The Legend of Monkey Island: How Sea of Thieves Is Translating Monkey Island’s Story, Gameplay, and More – an Exclusive Interview

When it appeared in last month’s Xbox Games Showcase, we spoke with creative director Mike Chapman about how The Legend of Monkey IslandWhat it set out to achieve and how it came about. Was that all? Of course not – there’s so much more to talk about in this landmark crossover between Sea of Thieves And the Monkey Island serie.

With that in mind, here’s a whole new interview, digging deeper into the three-part expansion’s storyline, how it uses Monkey Island as an inspiration for a whole new gameplay experience within Sea of ThievesAnd, yes, there is going to be Insult Sword Fighting.

Your previous comments that it would be inspired by existing stories in the Monkey Island Universe and some of its queues are from The Curse of Monkey Island – but what can you tell us about the tales we’ll actually be playing?

We wanted to approach a ‘what if?’ question – “What if characters from Monkey Island discovered the Sea of Thieves world?” – it felt like what the two had in common was something that’s at the very heart of Monkey Island;  Guybrush starts his journey as a pirate wannabe and, of course, in Sea of Thieves, you play as yourself – you create your pirate and you go on a journey to become a Pirate Legend. So, in the Sea of Thieves, Guybrush can be the legend he’s always wanted to be. Then, what if it was our main storyline? What if Sea of Thieves gave Guybrush all he wanted?

And as part of our storytelling, it’s also the Achilles heel of Guybrush. We build that into our story –LeChuck has come to the Sea of Thieves, and he’s used its unique magic to create thIt is a good idea to use a bilingual translator fantasy for Guybrush where he is the legend he’s always wanted to be and, through that power, he’s quarantined him off in the Sea of the Damned. The classic version is still there. Sea of ThievesStyle, it’s time to get some sense out of Guybrush.

This is an opportunity for players to unravel a mystery of Guybrush’s fate and how LeChuck is using the magic of the Sea of Thieves to imprison him. Players will visit iconic places like Mêlée Island – see the whole island, but visit Monkey Island as well.

It’s one thing to recreate those locations inside your game, but the Tone of Monkey Island is so distinct – how did you make it feel right in such a new context?

It was so important. Imagine the time spent with those characters. Nailing that was so important – it was important to us to create space for where these characters could have these key moments, really trying to give each one a moment to shine.

“What if the Sea of Thieves could give Guybrush everything he ever wanted?”

Critically, it’s not just featuring characters for the sake of it – if a character is going to appear in our Tales, they need to have a place as part of the story. Murray, the main character in the game is an example and key to this idea. We take a lot of inspiration from the Monkey Island first two games. It felt like the idea of a talking skull, we’ve kind of done that in Sea of ThievesMurray was a must-have. Murray gets a chance to really shine when you interact with him in the very beginning of Tale. Murray has a great deal of fun with the kind of gameplay you do.

As you’ve said, the versions of Monkey Island and Mêlée Island we’ll be exploring are fantasies created by LeChuck, but are they faithful to how players remember them?

I’m sure it’s come across, but the amount of focus we’ve put into making those iconic locations feel faithful was huge. What we always did as part of our process was to – when you walk to a location in 3D – always try and position the camera in Anybody can do itPlayers are invited to compare the two positions.

In certain locations you may hear Guybrush, Elaine or other characters narrating the story. There’s an optional objective to go find all these hidden memories positions around the islands. If players find all those hidden memory spots, they’ll get Monkey Island-themed pictures they can hang on their ship as a reward.

You pulled a similar trick when you created an explorable version of the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in A Pirate’s Life – but this seems like a far bigger version of that. What was the difference?

That creative challenge of taking the Isla Tesoro town that you see on the Pirates of Caribbean attraction – and trying to deliver that fantasy of ‘What if you got out of the little boats that you ride and explored?’ – was obviously a thrill in and of itself because of how iconic that location is. But even that was in 3D – the whole way you’ve interacted with Monkey Island before is typically on a 2D plane, and you’re pointing and clicking. How would we recreate that experience in first-person?

“We wanted to strike a balance of feeling faithful to the feel of Monkey Island, but still be respectful of the fact that this is a first-person experience.”

How do we give you the sense that these places feel lived in, and you see not only the pieces that you saw in the original games, but all the bits that you didn’t always see? Would my view change if I moved the camera from the 2D to the corner SCUMM Bar and viewed it there? If we were to do that, could it live up with the dreams of all the fans throughout the years? It’s been an interesting challenge to live up to as many expectations as possible.

We’ve talked a lot about the story and the locations, but will the gameplay here differ from classic Sea of Thieves too? This is a Sea of Thieves Take on Point-and-Click?

It was a wonderful opportunity. Legend of Monkey Island Rethinking character interaction is a must. When you talk to NPCs in the game, however, all that is displayed on screen are text. the past, we’ve had full-voiced cutscenes, but when you talk to NPCs in the game itself you’d just be reading the text on screen. In Legend of Monkey Island all of the interactions with characters are fully voiced, and there’s more of a back and forth in terms of the questions that you ask them and what they say back, creating engaging conversations with the NPCs.

The Monkey Island franchise is known for its puzzles. What’s great about Sea of Thieves is it’s already quite a physical world where you interact with physical items in quite a tangible way. It gave us an opportunity to say, ‘Here’s Item A, and then you find Item B and then you can combine them’, which gives you a new way to interact with the world. Using items and knowledge from NPCs means there’s a lot more focus on that physical puzzle-solving with items in the world. Of course, there are also action set pieces where you’d want them, meaning we still have these kind of climactic moments within the Tales, but the core structure of the Tales is built around really playful interactions with objects and mechanics in the world.

The mechanics we’ve created for Legend of Monkey Island We will transfer technology to the main Sandbox. We’ve overhauled our NPC dialogue system, so we can now have fully voiced characters, and there’s now AI pathing for NPC characters, so characters can move around in the world freely operating under their own brain. There’s little mechanical elements as well – like we’ve added zip lines to these Monkey Island Tales, which I’d love to see make their way to the shared world.

Monkey Island is notoriously difficult with its puzzles, especially the first one. How far towards “Rubber Chicken With a Pulley in the Middle” have you gone with your own?

That’s a great question. The goal was to be faithful to Monkey Island’s feel, while also respecting that the game is first person and the gameplay more visceral. As a result, it’s a little bit more immediate. So we still want those mental leaps that players can make to solve puzzles, and then feel great having done it, but we’ve tried to make these puzzles feel as relatable as possible.

It is a solitary event. Sea of ThievesYou will be familiar with the way you feel about items, and how they can be put to use. You’ve also got the Tall Tale book, which is obviously a consistent point across all the Tall Tales, so we use that to give players additional information. It’s almost like a hint book that you’re taking with you, which gives you little pointers.

“Insult Sword Fighting – we had to do it. It adds an interesting puzzle to combat. Sea of Thieves, which works really nicely.”

Point-and-click is also used for small tasks. There isn’t an interaction in our game to ‘Look’ at something, but in Monkey Island that was used to give players additional context. The game has no interaction to ‘Look’ at something, but in Monkey Island it was used as a way of giving players additional context. Legend of Monkey Island, when you approach something, sometimes you’ll see tooltip text, not GivingYou can’t give me the answer, but you could set up a good solution.

There’s one mechanic I think a lot of people are going to ask about – is Insult Sword Fighting in here?

That was one of the first questions we asked when we decided you’d be able to explore the full Mêlée Island. It felt like something as iconic as Insult Sword Fighting – we had to do it. It adds an interesting puzzle to combat. Sea of ThievesThis is a great product.

So I got really excited about the idea of including Insult Sword Fighting, because it allows you to have those more visceral moments, because it’s in first-person, you’re fighting your opponent directly. But it’s also more accessible because the bulk of the flow of combat is handled through the quips and the retorts, and how you build up that knowledge of the insults.

I get the impression that you’re just as enthusiastic about adding these places to your game as about telling this tale. Do you think players will be spending as much time exploring what you’ve built as they will going on this journey?

What really excites me is that – once you activate the Tales, and once you sail through the Tunnels of the Damned – you’re straight on Mêléeisland. I can’t wait to see our community use the church to stage their mock weddings, or just spend time together, sitting down on the seats in the Scumm bar drinking grog. I think it’s going to be fun for players to just go back to and, because they are these freeform locations, just spend time there with their friends – even if you’re not immediately pushing the Tale forward. I think there’s real opportunity there with the way that Sea of ThievesIt is playing.

Sea of Thieves The Legend of Monkey Island, which will begin on July 20th, is available as three updates per month.

Sea of Thieves Deluxe edition

Microsoft Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
828

★★★★★

$49.99

$24.99

Xbox Live Gold subscription required; separate purchase.

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Celebrate five years of Sea of Thieves with this special edition, which includes a copy of the game with all permanent content added since launch, plus a wide-ranging assortment of extra cosmetics and collector’s items. In addition to the 2023 Edition bonus content – Hunter Cutlass, Hunter Pistol, Hunter Compass, Hunter Hat, Hunter Jacket, Hunter Sails and 10,000 gold – this edition of the game comes with a further Deluxe Bundle containing the Black Phoenix Figurehead, Black Phoenix Sails, Crab Dab Emote, Deck Hide Emote and 550 Ancient Coins for use in the Pirate Emporium.

Sea of Thieves: 2023 Edition

Microsoft Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
983

★★★★★

$39.99

$19.99

Xbox One X Enhanced

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Xbox Live Gold subscription required; separate purchase.

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Release Date for 2023 Edition: Now Available
The special edition of Sea of Thieves is a way to celebrate five years of Sea of Thieves. Included in the package are a copy of Sea of Thieves with all of the permanent content that has been added since its launch. Also included is a 10,000-gold bonus, and cosmetics from Hunter. Hunter Cutlass, Pistols and Compasses will make you look like a mighty pirate as you sail into adventure.
The Game

Sea of Thieves offers the essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. You can choose how you want to interact with the other players and the world.
Whether you’re voyaging as a group or sailing solo, you’re bound to encounter other crews in this shared world adventure – but will they be friends or foes, and how will you respond?

There is a vast open world
Explore the vast world of unspoiled islands, underwater kingdoms, and underwater kingdoms. You can take on quests in order to find lost loot and gain a good reputation among the Trading Companies. You can try your hand at fish-catching, create maps of your buried treasures or select from hundreds other optional side quests and goals!

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life
Play the Tall Tales to experience Sea of Thieves’ unique narrative-driven campaigns, and join forces with Captain Jack Sparrow in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, an acclaimed original story that brings Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean sailing into Sea of Thieves. The immersive cinematic quests offer around 30 hours worth of ultimate pirate adventures.

A Game That’s Always Growing
With each Season bringing in new game features every three months alongside regular in-game Events and new narrative Adventures, Sea of Thieves is a service-based game that’s still growing and evolving. Check back regularly to see what free content has been newly added, and see how far you can climb through each Season’s 100 levels of Renown to earn special rewards.

Become Legend
On your journey to become a Pirate Legend you’ll amass loot, build a reputation and define a unique personal style with your hard-earned rewards. Adventurer. Explorer. Conqueror. What legend will you leave behind?