Spiel durchgespielt.... Fazit!?

[SonataFanatica]

0

Gestern Nacht endlich...



... durchgespielt.

Ich zitiere mal meinen Post vom Telltale-Forum:

Well... a few hours ago, I finally finished "Rise Of The Pirate God" and I must say that Guybrush's adventures have been an absolutely awesome rollercoaster ride of monkey mayhem in piratey proportions. Thank (Pirate) God I played through the whole game, it was totally worth it. At first, I didn't even really have the motivation to do so. Why?

I had played through 3½ episodes of ToMI before, but back then I stopped right after Guybrush's trial in Episode 4 (the part where

LeChuck and the Voodoo Lady are imprisoned in the Flotsam jail

) — I'm not a big fan of trials and court cases, so I got quite a little annoyed, I guess. But I decided to give it another shot, installed all five Monkey Island games (MI1, MI2, CMI, EMI, ToMI) and was totally pumped. I started with "Launch Of The Screaming Narwhal" again aaaand...

... stopped right after I set foot on Flotsam Island. Why? Well, the rendered 3D graphics did nothing for me. I had totally forgotten about how the game looked. So I stopped playing and started searching for a fanmade 2D version of the game (which I didn't find, of course ). So I launched "Escape From Monkey Island" for the first time in 11 years. Suffice it to say that seeing the graphics of THAT game again felt like a kick in the fundament. Really... all the persons in that game look like they were coming right out of the original "Alone In The Dark" game. You know: the one from 1992? — Suddenly, the graphics in ToMI didn't look that bad anymore!


I remember that in my first attempt to finish ToMI, I really liked episode 3 most. Episode 1: four out of five stars, Episode 2: three out of five stars (Spinner Cay wasn't my cup 'o tea), Episode 3: five out of five stars – absolutely hilarious, exciting and romantic! And that's exactly how I feel after playing them a second time. Episode 4 and 5 both get a four out of five.

I must say that you Telltale guys really made a GREAT game, all in all. You managed to redeem a franchise that was almost crushed to death by its fourth installment. Seriously... "Escape From Monkey Island" almost managed to ruin the whole Monkey Island universe! Where EMI took the present day tourist/vacation atmosphere a step too far and almost ruined the franchise with pop culture/brand references, you managed to re-ignite the spark of a swashbuckling adventure. Without any giant robots whatsoever! Also, the puzzles were a lot of fun – all of them! Yeeees, also the jungle parts.

But most of all, I'm thankful for what you did with LeChuck. Ever since "Curse Of Monkey Island", that guy turned into some sort of Sunday morning cartoon character - whereas before he was a frightening and unpredictable villain with strange voodoo (and/or ghostly) powers. After the ending of EMI, one couldn't help but feel a sense of ridiculousness (as in: "hahaha *sigh* let's see what that droll LeChuck will be up to next"... ) – thanks to you guys, he was (is?) a fearsome demon pirate once again!

The only thing I didn't like that much, is that the ending sequence felt a little too short (yes, even

with that very last bit after the credits

). It would have been really nice if Guybrush would have had the opportunity to ask about what exactly

happened in the real world after LeChuck was defeated

. Other than that: awesome game!


Now there are a few unanswered questions I have after finishing the game. I hope somebody can share some ideas! Let's start:

1.) The Ring Thing
How exactly did the diamond ring make Guybrush alive again? I mean... I do understand that Guybrush put all his courage, "anchor", direction and sacrifice into that ring at that moment – but still: if that completely reanimated him, how is his left hand back to normal?

2.) Elaine's Plan
She says: "It's about time!" and Guybrush is totally baffled (as is the player) as to why she expected him. Guybrush answers: "Is that why you gave me...?" – I suppose he means the wedding ring. But how would Elaine know about the things that are needed for a dead person to escape the afterlife and return to the world of the living? She couldn't have known that at all!

3.) Morgan's Return
So Morgan is a ghost when she brings LeChuck's remains to the Voodoo Lady – but how did she escape the afterlife? Did the Voodoo Lady summon her? Did she flee through one of the rifts into the world of the living?


Other than that, the ending's great. I do understand that the world is bright again after LeChuck's defeat – and that Winslow got the Screaming Narwhal back which was merely set adrift at sea by LeChuck. But the Elaine and ring thingy...? Hmmm...

Eine Antwort darauf hab ich auch schon bekommen: HIER und HIER!

There are a lot of controversial talks between the fans regarding the story of ToMI. Can you clear it up a bit for us? For instance, is it implied that Elaine knows about everything from the start? How much DOES she know and what was her plan, if she had one?

Mike Stemmle: Elaine has a history of being one step ahead of Guybrush, LeChuck, and everyone else in the world of Monkey Island. That’s because, well, most of the cast isn’t all that bright.

Our take is that Elaine has long suspected that the Voodoo Lady has been putting Guybrush and LeChuck through a never-ending cycle of conflict for mysterious purposes. This annoys the heck out of Elaine, who is ultra-protective of her hubby and chafes at the notion of being manipulated by forces beyond her control. But Guybrush trusted the Voodoo Lady too much for Elaine to simply say “Hey, I think this nice lady that has helped you on umpteen previous occasions is using you like a puppet.” Besides, she didn’t want to get on the Voodoo Lady’s radar.

When LeChuck suddenly became human at the start of the first episode, Elaine intuitively realized that LeChuck was also playing some sort of long game against the Voodoo Lady, so she went along with it, keeping an eye on LeChuck all the while, and nudging Guybrush in ways both small (”trust me”) and large (”take the ring”).

Of course, she didn’t plan on being overwhelmed by the Pox. Or LeChuck actually managing to kill Guybrush. That’s why she’s so forlorn at the start of the final episode; she’s played things too close to the vest, and now her snugglebunny is dead.
_________

LeChuck's Trust Belt is something that just sort of enhanced human LeChuck's natural charisma. Elaine likely never REALLY got sucked in by it, although she probably had undoubtedly had moments where her resolve was tested (Exhibit A: "Woof."). In other words, it's a bit of a puzzle device that also helps explain why everyone else in the Caribbean is willing to give Human LeChuck the time of day.

Elaine's handing Guybrush her ring is an interesting lil' plot point, innit? She had no idea that her hubby would be stuck in the afterlife, nor that the rules for getting out of the afterlife would neatly coincide with offering up said ring. And yet, she intuitively KNOWS to give it to him, and makes sure he keeps his hands on it, even AFTER she's fully f-ed up by the Pox (note how ticked she gets on the stand when Guybrush points out the ring on the evidence stand). She knows the ring is important, and does everything she can to reinforce its importance, even though she really can't have ANY idea WHY its important.