

If I remember right (it's been a few years), MI2 similarly grinds to a halt somewhat, and it works considering their similar endings. Well, here it is." was really effective at creating the intended effect. Again, the adding of all these betrayals and kidnappings and rushed things helped to narratively give the player a sense of urgency, and to just drop them and grind to a screeching halt of "yeah, you forgot about that amusement park thing didn't ya. The ending was kinda abrupt, I would be tempted to say they ran out of time or something, especially because a bunch of plot threads were left unfinished, but I also felt like that did serve the ending a bit. And the final puzzle being Dial-A-Pirate was delightful. I think with its balance of convolution and difficulty it's one of my favourite sequences in adventure gaming. Part IV was pure Monkey Island goodness, an absolute symphony of puzzle design.

I do think the end-game puzzles were a downgrade from Part IV but that's fine, they were somewhat fast-paced and simple, which helped to reflect the race against LeChuck and the long-time player's excitement to be this close to finding The Secret(TM). I found the puzzles to be about perfect, they challenged me and made me think enough, but I never really felt like I was stumbling or resorting to random attempts I always understood the thread of what was going on and roughly what tools I needed to accomplish the goal.

I think it was probably somewhat deliberate to not make things too adventure game-y because people who grew up with MI don't necessarily have the time to spend thinking about it they once did. On the contrary, RtMI is a game made by industry veterans and, as said in the post-game letter, is a lot about the age and experiences of the people making and playing it. I get the comments about the puzzles being a bit simple, or the interface not allowing a lot of inputs making it too straightforward.
