In a year that brought about continued experimentation in gaming, as well as refinements of a style, it was arguably a throwback that charmed me more. "Return to Monkey Island," the revitalization of a franchise that had lain dormant since 2009, was a glorious callback to a largely bygone era of point-and-click adventure games.
Yet "Return to Monkey Island" doesn't strike me as a work of nostalgia so much as a reminder — a statement piece about the power of interactive storytelling, and a look at how much the medium has evolved since "Monkey Island" creator Ron Gilbert last directed a game in the series, way back in 1991. Gilbert was again at the helm in "Return to Monkey island" alongside longtime collaborator Dave Grossman, and what could have simply been a celebration of all things retro — see Gilbert's own 2017 game "Thimbleweed Park" — was instead a relatively thoughtful meditation on getting older.
Set in a world of mystical pirates with unsolved treasure-hunting mysteries, "Return to Monkey Island" ultimately celebrates small moments — telling a story to your children at a park, or walking into an old neighborhood bar only to discover the regulars you knew are all gone and maybe there's no real need to try to relive past adventures. It's a game that prioritizes relationships, even those with foes, over big, plot-focused storytelling.
