Photopia

As one of the first "puzzleless" IF works I tried, I certainly found it very interesting. The scene changes worked well, and with one "wow" and several "ahh" moments, Cadre really is quite the storyteller.

However I found the work really a bit of a disappointment. It was very short, and ended far earlier than I expected. Some scenes were timed and I didn't expect to be given much freedom, but in the other untimed scenes I found the world under-implemented. Most objects had short boring descriptions which often were not even for the object I wanted. And some were not even implemented:
(Spoiler - click to show)Among the ruins of the power plant
The power plant is in substantially worse shape than the living quarters, and considering that those were completely wrecked, that's saying something. Though the fissionable materials were specially packaged to prevent them from exploding, the Geiger counter in your suit indicates that this area is still very radioactive. (I'll explain that part later. For now let's just say it's very dangerous and you should probably be moving along.)

> x power plant
Nothing like that seems to be around.

That said, it was still a worthwhile experience. If you don't expect a full world to play with, this story will give you a lot.

I really liked this one. The juxtaposition of the two storylines, the non-linear time progression, the use of different voices — all excellent.

The main story is a moving one; but the moment that I felt was the strongest, in the sense that it made me stop and go "oh wow, oh wow, oh wow", actually occurred in the story-within-a-story. It was a small thing, but it really got across one of the reasons why I should care deeply about the main character.

This is a work so hugely influential to IF development that anyone interested in the history of the form should try it: it experiments with non-linear presentation of time, menu-based conversation, and constrained game-play to support a specific plot. A number of its features look perfectly ordinary now, but were ground-breaking at the time. Photopia's particular form of menu conversation, for instance, was spun off into a library used in a number of other works.

How well does it work, beyond that? Opinions vary. Some people consider it the most moving piece of IF they've ever tried. I personally found it wavered between effective and manipulative, with the main character too saintly to be true. While it was worth playing, it is by no means my favorite piece of character-oriented IF story-telling.

How could a game be exhausting when the puzzles are solvable?

I have not finished the game(yet?). I went as far as the school gym...
But having all these pieces of stories with no real solid link is overwhelming to keep in mind. The only attractive thing is the writing style...
There would be only two or three storylines, it would be nice, and maybe there is only three, who knows? THIS is the problem. (I must say I play with gargoyle, so I don't have the colored interface.)
Giving the fact that playing itself is not really fun I think I will give up.
But something wants me to continue, something wants me to see all the pieces come together at the end...
It is like suffering a long run to get a promised ice cream... but I am beginning to wonder about the taste of the ice cream.