Developer William Volk said it himself: "People hated Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 — panned it. So, we decided to wreak revenge on the entire industry by making Return to Zork completely unfair." This is essentially the problem with RtZ. There are some good elements buried under all the very real malice, but it's questionable if it's even worth it. It's possible to lock yourself out of victory from the very first screen for instance, and it's likely that you will do so without outside knowledge. I owned this in the 90s and didn't like it then either. On the other hand, the Encyclopedia Frobozzica this game comes with it is a great encapsulation of Zork's lore and is easily worth the $6 on its own.
