Perhaps it is that I missed the 90's childhood past time of computer games as I was not allowed to play them. (I blame my very strict parents who were afraid of technology. I was literally only allowed to watch a single episode of Arthur a day until I turned 13. I entered school with little understanding of technology, but a strong moral compass. I never thought about it before but I suppose my digital marketing career could be seen as a rebellion against my upbringing.) Anyways, my wife introduced me to video games in college when the graphics had evolved to a standard of cinematic animation. It was a Renaissance of adventuring for hours at her PS3 in Dragon Age Origin's Ferelden and sitting for hours with my friends on their PC's and me at my laptop campaigning across Alderaan in Star Wars the Old Republic. So, I fear that the value of the retro type of game that is Colossal Cave Adventure is lost on me.
I found it incredibly frustrating as I continued entering the provided commands that I would be returned to where I started or commands were unavailable. Feeling 'LOST' I looked through the FAQ to have a usable cache of commands but even then never seemed to choose the right one at the right time. In a way it became a puzzle game for me which is my least favorite type of game. I actually prefer RPG gaming on PC so don't get me wrong, I love a good inventory. Mine was just always empty in this game and the path 'FORWARD' to fill it was confusing and a feat I never achieved. I tried all four directions, 'NORTH,' 'SOUTH,' 'EAST,' and 'WEST,' as prompted but never really moved from the first spot.
As far as appreciating this game as a storytelling vehicle, I can see how the chronological command and response plays into traditional means of storytelling. It put you in the first person point of view and, if you entered the right command or said 'LOOK' at the right time, it would provide a very literal description of the setting. As a writer I did not find what little I got to read about where I was very imaginative, lacking figurative language enough that I could not picture myself there. I never got far enough for there to be conflict, unless you count fighting with the interface at which there were very many action sequences between the program and I that I could describe in far greater detail than I was given. The tone was bland, I imagine the monotone voice of an aged college professor at Oxford drawling on like a nature documentary though the majority of their audience is in the rem cycle. Needless to say I would not choose to spend hours interfacing with this game even if I looked up the cheat codes to go somewhere as the story did not draw me in, which in part was hindered by the medium of the game itself.