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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Old and new
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Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 17:18:39 GMT
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Matthew Amster-Burton (mamster@u.washington.edu) wrote:
> Onward to the present.  I got Masterpieces last week and can't decide
> which game to play.  I fully realize I'm opening up a terrible can of
> worms here, but these are the ones I've never touched, and
> a nudge toward one--with proper supporting evidence--would be appreciated.
> If you'd like a hint of my tastes, my favorites are Wishbringer, Trinity,
> Spellbreaker, and (honest) Nord and Bert.

> AMFV

Experiment in interactive storytelling, rather than "a game" per se. I 
thought it was successful.

> Arthur

Pretty much formulaic fantasy game.

> Ballyhoo

One of the few I gave up on until I bought LTOI with its hint book. 
Not a favorite, but maybe you like cheesy carnivals.

> Beyond Zork

BZ and Spellbreaker are my two favorites of the fantasy games. The RPG 
aspects are annoying but (fortunately) easy to ignore.

> Border Zone

Ennh. 

> Hollywood Hijinx

Very ennh.

> Journey

Very different style of game, as you've probably gathered. The overall 
puzzle is a strict resource-conservation thing (you have N of ingredient 
1, M of ingredient 2...) This annoyed a lot of people. I only got annoyed 
because the game interface is slower than text parsing, and therefore it 
was *hard* to go back and replay stuff (I find that I can replay segments 
of text-parser games very quickly.)

> Risotto alla Amster-Burton

Illogical puzzles, good writing, not enough paprika.

> Lurking Horror

A lot of fun. Actually spooked me in places.

> Starcross

Genre archetype of "mysterious alien machines" game. I liked it when it 
came out; there have been a lot of games like that since, so you may find 
it a little unoriginal.

> Witness

Enh.

> Sherlock

Ok.

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
