Interesting article, but explaining how the ubiquitous hero myth factors into our favorite game is meaningless. It's already a given that HWTF is inherent in all stories, games, and movies. What matters is the context, which is why Monkey Island is preferable to, say, LOOM. By putting that monomyth into a new context, Ron is effectively masking it in a novel way. Just like Shakespeare, Master Gilbert made a cliched genre new again by changing the style, moving what would have been action-adventure into the comedy realm, and infusing with healthy doses of anachronism. It is this wacky unconventional behavior which truly differentiates MI from its competitors and rivals.
Kroms
on 02 Jan, 2009, 22:34…
I just want to say that I love the fact that you compared Ron Gilbert and William Shakespeare. :D
Glo_kidd
on 02 Jan, 2009, 19:42…
Joseph Campell's Hero with a thousand faces is one of my favorite books of all time. The man knows his hero mythos :P