Look Behind You, A Three-Headed Mon... I mean a Let's Play of Secret of Monkey Island

It's been awhile hasn't it? But, I think now things are back enough to "normal" that I can finish this Let's Play. *knocks on wood*

So, last time, we left Guybrush Threepwood, intrepid soon-to-be-pirate, on Monkey Island where he had just arrived via cannon and met Herman Toothrot whose name he recognized from the journal he found on his ship the Sea Monkey. Why is Guybrush here? To find the love of his life, and Governor of Melee Island, Elaine Marley who has been kidnapped by the notorious ghost pirate, LeChuck.

All caught up? Good! let's do this Threepwood! Into the jungle! (sorry about the windowed border. But yeah, getting back into things here.)



Here we see the lower expanse of the island, there happens to be a monkey here and a chasm, both of which we will be seeing more of later! But, for now North!



This is the middle of the island. Guybrush can't walk over the mountains or through the pass created by the river. If we go west:



Seems to be an extinct volcano, here. I know I'm supposed to find Herman... But, I can't seem to remember where he is. Back to the center of the island:






Okay, now we know where LeChuck is and, more importanly, where Elaine is. Also, note the dam of rocks on the right bank of the river here. We're going to have to do something about that. Back to the west:



Another note:




Does no one TALK to each other on this island? Just passive aggressive notes left willy-nilly about the place?

While reading LeChuck's note on the beach, Herman walks up:





"um, okay...?"

Herman does this a lot, makes cryptic comments to the player, "us," and then mugs it up on screen... After he leaves Guybrush goes and explores the volcano rim where he finds:



I think calling this a "fort" is being pretty generous!

Anyway, the fort has a spyglass, some rope, and a cannon. Guybrush grabs both the rope and the spyglass and when he tries to pick up the cannon:



Not this guy again...




With Herman gone Guybrush picks up the cannonball and the gunpowder that fell out of the cannon when he grabbed it. With no more of Herman's possessions to steal he leaves.



Back at the dam:



The noteworthy rock was a piece of flint... The explosion blew a rock out of the dam and this happened next:

With the water now restored to its outlet we head over to the pond it created:



First things first! Let's read that note:




Does this guy just follow Guybrush around all day?









He hams it up a little more for the "camera" and then leaves us. So, what are we doing here and why is it important? Well, I forgot to show this place before we blew the dam up. I remembered I needed to blow up the dam but I forgot why. The reason is that log in the pond there. Before the water was here it was at the bottom of the pond and our dead friend there was out of reach. With the water though, the corpse is on the ground and we can pull some extra rope off of him. I suppose if you show up here first. Herman will tell you where he lives and that'll lead you to the fort and the stuff necessary to destroy the dam...

At least now you know how it's "supposed" to be done, right? Threepwood grabs the rope and heads back to the fork in the river.

Back at the river fork:






"looks like a primitive catapult to me...."

Guybrush pushes the art piece around a little and then heads higher up the mountain:




That rock right on the edge their looks suspicious, but before we can investigate:





This guy never shuts up...

Get comfortable, Herman has A LOT to say this time...











Guybrush is finally able to shoo Herman away and return to his work!

With Herman gone Guybrush returns his attention to that rock... Something about it... But what? He gives it a small shove:




"uh-oh, I think I just hit my ship..."

Let's try and aim for that banana tree on the beach! It takes a few adjustments, and the Cannibals don't seem happy about all the rocks flying out of the sky:




But, Guybrush finally does it:



Guybrush seems to be doing a lot on Monkey Island, I just don't know if it's getting him, or us, any closer to rescuing Governor Marley and defeating the ghost pirate LeChuck. Tune in next week when hopefully we see some progress on the rescue front!

TO-DO

- reform mutinous crew
- Talk to Toothrot
- Explore Monkey Island (half striked out)
- Find oars to get off island
- Avoid meet Cannibals
- Get banana picker
- get Monkey head statue key
- confront LeChuck
- Kiss the Governor.

That precipice over on the right looks interesting.

Haha! I lied! My computer took another crap all over itself.

And now I don't have a computer.

On hiatus

What do you mean it's been three months? That's ridiculous. LOOK! A three headed monkey! I swear it was right behind you. Anyway, we left Guybrush on a mesa launching rocks at the beach, remember? We had just hit the banana tree. Threepwood heads that way to inspect the damage, but on the way stops at the chasm:



With those oars we'd be able to use the row boat and get back to our ship. Not that getting to the ship would do us any good... It would also allow us to explore the rest of Monkey Island. How do we get down there?




"voila!"

Guybrush climbs back out of of the chasm and resumes his trek back to the beach:



That's the plan, Guybrush!




With the row boat we can finally see the northern part of the island! From this view it appears to only have a village of some sort and a beach on the eastern side, we head to the beach:



Okay, so it seems Herman has some sort of key that the cannibals want and the cannibals have Herman's banana picker. I'mn fairly certain it's going to be up to us to sort this all out... Let's go the village:




Places seems empty. Looks like there are some bananas in that bowl, Threepwood can always use more bananas:




"I'm just happy to see you?"

"I was kinda hoping..."



The pirate who cried three headed monkey




Guybrush tries to give them back their banana, and several other items he has on him, but the Cannibals are uninterested.

Ten to one that big contraption is the banana picker... Another note! Ten to one it's super passive aggressive complaining about another tenant of this island.




Okay, let's recap this series of notes too. The Cannibals don't like LeChuck and his crew living inside their totem. LeChuck doesn't like them worshipping their totem while he is living in it. LeChuck stole some sort of root that could harm him and his crew from the cannibals. Got all that?

Guybrush grabs the banana picker and the skull and then investigates the floor:




I guess we're leaving the banana picker behind for now.





And like that Guybrush slips away from the health conscious cannibals. What now? We need to explore the eastern end of the island. We haven't done that yet. But we're going to need some help first. How do I know? Because I've played this game before!



That's the eastern end of the island. That brown dot in the middle is the Cannibals totem and the thing LeChuck is living in/under.



We head back to the beach and then look for this little wandering grey pixel that wanders in the forest between the beach and the chasm:



This little monkey is why we needed all those bananas. He's also what's going to help us on the eastern end of the island. But first we have to gain his friendship, so eat up little guy:



Once the monkey has eaten all four bananas he'll start following you around, but not onto the row boat, so you're going to have to hoof it to the Giant Monkey Head totem

Not a very friendly looking place... But what now? Guybrush can't get past the fence. We do some pixel hunting and discover that the nose on on of the totem poles opens the gate:



But, as soon as Guybrush lets go the gate closes again. If only we had someone to hold the nose down while we enter? Oh, wait we do!



"Thanks little buddy!"

(Yes, I know this is a stupid puzzle. It might be one of the worst puzzles in this game. Besides collecting bananas there is nothing to tip the player off that the monkey is useful, will follow Guybrush, or will help in anyway with keeping the gate open...)

Once inside the compound Guybrush sees numerous little idols or fetishes planted in the sand before the giant monkey head (you might even recognize someone in there...)



Guybrush grabs the closest, and smallest, one:



Maybe this is the sort of thing the cannibals are interested in trading my life for? Back to the cannibal village:





Threepwood hands over the idol:




What could possibly go wrong here?

"What an amazing coincidence!"




"Yeah, sure, whatever. Now I need to get back to stealing anything that isn't nailed down."



With the banana picker in hand we just need to find Herman to make the exchange:



How convenient. He's right outside the hut now...



"blah, blah, blah. Here take it and never speak to me again."



Now I just need to find that root, then LeChuck, and then save the Governor! Seems simple enough? What could go wrong?

Find out next week.

TO-DO

- reform mutinous crew
- Explore Monkey Island
- Find oars to get off island
- meet Cannibals
- Get banana picker
- get Monkey head statue key
- Get the voodoo root
- Enter the Giant Monkey Head
- Confront LeChuck
- Kiss the Governor

Guybrush exits the Cannibal Village and then heads right back in:



"Yes. Yes I did."





Yeah, those guys...




"Tell me more."

"Sounds lovely."



That's the key we now have...



This is a little out of order, but it's not as if we didn't already know about the spat between the hermit and the cannibals, seeing as they left notes all over the bleeping island.




"It never is"





"Please, everyone knows pig Latin!"

What's this thing I need to get through the catacombs?

"Wow, that's kind of a lot creepier than eating people."



"What if I asked really, really nicely?"




There's got to be something Guybrush has on him that he can make a trade for? Let's see, let's see"



Sounds like just the thing we're looking for!



"Yeah, yeah that's the ticket! That's exactly what it is!"



"Exactly! Why have a gross old head when you can have a brand new one?"

I like this idea too!

With the head and the key and the location of the entrance to the hells below Guybrush is ready to take on LeChuck and save Governor Marley! On the way there:






Well, that was story building but pointless! Next week we enter the Monkey's mouth and hopefully find a root...

TO-DO

- reform mutinous crew
- Get the voodoo root
- Get navigator head
- Enter the Giant Monkey Head
- Confront LeChuck
- Kiss the Governor.

With the key in hand and the navigator's head Guybrush is ready to enter the nether regions of Monkey Island





"Gross"

But it got the job done:




Guybrush whips out the head. The head looks in the direction you should go. This often means going in the direction you just came from but it's the only way to get through the maze:




Eventually though Threepwood makes his way "out"



Guybrush could walk on but:




I'm going to have to find some way to become invisible to the ghosts...

Didn't the cannibals say something about the necklace that our navigator head has dangled about it? That it makes the head invisible to ghosts? Let's ask him about it:



Guybrush asks nicely for the necklace.




He then moves on to asking not so nicely:






Smart head. Guybrush puts the necklace on and tries to board the ship again:



Now it's safe to explore the ghost ship without being harassed by the spectres. Guybrush heads aft first:



Grabbing the key would alert LeChuck and we clearly need the key! I mean it's right there! But how do we get it?



Turns out Stan WAS good for something besides ripping us off!

With the key in hand Guybrush goes looking for a keyhole to put it in. He heads down to ladder on the main deck to the berth deck and heads towards the bow:




Past the crew quarters is where the ghost ship keeps their ghost "livestock" That glowing box in the backround contains the voodoo root we need. The hatch you see in the floor goes down to what I believe is the Orlop deck. Before we go down there though we grab a ghost feather and head back to the crew quarters:



We use the ghost feather on the ghost's foot until he drops the jug o'grog!



With the jug in hand we head back to that hatch:



We use the key on the hatch and head down:



Guybrush refuses to go past the rats. And we're going to need that "greese." Threepwood uses the jug on the plate to distract the rats:



With the rat distracted. I grab the grease and head back up to the main deck. Where Guybrush tries to open the door to the foredeck:



With the door making noise we can never get by. Good thing we picked up that "greese." Guybrush applies it now to the door:



Well, we've found the brig but there's no way to get into it. Besides we need the root first anyway. Those tools look like they could be helpful. Guybrush nabs them and heads back down:



Threepwood gets to work:



With the root in hand Guybrush heads to the main deck, off the ship, and back to the Cannibals:

"Oh it's you again!"



Regardless of what you say our rare friend ignores it and disappears before the cannibals return:




With the anti-voodoo root mix it's time to go back down to LeChuck's ship and finish this once and for all!

Next week...

TO-DO

- reform mutinous crew
- Get the voodoo root
- Enter the Giant Monkey Head
- Confront LeChuck
- Kiss the Governor

With the anti voodoo potion in hand Guybrush hoofs it back down to the bowels of hell:



But, LeChuck's ship doesn't seem to be there?




This doesn't sound good...





And because Threepwood is apparently in no rush whatsoever to save the love of his life:




Yes, yes you do!



Just as Guybrush was about to leave his crew (?!) shows up:

Did Guybrush's crew finally decide to help rescue Governor Marley? Has the guilt of doing nothing but sunbathing finally got to them?



Before Threepwood can say anything his crew strikes up a conversation with the ghost pirate:








Ah, what a tragic backstory...

Finally, Guybrush gets a word in:



Asking the hard questions, aren't you Guybrush?




"You know a magic voodoo navigator head to guide you through the maze of hell? Stop acting like you've never even heard of such a thing!"

I knew they weren't here to help out...

*screenwipe*




Threepwood only takes a few steps before one of LeChuck's spectral crew members shows up:




Good thing Guybrush knows exactly how to deal with spectral crew members! Guybrush heads to the church:





This is it! The final showdown!

Say something dramatic and inspiring Threepwood!



or that...



Turn in next weekend for the final confrontation with LeChuck and the rescue of beautiful Governor Marley!

TO-DO

- reform mutinous crew
- Confront LeChuck
- Save Governor Marley
- Liquidate LeChuck
- Kiss the Governor

We last saw our soon to be pirate and hero, Guybrush Threepwood, facing down the villianous ghost pirate LeChuck, who was in the process of forcing himself on the lovely Governor of Melee Island, Elaine Marley.
Threepwood had just issued his ultimatem to LeChuck and was preparing to soak the spectre in sarsaparilla:




I'm just as confused as they are...




That's exactly what I want to know!




"Breathe LeChuck... You're going to have an aneurysm"





Bang up job Threepwood...

"Well, there really wasn't anything ELSE to do..."



"Enough talk! Have at you!"





It's all fun and games until someone breaks out the root beer.





That's going to leave a mark.



This is the part of the game where Guybrush gets his ass kicked up, down, and all around Melee Island.

Finally, LeChuck punches Guybrush over to Stan's, right into the Grog machine:




"Now really isn't a good time Stan. See, this vengeful ghost is beating the life out of me right now, and I just don't have the energy or the mental faculties to listen to another terrible sales pitch."



"That's REALLY not a good idea Stan!"



"I tried to tell you..."



"LeChuck I really am okay with you beating up Stan some more. Why waste all your energy literally beating the shit out of just one person?"



Thinking quickly Guybrush grabs a bottle of root beer grog and uses it on LeChuck!






It doesn't translate well into screenshots but rest assured that LeChuck exploded into a spectacular ball of ectoplasm and root beer. Guaranteeing that Guybrush is going to need to have all his clothes dry cleaned.

The energy released from LeChuck's redeath seems to have turned into fireworks? Sure, why not?





This is the big moment Guybrush! This is your chance to get the girl and give her a big wet sloppy kiss of true love!



He's a model gamer? (I wish that was more of a joke than it is...)



LeChuck 1 Gamers 0




He's totes fine!



Threepwod, I don't know how much you know about wooing a woman (I'm an expert), but you don't do it with random non sequiturs about creepy half naked castaways!



See? Also fine!



Oh, there'll be plenty of that in the future too!