to get it after all.

[The Dark Trilogy 39]

It's rather confusing. The PC Collector's Edition says "Includes Grim Fandango Remastered Original Soundtrack" where as XBox and PS4 Edition you get a seperate listing contains "Grim Fandango Remastered Original Soundtrack" as you can see in the picture.

Same as Return to Monkey Island. I hope my PC copy of Return to Monkey Island Collector's Edition is a audio CD. It is not clearly stated but I thought PC Game + Original Soundtrack means either the game plus audio in only one CD or 2CD's (1CD game and the other CD is the soundtrack). Or LRG doesn't want to list two jewel cases at the same time and then they stated "Includes... Original Soundtrack".

 

 

 

In the picture you clearly see the jewel case says "Original Soundtrack", but the description stated "Orignial soundtrack + PC game". Or maybe an error because they designed that picture for the console games first and forget to change the cover of the jewel case.

[Muad'Dib 1,802]