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

I played GK anniversary edition over the coarse of a view days. I really am impressed with how this remake turned out to be. Technique is; Realistically rendered backgrounds with 3D elements for animated parts. GK, old and new, has one of the best stories I have ever seen in any adventure game. The characters are completely fleshed out and you really start to care for them. This remake has absolutely gorgeous backgrounds and brings GK to this century. GK is tough though and I don't mean GK itself. I always found, and even after playing it a few times in the past, that the puzzles are far from easy. However don't get me wrong this is not an adventure where you have to combine all the items in your inventory with all the other items, combinations are sensible. Still I often found myself wondering what should be the next thing I should do or, because I already played the game a few times (long ago), I knew I had to do something but the way I tried to accomplish it was just not the way the gamemakers had in mind. Still this is one of the best adventures out there and with the updated graphics and no bugs to speak off I wholeheartedly recommend this game above the old GK (which had some gamebreaking bugs for instance when exhausting all conversation options it would crash somewhere in the middle). I didn't encounter any problems with this new game except for some minor graphical glitches being that animations seem to return to there 'rest' position before removed from the screen and Gabriel doing some real neat trick with his head a few times :-)

I remember seeing the original GK in the store when I was a kid, however I never played it. It was one of those games that was on the proverbial "list," but I never got around to it. I saw the 20th Anniversary Edition for sale on GOG with good reviews, and thought why not? Im glad I did. First off, it runs fine on a modern machine, as it should as a remake. The graphics and sound were obviosuly updated, but not over the top. I have to admit, the voice actor for GK really hammed up the southern accent, but fortunately he loses a lot of it further in the game. For the most part the puzzles were fairly easy, there were a few though that left me stuped for a while. All in all, this is a very good point and click adventure game.

Disclaimer: I didn't play the original, I was probably too young or it wasn't a big thing in my country. I like point-and-click adventures so I bought it, and since I liked it I also bought the sequels. As someone who hasn't played the original, I thought the game was very good - the puzzles are at the right difficulty and they mostly make sense (except *that* one), the background and graphics were great for someone like me who likes retro-looking games, the story was interesting enough, the voice acting was okay, the game was long enough for the (sale) price albeit not really replayable. I don't really like Gabriel but I can live/play with that. If you haven't played the original, I would definitely recommend it for its value as a game in itself.

A little buggy in certain moments in the game..Other than that it is an excellent remake. Great graphics, voices,music and plot!

Well, I have to say that I purchased this game "accidentally", without having ever heard of it (so I had really no expectations), but enjoyed it really a lot. In general, I like the puzzle/graphic adventure genre. This in particular stands out for being at the same time a light-hearted adventure with very mature and fascinating themes, and, most importantly, rooted in the real world. It's also refreshing to see something that spans outside the usual limits of US or Western culture, and this without being trivial; here we have a mixture of religions, spiritual beliefs, languages, countries, mysteries, all tied together in a decidedly captivating way. I think that the game structure, subdivided in days and organized in locations on a map, is genial and greatly helps the immersion in the story. This remake clearly makes gameplay easier (e.g., interactive objects can be highlighted). Overall, I also found the puzzles to be quite easy and straightforward, but this might have been a characteristic of the original version, too. I just found the mime scene rather absurd and too difficult to get: had I been in the developers, I would have changed it. On the other hand, the infamous clock's enigma might be baffling, but has its logic, and in hindsight I appreciated it very much. Don't let you be discouraged by these difficulties. My critics are mostly of two kinds: - the graphics are great, but I found the original sceneries (especially interiors) to be nicer or more appropriate. 3D environments can be lackluster at times, and they are too light and coloured in contrast with the progressively gloomier atmosphere. - The hint systems spoils too much and is bugged. Two levels are too few. The "behind the scenes" also needs to be limited, as it contains too many spoilers. So, a highly, highly recommended game that, despite its occasional naiveté, provides a truly unique and alluring story with a nice gameplay and pleasant puzzles. I can't wait to play the next episodes!!!