The ZorkQuest games are among the earliest of visual novels, and while I have no interest in getting into the semantics of what is or is not a "visual novel" right now, in the case of ZorkQuest there can be no other possible designation. They are in no way puzzle games, nor are they roleplaying games or even adventure games. They are graphical, and that seems to be their primary selling point, as they do involve creative use of an Apple II's visual capabilities. They also... HAVE sound, as much as anything on an Apple II ever does.

The only interaction that a player has with the game, other than passively observing it, is in jumping between character perspectives to choose which scenes actually play along the pre-determined narrative. That interactivity is... kind of neat, but the thing must then inevitably live or die on the strength of its writing, and Assault on Egreth Castle is definitely nothing special. It's a competent but generic tale of fantasy tropes that would sufficiently entertain a child for a couple of hours.