Return to Monkey Island: Artistic choices are mixed

Trusted by Rex Crowle, a veteran of UK studio Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway), Ron Gilbert comments on the art direction of “Return to Monkey Island”following criticism from fans.

Excited to be able to offer a true sequel that expands on Monkey Island 2’s story, Ron Gilbert understands some of the reactions on social media to the art direction of Return to Monkey Island that is not identical to the style of the LucasArts era: “It might not be the style you wanted or expected, but this is the one I wanted. When I started this game, my biggest fear was that Disney would let me make the game I wanted, but it was great to work with them.

So the irony is that people who don’t want me to play the game my way are some of the biggest fans of the license. And that’s what upsets me in all these comments. Return to Monkey Island is an incredible roller coaster. You can jump in and have fun or get out of the amusement park because it’s not quite the rollercoaster you wanted.”

‘Return to Monkey Island’ lives up to Ron Gilbert’s vision

He also took the time to explain why the art style of the license needed to be updated: “I’ve only made one pixel game in my entire career, and that’s Thimbleweed Park. Monkey Island 1 and 2 were not pixel art games. They used advanced artistic technologies. If I stayed to make Monkey Island 3, it wouldn’t be like Monkey Island 2. We would have continued to work, and “Day of the Tentacle”is a good example of this. When Dave Grossman and I started thinking about Return to Monkey Island, we talked about pixel art, but it just didn’t fit. We didn’t want to make a retro game. You can’t read an article about Thimbleweed Park without it being called a retro game. I didn’t want Return to Monkey Island to be just a retro game, I wanted Monkey Island to evolve because it’s fun,