I think there can also be something of a Lucasarts/Sierra divide.
Personally I grew up on Kings Quest etc. and Gabriel Knight was right up my street, becoming my favourite AG of all time pretty much immediately. However, I have had a hard time getting into Lucasarts games, even the Monkey Island series.
This isn't because I have any bad feeling about Lucasarts - I don't, I just think that, being more or less the same age as you, Sierra calibrated my expectations for AG's a certain way in the late 80's/early 90's, as perhaps Lucasarts did with yours. For some reason, perhaps just for some people, it seems to make it more difficult to enjoy the other side.
In a way I feel quite bad about it, seeing the love for Monkey Island etc. from so many others but not really feeling it myself, I feel like i've missed out somehow on some great games, despite owning them!
Gray Matter has much less in common with the early Sierra games than it does with more "modern" adventure games and so I am not surprised that it can be easily enjoyed by a Lucasartsian!
