The International House of Mojo

By now, you probably have noticed that Return to Monkey Island sounds great, and not just in terms of voices and music. The sound design is fantastic, too, and to learn more about it, A Sound Effect sat down to talk with Elise Kates and Andy Martin, two of the leads behind that work.

Head over to A Sound Effect for a lot more.

It only makes sense that NRK (the Norwegian state broadcasting corporation) comes running to Mojo when they want the word out about yet another Return to Monkey Island interview. Read the story if you can, but for most, the video interview—which is quite good—is the better/only option.

This is where I would embed the video, but as the Norwegians giveth and the Norwegians taketh away, you’ll have to go to NRK to view it. Or, read the full transcript for all the dirt.

I’m going by second-hand information here, but that is what friend-of-Mojo Laura Cress told us in an email. I haven’t had a chance to watch her new interview with Ron yet, but looking at the chapter listing, it does indeed look like a must-watch...

So do just that. Watch. Because you must.

That’s right, ReMI and Terrible Toybox are setting their sights on “Best Storytelling,” “Best PC Game,” and “Best Studio.” Not shabby, and they’re up against some large, mainstream names—an honor being nominated, and yada, yada, yada definitely does apply here.

Yet, the masses can vote, so go show ol’ ReMI some love right here.

While waiting for an official soundtrack to drop—and the wait could be a long one—we decided to take matters into our own hands and release each and every track from Return to Monkey Island ourselves. That’s four hours of music, spanning more than hundred-and-forty files. You can download the OGGs or listen to the whole shebang on YouTube...

.... granted, completely without chapters/track indicators. We’ll leave it to the semi-professionals to do proper remixes of all of this. Need an example? Check out this twenty-minute mix our in-house DJ made of “LeShip,” arguably the best suite in the game.

Now, see if you can live up to that.

There is an easter egg in Return to Monkey Island that refers to a hidden island. That’s about what I want to say about it, as I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t finished the game. (Though it’s really not a spoiler—it has nothing to do with the plot. Or much anything else.) If you know, you know: Read our article about Cogg Island right now if you so would like and learn about all its secrets.

Something that came up in the Mojo interview with Ron and Dave ahead of ReMI’s release was the promise of multiple endings:

Well, it turns out that Ron was off by at least a factor of two, because our team of interns count no fewer than ten endings. Did you find them all? You may wanna refer to Mojo's handy breakdown to compare notes. And it goes without saying, folks who haven’t finished the game yet should stay far away.

Perversely, there appears to be an institutional expectation that there should be reviews of Return to Monkey Island beyond our own. But hey, we’re easy, we can play along. So check out our roundup of today’s many reviews beneath this rockin’ Nintendo launch trailer:

• Ars Technica
• AusGamers
• Eurogamer
• For The Win
• Gamepur
• TheGamer
• Gamespot
• Gaming Bible
• Gossip Chimp
• GosuNoob.com
• The Guardian
• IGN
• The Independent
• The Los Angeles Times
• msnNow
• Polygon
• Press Start
• Rock Paper Shot Gun
• Stevivor
• The Verge
• The Washington Post

It’s been an excruciating wait, but finally, it has arrived, Return to Monkey Island. And, of course, we’ve put together a timely review, courtesy of one Jason.

To address the question many might have: There is a very small amount of spoilers in the review, but nothing that will ruin any real surprises. We’ve even put together a feature that blacks out all the screenshots. To re-enable them, just tap the toggle on top of the page or click the individual blurred-out images. (These do feature some minor spoilers.) And if you just want the conclusion, zero spoilers:

What else is there to say? Godspeed, everyone—take your time and enjoy the game. But only after reading our review.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” - Marius (probably)

If you think Mojo was done and dusted before Return to Monkey Island releases tomorrow, think again. Our German bureau chief, Marius, sat down with art director Rex Crowle to talk about the game, fandom, Marius’s hair… Everything!

Your mouth may be dry from anticipation, so refresh yourself with this nice, cool, tall drink while you await the game’s release, twenty-one hours from now.

If you live in the one true time zone -- Pacific -- I hope you have taken Monday off: 9 am is when you can be the social misanthrope we already knew you were, and unpack three days of provisions as you fire up ReMI. Hey, we’re in full support of it!

You can check your own time zone to see when your thirty-year wait will be complete and/or follow our countdown.

I’m guessing at this point you’re all primed to play Return to Monkey Island already and don’t need to continue to be sold on it by every disposable gaming blog in cyberspace (plus Mojo). But the fact is, previews continue to get mercilessly published as these last few days tick away, and apparently we’re a fan site so, it would feel wrong not to diligently round up the coverage for a new Monkey Island to the very end.

• IGN continues their week-long celebration of ReMI with a discussion with Ron and Dave about puzzle design. In the process, it’s confirmed (or was it already?), that there is a “Lite” and a Hard mode for the game. Be sure to check out IGN’s previous daily articles you might have missed, like their video glimpse of the game’s hint system.
• Eurogamer has its own interview, where among other things Ron and Dave ponder what an Elaine-centric Monkey Island might look like.
• GamesRadar+ has some quotes from the designer/writer duo about the horse armor DLC lampoonery, if that does anything for ya.
• 9news out of Australia was gonna be goddamned if they weren't getting in on the act, so they've got a nice chat of their own with the boys.
• And don’t look now, but it looks like Mojo got Ron back into blogging, as he saw fit to post our supercut of the #MonkeyIslandMonday clips over on Grumpy Gamer. I’m not saying we’re letting this go to our heads, but Thrik was last seen in public wearing a thirty foot crown with “Most Important Web Site, Per Ron” inscribed on it.

And to answer the question on everyone’s minds: Yes, Mojo will be publishing its review as soon as the embargo lifts. And who knows? We may not be done with our ReMI coverage even beyond that. My gosh, who knew the old jalopy could still work up a horsepower or two?

People used to die of starvation staring at the official Lucasfilm web presence in the hopes of finding acknowledgment of their graphic adventure game catalog. I guess times have changed, because the company has published a nice preview of Return to Monkey Island. Check it out and be dumbfounded that you find yourself alive in such a period of history.

Source: Lucasfilm.com

As one could, should, and would, IGN has dedicated the week leading up to Return to Monkey Island to… well, just that. Monkey Island. So far, we’ve seen an interview and, possibly more interesting, the scrapbook in action. (IGN apparently doesn’t allow embedding videos anymore, so follow that link.) Gotta love that lush music.

Keep watching IGN for more the rest of the week—and we might have a couple of things up our sleeves ourselves.

Sales aren't usually newsworthy anymore, but Terrible Toybox is marking some game that they've made about some monkeys or whatever's release in a few days by slapping a big ol' 75% discount sticker on their last outing, 2017's Thimbleweed Park—a historical low, in the parlance of the Internet. The existential critical darling can be yours for $4.99 on Steam (but not, apparently, GOG).

#MonkeyIslandMonday as we know it is over -- next week will see the actual release of Return of Monkey Island. But you probably already knew that? As for today . . .

It's true: Guybrush didn't turn in the evidence for all three tasks , and thus he is not a pirate. Will this play a part in ReMI? We will see in a week.

Update: And for the days long gone, here are all the #MonkeyIslandMonday videos gathered into one super cut:

Some may be all about Indy at D23, but for those of us who are not Jason, there is also some ReMI information:

That's right, the scrapbook is revealed in all its glory!

And so not to repeat myself...

Hey, it's a theory.

Ars might claim their ReMI interview is mostly free of spoilers, but I will politely disagree. They might not be huge spoilers, but big enough to give me a couple of huh moments. Which is to say: This Ars Technica article is quite good if you're not allergic to spoilers. Otherwise, stay away.

Just that:

I won't editorialize the dialogue -- actually, I will: it's chef's kiss -- but interestingly we do get close-ups, and awesome they look, too. Two weeks left.

A lot went down at PAX in Seattle over the weekend, and as you may have gleaned if you’re one of those social media types, good times were had by all who attended. As with Gamescom last week, an elaborate booth devoted to Return to Monkey Island – a wooden replica of the High Street of Mêlée Island – was on hand for photo opportunity and general shock and awe:

This time, the team was also in the hall for fans and press to mingle with, and the panels were evidently no slouch either: You may have caught the livestream of the expo’s much-touted gathering of influential old people, otherwise known as “Adventure Game Heroes & Legends.” Moderated by Frank Cifaldi, the hour-and-a-half-long conversation featured Ron, Ken Williams, Roberta Williams, Al Lowe, Dave Gilbert and Jane Jenson. If you weren’t tuning in live, you can find it archived below:

As for ReMI-specific coverage, so far there’s a pay-walled interview with Ron from Rock Paper Shotgun (what the hell, guys), and presumably more to come, but you’ll probably find the real gold on the developers’ Twitter accounts. Highlights include the ReMI team photo (probably the first time many of them were physically together since the game got started), the starstruck gushing of Neil, Druckmann, and hands-down the event’s best T-shirt.

The benevolent madness was said to have culminated in a ReMI wrap party, which Mojo may have technically attended by abstraction if the rumors (or, you know, photo evidence) that Jake weaseled his way past the bouncer are true. I’m getting the light here, so in closing I’ll steer two interviews out of Gamescom that we'd overlooked your way: one from publication Heis Online (original German here; English translation here), and another from Hobbyconsolas (original Spanish here; English translation here).