Return to Monkey Island: Surprising Result in Graphic Style Poll

PCGH has already reported on the criticism of Return to Monkey Island’s new graphic style – both about the fallout of developer Ron Gilbert in the meantime and about how the game’s graphics from Monkey Island have changed significantly over the years. The colleagues from PC Games wanted to know more about it and have it created a survey on the subject.

Graphics aren’t everything – or are they?

Of course, one should consider that graphics are by far not everything in adventures either – but only a partial aspect. However, a certain level of expectation develops, especially among series fans who have known a game brand for many years (Monkey Island 1 came out in 1990, for example). And Gilbert had already fueled the opinion in advance with a few statements that he was making his Monkey Island a “3” and that he and the team should be trusted. This also applies to the graphic style, which not everyone likes. What you shouldn’t forget when it comes to graphics is the time component. What was perhaps still state-of-the-art in 1991 with EGA and 256 colors is now only bearable for pixel fans. The first 3D attempts like Escape from Monkey Island look horrible today – in the year 2000 it wasn’t that bad.

But how did the PC Games poll takers vote on which Guybrush look is the best? The cartoon graphics of The Curse of Monkey Island (1997) win by a clear margin, ahead of Monkey Island 2 (1991) and Monkey Island 1 (1990). Specifically, they are 41, 28 and 9 percent. Not forgetting the Special Edition of Monkey 2 with 12 percent (3rd place). In contrast, only 5 percent vote for Return to Monkey Island. The strong result of The Curse of Monkey Island is interesting because the cartoon graphics come closest to the style of Return to Monkey Island. And: Curse was criticized for the 1997 release precisely because of the new style – you can see what the times are doing with such opinions.

A second question was about whether the new Ron Gilbert game will be bought directly at release. The result puts the question of the graphic style into perspective and shows that the graphics of Return to Monkey Island play a minor role in a possible purchase decision. 41 percent are already excited about the game and only 13 percent are completely put off by what has been shown so far. The other participants in the survey are waiting for ratings or a sale.

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