When I said "... a great deal of this descriptive material..." I wasn't implying that individual lines of dialog should be lengthy; in fact, they shouldn't be. I was referring to the
number of lines, which was huge in the KQ games, at least the later ones.
In a quick glance, I found 9 different (all short) lines of dialog using the "eye", and 5 unique responses for "hand", in the very first screen alone of KQ5 -- a screen on which there is nothing you're required to do. There are at least 10 different lines of dialog for "eye" on the first screen of KQ6, all of which give unique responses when clicked with "hand". Now multiply that by the number of screens and factor in inventory items. A huge number, all enriching the game-world, supporting the story, and fueling our ideas for further exploration. You need the character's or narrator's eyes and not just your own observation to tell you that the weird thing is Crispin's whatchamacallit and about the undertow on the beach.
I suppose the modern, cinematic way to start KQ6 would be a cut-scene emphasizing the relevant information in lieu of all that bothersome interactivity: your ship's fucked up, the ocean has an undertow and, by the way, there's a plank you need to look under.
