I have been playing video games my entire life, but you could say the first time I fell in love with a video game universe was Monkey Island 2 and The Curse of Monkey Island. I have so many fond memories of my dad helping me through if I got stuck or I just need a little push or idea on what I could try next. I was so obsessed with the world of these characters, the amazing music and the hilariously funny dialogue that even if I got stuck, the 8 year old me didn't care to go and try every possible solution or try every dialogue option again as to see if they give off any clues because I was just enjoying my time in the world so much. I can perfectly remember my dad bringing me a copy of Escape from Monkey Island (which I never knew existed) and installing it on his laptop for me and the amount of excitement and joy I felt starting up the game the first time knowing I will be able to spend more time in this world with things I have not seen before.

I am 32 now, engaged and having a 6 year old daughter. I lost my dad to cancer last year so seeing the announcement video that a new Monkey Island is happening brought me such excitement and fear. Fear cause I was scared of how it would turn out, as I am sure lots of people like me have fond memories with these games. I found comfort in knowing Ron Gilbert was back behind the wheel and I was a fan of his later Thimbleweed Park as well. The art style did concern me at first, but after seeing and especially playing the game myself I can easily see why this art style works, why it was decided on and I absolutely grew to love it.

The prelude to the game stunned me with the reveal, and I loved it. When I reached the ending I was confused and trying to figure out what is happening but until the last few seconds of Guybrush staring into the distance, its like a truck hit me. All those emotions, memories came back. This game took me back to when I was a kid, having those special memories with my father.

It honestly feels like this game never went away all this many years but rather grew up alongside me. Having a kid of my own and Guybrush's story really resonated to me on a very personal level and for that I will treasure this game and Ron Gilbert forever and hopefully I will be able to share this amazing world and characters with my own some day.

All I can wish for now, is for another Monkey Island (Guybrush) adventure to be able to go through this amazing experience again, but if not, I am so very glad this was the way it ended.

This game is amazing and I do hope people give it a chance,
It might change your life. It surely did mine. <3