Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

This game is an instant classic! Best from the 3 I think. There is a chance a GK4 can be made according to Jane Jensen, the creator. Read all about it here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg

This game encapsulates some of the best elements of classic point and click adventure games, with almost none of the flaws (and when the flaws are there, they are mostly forgivable). The game boasts a wonderful soundtrack, really good voice acting (from a cast of famous actors), and gorgeous (if extremely low res for today's standards) backgrounds. The art direction is great, with great choices for the color palette, character design and locations. A lot of the puzzles prove to be intersting and inventive, the investigation around the "voodoo murders" builds at a great pace, and the story does an excellent job at drawing various elements (Gabriel's dreams, the life of his ancestor, the modern day New Orlean) together, hitting almost all the story beats with impeccable timing. The only flaws in this field can be that a few things are perhaps too predictable, and the open-ended nature of the first few days might cause the story's pacing to get affected by your own gameplay style. The UI is perhaps slightly clunky, with eight actions to pick from and interact with the environments, but they also provide some nice comedy and lots of details thanks to that "granularity". As mentioned above, the gameplay is really solid, with a good mix of standard puzzles and some really clever ones. Only a few could be considered too hard or slightly illogical, pixel-hunting is generally not an issue (with one or two exception), but if you like the genre, the game should be a joy to play. I played this game for the first time way past its prime (over 10 years later, I think) and I was still impressed with how good it is. Special mention to the humour, almost always sporting great lines and impeccable timing, making this a worthwhile experience no matter when you pick it up. The only real bad thing that can be said about this game is that it's old, and has limits as far as its presentation goes. Save often to avoid a few sudden deaths, and you are good to go with this gem.

slow to start, but a MUST play game! Good story, puzzles are logical and fit the story. The main character HAS character and is believable. This is a serious contender with Pandora Directive. Bad points - a few "pop out of nowhere" puzzles and a few pixel hunts. You will find the story and puzzles flow really well most of the time, and you only get stuck a few times on some rather obscure puzzles. Have a walkthrough handy, but resist reading too far - it will spoil it. Sound is bad, nothing seems to fix it. But it is bearable overall.

I can remeber, that I was really young, when my father did buy this game and that I was forbidden to play it due its content and the intensene ambience. After years I discoverd the game back on our attic and I still want to play it, because I wanted to know if it can still catch up with my childhood memories of dark and very cool game. Of course I was strucked done by this game and I started to love it. Gabriel Knigt is one of these games, which will always cover your memories of a good game. The story and voice work is excellent and is one of the finest point and click adventures you are able to buy. The soundtrack and setting was one of its kind at its time and I always was a bit disapointed that the follow ups never covered the same feelings like this gem.

When 'Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers' first came out, I was too immature to appreciate it for what it was. Plus, the young me, who was already well versed in the standard Sierra adventure game icon bar and curors, found the new, unnecessarily complicated icon bar (adding Ask, Open/Close, Operate, Move (Push/Pull), and Read actions) an obstacle to get right into the game. Now that I am older and (somewhat) wiser, I decided to give 'GK' another try. Having visited New Orleans a few years ago, I found myself particularly drawn to the game's setting. Jane Jensen, the writer of the game, was smart in having Gabriel start off as an uninitiate of Voodoo. As Gabriel learns more about the history, facts and myths of Voodoo, so do we players. I was quickly drawn -- and stay drawn -- into the mystery of the Voodoo Murders, even though I saw certain revelations coming long before Gabriel did in the story. For a Sierra adventure game, the story of 'GK' is a more mature, darker one. Over 20 years later, the story still holds up, albeit some noticeably underdeveloped areas in characterization and plotlines. The art design and style were spot-on and withstood the test of time. The colours of the game were especially vibrant, with lighter tones being used for the French Quarters, and warmer ones for Voodoo scenes. After all these years, 'GK' is still an engaging, visually stunning game. And after all these years, I still find the icon bar and cursors in 'GK' unnecessarily complicated. Being older and wiser didn't make the game any easier. In fact, 'GK' can be challenging, mainly because of the general lack of direction as to what needs to be done for each day. Sometimes you won't find out what you need to accomplish until you've hit upon one of location hotspots to trigger a cutscene. While the game does provide sufficient clues to help you solve MOST puzzles, you still need to take a trial-and-error approach and/or reflect on clues that were provided in dialogues and in cutscenes that happened a while back. Many have praised the voice acting in 'GK'. Featuring the voice acting of celebrities, such as Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Leah Remini and Michael Dorn, 'GK' does have memorable vocal performances. However, as dulcet as Tim Curry's voice may be when portraying Gabriel, I found it unfitting and even distracting at times. Of all the voice performances, I found Leah Remini's snarky and sarcastic portrayal of Grace to be most fitting. There is a lot to love about 'GK': the story, the art design, the freedom with which you get to explore (a pretty faithfully recreated) New Orleans, the sense of non-linearity in a linear adventure game, and the rich amount of information that was researched and shared about Voodoo. A few missteps aside, this is a Sierra adventure that's worth (re)playing.