Return To Monkey Island Casual & Hard Difficulty [Explained]

Choosing the right difficulty is important in Return to Monkey Island as it can affect your experience drastically.

Return to Monkey Island is a brand new game that continues the story The Secrets of the Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. In this guide, we will explain both casual and hard difficulties and will help you decide which difficulty you should choose in the Return to Monkey Island.

Key Takeaways
  • In Return to Monkey Island, there are 2 difficulty modes; Casual and Hard
  • The Casual mode is recommended for players who want a relaxed experience and fewer challenges as the puzzles are quite easy to complete and take less time.
  • Casual gameplay provides a more comedic storyline with less puzzle brainstorming.
  • The hard mode is designed for those who want a more challenging experience, as it is more demanding and time-consuming, and you get fewer retries.
  • The game also features a Hint Book, that can help players solve puzzles easily in both casual and hard modes.
  • The Hint Book can be obtained by talking to the character in the voodoo shop on Low Street.

Difficulties In Return To Monkey Island

As stated previously, there are only two difficulty modes in the game, Casual and Hard. The only major difference between these two modes is how challenging different puzzles would be. Now, let us get into explaining both of these difficulties in detail.

Casual Difficulty

casual or hard modes in return to monkey island
Casual Difficulty in Return To Monkey Island

As the name implies, the causal difficulty is for casual players who just wish to enjoy the story peacefully with little to no challenges as the official text suggests that the casual difficulty is recommended for on-the-go players who just want smooth sailing of the story.

People playing the game on casual difficulty will get to experience the same story as the players playing on the Hard difficulty but with more casual puzzles. The wording might be vague for some people so let us dive into more details.

By “Casual puzzles”, it does not mean that puzzles in the casual difficulty will be entirely different from puzzles in the Hard difficult; it just implies that casual puzzles will require fewer steps to complete, and the game will also skip a few puzzles as they will be reserved for the players playing in the Hard difficulty.

Hard Difficulty

casual or hard difficulty in return to monkey island
Hard Difficulty in Return To Monkey Island

The Hard difficulty is for long-time fans wanting a more authentic Monkey Island experience. This difficulty is also recommended for players who love puzzle games as the official text suggests there will be more puzzles in Hard difficulty compared to Casual difficulty.

Aside from quantity, the puzzles in this difficulty will also be more complex and will take more steps to complete. The game will also give you fewer prompts on the hard difficulty. Let us give a simple example.

Players playing on the hard difficulty will need to perform a few extra steps to get Carla to lend you the book. In a nutshell, the Hard difficulty is reserved for enthusiasts who want a more challenging experience. The difficulty will not affect the story in any way, so newcomers do not need to worry about missing out on any critical story content.

Which Difficulty Should You Pick

Now that you know the differences between the two difficulty modes, the question remains: Which difficulty should you pick? The answer is quite simple, it depends upon what type of player you are.

If you are just looking for a fun story filled with comedy and you do not wish to rack your brains to solve different puzzles, then the casual difficulty is perfect for you. If you are the type of player who loves puzzle games and wish to spend some time racking your brain while trying to solve different challenges, then choosing the Hard difficulty is the way to go.

Regardless of what difficulty you choose, you can always take assistance from the Hint Book if you start struggling with a specific puzzle.

What Is The Hint Book

How to obtain the Hint Book

As the name implies, the Hint Book is an in-game mechanic that aids the player in solving puzzles. The Hint Book can be accessed by players playing in both casual and hard difficulty. It is not reserved exclusively for only one difficulty mode.

If you are struggling with a certain puzzle, then the Hint Book can point you in the right direction. This mechanic exists so every player can enjoy the game regardless of their experience in the puzzle genre. The steps you need to follow to obtain the book are also pretty straightforward.

In order to obtain the Hint Book, go to the Voodoo Shop in Low Street at the beginning of the game when you reach the town. Inside the shop, you will find a female NPC. Talk to her to obtain the Hint Book.

Summary

casual or hard mode
Conclusion

That concludes our guide on difficulties for the game and whether you should choose the Casual difficulty or the Hard difficulty. Many adult gamers can’t help but smile at this unexpected release as the original Secrets Of The Monkey Island was released more than 20 years ago and was considered a classic.

In this guide, we have explained in detail both difficulty options and the differences between them so players can make their choice more appropriately. Return To Monkey Island is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC through Steam. We hope our guide helped you, and do let us know what you think about the game in the comment section below.

Was this article helpful?

Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. ✍

Hammad Ijaz


A gamer who does not have a preference and is a fan of pretty much any game genre, whether it's RPG, Turn-Based JRPG, or souls-like. Hammad is writing articles at Exputer now to share his experiences. When he is not doing that, he can be found either playing video games with his friends or looking for Bloodborne PC rumors to rekindle a lost hope.

Related Articles