Very much how he rolls, see Thimbleweed Park.

Yes. It’s clear he lacks a capacity to commit to an ending. Endings put a point on things. Endings will be judged by their impact on the story.

“It’s a game lul” isn’t an ending. It’s an escape from the criticism both inward and outward that would result from a real ending.

He already did the "it's a theme park" ending in MI2 and it was fine. Not tbh my favourite part, but fine in that context in that time. There was something about the new one which was appallingly "fuck you for still liking Monkey Island".

Oh wow. I got bored of Return a few hours in - I guess it's validating to hear that the ending is also bad I guess.

I couldn't bring myself to finish Return either. Which is a huge bummer, since the first couple games are near the very top of my list of favorite and most (personally) influential games ever. But the nostalgia tour and nonstop callbacks to prior games, rather than actual new content, didn't really do it for me.