Thanks! Yeah, you’re right — it is a bit frustrating having to reread all the text every time just because you pressed the wrong action. That’s kind of the downside of trying to come up with a different design instead of using the more common point‑and‑click verb interface. And with the limited buttons on the NES controller it gets even worse, obviously.
Maybe a Mother‑style menu could’ve made things simpler, but I was afraid it would feel too out of style — too RPG‑like, with pauses to choose what to do, etc. I preferred keeping it a bit more immediate.
I’m not sure if I should call the experiment successful, but I’ll definitely keep studying it.