Monkey Island 5: The Series

[DeadPoolX]

Doesn't Jane have her own game studio?

Now there's an idea. Her studio could be the developer. Activision might agree to that.

[MusicallyInspired]

Playing it! Loving it! Go get it! Worth every penny!

[DeadPoolX]

It looks good, but I think I'll hold off until I see a review. Unless anyone here wishes to review it.

There's an offer to get all five episodes for $34.95, which is a fairly good deal. Of course, only episode 1 is out, so we'd need to wait for the other four.

I think buying all five episodes now is a little premature. I doubt work on the new MI will stop suddenly, but just in case... there's no reason to purchase them all ahead of time.

[misslilo]

I bought the the whole season and played through the first episode last night - without any problems.

It took a little getting used to the controls. You can use WASD for walking/running, but for those hating keyboard controls, they made it so you can use the mouse to drag him around
You click and hold the left mouse button down and you'll see a circle with a red arrow which you drag to wherever you want guybrush to walk. If you hold both buttons down, he will run.

There's only wonderful things to be said about the graphics and story, so I won't go into that. It's just a real pleasure

As for the puzzles - I have to say they were fairly easy(hint system on 3 or 4) although a couple took a little time to figure out exactly HOW to do. (The calender puzzle, hehe)
Also there's one particular puzzle, where you HAVE to use the WASD keys - otherwise you won't be able to solve it. "Monkey see - Monkey do"

I know a lot of people have trouble getting it activated/getting full screen/crashes, but I didn't experience anything like that.
I downloaded - typed in my username and password for my account on Telltale and was ready to play.
No need to use the serialnumber, when doing it this way.

I had a really great time with it - took me more than 6 hours to complete and can't wait for the next episode to come.
To me it surely FELT as MI game - so no worries there.

[MusicallyInspired]

There is a reason to order them all ahead of time. Or rather there was. I was among the pre-orderers who, once we pre-ordered, had access to a private forum on the TTG website where we could ask the developers and Dominic Armato questions. We also get a special DVD slip cover painted by Steve Purcell, artist for the original first two Monkey Island box covers, after all the episodes are out and we order the shipping-cost-only DVD with all the games on it (plus probably a bonus disc). Everyone else can get that too if they own all the episodes (whether purchased separately or together) but they won't get the limited edition DVD slip cover. Also, you got to choose one other TTG episode from any series for free! Actually, they're extending that deal for another week after the release date. So if you buy now you can still get the free episode. Currently the TMI episodes aren't available to buy individually yet but probably will be after the free episode deal in a week.

And as said previously, this game is good. Definitely hails back to the classic Monkey Island days. If you can get past a WASD "8-directional-compass" control scheme (or the mouse dragging) it's definitely worth it. I haven't beaten the first episode yet, but I played a fair ways in and it still seems like there's much to do yet so there's a lot of play-value in it. And funny as always!

Don't trust a lot of "official" game reviews out there. Most of them just talk about everything the game wasn't rather than what it was, which isn't a very helpful review at all. I wouldn't trust a reviewer over an MI fan about an MI game anyway. It is GOOD. The music is superb (Michael Land returning!), the voice work (Dominic and Alexandria from CMI return to reprise Guybrush and Elaine), and even the new voice actor for LeChuck isn't bad at all. The whole atmosphere of the game is very enjoyable and fun and there even seems to be a fair amount of sub-plots carrying on in the game.

I should also mention as well in case anybody is wondering, that TMI isn't a "season of games" like the previous titles were. All 5 "episodes" are actually chapters like in the original Monkey Island games except they're all separated. So it's one cohesive epic storyline instead of separate loosely-tied-together "episodes."

But don't take my word for it, play the demo!

[DeadPoolX]

It took a little getting used to the controls. You can use WASD for walking/running, but for those hating keyboard controls, they made it so you can use the mouse to drag him around
You click and hold the left mouse button down and you'll see a circle with a red arrow which you drag to wherever you want guybrush to walk. If you hold both buttons down, he will run.

And as said previously, this game is good. Definitely hails back to the classic Monkey Island days. If you can get past a WASD "8-directional-compass" control scheme (or the mouse dragging) it's definitely worth it. I haven't beaten the first episode yet, but I played a fair ways in and it still seems like there's much to do yet so there's a lot of play-value in it. And funny as always!

Maybe I'm the out of the loop here, but how is the WASD control scheme difficult or unusual? Nearly every game today uses WASD. Hell, it's been the standard for well over 10 years in most genres.

If a game used a 3D engine, WASD makes a lot more sense than simply relying on mouse-based controls. It's good that you CAN use the mouse, but only using it might become frustrating in a 3D game.

[misslilo]

I can't answer for everyone else, but for me it has to do with comfort
I'm the old school adventurer, that likes my point-and-click games. Mostly because I'm not getting any younger, and I like to sit back in my chair to relax my back while playing,

[Datadog]

I watched my co-worker play a bit of it yesterday. I have to say that while I like how you can optionally use the keyboard or mouse to move around, I thought Telltale had already created the perfect interface with Sam & Max and Strongbad. Having your character follow the mouse around scrollable screens seemed like the single greatest thing I'd ever seen in an adventure game at the time.

[MusicallyInspired]

The reason they changed it was so they could have dynamic moving and closeup camera frames. Most shots just wouldn't work with a P&C interface. It's actually the biggest topic of heated debate on the TTG forums right now.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm. Is it possible to ask a software store to order it in for me, and then pick it up and pay them? I don't live in America, so I can't order it online.

[DeadPoolX]

Steam works in Australia. You can purchase and download it from there. You won't have a box or physical disc, but you'll have the game.

[Rath Darkblade]

Well... I'd really much prefer to have a box and a physical disc (and/or manual). I've been hearing a lot of awful things about Steam (e.g. technology didn't work etc.), and I'd like to have something concrete in my hand (e.g. box/disc) that would have a number I can call and/or a store I could go to and ask questions, if something doesn't work properly.

I have had bad experiences myself with online-gaming (e.g. WoW and playing board games online etc.), so I'd much rather play my games when I'm offline and having somewhere offline to go to if Steam doesn't work.

I also know that Steam wants my credit card number, and I don't have a CC and don't want one - they have awful reputations in Australia, what with people getting into debt and being unable to pay off their debts.

[DeadPoolX]

How do you purchase items online without a credit card? Using a debit card would be risky (as they aren't very secure to use online) and while PayPal is an option, they want your account backed by an existing credit card.

[MusicallyInspired]

There is no box or physical media yet. However, if you order the game (all 5 chapters) from the Tell Tale store they'll send you a free official printed disc and DVD case for just the cost of shipping after all 5 chapters are out (which they aren't yet). That's the only way to get a physical copy at the moment. But you can buy Tell Tale's games from anywhere in the world through their online store. And you can pay with PayPal. Also, Steam doesn't ask for your credit card number if you pay with PayPal.

Either way you don't need a credit card for PayPal (I don't).

[DeadPoolX]

Either way you don't need a credit card for PayPal (I don't).

He's right. For some reason I thought PayPal required a credit card number. Maybe it does want it as some sort of "backup payment option" but it's not a requirement.

I know I added a CC to both of my PayPal accounts (one American and one Canadian), but I guess all they required was a confirmed checking account.