Three months ago, the beloved Netflix animated series Hilda came to an end. To show more of my love for this show I have decided to do a three-part ranking of every episode of Hilda sharing my thoughts on each episode. I’d like to clarify that there are no bad episodes of Hilda. Every episode is wonderfully animated and well written. This list is also based on my personal opinion. Now let’s begin with not the worst but the decent at best.

34. The Ghost: Not a hard choice for last place. This episode felt too cynical and it was very hard to sympathize with Frida especially after what she says to Hilda near the end. The ghost fight goes nowhere and the fallout between Hilda and Frida felt very forced.

33. The Nisse: This episode tries to cram too much into one such with Hilda trying to earn a badge, the ongoing Hilda/Frida rift, the Frida/Kelly thing, the black hound and the Nisse. All these plots felt like they should’ve been in their own individual episode instead of crammed together.

32. The Replacement: Nothing really happens in this episode. This one is mostly breather episode that proceeds the huge season finale. What puts this higher about the last two episodes on this list is that you do feel bad for Alfur and don’t him to be replaced by some pencil pusher.

31. The Troll Rock: Hilda’s school life felt unutilized and maybe it would’ve been nice to show her struggling to adapt to this new environment. Sort of a fish out of water scenario. This episode kind of acts like a teaser for season 2’s overarching troll conflict in season 2 and the Mountain King.

30. Strange Frequencies: Why are the all the penultimate episodes of each season kind of weak? Much like season 1’s penultimate episode this one also tries to juggle two uninvolved plots in one episode when they could’ve been their own individual episode. This also serves as a breather before the huge series finale.

29. The Laughing Merman: The only episode of season 3 to have nothing to do with the overarching plot and the “freaky friends” reputation comes out of nowhere, also there’s a FART JOKE!. Still Louise was very likable even if this was her only episode and Eugene and his song number was visually amazing.

28. The Jorts Incident: This is technically a sequel episode to The Tide Mice. A very odd episode focusing on a junk food snack that feels the least like a Hilda episode. The scene where the original CEO resigns by jumping out the window (with a parachute) got a huge giggle out of me.

27. The Black Hound: It’s not a bad season finale but still the weakest one and I believe the later ones are much better. Much like the previous episode it suffers from trying to tie up all these plots together and again all of these scenarios could’ve worked better in their own separate episodes.

26. The Troll Circle: I think this episode would’ve been higher in 2020 since it was the first episode in two years but now it is the weakest season premiere of the show. It does its job of establishing the Erik Ahlberg/troll conflict as well as the slowly straining relationship between Hilda and Johanna.

25. The Lost Clan: The elves’ obsession with paperwork will never not be funny. Bragga is one of the most underrated characters of the show and he’s always a blast whenever he’s in an episode. I really like the scene where Hilda, Frida and Alfur ride the water spirit. It’s such a laid-back scene.

24. The Beast of Cauldron Island: Liar revealed aside, there is an irony in this episode I like where Hilda is victorious in saving the sea monster but ends up grounded by Johanna in the process. The end credits song “The Life of Hilda” is a really cute song that perfectly sums up the titular character.

23. The Sparrow Scouts: This is a tamer episode compared to the first three episodes where not much really happens, but it’s a cute way to introduce the Hilda/Frida/David trio. Though am I the only one who thinks the onion thing sounds like a mix between Gilbert Gottfried and Suction Cup Man from Piemations?

Stay tuned for part two of my episode ranking tomorrow. See you then.

2023 has been over for a week now which means it’s time for me to share my top 10 favorite movies of the year. Much like before this list is based on my personal opinion. Feel free the share your favorite movies of the year.

Honorable Mention – Once Upon a Studio:

Technically this is a short film but I kind of wish this was a full-length film. Seeing characters from every Disney movie get representation is great and I love how they animated them in the same art style from there film. Once Upon a Studio felt like a love letter to Disney animation.

10. Oppenheimer:

Objectively I’d say this is the best film of the year and my choice to win Best Picture (it would be crazy if it wasn’t nominated). Despite the long runtime this film is full of incredible directing by Christopher Nolan, amazing acting especially from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.

9. Asteroid City:

I am not usually a fan of desert settings in media and yet Wes Anderson managed to make one amazing to look at. Everything that makes Wes Anderson’s film great from the terrific acting from the ensemble, witty writing, and of course the beautiful production design is all right here.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3:

This is an emotional, funny, and bittersweet conclusion to the most consistently great trilogy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I love how the film focuses on Rocket aka my favorite Guardian and his tragic backstory. The villain the High Evolutionary is one of those villains that you just adore to despise.

7. The Boy and the Heron:

It will be a dark day “if” Hayao Miyazaki ever directs a bad film. Everything that makes a Studio Ghibli film so great is all right here. Mind blowing animation, mature themes, amazing music by the legendary Joe Hisaishi, and terrific voice acting especially from Robert Patterson as the heron.

6. Godzilla Minus One:

Not only was this the first “proper” Godzilla film I’ve seen it’s also the first subbed film I’ve seen so this was a completely new experience for me. The characters are very likable, Godzilla is a legit intimidating force of nature, the score is epic and the climax is my favorite of this year.

5. Nimona:

I am very grateful to Netflix for picking up and releasing what would have been Blue Sky’s swan song. The futuristic/fantasy setting is unique and the vibrant animation is a real visual treat on the eyes. The voice voice acting is amazing especially Chloë Grace Moretz as the titular character.

4. Barbie:

Much like the Lego Movie, I never would’ve thought that a film about a famous toy would actually be thought provoking. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gossling are perfect as Stereotypical Barbie and Ken. The production design of Barbieland is amazing and the comedy is hilarious. The biggest surprise of the year.

3. The Holdovers:

This is a 70s style coming-of-age film you don’t want to wash your hands of (it makes sense in the movie). The Holdovers manages to find a perfect balance between being funny and emotional. The acting is also amazing especially from Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and newcomer Dominic Sessa.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem:

Best TMNT film! This was clearly made by people that were very passionate for the turtles and you can feel there love and respect throughout the film. I love that the turtles actually feel like teenagers for once considering they actually casted real teens and the Spider-Verse-ish animation is incredible.

1. Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse:

It wasn’t a hard decision on who would be number 1. Since January 1^st 2023, I predicted this would be my favorite film of 2023. The animation is amazing, the new Spider-Men are enjoyable, the Spot is a great villain, and the Daniel Pemberton’s score is Oscar worthy. The 20-minute prologue focusing on Gwen Stacy are some of the best first 20 minutes of any film I’ve seen. I wish Sony Animation lots of luck with Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Here’s to another year for movies.

We are the Crystal Gems, we’ll always save the day! And if you think we can’t, we’ll always find a way. That’s why the people of this world believe in Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven!

Happy 10th Anniversary to Steven Universe! It’s been 10 years since of my favorite cartoons of all time premiered. I’ve been writing about this show ever since I started this blog many years ago. Steven Universe is one of the most unique animated series I have ever seen and has been one of my biggest influences in my personal work. It has great animation, well written characters, beautiful music and songs, and mature themes that you don’t usually see in other cartoons. To honor this work of art I have updated my favorite characters/episodes lists and compiled a special new list of my favorite Steven Universe songs. 

Top 10 Favorite Characters

10. Lapiz Lazuli

9. Bismuth

8. Steven Universe

7. Greg Universe

6. Pearl

5. Garnet

4. Peridot

3. Spinel

2. Connie Maheswaran

1. Amethyst

Top 10 Favorite Episodes

10. Change your Mind

9. Hit the Diamon

8. The Trial

7. Alone Together

6. Back to the Barn

5. Rose’s Scabbard

4. Ocean’s Gem

3. Jailbreak

2. Sworn to the Sword

1. On the Run

Top 15 Favorite Songs

15. What’s the Use of Feeling Blue

14. Familiar

13. Let’s Only Think About Love

12. Happily Ever After

11. Strong in the Real Way

10. Something Entirely New

9. We Are the Crystal Gems

8. Love Like You

7. Drift Away

6. It’s Over isn’t it

5. Here Comes a Thought

4. Do It for Her

3. Other Friends

2. True Kinda Love

1. Stronger Than You

Thank You Rebecca Sugar and everyone who has worked on the show for making Steven Universe a part of our universe.

For my tradition today I’ve decided to do something special inspired by @storytellerwes2 on Twitter. Today I want to share my top 20 favorite villains in all of fiction which includes movies, video games, and shows. These villains were chosen of how well written and well performed they are. There are some rules, only one villain per franchise, channel, and studio. Also, no real-life people like Rameses or Hitler. Last rule, this is based on my personal opinion.

Honorable Mentions: Pegasus from Yugioh, The Hacker from Cyberchase, The Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2, Syndrome from The Incredibles, Glados from Portal, Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, Daly from Black Mirror, and all three villains from Puss in Boots The Last Wish.

20.The Narrator from The Stanley Parable:

It’s debatable whether he’s a villain or not but he does share a trait a lot of my favorite villains have which is having control over people. He’s kind of like a male version of Glados from Portal and what makes him so entertaining is Kevan Brighting’s witty performance.

19.Jobu Tupaki from Everything Everywhere All at Once:

She has all the power and knowledge of every dimension and yet because of that she feels nothing. This makes her the perfect embodiment of nihilism. Stephanie Hsu gives such a playful but also tragic performance and her hallway fight scene is both awesome and hilarious.

18.Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean:

This guy is why Dead Men’s Chest is my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean film. I love everything about this villain’s aesthetic. I love the design of him, his crew, and his ship. The Oscar winning visual effects and Bill Nighty’s acting make him one of the most unique pirates in fiction.

17.Thrax from Osmosis Jones:

Osmosis Jones is such an underrated film with such an intimidating villain. Something about a virus trying to break his record by killing his victims faster is disturbing and Laurence Fishburne gives such a threatening performance. This virus would make Covid look like the sniffles.

16.Raoul Silva from Skyfall:

Skyfall is my favorite James Bond film. It has my favorite James Bond Daniel Craig, my favorite title song from Adele, and of course my favorite villain. Sure, he’s similar to Alec from Goldeneye but his goal on destroying M makes him more threatening and more of a personal foe.

15.Chef Slowik from The Menu:

Ralph Fiennes has played many great villains such as Amon Goeth, Rameses and Voldemort but my favorite villain that he’s played is Chef Slowik. He’s also the most grounded villain Ralph Fiennes has played since his motivations are understandable. He is what happens when the passion is sucked out of us and all it took to remind him of his love of cooking is a cheeseburger.

14.General Tsao from Sly 3:

The Sly Cooper series has a lot of great villains so I had trouble choosing who would represent. I settled on Tsao because he works as a great foil for both Sly and the Panda King. The way he treats Panda King’s daughter and his legacy makes it so satisfying to see him get his just desserts. Why are the worst people in this series birds?

13.Darth Vader from Star Wars:

I know it’s predictable to put him here but he is one of the most famous for obvious reasons. The “I am your Father” twist yes is overused but it’s a great twist that really changes your look on this villain. There are also recent scenes like the endings of Rogue One and Jedi Fallen Order are that reminded us how threatening he used to be.

12.Xigbar from Kingdom Hearts:

Xigbar was really cool in KH2 thanks to his laid-back attitude, but his role afterwards was made him even more interesting. While he was Xahanort’s right-hand man it felt like he also had a secret agenda and was pulling the string from behind the scenes as seen in the post credit scene in KH3. I’m really looking forward to see what the series does with him.

11.Flowey from Undertale:

Just the idea of a “cute” talking flower being a villain is brilliant. What’s neat about him is that depending on what route you play Flowey can either be an irredeemable monster or a tragic villain. Whichever route you decide to play Flowey is a creepy, funny and interesting villain.

10.Azula from Avatar:

Azula is like that fly that’s impossible to kill…who can also shoot lightning. Her manipulative behavior is why this is Grey Griffin’s best role. She has one of the greatest villainous breakdowns that would put any Ace Attorney villain to shame and her defeat in the finale is one of the saddest I’ve ever seen.

9.King Andrias from Amphibia:

Twist villains are usually hated especially ones from Disney, King Andrias however is probably my favorite “twist villain” of all time. The twist was properly foreshadowed, and it didn’t come out of nowhere. Once he’s revealed Andrias has such a blast being so despicable. Keith David really nails Disney villains that involve frogs.  

8.Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit:

Was it so obvious that he was the villain? Yes! But the reveal that he not only is a toon but also the one that killed Eddie Valient’s brother is the stuff of nightmares. The idea of a toon wanting to murder toons is messed up and Cristopher Lloyd gives such a creepy performance.

7.Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter:

Any villain that manages to scare Stephen King deserves to be on this list. Imelda Staunton’s performance makes her one of those villains you absolutely love to despise. I don’t think there has ever been a villain I hated more than her. It’s crazy how she manages to make Lord Voldemort more likable compared to her.

6.The Devil from Cuphead:

My favorite version of the prince of evil himself. He’s cool in the game but his Netflix counterpart is even better. Probably the funniest villain on this list thanks to his old school character design, fluid animation, and Luke Millington-Drake’s amazing voice acting. I really can’t imagine anyone else playing him.

5.Hopper from A Bug’s Life:

I had trouble deciding between Hopper or Syndrome (one villain per animation studio). I went with Hopper since as a kid he was the most terrifying villain to me and not just because he’s played from Kevin Spacey. His most powerful weapon isn’t strength, it’s fear which he uses to keep the ants in line because he knows they can overpower him.

4.Thanos from the MCU:

So much buildup to this villain that wonderfully paid off. I love how even though he’s the “greater scope villain” of the MCU, he’s not the evilest or even the most powerful villain. His motivations and goals were surprisingly understandable and will make sacrifices for the “greater good” even if it hurts him.

3.Slade from Teen Titans:

People say Joker (Heath Ledger especially) is the best DC villain because of how mysterious he is but DC already pulled it off with Slade. I love that they turned this assassin into a manipulative mastermind thanks to Ron Perlman’s chilling performance. Also, can we all agree that Slade is a much cooler name than Deathstroke.

2.Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2:

I love sequels that introduce a more personal foe to the main protagonist and Lord Shen perfectly checks off every box. Sure, Tai Lung was a good villain but he didn’t have any ties with Po unlike Shen. I love everything about this villain such as his unique design, his dark backstory, and Gary Oldman’s performance.

1.Judge Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame:

It wasn’t a hard decision to make. What makes him so intimidating is that let’s face it, there are people like him in real life. I’ve always felt uncomfortable about bigots and overly religious zealots and Frollo embodies all of these types of people. Tony Jay was made for this role and his villain song Hellfire is one of if not the best villain song of all time. All this is why Frollo is my favorite villain of all time.

While working on a future list I thought about female characters that I really enjoyed and since this is Woman’s Month, I wanted to share my top 10 favorite female characters of all time. I chose these characters for how likable and well written they are. Some of these characters you’ve probably already seen in my (outdated) favorite characters list years ago but most are brand new.

Honorable Mentions: Carmelita Fox from Sly Cooper, Winry Rockbell from Fullmetal Alchemist, Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann, Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, Wendy Corduroy from Gravity Falls, Stella Zhau from The Loud House, Sid Chang from The Casagrandes

10. Kairi from Kingdom Hearts:

I know she’s not the most developed character in KH, but I think she serves a very important purpose. I love characters that are the heart of the story and she fits that role perfectly as the representation of Sora and even Riku’s light. Also her manga version is GOAT lol. 

9. Katara from Avatar:

Much like Kairi, Katara is the heart of the story and in a way she’s technically the hero of the show. She woke up Aang from his 100-year sleep, brought him back to life when Azula killed him, and even defeated the (almost crowned) firelord. Without her loyalty and hope, the Avatar wouldn’t have brought balance to the world.

8. Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter:

Even though she was introduced half way through the series Luna is exactly what the story needed once Voldemort came back and everything got darker. Luna is extremely supportive and loyal to Harry. She acts different from everyone else but she doesn’t mind it because she doesn’t care what they think.

7. Hilda:

One of the reasons I love this character is Bella Ramsay’s performance whose voice matches the character so well that I can’t imagine anyone else playing her instead. She brings a lot of snarky and heart to her. Hilda has a great adventurous spirit and a love for creatures and nature.

6. Ochaco Uraraka from My Hero Academia:

I think it is impossible or even illegal to hate Ochaco. She is just so likable, supportive, bubbly and kind that it’s really hard to dislike her. I love how she gets along with all of her classmates even Bakugo. Even her motive about getting money is actually touching because she wants to earn money to help her family.

5. Pompo Pomponette from Pompo the Cinephile:

I consider myself a cinephile so I identify a lot with her. We both have hard times sitting through three-hour films. Her snarky and confident personality makes her a joy to watch. Her advice on directing, filming, casting, and editing are extremely helpful for anyone who wants to join the film business like me.

4. Suzu Naito from Belle:

You’ve already heard me gush over my love of this movie and I’ll will again. One of my favorite things about this movie is the main character Suzu. Her quiet and distant personality is so understandable and relatable that you want to hug her. I love how she was willing to risk her celebrity reputation to help someone who needed her help.

3. Amity Blight from The Owl House:

Mae Whitman really nails great female characters. Amity has some of the best character development I’ve ever seen. Every episode she appears in develops her from a typical academic school bully into a loyal friend that stands up to her abusive mother. Heck she was my favorite character right from the start and she got better. Also, her relationship with Luz is so precious.

2. Amethyst from Steven Universe:

After I posted my favorite characters list the episode “What’s Your Problem?” aired which showed another reason why she’s great. She was the first character to tell Steven that he should’ve have to take responsibility for his mom’s crimes and she won’t use him as a pillow to cry on. I love how Ametyst is like a surrogate older sister to Steven and Michaela Dietz brought so much humor and heart to her.

1.Anne Boonchuy from Amphibia:

One of if not the best portrayal of a teenage character I’ve ever seen and one of my favorite main protagonists in all of fiction. Anne starts off as a typical teenage girl but her time in Amphibia changed her into a better person that stood up for her friends and family. Brenda Song is absolutely pitch perfect and gives so much humor, emotion and life to this great character.

Happy International Woman’s Day!

Who are your favorite female characters? Like and comment below.

Season 6 of Rick and Morty ended a month ago and I my opinion I think this might be one of my favorite seasons of the show so far. So now that the season is over it’s time to rank the episodes of season 6. This list does have spoilers and is based on my personal opinion.

10. Rick: A Mort Well Lived: Just because this is last place doesn’t mean it’s not good. The Die-Hard parody a-plot is good. The b-plot which focues on a Morty cult taking place in the Roy arcade game is what really stood out to me.

9. A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort: It was nice to Rick being nice to his grandson (at least until the next episode). Hearing Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black was fun. The punchline at the end is a great callback to another great episode from season 4 that I won’t give away.

8. Juricksic Mort: The idea of dinosaurs fixing the world is hilarious and the twist of the hate filled meteor is hilarious. It’s always great when Rick has to face off with someone with the same intelligence as him and he has to ruin them out of pettiness.

7. Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation: This finale felt smaller compared to the last two finales and most of the humor was just making fun of Star Wars but it’s still a good finale. The twist that Rick being nice in the previous episode was just a robot was clever and the President is always enjoyable.

6. Night Family: Finally, an episode 4 that didn’t suck. This episode has the feel of a Jordan Peele film being both funny but surprisingly very creepy. I also really liked the 80s music in this episode. I could listen to the end credits theme all day.

5. Analyze Piss: I can’t believe this show managed to make a tragic piss themed villain work. It was nice to see both Rick trying to improve and Jerry actually getting some respect. It really is a great episode with full of great character development.

4. Final DeSmithation: The dynamic between Rick and Jerry is one of the more interesting dynamics in the show and the episodes focused on them like this one are usually really fun. This episode just pure insanity. I love the conspiracy involving the fortune cookies and the different fortunes are creative and funny. 

3. Full Meta Jackrick: The most meta episode of the show and as a fan of meta humor I really enjoyed this. I really liked the stabs at story tropes, and Dan Harmon’s story circle. Having Story Lord return and planning to steal all the motivation in the world is a very unique evil plan.

2. Bethic Twinstinct: This is Sarah Chalke’s best performance. Beth and Space Beth have some really good chemistry that’s both sweet and hilarious. Jerry’s reaction to finding out this affair will shock you and the realistic video games Morty and Summer play to cope were also hilarious.

1. Solaricks: Rick and Morty really knows how to make a great season premiere. The idea of sending Rick, Morty, and Jerry back to their original universes and showing the consequences to their actions is brilliant. The twist that our Morty is the grandson of Rick Prime is interesting and promising.

2022 was honestly a really great year for movies. Now that the year is over it’s time for me to share my top 10 favorite movies of the year. Pretty much every film on this list are movies I would watch over and over again. As usual this list is based on my personal opinions.

Honorable Mention: Top Gun: Maverick

10. Elvis:

Like Baz Luhrmann’s other films, this one is pure eye candy thanks to Baz’s terrific directing and Matt Villa’s amazing editing. Austin Butler is perfect as Elvis and his downward spiel is very tragic to watch. Tom Hanks as the Colonel is enjoyably despicable and it’s very refreshing to see Hanks as villain.

9. The Batman:

Never thought a DC movie would top all the Marvel movies this year. Robert Patterson is a great Batman and the Riddler was a great villain. This film also has one of the best Gotham Cities I’ve seen since 1989 thanks to the great cinematography and directing from Matt Reeves.

8. The Bad Guys:

Sly Cooper is one of my favorite game series so this film spoke to me. The cell shaded animation and cartoonish character designs make this one of the most amazing DreamWorks films to look at. Every character has a great design and great voice that gives them so much life.

7. Nope:

Like Jordan Peele’s other films, Nope manages to balance being both scary and funny. I love the sibling’s dynamic and the unique take on the spaceship. Tying the alien ship to the central theme on the spectacular and trying to tame the untamable is handle very well.

6. The Bob’s Burgers Movie:

Before I start, I just want to say that the Christmas episode this year, The Plight Before Christmas is a fantastic episode and one of my personal favorites. It has all the charm of the show along with flued 2d animation. Anyone who watches and loves the show will love this.

5. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story:

FYI, my review of this film was a parody review. This is probably the funniest movie of the year. The idea of doing a parody biography of a song parody singer is genius. Every actor gives a hilarious performance but of course the real stand out was Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al.

4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish:

I think this was DreamWorks’s best year for animation in a long time. I loved all the new characters and I love that this film managed to do multiple villains perfectly. The animation is some of the best the studio has ever done and I love that DreamWorks took inspiration from Spider-Verse for their films this year.

3. Everything Everywhere all at Once:

Everything about this movie is like a drug trip. Every actor from Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis and James Hong is at their A game here, especially Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Ann Hsu. The action is both badass and hilarious and the different universes were all unique and visually amazing.

2. Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery:

Technically this is my favorite movie of 2022 since number one was released in Japan last year. Benoit Blanc is one of the greatest characters ever thanks to Daniel Craig nailing it again. Much like the first film both Rian Johnson’s directing and writing are pitch perfect and the cast pull off great performances.

1. Belle/Pompo the Cinephile:

They say the best movie is one that touches you personally and emotionally and each of these films has accomplished that along with having both great animation and great relatable protagonists. Pompo the Cinephile touched me personally because I am also a cinephile and I took editing classes in college. This film also gave me great advice about editing and directing. Belle touched me emotionally, there were scenes that made me choke up especially the “A Million Miles Away” scene. I watched this around the time I just started my Letterboxd account. It’s a great commentary on the escapism and deceptiveness of social media. These animes aren’t just my favorite movies of the year, there also both my favorite anime films of all time and two of my favorite movies of all time.

You can also check out my ranking of all the movies I’ve seen here. What were your favorite movies of 2022?

I love the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, I love the Humongous Entertainment point and click adventure games. Put them both together and you get one of my favorite video game series of all time, Monkey Island. Now that I’ve played Return of Monkey Island, I’ve decided to list my top 5 favorite games in the series. I have not played Tales of Monkey Island but even if I did it probably be last place since I’m not a huge Telltale fan.

5. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: I know some people love this one but I honestly didn’t. Traveling between three different islands while neat, suffers from tedious backtracking especially if you forgot something you need. The puzzles also felt a bit too difficult (especially the finger puzzle). It also felt a bit too cynical and mean spirited.  

4. Escape from Monkey Island: This was the first game in the series I played so ranking is sort of higher is mostly based on nostalgia. I also played the ps2 version of the game so it was easier to navigate. The CGI is very dated and the monkey combat stuff at the end was bad but still has the witty charm of the other games.

3. The Secret of Monkey Island: Like most first games in a game series, Secret is the simplest of the series but it wonderfully established the world, the characters, the comedy, and the story. The puzzles were well done and the music is also really good especially Ghost Ship Shuffle. The creator Ron Gilbert (who also worked at Humongous Entertainment) said this game is like if you got of the Disney ride and he was right.

2. The Curse of Monkey Island: This was the game that grabbed my interest and I was so lucky to buy it on steam a few years ago. I love the 2d art style that anyone could mistake it for an animated movie and every background is a work of art. This is also probably the funniest of the games (the punchline with Skull Island is hilarious). This is the pinnacle Monkey Island experience with the best puzzles, music, and humor. A pitch perfect adventure game.

1. Return to Monkey Island: I’ll be honest, both Curse and Return are neck to neck and could switch at any time but since this is the most recent one, I’ve decided to place it at number 1. The storybook art style is really nice to look at and the animation is really great. The game is also easy to control, Guybrush is a lot faster, and the puzzles were not frustrating. This game really felt like a love letter to not just the Monkey Island series but also to the point and click genre.

What’s your favorite Monkey Island game?