The creator of Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert, is reportedly working on a new game that is seemingly inspired by the Diablo and Zelda franchises.
The title, which does not yet have an official name, is described as classic Zelda meets Diablo meets Thimbleweed Park. Another person working on the project is Elissa Black, who is a co-designer and writer of the Objects in Space game.
Monkey Island Creator's Latest Project
(Photo : Ron Gilbert, Terrible Toybox / Screenshot taken from official website)
The new Diablo and Zelda-inspired game has been in development since the start of this year and is said to be coming in "late 2024." Gilbert also noted that having Black onboard the team "ups the chance by 37% that I'll finish the game before becoming bored and disillusioned."
There are also several screenshots of the upcoming game that have been shared that show off what players can expect to see. These include one that features a village area that has a bakery and a weapon shop, which could be a reference to Zelda, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
Furthermore, the images suggest that the game will feature a day and night cycle and will have walking skeletons. There is also a large house with a nearby well that Gilbert said is seemingly a "city hall where both justice and bureaucracy can be served."
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Gilbert's latest project comes as he is most known for his work on Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken, and Thimbleweed Park. On top of the in-game screenshots, he also showed a photo in February 2024 that features a whiteboard rough-out of the opening area and quests in the upcoming game.
This also showed a little of stats work and from there, he has steadily released in-progress images and some brief thoughts about his process. Gilbert said that he had been working on the project for a year or so.
Taking Inspiration From Diablo and Zelda
He also noted that similar to many other early prototypes, the game has slowly transformed into what it is now. Gilbert had also recently hired an artist who helped him get things moving forward at a faster rate.
He added that he sucks at art and argued that the project is a game that he had always wanted to play and got tired of waiting and so he decided to do it himself, said PCGamer.
Despite some of his more pessimistic notes about the upcoming game, Gilbert's continuous sharing of the development process shows that the project is coming along well. While there is still no sign of a release date this early, the Terrible Toybox website says that it will be out late this year or early 2025.
Gilbert, since leaving LucasArts, has remained active in the gaming industry and has joined forces with Tim Schafer at Double Fine Entertainment in the early 2010s. At the time, they worked together to develop the adventure game The Cave.
After that, he eventually left and founded his own studio, Terrible Toybox, which was responsible for bringing Thimbleweed Park to the industry. Since that game's release in 2017, Gilbert and his studio quietly worked on and released Return to Monkey Island in 2022, according to Kotaku.
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