I had a good time playing through Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Father. It’s one of those 90s classics in the point and click genre I never played in the past, and it’s often listed as one of the best ones.
You are playing as Gabriel Knight, a struggling author who also runs a private bookstore. He has an assistant clerk working for him, Grace and a friend in the police, Mosley. The setting is there has been a succession of unsolved voodoo murders in town, and it’s pretty uncertain what is going on. Is it actually real voodoo? Or just murders made to look like they are? The police considers them fake voodoo, but your role is to do your own private investigation to write your book. Another part of the plot is Gabriel family history, which may or may not be connected to the story. Gabriel himself is a weird kind of person. Haunted by nightmares, a bit of a mess, and strangely sleazy to most women. Since the game is written by a woman I suppose it’s by design. Voiced by Tim Curry, which was an interesting choice.
I can see why GB is so beloved. There’s a very realistic feeling to New Orleans, and the characters and the setting that sets it all apart. The music is fitting, and the voice-acting is superb. There is a lot of dialogue though, but it’s extremely well written, and you’ll learn a lot about the history of voodoo and the everything else. I also liked how it’s divided into days.
The best part is when you meet an old lady who tells you about what is going on in town, and you learn about the voodoo scene in town, and how they are on to you and even people you know. One days a creepy guy looking through the window of the store. That was a great touch. It’s creepy and tense, and it get’s worse as the plot unfolds. The build up is masterful. I do however think there’s a slight disappointment when the mystery is revealed, although I’m not sure why I think so. It works, I’ll admit, but it’s a bit far out. Perhaps it reveals too much? Not as detailed as the earlier parts?
The very last part of the game also has a bit of the same structure as Kings Quest 6, where you can get to the ending, but if you missed something you can’t properly finish it while you have no way of knowing. I am personally not a fan of these, but seemed trendy at Sierra in those days. I also thought the zombie parts were a bit annoying.
I got stuck around 3-4 times in the game before having to use some minor hints at Uhs-hints.com, which is quite much for my «no hints allowed» standards. So the game was fairly hard at times for me, I’d say, but if you are patient most puzzles can be solved like with most games in this genre.
Either way, recommended.
You are playing as Gabriel Knight, a struggling author who also runs a private bookstore. He has an assistant clerk working for him, Grace and a friend in the police, Mosley. The setting is there has been a succession of unsolved voodoo murders in town, and it’s pretty uncertain what is going on. Is it actually real voodoo? Or just murders made to look like they are? The police considers them fake voodoo, but your role is to do your own private investigation to write your book. Another part of the plot is Gabriel family history, which may or may not be connected to the story. Gabriel himself is a weird kind of person. Haunted by nightmares, a bit of a mess, and strangely sleazy to most women. Since the game is written by a woman I suppose it’s by design. Voiced by Tim Curry, which was an interesting choice.
I can see why GB is so beloved. There’s a very realistic feeling to New Orleans, and the characters and the setting that sets it all apart. The music is fitting, and the voice-acting is superb. There is a lot of dialogue though, but it’s extremely well written, and you’ll learn a lot about the history of voodoo and the everything else. I also liked how it’s divided into days.
The best part is when you meet an old lady who tells you about what is going on in town, and you learn about the voodoo scene in town, and how they are on to you and even people you know. One days a creepy guy looking through the window of the store. That was a great touch. It’s creepy and tense, and it get’s worse as the plot unfolds. The build up is masterful. I do however think there’s a slight disappointment when the mystery is revealed, although I’m not sure why I think so. It works, I’ll admit, but it’s a bit far out. Perhaps it reveals too much? Not as detailed as the earlier parts?
The very last part of the game also has a bit of the same structure as Kings Quest 6, where you can get to the ending, but if you missed something you can’t properly finish it while you have no way of knowing. I am personally not a fan of these, but seemed trendy at Sierra in those days. I also thought the zombie parts were a bit annoying.
I got stuck around 3-4 times in the game before having to use some minor hints at Uhs-hints.com, which is quite much for my «no hints allowed» standards. So the game was fairly hard at times for me, I’d say, but if you are patient most puzzles can be solved like with most games in this genre.
Either way, recommended.