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May’s Gamer Banter topic comes from Cat @ carocat.co.uk
Which game character do you identify yourself with most and why?
“The name’s Knight. Gabriel Knight.”
This line isn’t delivered by a superspy. It’s uttered by a bookstore owner and frustrated horror novelist. I’m not a frustrated horror novelist (but would love to be) and I work in a library, not a bookstore, but as far as starting points, this is pretty close.
Gabriel Knight was the main character in a trilogy of games by legendary game writer Jane Jensen. As an aside: the three games act as a great survey of adventure game design in the 1990s, making the transition from sprites backed by CD-quality sound to FMV realism and ultimately polygon-based 3D graphics.
1993’s Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers starts in Knight’s New Orleans bookstore. Within a few clicks, Gabriel Knight is on the scent of the Voodoo Murders resulting in some unexpected globetrotting. 1995’s The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery finds Knight in his ancestral German home where he uncovers a link between recent werewolf attacks and a missing opera by Richard Wagner. 1999’s Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, transitions to France and throws vampires and a missing Templar treasure into the mix.
Now I’m not a globetrotting adventurer and I don’t think I’m a Schattenjäger, think supernatural detective but with a greater sense of responsibility, but these are all subjects which fascinate me. I came into each Gabriel Knight game, somewhat familiar with the supernatural mystery du jour, but I left the game more knowledgeable (because Jane Jensen throws in an incredible amount of research) and continued on.
I can honestly say the Gabriel Knight games influenced by reading lists for years after I played each game. And the recent “What was your first Amazon.com purchase?” meme supports this! The first book I bought from Amazon was the Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers novelization. The second was The Mad King: The Life and Times of Ludwig II of Bavaria (GK2). Jumping ahead I see Voodoo in New Orleans (GK1) and Holy Blood, Holy Grail (GK3).
Coming back to the character, Gabriel Knight may be a sexy adventurer, but he’s also bookish. While the games do have their share of puzzles – including the infamous cat hair-mustache one – a lot of what you do in a Gabriel Knight game is research. You track down clues. Find old books. Ask lots of questions . . . wait-a-minute . . . am I a librarian because of these games – is this why I go ghosthunting – is this why I visit supernatural places on vacation? Let’s shelve these for now.
So yeah, if there’s any character I identify with, it’s Gabriel Knight.
Additional notes:
The best place to play the Gabriel Knight games is at Good Old Games. They are cheap, DRM-free and work on modern systems.
Jane Jensen returns with Gray Matter for the PC and Xbox 360. [Adventure Gamers]
Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned beat The Da Vinci Code by 4 years and is superior in every way.
Other takes:
Pioneer Project: The importance of character creation
Silvercublogger: Will Sing Opera For Italian Food
Aim for the Head: Friends Through The End
Extra Guy: Who I Identify With
Next Jen: I’d Rather Be Me
carocat.co.uk: A rushed love letter
This post was part of Gamer Banter, a monthly video game discussion coordinated by Terry at Game Couch. If you’re interested in being part, please email him for details.
Kim Woodbridge:
Hmm … I’ve never thought about what game character I identify with. I want to say April Ryan but that’s just because I love The Longest Journey so much.
The 2nd Gabriel Knight was one of the first games I played – I was obsessed. I enjoyed the first one too. I couldn’t get into the third one and have started it so many times.
Silvercube:
I like these kinds of games — seems similar to Microid’s Syberia/Still Life series!!
I like how varied these responses are :)
Dan:
A librarian? Me too! High five.
I think it’s surprising not just how varied the responses are to this month’s topic, but to how many of the games referenced I just haven’t played.
You make a good case for these games, and GOG is a nice resource… how well do you think they’ve stood up?
Michelle:
Wow, I’ve never even heard of these series of games, they sound like my cup of tea though, very few things please me more than the chance to try out old adventure games, I’ve discovered so many fab little gems this way.
Hey thanks for the tip on Good Old Games too, but I might try and track down an older copy…
Weefz:
Ooo, thanks for the Good Old Games tip. I always regretted not finishing Phantasmagoria and every once in a while I get a hankering to play Caeser III, though my game discs are long gone. I may need to get the old credit card out soon :)
Dan:
Ha! You’re prescient, you.
http://www.gog.com/en/promo/gabriel_knight
All three games for $12.50 til Monday.
Michelle Machine:
I learned a lot from this article, great help for me, thank you!
Gym:
Much appreciated for the information and share!
Neebytapelult:
You are absolutely right. In it something is and it is good thought. It is ready to support you.
happy christmas wishes:
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anniversary tweets:
This was later revealed to type been through on scoop to ingeminate the meaning of sociable espousal despite one’s extrinsic characteristics.
Facebook Status:
I can sincerely say the Gabriel Knight games prejudiced by reading lists for years after I played each game.
Testking 1Y0-A18:
Scopa is an Italian card game and one of the two major national card games in colorful, and somewhat strong-worded banter in between hand