Monkey Island Involves the Sea of Thieves – The Unique Interview

Pirate Legends, put together to fulfill the Mighty Pirate, when the world of Monkey Island involves Sea of Thieves, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Video games,as a three-part Tall Story enlargement.

Introduced in right now’s Xbox Video games Showcase, The Legend of Monkey Island will likely be launched in month-to-month instalments, beginning July 20, telling a brand-new story that includes characters (and voice actors) from the Monkey Island collection. Your adventures may have you meet Guybrush Threepwood, his beloved Elaine, the dreaded ghost captain LeChuck, Murray the Demonic Speaking Cranium and extra iconic characters. You’ll get to go to freely explorable variations of each Mêlée Island and Monkey Island, fixing puzzles in a point-and-click fashion tailored for Sea of Thieves first-person view – and it’ll all happen within the Sea of the Damned, so that you’ll haven’t any interruptions from different gamers as you relive the enduring collection in a brand-new approach.

Inbuilt collaboration with Lucasfilm Video games, the three Tall Tales making up The Legend of Monkey Island (all of which is able to arrive totally free) will convey swashbuckling Sea of Thieves adventures, presenting an genuine story with a single hypothetical query at its coronary heart – what if Guybrush and co. arrived on the Sea of Thieves?

Whereas right now’s trailer teased a few of what’s to return, I used to be in a position to chat with Sea of Thieves Artistic Director Mike Chapman for an all-encompassing dialogue about what we noticed in right now’s trailer and extra – right here’s our unique interview:

Very first thing’s first – there was a massive Monkey Island Easter Egg in A Pirate’s Life, your final crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean. Have been you already planning this enlargement again then?

The concept of what might a possible story be if Guybrush and Elaine discovered their approach into the Sea of Thieves, that was one thing we thought of through the growth of A Pirate’s Life.

It felt like that was a very fascinating concept to get gamers guessing: “Would they really go inform a Monkey Island story?” In order that did encourage the facet quest that takes place in A Pirate’s Life – let’s discover slightly sliver of what point-and-click gameplay might really feel like in Sea of Thieves. You utilize some gadgets, there’s some nested options that it is advisable to uncover. We have been positively impressed by what a Monkey Island expertise might appear to be in Sea of Thieves.

The concept of what might a possible story be if Guybrush and Elaine discovered their approach into the Sea of Thieves, that was one thing we thought of through the growth of A Pirate’s Life.

So, after Pirates of the Caribbean, I feel the following franchise that felt like, ‘That is the following dream come true. That is the following one the place it feels prefer it was at all times meant to be.’ was Monkey Island.

Inform us extra about that – why did that collaboration really feel so irresistible?

Most likely probably the most thrilling features of that is the chance to inform an authentic story in a world that we’re such followers of. There have been so many occasions through the growth on Sea of Thieves the place we’ve been impressed by the Monkey Island humour, the tone, and the sense of caprice in Sea of Thieves.

However there’s additionally the additional magic high quality of having the ability to take a recreation expertise that’s historically loved as a point-and-click journey, and produce it into the Sea of Thieves world, the place it’s absolutely immersive. You get to actually really feel such as you inhabit these areas, look all of these characters within the eye, and go on this new journey that means that you can see the Sea of Thieves world, from a brand new perspective alongside Guybrush and different beloved Monkey Island characters. It is a story instructed over three Tales, and we wished to do the Monkey Island gameplay justice by together with our tackle in-depth dialogue with the characters, and actually encouraging gamers to navigate the world’s environments with its iconic puzzle gameplay, actually capturing that essence in every Tall Story.

It’s one other a type of unimaginable moments that Sea of Thieves has led us to, the place we get to go play in a world that all of us love so dearly. I can’t imagine, all these years later, from taking part in Monkey Island rising up, that we received to pitch an authentic Monkey Island story and have it happen within the Sea of Thieves. It’s a dream come true.

And that title – The Legend of Monkey Island – is riffing on the primary collection’ titles. Are you able to speak extra about the place it falls within the timeline?

The double that means of the ‘legend’ in The Legend of Monkey Island, refers to Guybrush’s “previous tales”, and the journey you’ll go on on this new Tall Story in Sea of Thieves.

One of many issues we thought was completely key was that we faucet into have been the themes and core DNA of what makes Monkey Island… ‘Monkey Island’, and what makes Sea of Thieves…‘Sea of Thieves’ – weaving them collectively at a deep thematic stage past simply the pirate factor. We wished to tug from essentially the most beloved parts of the franchises whereas additionally making an attempt to select a time interval the place an untold story may very well be unveiled.

The double that means of the ‘legend’ in The Legend of Monkey Island, refers to Guybrush’s “previous tales”, and the journey you’ll go on on this new Tall Story in Sea of Thieves.

The story takes place when Guybrush will get to marry the love of his life, Elaine. On the finish of the third recreation, The Curse of Monkey Island, Guybrush sails off to the horizon on a galleon with “Simply Married” on the again, and so they go off to presumably have their honeymoon. It’s a very fascinating entry level for our story – what if Guybrush and Elaine had their honeymoon within the Sea of Thieves? What if that they had been invited to the Sea of Thieves to have this final pirate honeymoon? And that’s the place our story picks up.

A key component right here should have been location. In A Pirate’s Life, you gave gamers an explorable model of the unique Pirates of the Caribbean Disney attraction. However by remodeling Mêlée Island and Monkey Island into Sea of Thieves areas, with a well-known look and first-person perspective, it feels such as you’re taking that even additional.

You’ve hit the nail on the pinnacle there. Going into The Legend of Monkey Island, it felt like the complete expertise is de facto pulling on that feeling, artwork fashion and general aesthetic, particularly due to how iconic the Scumm Bar, the Clocktower, the monkey head on Monkey Island, and different areas are.

So these basic areas are absolutely explorable?

They’re. In The Legend of Monkey Island, the gameplay is about being in these areas and feeling like you possibly can discover at your individual tempo. You’ll be able to converse to the characters, and begin to perceive what the puzzles are going to be as they slowly unfold in entrance of your eyes. So, the core feeling of this, and what it feels prefer to work together with characters, feels very distinctive in comparison with what we’ve performed earlier than.

We actually wished these Tales to have a good time the areas, not simply use them as backdrops – you actually really feel such as you’ve frolicked there and interacted with not solely the bits that you just keep in mind from the basic canon video games, but in addition see new areas that you will have imagined once you performed the video games for the primary time.

Within the grand scheme of gaming, Monkey Island is a basic collection, and Sea of Thieves is a really present recreation. Did you consider how this crossover may introduce new gamers to Monkey Island for the primary time?

That’s in all probability one of many first issues we thought-about when the concept of doing one thing with Monkey Island was conceived. The Monkey Island franchise feels prefer it’s gaming royalty – in the event you haven’t performed it, it feels prefer it must be in your playlist. It’s like well-known motion pictures, ? It seems like you might be lacking out in the event you haven’t seen them. The chance to present gamers the primary window into that world in the event that they haven’t performed it earlier than is one thing we took very significantly.

If gamers in Sea of Thieves expertise the Monkey Island world for the primary time, I would really like nothing greater than for these gamers to go take a look at that unimaginable collection, together with the newest entry within the franchise Return to Monkey Island. With the work that we’re doing on Legend of Monkey Island, I feel it’s completely important that when followers go and play the opposite Monkey Island video games within the franchise they get the sensation that what they’ve skilled in Sea of Thieves feels genuine – from the tone of what the characters say, to the sense of place on the planet, to even the way in which it feels to discover these areas – we have to dwell as much as that commonplace. We wish followers to imagine what we’ve performed seems like part of one linked expertise.

Keep tuned to Xbox Wire for extra on The Legend of Monkey Island – we’ve got much more to inform you in regards to the areas, mechanics, and story!