Gabriel Knight - Final Rating

Written by Michael

Circumstances came up, and I wasn’t able to finish the rating in time for this post.  Morpheus helpfully offered to take care of it for me.

...heh.  I joke a little.  This is one of the few times the two of us almost agree about a game.  Although, based on his comments, he would still score it lower than myself.

Humor aside, let’s get to the task at hand.  This is going to be tough for me.  I’m not known for covering top-10 games, and certainly didn’t expect Hand of Fate to crack the list.  The titles that I prefer, such as the humor-infused Sam & Max, are not universally acclaimed as high art.   I’m writing this introduction before I’ve figured out the score, but if the readers have any say, this game will blow those titles away.

Gabriel Knight - Won!

Written by Michael

Gabriel thinks he knows what to do

Hey, we’re in the home stretch.  Day 10 will be the last day of the game.

Last time around, Gabriel had just watched his uncle sacrifice himself to restore the long-lost talisman to the family.  Gabriel, now taking on the family tradition of shadow hunting, is going to need the extra power boost.

If only it was back in 1989, we would have had another option.  And sadly, @arcanetrivia, this isn’t the job at hand.

Gabriel now has the talisman, and heads back to the states.  He arranges for his uncle’s body to be properly buried at the castle in Germany.  On the way back, he tries to reach both Grace and Malia.  Neither answer his calls.

Gabriel Knight - Heartless, Heartless, You Think it's Gonna Fill This Empty Soul

Written by Michael

How I feel every morning. 

So, last time I underwent a hazing initiation ceremony to become a chosen one, just like my uncle, and it seems, practically every male above me in the family tree.  We wake up, sore, and think it might have just been a dream... but then we notice the large brass key at the foot of the bed, the same one that was given to us in the sequence,

I’m pretty sure I know where that key is used.  Wasn’t there an oversized keyhole just next to the bed to another room?

Gabriel Knight - Cuts Like a Knife

Written by Michael

When we wrapped up last time, Gabriel had returned from an intense party and was suffering from a hangover of sorts.  Grace struggled to wake us up, and when she did, she gave us some advice:  call Uncle Wolfgang.

Let’s reach out and touch someone, and call Germany, shall we?

Gabriel Knight - Lions, Tigers, and Bears... Oh My!

Written by Michael

Or, like a bad penny, I always turn up.

Good morning!  Like Gabriel, I’m writing this while I drink some coffee, but unlike Gabriel, I’m not reading the newspaper, because those have not travelled through time with us to the future.

Actually, that’s the only item so far that would be anachronistic in our world today.  No pay phones yet in this game, a staple in the 1980s-90s graphic adventure game world.

And we were able to receive a call at the payphone without everyone assuming we were a drug dealer.  My, how times have changed.

Gabriel Knight - Well, Sonny, it Looks Like the Gremlin Has Struck Again...

Written by Michael

Game over.  Time to switch to my next title.

Last post, I had just landed in day 4.  I had a few plans for the day, such as getting the bracelet from our friendly jeweler, Sam, following up with the professor at the college, and asking Mosely why the investigation was put on hold.

Let’s start with that.  I head down to the police station, and as usual, walk behind the counter and into Mosely’s office without the officers on duty saying a word.  Mosely drops the news on us, which we kind of already knew from the newspaper: the mafia from Chicago was trying to muscle in on the drug trade here, because Florida isn’t as appealing right now.  “What we had here was a little resistance from the local ‘businessmen.’”

Gabriel Knight - Dancing with Man's Best Friend

Written by Michael

Can we talk about this game for a while?

It’s time for me to go back down to New Orleans again, and continue where I left off on Day 3.  Last time around, I learned a few new things, such as many details about African Voodoun practices and the fact that anyone who owns a snake is instantly a suspect in the Voodoo Murders.

Gabriel Knight - It's Better Than a Stick in the Eye

Written by Michael

Last time, I had just settled into day 3, by waking up, stumbling out of my studio apartment, and behaving like a caveman in front of my amazingly dedicated employee, Grace.  Now, it’s time to caffeinate and begin our day.

Gabriel Knight - Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Investigator

Written by Michael

Time for us to sit down together again and talk about this game.

Glad to be back with you as we finish out another day in the life of Gabriel Knight, investigative author.  Earlier in this game day, I visited Dr. John at the museum, voodooienne Moonbeam at her residence, and then spent some time at the park.  There’s got to be more to this day.  The formula for the game seems simple enough: research enough until you find at least the one trigger that causes you to ask Grace to do research, and then the day ends.  So, I figure the best plan is to do as much research as possible each day before returning to the bookstore.  From some of the comments I’ve seen so far, it seems some items can be done sooner or later, so I might be front-loading the game and taking away later tasks, and I’m certainly fine with that.

Well, that eliminates one possible solution...

Gabriel Knight - Now Go Do That Voodoo That You Do So Well

Written by Michael

Oh, if only they knew what was coming in 30 years...

I’m back to start another day in the life of Gabriel Knight, gentleman scholar.  My last post ended at the close of the first full day, leading up to the wee hours of the morning, where a familiar ritual occurs, the paperboy arriving at the bookstore a mere second before my assistant Grace.

We learn nothing new because our convenient police source keeps us in the loop.

As is my usual ritual, I stumble out of the back-room bedroom, drink some coffee, and read the newspaper.  This is much like my own life, minus the now-extinct newspaper.

Wait, I keep using the word ritual.  Somehow, it seems appropriate when narrating this game.

Gabriel Knight - The House of the Rising Sun

Written by Michael

I meant to post sooner!  Sorry to leave you hanging.

Welcome back to the Down Under Big Easy!  Last time, I laid out my plans for the next session.  Visit Grandma, do research at the drug store and Voodoo Museum, and visit my friend Mosely at a crime scene.  I ended that post back at Gabriel’s book store, having (seemingly) exhausted all avenues there for the time being.  So let’s throw on my leather coat and burn some rubber on the highway!

Gabriel Knight - Witchy Woman

Written by Michael

Kids really don’t read books enough anymore.

Unfortunately, real life has kept Zenic from continuing with Gabriel Knight as originally planned.  We hope things get squared away, and we look forward to his return with his next scheduled game in 1994 (or perhaps even earlier). 

As has been the habit with Morpheus before, if anyone wishes to change their score guess for Gabriel Knight, or hasn’t made one yet, you can do so by commenting either on this entry or the introduction post, as long as you do so before I post again. 

My history with this game?  I played it once, about 25 years ago, before tackling the third game in the series.  I remember absolutely nothing, other than I vaguely remember visiting a cemetery at some point.  So, I’m starting fresh.  I owned the jigsaw-shaped box, and it got damaged during one of my many moves at the time, and eventually lost.  I’m sad about that, since there’s a collector’s market still to this day for that unique package.

Game 150: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993) - Introduction

By Zenic Reverie

Soon...

What is the draw to horror? In the intro to Veil of Darkness, I mentioned that this kind of entertainment was not my cup of tea, at least at the time it was released. I enjoyed a good mystery and had some interest in supernatural fantasy, but gruesome and especially gory art turned me away. So, once again, I probably would have passed on this game if the box were the only thing to go by.

Hanging body? weird looking face? no thanks.

The back of the box promises something a little more in line with a thriller than outright horror. A story steeped in voodoo, a generational curse, and unnerving nightmares. It gets my mind racing with possibilities. How were the Shadow Hunters formed? Why do they exist? Are there others? Is the curse triggered by some recent or future event, or has he had these nightmares throughout his life? I guess there's only one way to find out.