I got into the story at points, but every time I'd start to get into it, I'd get pulled right back out again by the terrible editing of every single FMV sequence. Way too many awkward pauses, actors not seeming to realize they're being filmed before springing to life, lingering shots, etc. I've seen student work that was put together much MUCH better. I'm not complaining about the story--I even liked a number of the puzzles. The art style left a bit to be desired, in my opinion. I think there is a certain aura to hand-painted work that just can't be captured by photographic artwork--at least, not the low res, badly manipulated stuff from the Sierra FMV era. Really, though, it was mostly the editing that killed it for me. Made every interaction feel like a chore to me.
Now with all this talk about it, here and on the AG forums, I'm actually kind of itching to play it again and see if it sits better with me the second time. I'm sure that a big part of my problem with it stems from playing it for the first time years after the fact, when FMV was already horribly dated, but I've talked to plenty of people who played it when it was new that share my opinion.
I just think the amount of praise it gets is not deserved, given the amount of gameplay and story flow issues the badly edited FMV creates.
