Highlights
- The Legend of Monkey Island crossover in Sea of Thieves could potentially help address ongoing issues and reaffirm the game's position in the pirate adventure genre.
- The Monkey Island quest design seamlessly integrates humor and non-linear gameplay into the Sea of Thieves world, providing a refreshing change from previous fetch-and-retrieve adventures.
- The introduction of new features and interactive mechanics from Monkey Island expands gameplay variety and hints at the potential for future Sea of Thieves adventures and gameplay enhancements.
The Legend of Monkey Island is a brand-new set of Sea of Thieves Tall Tales that crossover with the classic and beloved Monkey Island video games. Split into three parts over three months, Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island begins with The Journey to Melee Island, where players sail to and investigate the iconic island in search of Guybrush Threepwood, now its appointed Governor. It's not the first time Sea of Thieves has teamed up with other franchises, having previously crossed over with the Pirates of the Caribbean in A Pirate's Life. However, the Monkey Island fusion could hold special significance as a potential turning point for the future Sea of Thieves' Adventures and potentially beyond.
Recently, Sea of Thieves has received a lot of criticism for ongoing player issues like cheating, hit reg, and for some, a general lack of new content. Additionally, although some of Sea of Thieves' Adventures so far were well-received, others had mixed reception. Therefore, The Legend of Monkey Island comes at a critical time to potentially help reaffirm the game's place on the pirate adventure game map. As the recent Legend of Monkey Island preview showed, it looks like it's shaping up to be something special and potentially the most enjoyable story-driven tale in the game yet.
How Monkey Island Quest Design Fits Perfectly Into Sea Of Thieves' The Legend Of Monkey Island
Even for those unfamiliar with the Monkey Island video games, Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island Part 1 shows how Monkey Island's blend of humor and point-and-click non-linear quest design fits perfectly into the Sea of Thieves world and its existing game mechanics. In contrast to the fetch-and-retrieve style of many of Sea of Thieves' previous adventures, The Legend of Monkey Island lets players complete objectives in essentially any order via its non-hand-holding quest map and book. Its quest design plays like classic point-and-click gameplay through a 3D, first-person perspective, with some head-scratching puzzles combined with hilarious character encounters.
Additionally, the Sea of Thieves' Monkey Island crossover gives players many new features and interactive mechanics from Monkey Island alongside existing pirate tools. New objects include explosive gummies that blast open jail cell locks combined with a fuse-lighting system, rum bottle weapons, and a hammer to open wooden boxes. Additionally, players can use more of their existing Sea of Thieves' pirate equipment beyond lanterns as tools to complete objectives, such as filling up other pirate's grog tankards and catching a Red Herring using the fishing rod in a fun, original Monkey Island game Easter Egg.
What The Legend Of Monkey Island Could Mean For The Future Sea Of Thieves Adventures And Gameplay
Although the latest Sea of Thieves Dark Deception Adventure teased some of the new interactions that part 1 introduces, such as knocking on doors, The Legend of Monkey Island's non-linear quest design could pave the way forward for how future Sea of Thieves Adventures play by providing more gameplay variety, particularly if players enjoy the new tone and quest style. How players interact with The Legend of Monkey Island world could also potentially be incorporated somewhat into Sea of Thieves' standard gameplay. Players could imagine lively outpost taverns with different NPCs to speak with or other novel ways to interact with the universe, such as different ways to access treasure or even break other pirates out of jail.
With Sea of Thieves' 5-year content planned, the opportunities to develop how players experience its pirate playground could be near-endless. The Legend of Monkey Island Tall Tales could potentially breathe a reinvigorating breath of fresh sea air into Rare's pirate sandbox game, capitalizing on their preference for 'tools not rules' by bringing even more 'tools' for players to enjoy.
Sea Of Thieves is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.