We’re getting closer to the upcoming release of Return to Monkey Island, and the excitement continues to rise. We can’t wait to see what stories and puzzles the adventure game offers. For the latter, it seems like the developers are adding a few features to make it easier to play if you’re struggling. There will be a casual mode and helpful hints.
From what we can tell, the casual mode will let you play the story without puzzles or struggles. You’ll pass through each scene interacting with characters and seeing how the plot unfolds. If you choose to enable puzzles and the action involved, you can use the hint function for the more challenging areas.
The new hint system and casual mode follow the LucasArts Design Philosophy that’s been in place in several of the Monkey Island titles. The idea is that Return to Monkey Island serves to make gamers feel smarter instead of stumping them and leaving them stranded with a puzzle. You can thank the first Monkey Island game creator, Ron Gilbert, for that.
Gilbert was regularly frustrated at games that killed the character due to a silly mistake. The other issue is being unsure how to proceed further without searching for the solution online. The new game mechanics in Return to Monkey Island will ensure that you can easily complete the different areas.
Either way, we really would like to play it without using hints as much as possible. The puzzle-action combination got us hooked on the series in the first place. It seems we’re be playing the waiting game for several titles, as Blizzard has announced that Diablo Immortal will finally launch June 2nd. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has many new upcoming features, but we may only see that in 2023.
