Here’s my hot take (it used to be my real take until someone pointed out some flaws but let’s pretend I still wholeheartedly believe it to try to make this thread hotter):
all efforts to modernize and popularize IF just inevitably lead to the concept of ‘video game’, which is obviously a very successful genre. “Oh, let’s replace text entry with other ways to do actions. And add location images. Maybe some walking segments to space out stories. With a budget, we could animate the characters talking! Maybe put in some minigames to spruce things up.” Eventually you just end up with Disco Elysium or Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a false path forward.