Ron Gilbert addresses criticism of Return to Monkey Island's art style

Gilbert shot back of fans hammering the look of the upcoming game, claiming it's all part of the game he wanted to make.

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When it comes to some of the biggest surprises in gaming this year, a new Ron Gilbert-led Monkey Island game is definitely up there. It's delightful to see that Disney, Lucasfilm Games, and Gilbert have come together to bring us another adventure in this beloved point-and-click series, but apparently some fans weren’t into the refreshed look of the game. Gilbert has taken notice and addressed critique in a recent blog, claiming it’s a little ironic that supposed hardcore Monkey Island fans don’t want him to make the game he wants.

Gilbert addressed criticism of Return to Monkey Island’s recent reveals in a recent blog post. In said post, Gilbert described how he wanted to do something altogether different from what has been done before, and the ideas for that came together as he and fellow designer David Grossman began active work on it. Return to Monkey Island definitely has a different visual style from the games that came before, and that’s part of what Gilbert wanted to do despite alleged fan backlash.

“Return to Monkey Island may not be the art style you wanted or were expecting but it's the art style I wanted,” Gilbert wrote.

Return to Monkey Island art director Rex Crowle LittleBigPlanet
With LittleBigPlanet's Rex Crowle on as Return to Monkey Island's art director, the game definitely has an outlandishly different style from anything we've seen in the franchise yet.

Gilbert goes on to say that he has been happy so far with how the game came together, from his conceptions with Grossman up, to working with Disney and the allowances the company has given him on the project, all the way to the visual design from art director Rex Crowle. Its announcement earlier this year caught many by surprise. Despite this, Gilbert has also asked fans to be patient and stay for the whole ride.

“Return to Monkey Island is an incredible rollercoaster. Get on and have some fun or stomp out of the amusement park because it's not exactly the rollercoaster you wanted,” Gilbert continued. “I hope you'll jump on with the rest of us.”

With Return to Monkey Island set to launch sometime this year, hopefully it’s everything Ron Gilbert and crew are hyping it up to be. Our anticipation is high and we can’t wait to see more. Stay tuned for more details as they become available, such as a final release date, right here at Shacknews.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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