You don't really need to be so complicated... In golden age adventures there was only plane where the character was... So really you only have to worry by z-order (and not so often because usually the char stops just beside the item) and using the correct animation.
The paths began to be noticeable in Monkey Island 3 days, where the scenery was more complicated... mmm.. If I remember well, old days 2D collision was triggered by colors, so, if the path sides have a color 234,23,16 you make your char to not cross over that one, just go a couple of pixels away and continue walking.
btw, there's still a Adventure editor, it's named "Adventure Game Studio"; it isn't a language, it's a point'n'click object editor, but many ppl use it... There are lots of ready games there.
The paths began to be noticeable in Monkey Island 3 days, where the scenery was more complicated... mmm.. If I remember well, old days 2D collision was triggered by colors, so, if the path sides have a color 234,23,16 you make your char to not cross over that one, just go a couple of pixels away and continue walking.
btw, there's still a Adventure editor, it's named "Adventure Game Studio"; it isn't a language, it's a point'n'click object editor, but many ppl use it... There are lots of ready games there.