I remember that Daggerfall back then was a notorious and buggy mess, requiring constant patches made available by computer game magazines. Still, it was an impressive and atmospheric game back then. 3D graphics had not jumped to realism yet.
So while today it is certainly easy to play the game as it was originally created, even with the bugs present, it will not be possible to live the framework.
FMV adventure games, Capcom and SNK arcades, Flying Corps, C&C: Red Alert, Legacy of Kain, Duke Nukem 3D, Crusader: No Regret, Creatures etc
Not counting out console games too.
The aesthetic impression of those games are mutually exclusive with Daggerfall, perhaps in an even more important way than gameplay. That impression belongs to that time frame and can not be replicated. Unfortunately complex and difficult games face an even greater challenge because they target a smaller number of players. But it is exactly those games that need the most support. While Nintendo platformers are easier and more accessible, not ignoring the amazing job Nintendo does with preserving their titles.
I'm not sure maths necessarily helps much with designing puzzles! I suppose there's a basic understanding of networks to put together a solution tree (i.e. ensuring that you don't have a loop such that you need to solve a puzzle to get an item to solve a puzzle to get an item to solve the first puzzle!), but that's pretty trivial stuff. There's also maths-based puzzles themselves, of course, but they're not all that prevalent.
I don't think it's inherently FMV that was the problem, just that FMV was often poorly-applied - more focus on making the movies look good rather than have the gameplay be interesting enough to back it up. I've got quite a bit of respect for the Tex Murphy games, and they were FMV-heavy, too - but they also held together as games.
Sorry, I forgot that this was from an interview by Leisure Suit Larry designer, Al Lowe. Cant remember the link though, since he had so many interviews. His point was that back then games made by 80s computer nerds, were targeting 80s computer nerds!
Regarding FMV, it is not a coincidence that the best and most prolific titles were available on MS-DOS and Windows 9x systems, along with mediocre ones as well. But at that time it felt very awkward that adventure games with very difficult puzzles like Ripper, hired actors like Christopher Walken or games like Toonstruck used the best voice actors in the industry. There was nothing equivalent on consoles back then! Just bad dubs of Resident Evil....Sure those names were hype and one would buy the games for that reason alone. But regarding actual gameplay? Puzzles were too difficult for the majority of gamers without a walkthrough!