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The second chapter of Tales of Monkey Island picks up right where the first one left off. If you have not yet played the first game, I recommend reading our review, which is spoiler free. I cannot say the same about this review, so proceed with caution.

As was mentioned, The Siege of Spinner Cay starts exactly where Launch of the Screaming Narhwal left off. Guybrush is confronted by the infamous pirate hunter Morgan LeFlay and a swordfight of epic proportions ensues. But rather than classic insult swordfighting we might expect in a Monkey Island game, the sequence is a puzzle. Guybrush will eventually fend her off, but she makes off with his hand which was lopped off early in the fight. But his hand is not what concerns Guybrush, as he sets sail for the Jerkbait Islands to rescue Elaine as planned.

Rather than rehash items that I liked and disliked from the first chapter, I’ll try to focus on what was different about The Siege of Spinner Cay.

What We liked:

Classic Monkey Island

We definitely saw some moments that just reminded you, “this is Monkey Island”. It never got too serious, but there were still some nice moments, like when Guybrush is reunited with Elaine. Of course, this happy moment ends with Elaine yelling at Guybrush for losing his wedding ring along with his hand. We also see a great look at Guybrush, but not great in the sense that he could never be better. Quite the opposite actually, as he is struggling with the fact that he has to work with LeChuck and Elaine is encouraging this. It is great in the sense that it really shows his character that we all know and love.

Human LeChuck

As you know from Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, LeChuck has been transformed to a human when Guybrush’s enchantment goes awry. Well we see a lot more of LeChuck in this chapter than we did in the first, and I am liking it. It’s almost as if LeChuck is a wanna-be Guybrush as a human. There is a particularly humorous puzzle which LeChuck insists he solve on his own, but naturally can’t figure it out without hints (more like instructions) from Guybrush. And there are some pretty great responses to the puzzle as Guybrush gets increasingly annoyed with him.

Telltale Not Afraid to Innovate

This chapter shows us that Telltale is not afraid to break some of the rules when it comes to Monkey Island. While of course we expect them to keep some things sacred, it’s great to see them making this their own game, rather than just relying on the license for success. An example of this is the inclusion of the merpeople, who were never present in previous Monkey Island games. We are also seeing a lot of great, new supporting characters who have their own personalities, rather than depending too much on rehashing personalities from previous games in the series. And of course I can’t forget LeChuck, who is a completely different character than we are used to. That takes some guts on Telltale’s part. So it is great to see them adding some of their own flair while keeping the Monkey Island spirit.

What we didn’t like:

More Reused Assets

I know I said I would keep away from repeating things from our first review, but this was one of the biggest problems I have with this episode. Like the first chapter, we saw the reused models of the fat, short pirate, and the tall, skinny pirate used on different characters. I expect this will be a recurring thing throughout the series so I will not bring it up anymore. However, I also noticed some similarities with the areas in the first game. When Guybrush visits one of the other islands within the Jerkbait Islands, there is a certain familiarity about it with the jungle on Flotsam Island from Chapter 1. And this familiarity is not a good thing in this case, as this island’s jungle is hard to tell apart from the one you have seen on Flotsam. Perhaps I am nitpicking, but not only were the exact same trees and ground models and textures used, the layout of the map was very similar. Looking at screenshots from the two chapters in each’s respective jungle, you would not be able to tell the difference. I can understand the reasoning behind some of this, as it is very hard to compress the game for it’s WiiWare release, so naturally reusing assets will reduce the game’s filesize. But just because there is a reason behind it does not mean I won’t point out the flaws.

Not as funny

If the last section was nitpicking, then this one really is. But at least for me, compared to the first chapter, it was not as funny. There were not as many memorable dialog choices or scenes. Maybe this is because we hadn’t seen a new Monkey Island game for so long when I played the first one, so it’s hilarity was inflated. Whatever the case, do not read too much into this. Trust me, you will still laugh at this game. The best way to say it is that there just weren’t any classic lines.

The positives still greatly outweigh the negatives in this game. Telltale has really outdone themselves again, and we couldn’t be happier for them. I would easily recommend the series so far to anyone, whether they are a fan of the series, an adventure game fan in general, or even someone who has never heard of Monkey Island (sadly, they do exist).

I’ve decided to change it up for this review and not give a score. Maybe I will give the overall series a score at the end, but for this episode, I do not think a score would help. Take away from the review the positives and negatives, give it a go, and decide for yourself. I hope you love it as much as I did.