So, you say you’ve been captured by your number one fan, sold to a mad scientist who wants to experiment on you, only to be saved by a angry mob whose main goal is to serve you a summons to pirate court? It’s no big deal, really. Nothing you can’t solve with the help of a magnetic cat, a glass eye, and a lamp straight out of “A Christmas Story.” Thankfully, all those things (and more) are to be found along the byways of Flotsam Island, and you, as Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate™, have the skills and knowledge to do it, too.
Tales of Monkey Island 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is the penultimate (that means the next to last,folks) chapter of the Tales of Monkey Island series. You return to Flotsam Island, the location of the first chapter, only to find that almost everyone is infected with the Pox you released in the first chapter. All the major characters are gathered together now, and the various plot threads that have been building over the past three parts come together.
The core gameplay is still there: it’s an adventure game – the movement and inventory interactions are the same. It’s still got a wacky sense of humor, only this time it’s muted by a dark sense of foreboding. While it is largely the same Flotsam Island as before (the geography is the same), it’s now night time and that’s reflected in the plot and mood of the game. Comedy is often about laughing at the darkness, and here the darkness has risen up to meet the comedy.
I enjoyed the game. Most of the bits I loved about it were the plot progressions and resolutions that happen, involving all of the bits I’ve played before. Some of the most humorous part were just random bits of silliness that are the hallmark of this series. There’s a joke about EDGE, there’s the previously mentioned lady-leg lamp, and there’s even a bit where you have to remove a lion’s paw from a thorn.
The game is structured well, and even if you need a walkthrough (there is one provided by TellTale Games) early on, the final confrontation is made clear based on what has happened previously. Overall, I think this is a good thing. This has been true of all their games, and while the full series might be the same length as a traditional adventure game, having it bite-sized chunks narrows down the scope of puzzle solving, and makes you feel smart at the end for having figured it out.
That said, can I recommend this game? Well, it’s a must play if you’re enjoying this series, certainly. If you haven’t played the previous games though, this one won’t make a lot of sense, however. You can buy it separately, but I would try one of the previous chapters first. They are more lighthearted and contained, and don’t depend as much on prior plot points.
Nevertheless, as a part of the whole series, this chapter is wonderful, tying things together and dramatically setting things up for the next part. I was glad to get to review it after having done chapter 3 for GamesAreEvil, and I’ll be begging to play the last part after this is all over too. The entire chapter set is in the $30 dollar range and comes with physical media that will be released when the series is finished, which is in a month, so get cracking!
Popularity: unranked [?]
