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Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

grumpygamer.com

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Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#11

Post by alberto-m »

esperent wrote: post #3

I've been playing Thimbleweed Park on Android recently. In general I do love point and click puzzle games but my feelings on this one are very mixed. * The writing is hit or miss * The story is just serviceable * Only about 20% of the jokes land for me * The constant 4th wall breaking is just bad And then there's the puzzles. Maybe I made a mistake in selecting hard mode at the start but it's got the worst of the gen…

I found the puzzles fair enough, but my impressions about writing and characters match yours.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#12

Post by dark-star »

Razengan wrote: post #4

After how he basically gave the middle finger to fans waiting 100 years for the "real" ending to Monkey Island 2, my reaction is meh -_- Though Thimbleweed Park 1 was awesome in every way I wish/hope someone else would take up the mantle of continuing the -spirit- of Monkey Island and make a new franchise with a similar rename: call it Ape Archipelago or something :)

Even though Monkey Island now has a real (i.e. canonical) ending, it sucks. I prefer the original continuation of MI3 to the 25-years-late official, canonical sequel

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#13

Post by wccrawford »

esperent wrote: post #3

I've been playing Thimbleweed Park on Android recently. In general I do love point and click puzzle games but my feelings on this one are very mixed. * The writing is hit or miss * The story is just serviceable * Only about 20% of the jokes land for me * The constant 4th wall breaking is just bad And then there's the puzzles. Maybe I made a mistake in selecting hard mode at the start but it's got the worst of the gen…

I didn't play on hard, but that wasn't my experience with the puzzles. I thought they were all pretty good. I didn't use a guide at all.

It's been a while, but I think I pretty much agree about the writing and story. I pretty much don't even remember it.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#14

Post by tarkin2 »

dandersch wrote: post #7

I would have preferred the same team working on a new IP. Thimbleweed Park 1 has possibly the worst ending of a game, ever. Just an endless series of being told that I am a big dummy for having suspended my disbelief. I see no way of believably returning to that world without the retcon of a lifetime.

If you every played the first two Monkey Island games, and understand the lore behind that, then the ending is pretty good. Thimbleweed park, in many way, was a spiritual successor to Monkey Island 2 that Gilbert couldn't make for IP reasons back in the day. With at in mind, I enjoyed the ending. That said, Monkey Island 2 got a lot of criticism for its ending too...

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#15

Post by m000 »

dandersch wrote: post #7

I would have preferred the same team working on a new IP. Thimbleweed Park 1 has possibly the worst ending of a game, ever. Just an endless series of being told that I am a big dummy for having suspended my disbelief. I see no way of believably returning to that world without the retcon of a lifetime.

Yes, the ending was kind of lame. Worse, it has been done before, again by Ron Gilbert. It is practically a rehash of the Monkey Island 2 ending, which got us nowhere in the long run.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#16

Post by tarkin2 »

dark-star wrote: post #12
Razengan wrote: post #4

After how he basically gave the middle finger to fans waiting 100 years for the "real" ending to Monkey Island 2, my reaction is meh -_- Though Thimbleweed Park 1 was awesome in every way I wish/hope someone else would take up the mantle of continuing the -spirit- of Monkey Island and make a new franchise with a similar rename: call it Ape Archipelago or something :)

Even though Monkey Island now has a real (i.e. canonical) ending, it sucks. I prefer the original continuation of MI3 to the 25-years-late official, canonical sequel

I pretty much saw the ending an effort to put the story to end and move on after all the years of speculation.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#17

Post by tarkin2 »

esperent wrote: post #3

I've been playing Thimbleweed Park on Android recently. In general I do love point and click puzzle games but my feelings on this one are very mixed. * The writing is hit or miss * The story is just serviceable * Only about 20% of the jokes land for me * The constant 4th wall breaking is just bad And then there's the puzzles. Maybe I made a mistake in selecting hard mode at the start but it's got the worst of the gen…

I wonder did you enjoy the Monkey Island games. I really loved Delores and Ransome particularly in TWP.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#18

Post by InsideOutSanta »

zedr wrote: post #8

Great news! Thimbleweed Park is a lovely game. I played it with my children and manage to recreate the atmosphere of those evenings in 1990, spent in front of a Commodore Amiga 500 running Zak McKraken and Maniac Mansion.

Yeah, I loved it, too. Not quite on the level of the first two Monkey Island games, but still a great experience. One of the few games I actually finished in the last bunch of years.

I think the time between the original and this will work out well for me to be excited to play a sequel.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#19

Post by InsideOutSanta »

m000 wrote: post #15
dandersch wrote: post #7

I would have preferred the same team working on a new IP. Thimbleweed Park 1 has possibly the worst ending of a game, ever. Just an endless series of being told that I am a big dummy for having suspended my disbelief. I see no way of believably returning to that world without the retcon of a lifetime.

Yes, the ending was kind of lame. Worse, it has been done before, again by Ron Gilbert. It is practically a rehash of the Monkey Island 2 ending, which got us nowhere in the long run.

I thought it was particularly amusing because it was such a callback to MI2.

Re: Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2

#20

Post by nayroclade »

dandersch wrote: post #7

I would have preferred the same team working on a new IP. Thimbleweed Park 1 has possibly the worst ending of a game, ever. Just an endless series of being told that I am a big dummy for having suspended my disbelief. I see no way of believably returning to that world without the retcon of a lifetime.

I'm guessing, given they're relying on private financing, the ability to reuse assets from TP1 is the major reason to make it a sequel instead of a new IP.

Personally I liked TP1 a lot for the most part, but I agree that the ending was a horrible misstep. I'm not adverse to metafiction, and this is Gilbert after all, that's kind of his jam, but the sheer nihilism of it all left a horrible taste in the mouth. Ironically, for someone who cares so deeply about game design, it felt like an ending entirely borne of Gilbert and his fellow designers pleasing themselves, instead of thinking about how it would feel for the player.

That said, I'm still glad there's going to be a sequel. Hopefully it has more of what I liked and less of what I didn't.

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