Return to Monkey Island is the game of the month for September 2022

The end of summer and the beginning of autumn led to a very intense month from the point of view of videogame releases, however the election of the game of the month for september 2022 gave a single rather obvious result, both as regards the editorial staff and the readers of Multiplayer.it: Return to Monkey Island. It could not be otherwise, in fact: here we are not talking about a remake or a late recovery of the series entrusted to some unknown, but the real sequel to Monkey Island by the same authors of the two original chapters, therefore practically an event that it had been expected for thirty years, which automatically makes it the game of the month and even more if you have been a gamer for quite some time now.

It cannot be said that there has been no competition, and on the other hand it is possible that not everyone is interested in a truly old-fashioned point and click graphic adventure (although this may be a kind of sacrilege), therefore the result it was not totally obvious given the presence of really high caliber games for this month, but we are happy to see how the new work by Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman has conquered everyone, after being elected as the most awaited game of September.

In any case, it was indeed a very rich month, which once again demonstrates how the market is in a decidedly lively situation, despite the chaos of postponements and the organization of work is not yet completely over. Between historical returns, luxury remasters, important sequels and excellent indies, let’s see how these elections went for the game of the month just ended.

The choice of the editorial staff

The internal vote to the editors of Multiplayer.it returned an overwhelming result, with Return to Monkey Island considered the game of the month for September 2022 with a huge gap on the other competitors. The point-based voting system has also allowed other games to gain some acclaim, but if it had been a single choice, the game from LucasFilm Games and Devolver Digital would probably have left everyone else out, given the trend. The new graphic adventure on Guybrush Threepwood brings to the screens a little what we have been waiting for for years and maybe even something more, on the narrative front, even if the puzzles may seem less brilliant than those of the time, or more simply the impact of this gameplay is probably minor by now. In one way or another, we are all extremely satisfied with the new work by Ron Gilbert and his companions, which has easily won the title of the month.

To find the runner-up you have to go down a lot in terms of score: with an abysmal gap we find Splatoon 3 in second position, which however confirms the passion of most of the editorial staff for the Nintendo series. The new chapter of the most colorful shooter in the world is a linear evolution of the previous chapters, so the quality is ensured by the already excellent consolidated base and the results could only be positive.

The third place is a bit more complicated to manage: it is practically a point away from the second, just to make it clear how the first has practically taken away any space for the others, but it presents three games on equal merit: Grounded, Gerda : A Flame in Winter and The Last of Us Part I. The first is the excellent survival experiment by Obsidian, which finally emerged as a nice complete and fascinating game, the second is an adventure with a historical setting that tells of the Nazi occupation in Denmark and its consequences on the population and the third is the well-known remake of the famous Naughty Dog game, all positioned on the third step of the podium.

The choice of readers

Also from the poll released to the Multiplayer.it readers it is clear that the game of the month of September is Return to Monkey Island, albeit with a less overwhelming advantage than what was seen in the editorial vote. The new pirate graphic adventure still gets almost double the votes of the runner-up, indicating how the game was widely appreciated by the site’s audience, which however expressed more widespread preferences also towards other titles. One of these is The Last of Us Part I, which reaches the second position here with a good percentage of preferences, indicating how the remaster operation was still well received by readers, despite the controversies that have accompanied this project since ‘announcement, being a relatively recent game and perhaps less in need of such treatment (and such a price).

In any case, the Naughty Dog title conquers the second position and confirms how the series is always particularly loved. In third position there is Grounded, the small passion project by Obsidian that has become a real survival, complete in all its parts and well structured, evidently also appreciated by readers.

In this case, Splatoon 3 fails to reach the podium and has to be satisfied with the fourth position, however always remaining present among the most important titles of the month and still keeping in sight another of the many Nintendo exclusives for its console. Below that, the votes then spread to a large number of titles, among which we point out Soulstice and Metal: Hellsinger who took something more than the others.