This was definitely an improvement after part 2. Whoever did the art did a good job, the backgrounds were probably better than a lot of professional studios managed out of EGA. They’d all moved onto VGA of course by the time this came out.
The puzzle design was better as well, if seriously obtuse at times. Having to type “look behind” in a game where you can walk behind whatever it is and type look is nuts. I’ve seen just as bad in Sierra games though – i.e. the bridle in Kings Quest 4. The bit that had me stuck was figuring out to make a voodoo doll out of clay when trapped in the cage. Puzzles like that would be easier if I trusted the game not to have put me in a dead end.
It’s definitely an odd series that I struggle to see the love for. There are tons of obscure adventure games from this period and pretty much all of them are better than this, just by virtue of being done by a professional team. There is a quirky charm to Hugo but you clearly had to be there at the time.
