Craig Derrick, Exec Producer at LucasFilm Games, has teased that something new might be coming in the Maniac Mansion universe on Twitter.
Given Day of the Tentacle has already been remastered, we're probably talking a remake of Maniac Mansion, or a new 3rd instalment of the series, if there's substance behind the comment.
Neat!
Source: Craig Derrick's twitter
Something that came up in the Mojo interview with Ron and Dave ahead of ReMI’s release was the promise of multiple endings:
Ron: Well, you will be happy to know that I think the ending…there’s a lot of interpretation that can go into the ending.
Marius: That’s what I meant.
Ron: So yeah, I think there will be that. And there’s five variations of the ending, depending on things you did. And they all kind of have different interpretations, and so I think you will find that good, yeah.
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:
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:
Return to Monkey Island is a gorgeous, vibrant, hilarious, endearing adventure that manages to live up to its pedigree (already a stratospheric standard before you account for the whole return-of-the-messiah business) and deliver a certain closure to three decades of frustrated innuendo -- but not too tidily, of course.
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.
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
Since April they’ve taken questions from the professionals, mitigating the risk of death with regulation harnesses and safety nets, and now at last they’ve worked up the nerve to go BASE jumping. Or as the hobbyists and civilians call it: a Mixnmojo interview. Don’t bother releasing your Monkey Island game without one.
Join acknowledged heartthrobs elTee and Marius (in his Mojo debut!) as they chat up Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman about their much-ballyhooed return to the shores of Monkey Island -- a sequel which is so hotly anticipated, we’re actually starting to have to consider paying our server costs up through its release date (Footnote: You know, the one that’s days away, for goodness sake?). I’m rather excited myself to see how much of the interview ended up making it past the Lucasfilm brand director, so let’s all enjoy it together.
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).
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:
Expectations were exceeded for Indiana Jones 5's showing at D23. While the guarded speculation was that the title would be announced, this did not come to pass (which makes you wonder if they know it yet), but that couldn't have stung much for the panel's audience when the first footage was debuted to them instead.
Problem is, this sizzle reel was exclusive to the event, so no official upload will be forthcoming, and at this point an unofficial one doesn't seem likely either. You're going to have to make do with writeups of the trailer, such as the one below from The Wrap:
The “Indiana Jones 5” trailer was wonderful, showing a bunch of great moments: Mads Mikkelsen as a Nazi, Indy riding a horse through the New York subway, a chase that takes place in a Manhattan tickertape parade, and Sallah (played, once again, by John Rhys-Davies). We also see Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character and the trailer ends with Indy getting his whip out and snapping it at a bunch of bad guys, who promptly get out a lot of guns. He ducks.
It looks like it really captures the spirit of the original three films, a spirit that was sadly missing during the most recent installment, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
What did make it online was footage of James Mangold, Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge on stage before/after the trailer ran. Ford emotionally describes the movie as his last outing as Indy and praises his costar. Here is one capture:
Hey, at least Willow didn't let you down.
Source: The Wrap
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.
Mixnmojo rarely covers sales deals anymore, but we'd be silly to not mention Humble Bundle's Starlight Children's Foundation Bundle, which nets you a few Star Wars games, including both Knights of the Old Republic, the LEGO Star Wars games, and the Double Fine remasters of Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, and Day of the Tentacle. Plus a serotonin dose for helping kids in need. Up the donation for extra serotonin. Plus serotonin to whoever you give your extra copies of these games to, since if you're reading this, you probably already have these games. Actually, could be dopamine, not serotonin. I've never really learned the difference. Whichever you get helping out kids in need.
Anyway! You don't need me to say it twice.
Source: Humble Bundle
The D23 Expo, a biennal to-do where Disney conspicuously sniffs its socks and shows off its future projects to the landowner class, is going down this weekend, and the internet seems convinced that the title of the new Indiana Jones movie will be unveiled during a presentation tomorrow.
In the meantime, attendees report that the movie has some representation on the floor, with an area devoted to it at the Lucasfilm booth where concept art and character costumes are on proud display:
Aside from the fact that they're adorably still trying to make that new logo a thing, it's all pretty tantalizing. Judging by that sweet concept art, Indy gets himself involved in a tuk tuk chase in Morocco (or else a location highly evocative of it), and all those mirrors in that cave don't do much to counter the Archimedes speculation, now do they. Can I presume that the very Toht-like character design belongs to Mads?
More tomorrow, perhaps.
If you've been following Aaron on Twitter, it's pretty clear that his efforts to emulate Grim Fandango (in its original, shipped-in-1998 form) for presumed DREAMM support have made material progress. Perhaps the clearest sign of that is this morning's implication that he's already started down the path of standing up the second of the GrimE engine duology, that undisputed crown jewel of the LucasArts adventure pantheon, Escape from Monkey Island:
Bless him.
Source: Aaron's Twitter
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.
