What do you miss most about the earlier days of adventure games? Was it the writing, the puzzle design, the sense of discovery, or something else entirely?

And out of curiosity—which decade do you think was the strongest for adventure game releases? Do you lean toward the classics of the ’80s and ’90s, the experimentation of the 2000s, or the modern revival era?

Ana

This is a hard question for me because I don't know the proper words for this stuff. I think what I miss most may have to do with game engines that don't make me sick. Even games these days that say Point & Click have movement that makes me sick and different type of control that I don't care for. (That may not have to do with game engines - I don't know.)

I don't think I'm a big fan of the "classics". In looking at this list, I see a lot of games in the 2000-2010 range that I liked, as well as from 1995-2000. That doesn't mean I don't like a lot of the newer games though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_graphic_adventure_games

I would have to say that the 1990s were the pinnacle of adventure games for me, although there are a few that I have really enjoyed subsequent to that (The Lost Crown being just one example).

Just between the months of approximately August 1995 and June 1996 we had Torin's Passage, Shivers, Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within, Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive, Shannara, and Reams of the Haunting, to name a few. There was so much variety to be had here, and also a good bit of full-motion video that I thoroughly enjoyed (not necessary for me to enjoy an adventure game, but adding to the fun when it was done right).

I totally agree with Marian about the 1990s era thereabouts

For the writing, puzzle design, sense of discovery and much more !!

And would add such titles as :

Monkey Island Series
Sam & Max Series
Indiana Jones Series
Day of the Tentacle
Simon the Sorcerer Series
Full throttle
Grim Fandango

Glorious Games All .... Some of which have never been surpassed !!

I think all the elements we loved in the 90s are still there, on occasion, in certain games. No doubt they are more polished now, and often with more bells and whistles. But consider Foolish Mortals. Brilliant point and click with a great story. No sea sickness :-) There are others too. They may be few these days, but embrace them when they are released, and encourage more...

Oh, they ARE embraced, KatieB, and more would be very welcome.
But few recent new releases have drawn me in because so few of them seem to favour stories that I personally find particularly inviting ….