I was a big adventure game geek, starting way back in the early 80s when I discovered Zork I. Infocom set the standard for text adventures.
Still on my Apple IIe, I got into the the Ultima series starting with Akalabeth through to Ultima IV, Quest for the Avatar, easily my favorite. Great world building, story, and the ability to ride horses, or boats, and also mix spells. Wow.
Moving to PC, I missed the early graphic adventures from Sierra, though I did play one of their later ones, Gabriel Knight, which was incredible. Again, a really great story. I knew it was a well crafted game when, for one puzzle, you had to leave a note for one of the NPCs, but the note was typed freehand. But the way the story had come together to that point, it was clear how to word the note. I remember being amazed at that.
Mostly, though, I was into the LucasArts adventure games: Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Sam and Max Hit the Road. They knew how to make the perfect mix of puzzles, story writing, and humor.
|