Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within

Gabriel tries to get into his role as Schattenjäger, even if he still really understands, what it means. He is called to Munich to look for what appears to be a Werewolf. At that time the game came out FMVs were the next big thing, so of course they tried to follow the trend. I never really liked the actor, even if he did a good job, I was just too used to Tim Curry's voice. But he would not have suited the role. Ths story is nice, brings you to some iconic in and around Munich, with references (and dreams/visions) of long dead kings and composers. Gabriel doesn't know German, sometimes he does not understand what people say, so for the German localization they had to think of something. While most of the time people speak plain German for everything Gabriel understands, those who say something that he doesn't understand, speak in a bavarian dialect which is used in the region.

I somehow remembered this from my teenage years as being just average, but I loved this sooooooo much 25 years later. The mid-90s was a time when video game technology was all about using live actors, which did not seem to last that long and will likely never happen again. I think this is why it is such a fantastic experience. There are tough puzzles; so much so that I had to look up a few cheats when my memory failed me. I love the actors (I'll chalk some of that up to nostalgia), the script, the history, and the excitement.

I played it on release and...oh my god... Okay, deep breaths. In Gabriel Knight Sins of fathers our hero is a sly, charismatic, somewhat... pervy yet very charming guy. In Gabriel Knight 2 our hero is a guy who was rejected from some B romance movie for being too bland and boring. Grace is... I am trying not to swear here, Grace is irritating woman who has a character of wet dirty rag. Entire game consists mostly of loading screens and watching the same animations over and over and over again because you are trying to trigger a new event by walking around...a lot. Puzzles? What puzzles! Monkey could solve this and I am not even kidding right now, I am 100% sure that a trained chimp could solve all the games puzzles. In fact chimp may even be better at it than a human considering that I often missed the puzzle since I ALREADY FIGURED OUT THE CLUE AND FORGOT THAT GABRIEL MUST FIGURE IT OUT TOO. Yes, this is one of the few adventure games in which your character feels dumber than the player...by a lot. FMV games are usually very bad, interface feels unresponsive (and no, I am not talking from today's point of view, I mean from that time, remember, played it on launch day!) and you do not even feel like you are progressing in game, you just walk around and click on things praying to all the gods that suffering will finally end. So is this the worst game ever? Sadly no. Because there are flashes of brilliance, entire game is like a monument to a wasted potential and you can see small glimpses of what this game could have been if they only sticked to traditional format. Jane Jensen writing is stellar as always and you will learn quite a lot about history from this game. In fact it is so interesting that you should buy it just for this. But this must be the only adventure game which is much more interesting to watch than to play.

Simply the best FMV adventure game ever made ( Wing commander 3 & 4 are still the best ) The game just nails the story and atmosphere so well and draws you into its universe and mysteries until the satisfying end.Most if not all actors do a great job and the dialog is good and meaningfull with plenty of conversations that keep you asking for more. The game lets you controll both Gabriel and Grace as they work seperatly on the same case in Bavaria Germany and it works flawlessly and never feels weird or akward in any way. On top of that you are also spoilet with an amazing soundtrack that really fits the mod of the game well. I cant recommend the game enough and it will always be in my top list of best adventure games ever made.

I really liked the Gabriel Knight games, played the second at last but even today it is a great game. I had some crashes, so save often. The actors do a good job with some overacting but this is just a part of the charm of this game and the genre of FMV games of this time. I love how this series is taking place in some real world places and mysteries and they catch there charm very well. I still need to visit New Orleans from part one but second and third match to the real locations very good. Wile I'm writing this a change it from 4 to 5 stars. Nothing more need to say.