I played a lot of Sierra games but Quest for Glory was by far my favourite series. I think it's totally valid to take different views on game design, and no doubt there is an audience for may different approaches (e.g. there is a certain type of person who enjoys bullet hell games, which I find totally tedious.)
What irked me about most Sierra games is that each puzzle had only a single solution, and most of those solutions were totally arbitrary. The added "fun" in the earlier Sierra games was you had to figure out the arbitrary text to enter to activate the arbitrary solution as well. This is also very apparent in the Fighting Fantasy books, if you've every played them. The only way this makes sense to me is to consider dying part of the game and the meta-game, over many restarts, is the real game. I don't find this very satisfying.
Totally agree here too. HQ/QFG was the crown jewel of Sierra, and also their most underrated title. Space Quest deserves honorable mention. I really enjoyed getting away from the green grass and castles theme and it didn't take itself too seriously.
I loved Space Quest, but when I saw Hero's Quest sitting on the shelf in the shop, I picked it up, examined it, and then put it back. I didn't know it, and if it wasn't good it was a waste of around $80. So it sat there for months, nobody bought it, until eventually the shop discounted it.
My father came home one night, paper bag in hand. Handing it to me, he said "I've got something for you, it was cheap." I took a look, thought "MEH!" but put it in the Amiga just to please him.
Six hours later, I realised I should head to bed, but just one more monster! One more puzzle! I couldn't stop, I think I finally got to bed around 2am. Woke up the next morning, it was the weekend so no school, computer on, and away I went for the whole day. Finished it the next day, and then restarted it as a different class.
Even now, I still get asked about that game from time-to-time. I don't have it anymore, but YouTube does - he loves the cleaning montage at the castle, particularly the music.
I never managed to get into the sequel, but since someone's done a remake (linked to further down the forum) think I might load it up on my iMac and give it a play.
You could probably use the gog.com version of the game on your Mac if you don't mind configuring Dosbox on your own. On a Windows machine they work flawlessly off gog and for $10 for the whole pack.. well, I have a copy. And I have a shrine to HQ/QFG in my computer room with all the originals on a shelf.
I followed all 5 games from 89 to 98. Sierra's Interaction magazine is what kept me in the loop. HQ was the most charming by far and an amazing effort for a preliminary title. QFG2 was the best overall in the series. The combat, story and settings were more epic than the rest. 3 wasn't bad, I appreciated the setting and the large overmap continued on the epic feeling from 2. Lots of people like 4 the best, but I think it's the combination of green grass/castles theme that certain people seem to love and it was definitely Lori Cole at her best with the storytelling. While the peak of story for all the games, the dreary atmosphere wasn't my favorite. 5 was a little wonky compared to the rest. While I'm biased and do I prefer EGA>VGA>3D, it basically served to finish up the story. I just don't think VGA aged well at all and 3D doesn't either unless it's cartoon-style (think Zelda Wind Waker[1]).
Keep a lookout for Lori & Corey's new game, Hero-U[2]. I don't know what's wrong with major publishers who won't hire those two and give them free reign.
What irked me about most Sierra games is that each puzzle had only a single solution, and most of those solutions were totally arbitrary. The added "fun" in the earlier Sierra games was you had to figure out the arbitrary text to enter to activate the arbitrary solution as well. This is also very apparent in the Fighting Fantasy books, if you've every played them. The only way this makes sense to me is to consider dying part of the game and the meta-game, over many restarts, is the real game. I don't find this very satisfying.