Ron declares he is working on a new Monkey Island

[LowLevel]

@seguso

For example, in the beginning of CMI Guybrush doesn’t seem to know who Murray is, which is impossible because they already met in RTMI.

…assuming that there is a single linear timeline and that all the events in RtMI happen after MI2 and before CMI. I think that this is a big assumption.

… or assuming that Ron rejected a “it was only a dream” ending for RtMI.

I don’t know, I can think of many narrative tricks that would simplify the developers’ job, removing the need to constantly pay attention to what happened in the other chapters. As they said:

Dave: […] it’s actually kind of hard to keep track of everything that’s canon, and some of these other games don’t even agree with each other. So a little bit of paradox is necessary and probably healthy for us as creators and as human beings.

[ZakPhoenixMcKracken]

My thoughts:

• the skull we have seen in the trailer is not Murray
• In the intro of MI3, Guybrush is on a bumper car, that is a game of an amusement park. Thus, Return to Monkey Island will begin where MI2 finished, and presumably finish where MI3 started.

[seguso]

@LowLevel

…assuming that there is a single linear timeline… I think that this is a big assumption.

All because of the words “amorphous/undefinable”? These could simply mean there are subtle contradictions in the timelines (like when two characters first met). Not that there is no timeline. I’m not saying it’s impossible they chose a non linear timeline, but I don’t see good evidence in those words…

[LowLevel]

@seguso

All because of the words “amorphous/undefinable”?

Not just for that but also because:

1. The question mentioning “between Monkey Island 2 and Monkey Island 3” led to the answer “It’s undefinable in a lot of ways.”.
2. The game will start with Guybrush as a kid in modern times, so we can’t exclude some time-related phenomenon or fantasy-driven alternate realities.

[seguso]

I see…

[LowLevel]

Has the prison been converted into an hotel?

I still see chains inside, but I suppose that even a jail could be classified as some sort of hospitality service?

Also, why so many windows are boarded up? It’s not just the church.

[asterothe]

The skull is Murray. Ron said he’s in.

[St_Eddie]

@Frenzie

I understand some 3 million people bought Life Is Strange, and Walking Dead 8.5 million?

Note that such figures are still relatively small fry in the grand scheme of things. Also, on the topic of Telltale’s The Walking Dead; the sales figures for all of TellTale’s games was posted and the drop off for said game’s second and third seasons was huge…

Little wonder that they went out of business.

[asterothe]

I finished MI1 and MI2 in the last 2 weeks to refresh my memory. I hope so too and debating whether should I play the remainders.

[seguso]

@LowLevel

why so many windows are boarded up? It’s not just the church.

not just the church?

[LowLevel]

@seguso

not just the church?

No.

[seguso]

Boarding up a window on the second floor but not on the first floor… that’s the biggest puzzle.

Without that, I would have simply said these buildings are abandoned, like in TWP.

[St_Eddie]

@LowLevel

“Amorphous” timeline/chronology? I don’t know what it means…

To me, that reads as “Murray is in the game and we don’t explain why he is, nor did we consider how it makes canonical sense for him to be in the game. We just didn’t question it. Murray is just in the game”. This slapdash approach to creativity doesn’t exactly inspire confidence within me, I must confess.

@seguso

The simpler explanation IMHO is: they are reusing some characters from Curse and MI4, but reintroducing them from scratch, as if they never met before. As a result, RTMI is perfectly coherent with MI and MI2, but it makes Curse incoherent with MI-MI2-RTMI.

For example, in the beginning of CMI Guybrush doesn’t seem to know who Murray is, which is impossible because they already met in RTMI.

This would mean everyone is reintroduced and you won’t need to remember anything that happened in CMI.

I think this is exactly the route that they are taking and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s not that I nessercerily want Curse and beyond to be canonical, it’s just that if you’re going to use characters from that timeline and not explain their existence, it just seems, for lack of a better word, a bit ‘messy’.

The potential issue is that when I’m playing the game, I’m going to be constantly thinking “how does this character’s existence make sense?”. Any time that one is drawn out of the reality of the piece and asking questions of creative decisions, it’s bad. It breaks immersion. I want to be be enveloped within a world, not having my investment shattered and constantly asking questions in regards to the making of said world.

I want to wrap myself up in the finely crafted blanket. I don’t want to see the seams of the works.

@ZakPhoenixMcKracken

My thoughts:

• the skull we have seen in the trailer is not Murray

@Paul

To speak to the clerks

37 monkeys… in a row?

EDIT: I just want to clarify, in case Ron reads this post, that I am immensely happy that this game is being made. Any and all critical thoughts are made purely out of my sheer passion for this world that Ron created. I will never not be eternally grateful for the existence of Monkey Island and the other games which Ron Gilbert has created. They have got me through some damn tough times.

[nihilquest]

@seguso

immagine859×657 68.2 KB

Of course, this is just a joke, but looking at it side by side it makes me realize how on the old school stuff, you can actually see stuff. Immediately you know what to click on, what to explore. Only now do I see there’s a parrot in the actual game screenshot.

[Festarossa]

I have now pondered the issue of continuity from all aspects, and come to the only sensible conclusion.

Guybrush has always been in a psychiatric hospital hallucinating.

[St_Eddie]

@Festarossa

Guybrush has always been in a psychiatric hospital hallucinating.

That’s interesting that you mentioned that! I have a long standing theory that the SECRET™ is that Guybrush is in therapy and enveloped within a fictional world of his own creation and that all the people within that world are reflections of people whom Guybrush knows in real life (kinda like The Wizard of Oz). I think that the Voodoo Lady is a representation of Guybrush’s therapist. I also suspect that Elaine may be Guybrush’s Sister (there’s the possibility for another Star Wars parody there, akin to LeChuck saying that he’s Guybrush’s Brother).

[joemonsters]

I always loved this theory. I’ve been thinking about it since I’ve seen this video: The OTHER Secret of Monkey Island - YouTube

There is also this reddit thread about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonkeyIsland/comments/be2foj/theory_the_real_secret_of_monkey_island/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I know some people find it too dark, but, even if it’s not true, I think it’s fascinating.

[Festarossa]

Would be fitting, since the world on Monkey Island is full of bananas.
(I apologize for the use of the word)

[kaiman]

Even more interesting than the boarded up windows: what’s up with those funny signs?

Didn’t really notice them before, but on the cutouts they immediately caught my eye.

[LowLevel]

My issue with all the fan’s hypotheses is that the more they are convoluted, the more they don’t match with the sensation of simplicity that I perceived when I read Ron explaining:

The problem with the Secret of Monkey Island is that it’s built up sich a mystic, that when I finally do reviel it, you’re all going to go “That was dumb”.

Source.