Big strength in imageless Text-adventures is that you let the reader make the images in their own mind. The second you put a picture, you take the infinite imagination and tell it what to see. This is the same reason most people prefer books over their movie adaptations.
A few good examples of WG Text-adventures that don’t use images are Abducted!+ and Tramp. There was a period where the dev of the latter was going to add images, but opted out because of what I mentioned.
Non-linear stories can be done with Text-adventures, but work best as diverging paths. (See The Nebutori’s Tale) The obvious downside to making these games is the amount of effort needed. Each diverging path essentially doubles the amount of work you need to do.
I understand your concern about the “repetitive” game-play loops, but making more shit happen in between helps make it interesting. I personally don’t mind skipping through the text as long as long as there’s something new to find, see or do. The first time you encounter a new bit of text, (I’ll call this “Fresh Text”), it’s exciting to read through each detail. As you go through the encounter over and over again, it becomes “Worn Text,” words that you’re used to being there. For me at least it simulates the repetitiveness of daily life, not in a bad way but in familiarity. Of course you never want the loop to be too repetitive, or else getting to the next stage becomes a headache and a hastle.
(Going to diverge from Text-only games for a second). Good example of where this balance is struck IMO is Big Aspirations. Just enough “Fresh Text” to keep you hooked, and the “Worn Text” doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Sorry this is such a long post lmao. I appreciate the prompt. Made me think about why I like what I like.