The Demon's Forge (1981)

Look: 10/10 My only complaint is meh, disappointing final boss image.. But otherwise, wow the Apple II colors, the descriptive text, the dank Egyptian artistry. That first screen caught me right away .

And again... those colors.... phenomenal

And I mean... cmon, "the skinny man"

Play: 9/10 Verrrry interesting. This is, for me, the first graphic text adventure game where I use the directional pad to move. I'm sorry to cuss, but I fucking love the Apple II.. I love the instantaneous loading, the top-notch text adventure gameplay, and the ability to discern what room I'm in/what items are available/etc--solving the qualities of early, pre-graphic text adventures that I most disliked! Pro-tip: Don't do what I did the first time: make sure to drink the vial to cure the assassin's poison in between THE FIRST TWO attempts to kill him Another pro-tip: the sign means literally keep clicking right until it says stop lol, not like just press left and right one time.

This is the single greatest text adventure, let alone graphic text adventure, I've played

I have to admit, this would probably be frustrating as hell without the modern Internet to help me with some of the puzzles/frustrating parts. But I could say that about all text adventures. This is my favorite so far, finally pushing aside Acheton.

Feel: 10/10 It felt so amazing to actually be able to solve some of these over-the-top and/or fantasy and/or absurd RE-esque puzzles. (e.g., things like throw the key over the river then swim, or move altar, etc.). The graphics do an excellent job of conveying what room you are in: I actually could tell when I was in the bedroom, what a surprise heh. I suppose I mostly played sci-fi graphic text adventures before this, so settings would be more ambiguous--but still!

The fantasy-infused puzzles are top-of-the-line still today but especially for its time. I even got decidedly Resident Evil puzzle adventure vibes!

Attachment: 9/10 I already replayed it! Which is rare for a text adventure. This is the one. I knew I was excited about the new wave of text adventures with graphics, I knew I loved Apple II graphics and colors, and I knew I preferred the new version of text adventure fantasy puzzles that felt like roots of Resident Evil & FF puzzles over the old [even-]tackier puzzles. Though I [think I] miss the 100/100 Colossal Cave and Adams Adventures endings, this is what I want from text adventures.