By all accounts Return to Monkey Island is a game that shouldn’t exist, a sequel from series creator Ron Gilbert arriving thirty years after he worked on the second game back during the heyday of LucasArts. So then, how does it fare? And what does it, you know, feel like to return to Monkey Island?

Well, to cut to the chase - it’s brilliant. And every bit in step with the original games yet still feels fresh and of the now. As of “the now” as a game about swashbuckling pirates and jokes about scurvy can feel. A snippet.

When word broke that Return to Monkey Island was in development with series creator Ron Gilbert and fellow Lucas-vet Dave Grossman at the helm, it was a strange and exciting day for those of us who grew up playing games where literal verbs “Open” and “Push” delivered the action. A sequel of sorts to Monkey Island 2 from 1991, Return to Monkey Island presents a comedic story informed by two veterans reflecting on themselves and the series after long and successful careers. A new Monkey Island, released at a time when the very idea felt like an impossibility, and yet the execution is handled expertly.

Return to Monkey Island is brilliant, funny, charming, and up there with the originals in terms of tone and atmosphere. A joyous adventure game that, if you’ve ever been a fan, should be savoured like a tall glass of aged grape juice.

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