The International House of Mojo

Those of you who didn’t have the spending money to hit PAX should have plenty of material from the expo (occurring as we speak) to look forward to soon. Even ahead of it, though, the ReMI press tour sailed on with a new interview from webzine GamersGlobal featuring Ron, Dave and Rex. The article is in German, the official language of adventure games, but here’s an excerpt from Google’s loose English translation:

Though the noun came out the other end of the AI as “china,” one ascertains that Ron isn’t the biggest fan of the porcelain joke, and thus this trait of Guybrush’s will be censored in ReMI, which is just how Ron rolls.

There’s more great stuff in the interview, including the surprisingly open-ended position Ron takes on the series’ future (Relevant: Beloved, you-thought-he-was-dead community member Captain Mystery has triumphantly returned to notice that the descriptor “conclusion” has been artfully expunged from ReMI promotional spiels), so do read the full article for maximum cognizance of all Monkey tidbits.

Source: GamersGlobal

Close your eyes if you’re allergic to spoilers, courtesy of Dave…

For the rest of us? At this point, I’m going to hold my tongue in respect to those who want to go into the game blind-ish. But man, this looks good.

We finally have a release date for Return to Monkey Island: September 19, 2022 (formally known as International Talk Like a Pirate Day).

Further more, pre-orders are now open (or will be soon): And, a special pre-order bonus, you'll get a completely useless and inconsequential piece of Horse Armor added to your inventory. Joy.

So, what are you waiting for? Get pre-ordering. Update: For Switch, too!

Another update: The Steam preorder is for both PC and Mac -- purchase one and you'll get the other. Also, the horse armor is truly real, so... who knows what that's all about?!

GamesCom "Open Night Live" is due to begin livestreaming imminently, with some promised "big news" regarding Return to Monkey Island. Will it be a new trailer? The much-hoped for release date? Or a surprise April fools double bluff: The game was never coming all along!

Watch on tenterhooks here: http://openingnightlive.com

Or just click PLAY below:

Well, today’s #MonkeyIslandMonday did not disappoint: You get an updated version of The SCUMM Bar theme with an iMuse-like effect, and a glimpse of the interface. For the latter, it looks like we get a glimpse of Guybrush’s inner monologue, too.

The gamescom event takes place tomorrow—we’ll see what it has to bring. Release date? One can hope.

It’s a funny pun, apparently. “Monkey around.” Thirty years on, it’s still the pun du jour when writing about Monkey Island, with PC Gamer UK jumping on the bandwagon. The print magazine’s October issue will, as it seems, feature Return to Monkey Island prominently:

Oh yeah, that cover…

… may very well be worth the price of admission alone. Chef’s kiss.

More over at PC Gamer.

First of all: Do not watch the video if you’re allergic to spoilers. They’re minor, but they’re there. In fact, stop reading if you want to play the game with fresh eyes, as I have some ramblings below the video.

So…

• First, the dialogue is fantastic. Stylistically, right out of the first two games. You can fight me if you disagree.
• The music features some suitable cues from The Secret of Monkey Island’s Mêlée Island map theme.
• The Voodoo Lady proves that themed chains are a dangerous business. (Blink, and you’ll miss it.)
• Still ten-o-clock.
• Wally sounds notably older. “Ah I see Wally now has a third voice by the same voice actor” -Thrik.
• Wally’s last name is, of course, Feed. Wally B. Feed.

There, just some observations of a fifty-second video that concludes today’s editorializing.

Look, this is beyond a longshot, but Reddit claims to have it, Return to Monkey Island’s release date: September 1st.

The Redditor goes on to speculate that it’s a placeholder, which... is likely.

Mojo, meanwhile, generally leans toward the more plausible Talk Like a Pirate Day: September 19th.

Update! A quick scan of a couple of Devolver's other upcoming games suggests they default to the first of the (presumed) release month. E.g. Skate Story has April 1st, 2023 set as "date" and "date_override" to "Coming 2023." Reigns: Three Kingdoms' "date" is December 1st, 2022 and "date_override" is "Coming 2022."

Geoff Keighley took to Twitter to announce gamescom will feature a “brand new” look at Return to Monkey Island on August 23rd, 11 am PDT.

What “brand new” means is anyone’s guess, but as Ronzo is involved, it should probably be interesting.

And, for your convenience, Mojo has an easy-to-tap-and-add calendar entry for you. Be reminded with no hassle to you—that’s the Mojo way of life!

Adjusted for inflation, $20 from 1990 would be roughly $45, which is a roundabout way to say that this is a good deal:

$25 for Return to Monkey Island? Granted, it isn’t official yet, but with Mojo’s stellar past with Brazilian hackers, we will just go ahead and trust this one, too.

Thanks to The Legend of Monkey Island for the heads up!

Here we go, then: Neo LeChuck:

To editorialize: I like it! Boen-esque yet with an individual spin. Suitable to the character. Very LeChuck. As for the blah-ing: If I were a betting man, I wouldn′t be surprised if, in the final game, the VO would fade into the background as we regain control of the game.

And that LeChuck′s Revenge-style music. Chef′s kisses all around.

Update! Sources have confirmed to Mojo that LeChuck is voiced by the prolific Jess Harnell. (The source being a Tweet from Ronzo.)

I mean, who knows exactly what’s going on, other than it looks like Mojo’s last Festivus party.

And sorry, no release date, yet.

It's all in this tweet:

The correct answer is clearly "monkey6.exe", but I can be a good sport and carry on the fiction of democracy by encouraging you to cast a vote yourself.

Source: Twitter

That whole Futurama “take my money” meme might be getting a bit overused at this point, but…

… for god’s sake, just tell me where to send it.

Dave Grossman just posted a short ten-second Return to Monkey Island teaser on Twitter, and cripes on toast...

Of note: Carla is the Governor, as evident by the election poster. It looks like some of the background animations aren’t done -- the meme-able crate-carrying ghost is standing oddly still -- but check out the silhouette in the SCUMM Bar. This all looks and sounds luscious.

The video is part of the #MonkeyIslandMonday promotion on Twitter -- Jason really wanted us to emphasize that because, quote: “news to me.”

Put your nostalgia boots on and check out the “Part I” screen of Return to Monkey Island:

“A Friendly Place” -- we can only assume that is Melee Island, and that the title might be a misnomer with the new guard taking over. Who knows, but for now: Gotta love the re-imagined music.

Twitch hostess extraordinaire Cressup is continuing to notch her belt with sensational long-form interviews. This time her subject is your lawful Guybrush and internet friend Dominic Armato, who so badly wants to share more about Return to Monkey Island than he's allowed to, but the sheer enthusiam he gives off is sales hype enough. Watch and be delighted.

Source: Cressup

So, you’ve watched the trailer a dozen times, yet you still want more. And Mojo provides: We’ve gone through each scene the trailer has to offer, grabbed screendumps, and written a light analysis of what we saw. Run and read it right now!

And feel free to share anything we may have missed. We’re nothing if not all about the dialogue around these parts.

PC. Nintendo. Awesomeness. Mojo will return with more soon. Just watch the damn thing.

Update! The official site has been turned into a small interactive game with screenshots, Stan, etc.

And to editorialize: If you don't at the very least respect the look of the game, you're dead inside. Dead!

Want to wishlist it? Steam has got you covered. Nintendo has it listed, too.

Update #2 Ron confirms a Mac release:

Marius Winter - Flash animation extraordinaire, celebrated intern of Telltale and Double Fine, co-conspirator of livestreams with Jake, reaction video artisan, reluctant imbiber of root beer, and unanimously elected* mascot for all of Monkey Island fandom - was not about to allow basic human needs like eating and sleeping apply any kinda deacceleration on his ever-escalating contributions to your happiness.

In fact, after coming down with an aggravated case of being awesome, he's putting the final touches on his greatest achievement yet: a Flash film version of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Stare directly into the burning bush by checking out this sneak peek ahead of Monday's premiere:

*Not that it was gonna stop Germany were it otherwise.

Source: MajusArts