Going by the name ‘The Legend of Monkey Island,’ this Microsoft three-parter for Sea of Thieves is a sweeping, fan-service-y expansion based on LucasArts’ legendary adventure game, Monkey Island. We’ll be getting key locations from the series, like Mêlée Island (a Pig Island knockoff) and the eponymous simian landmass itself, as well as meeting a host of the series’ well-known characters – Lechuck, Elaine, Murray the Talking Skull, and of course Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate.
It’s a neat collaboration between Rare and Lucasarts, and it comes at a time when Sea of Thieves is trying to beef up its worldbuilding and bring a bit more meaning to its questlines. I’m really interested to see how the new experiences will impact Sea of Thieves – I played a lot of the game post-launch and while the world itself was always charming and the notion of exploring a wide-open ocean promising, the actual quests themselves had a thin worldbuilding and lacked the meaningful storytelling that is present in the best open-world games.
Monkey Island may seem like a curious choice for such a game, then – but remember, Sea of Thieves already has a slightly Monkey Island-ish attitude, from its early emphasis on bequeathing tricks as essential pirate tools, to Sea of Thieves’ somewhat louche willingness to embrace goofyness and fun as high virtues.
From early footage shown during the Sea of Thieves Live presentation, it looks like this might be the Sea of Thieves expansion that’s most like an actual, linear Monkey Island game. From what we can see in the trailer (below), you’ll explore an entirely new world, on a quest to figure out a mystery, but in order to do so you’ll need to solve various puzzles that are presented in a point-and-clicks style.
In the Sea of Thieves presentation, Creative Director Mike Chapman explains that you’ll be able to speak to the usual Sea of Thieves characters about potential quests – but when a puzzle is presented, you’ll actually be able to talk to the character(s) who give(s) you the challenge. Chapman then explains that you’ll be able to ask them “what is this?” and “how do I do this?” They’ll respond with an explanation of the puzzle, and the general tone of their description will suggest how it’s supposed to be solved.
As a long-time fan of both series it certainly appeals to me. It’s similarly exciting to see what a real open-world Monkey Island game might be like; Sea of Thieves offers a degree of that bountiful freedom and captain-mandated freedom of choice, so lending a small hand to create a linear adventure that arrives just one step outside Sea of Thieves’ broad-strokes horizon seems like a sensible fit.
I’ve always been drawn to adventure games over more traditional first-person game experiences, partly because such games often embrace a sense of place and quixotically constrained characters and worlds that demand (and deliver) a sense of purpose. Since launch, Sea of Thieves has suffered from a thin worldbuilding and overly simple questlines, which this expansion aims to rectify.
Check out the ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ trailer below:
Microsoft adds that, after the cutscenes and seemingly cinematic first episode of the three-parter are over, you’ll then be able to set out on your own quests and figure out the mystery using your own intelligence and resources.