Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers – 20th Anniversary Edition

This is a solid and enjoyable adventure game and the remastering of a classic. It's interesting, beautiful and a lot of fun. I'd recommend it to fans of the original as well as new players. People seem to be a bit consumed by nostalgia and were ready to rip into this new version, but the negative feedback is without ground at times. The voice acting is much improved over the original, especially the awful Tim Curry with his broken-down accent. Scenes are beautiful, and although the composition is problematic at times, it doesn't really detract from the experience. There are some glitches, but they are minor.

I had my doubts with the GK remake after I had played both Cognition and Moebius and ended up not liking them. Moebius especially, the previous collaboration between Jane Jensen, the creator of Gabriel Knight, and POS was disappointing in every way possible, so my expections were very low. So color me surprised, when I ended up liking GK 20th quite a bit. Not as much as the original, but for its own merits it is very well done remake with a couple of issues, which will most likely not bother anyone not familiar with the series or the original game. Issue one: The voice actors. While mostly competent I couldn't help but to wish that the original records had been available. Such a strong voices like Mark Hamil, Tim Curry, Leah Remini and Efram Zimbalist overshadow the new voices. Issue two: art direction. Again, mostly very competent, but not nearly as bold as the original VGA art with very strong style and use of colors. Some of the high resolution backgrounds look very stunning, but at the same time some are relatively poor. Issue three: simplification and linearity. In the original you could visit many locations when ever you wanted. In the remake you can visit them only after the plot allowes you. For an example Napoleon House and grandmothers house were open right from the bat in the original. Some changes and additions are good, some feel odd. A couple of new puzzles feel a bit out of place, but all in all the remake wasn't the travesty I feared it would be. Special mention from the new cut scenes, which are very well done.

I loved the original and I've still got the big box version not five feet away from where I am right now. The only downside for me was no Tim Curry as I'm also a big fan of his but so many years have passed would he be able to do the voice for a man in his 20-30's? I've been more than pleasantly surprised with the voice actors and have no complaints with the graphics which look lovely. The biggest plus side for me is the controls they are SOOOOOO much easier to use than the original especially on a laptop without a mouse.

Like many I loved Gabriel Knight for his atmosphere and solvable puzzles, in fact I even had the soundtrack. If you don't know Gabriel Knight but love good adventure stories, this one is a don't miss. But what really amazes me is the remake. The guys who did this should be sooooo proud of themselves. It is the best remake anyone has ever done. I actually found only one minor complaint which is the colorization of the intro and that is just a matter of taste. What makes this remake so special are the graphics, its not just higher resolution or anything, but these graphics are realtime 3D even tough you play it as the original 2D game (In comparison day of the tentacle has just higher res graphics and Grim Fandango cannot really be called remastered

Note: I bought this game in part to encourage the development of long-expected Gabriel Knight 4. To this day, this contemporary horror thriller is unsurpassed. Unfortunately, this remake continues with the Gabriel Knight trend: technological improvements actually get in the way of the game rather than serving it. If you have a choice, I strongly suggest replaying the original. None of the quirks of this 20th anniversary version is a game breaker, but they get in your way. Also, the voice acting is sometimes weird. Note to the dev team, if you read this, and if you're planning GK4: as a long-term fan, I believe that the GK series is as good as its plot, soundtrack and cutscenes. Just about any engine will do, as long as it doesn't get in the way. I, for one, would be quite satisfied with an AGS-based game if it delivers on other fronts.