Just to start off, I'm a huge fan of Gabriel Knight 1. I played it back in 2011 and would like to continue the series. I'm just having a really hard time with the FMV in GK2. I find it tremendously off-putting. The only FMV game I've ever enjoyed was Wing Commander 3/4, and the first 15 - 20 minutes of GK2 have thus far confirmed its FMV is nowhere near Wing Commander 3/4 quality.

As a result, I've developed a bit of a mental block about it. I suppose I'm posting because I'd like some reassurance: GK2 -is- worth playing right? Maybe the FMV gets better? Do some people perhaps enjoy GK2 even more than GK1? Should I just close my eyes and get on with it?

As far as video quality goes, no. GK2's cutscenes don't get any higher quality as the game goes on. If they're too blocky and pixelated for you, you can go to the in-game options and change "big movie" to "little movie" which makes cutscenes play in a smaller screen, making them appear smoother. You could also try to find a way to put the interlacing back into the movies, which can trick your eyes into making the movie appear smoother, though I personally don't know how to do so.
Story-wise, however, GK2 is an absolute slog and a bore for the first chapter. I found myself giving up on this game twice before actually forcing myself through this first chapter. What i found afterwards was a truly engaging story, blending historical facts with myths and legends in a very believable way. It may just be because Gk2 is fresher in my mind, but I do personally like The Beast Within more than Sins of the Fathers. You may not love it as much as i did, but i implore you to at least play partway through chapter 2 before completely giving up on the game.

Is it the gameplay that bothers you or the actual videos?

GK2 is absolutely worth playing. Maybe you'll adjust to the FMV after playing a bit more!

It's the FMV more than anything. The gameplay is fine, I'm a HUGE fan of Gabriel Knight 1 as I said. The FMVs all through the first hour or so I've played just grate me to no end though.

I'll try though :) I'd really like to get to GK3, and I -do- love these characters (even if I hate their FMV actors).

From a german point of view, I find this game to be very entertaining.
I mean, it's interesting to see americans, who have next to no knowledge about the german language trying to speak it.
Some do very well, like Harry, Gabriel's lawyer. There are points where I thought he's fluent in german.
On the other hand, there are actors who are hilariously bad, like the woman at chapter 4 who sells tickets for one of the museum. Honestly, her attitude made me think of her as a female version of Hitler, the way she talked.

But overall, I did enjoy the game.

What? You mean all the actors are americans with fake german accents when they speak english? Didn't know that. Never thought they could be in fact.

Random facts about where the actors come from:

-I believe Wolff Muser (Doktor Klingmann) is either german or of german decent.
-Clement von Franckenstein (Von Aigner) is austrian.
-Rosemarie Belden (Frau Miller, nasty woman at the Ludwigmuseum) was born in Germany.
-Mary Stavin (reporter in act 3) is actually swedish XD.
-Karl Lienhof (Father Getz) I also believe to be german, since I find no references to him what so ever other than to his role in GK2.
-Endre Hules (Claus Immerding) is hungarian.
-Brigitte Kozub (Lady at the Rittersberg post office) has no other references either, so I'm guessing she's of european decent at the least. Her name strikes me as being german/austrian/eastern european and she does speak german very well.

The rest of the main characters are mostly american or british, but a few of the smaller roles are played by single-roled actors with european names. Most of the extras are either british or american.

Thanks for all the information, Minya.

Do you know if the actors did even go to Germany, or is it all blue screen technique?

Anyway, for someone like me, the illusion was perfect.

I made essentially the same post a couple of months ago: http://www.gog.com/forum/gabriel_knight_series/cant_get_into_gk2

I picked up the game again (after seeing this topic) and finally pushed through Chapter 1. It does seem to get more interesting toward the end, and somehow the two month break softened my feelings on the FMV a bit.

If I recall correctly, I think they did just about everything on greenscreen in studio. If anything, they did downtown Munich on location, and a couple of other shots. Most of the location backgrounds are photos and photoshopped photos, like Rittersberg.
It's been a while since I read this webpage, but there is a lot of fan-info about the games on it. Have a blast reading and looking at the photos; http://therealrittersberg.jimdo.com/

Thanks for sharing! Really cool site.

The Rittersberg photos are my favorite. More crowdy than in the game though!

I am not familiar with GK3. It makes me want to play it also.

Although GK3 is back to the cartoonish look, with Tim Curry as the voice of Gabriel, the locations are pretty recognizeable even as animations.
The story in GK3 is both intricate and well written, and it's mainly built on a well-known myth about the Holy Grail being hidden somewhere in the french countryside. I completely loved it as I'm a sucker for conspiracytheories (although not particularly fooled by them)
IRL Rennes le Chateu is a bit larger than it is presented as in GK3; a lazy old village far away from everything.
I do recommend you to play it, since you have just about the same interest in GK2 as I've had for years.

I shall no longer make this thread off-topic, so if you wish, you may PM me if you want to chat randomness about the GK-series :)

You could always start one dedicated to it. I'm finding it interesting.