[AndreaDraco83]

Exactly Little Writer The first Italian edition's wording is: "Hurry up! They're coming"

@ Fien: I know that many theories about the prologue had already been discussed. If you're looking for originality at all cost, I can always say that the prologue shows a little Von Glower being kidnapped by Asmodeus (the fire is a tradition symbol of the Guardian of the Temple). As for Paglia's theory, to each his own I guess. I personally find her theory extremely interesting and well researched. It is the untouchable truth? I doubt it, but it's at least enough rich and fascinating to provide some substantial food for our thoughts, in my opinion.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

@ Fien: I know that many theories about the prologue had already been discussed. If you're looking for originality at all cost...

Me looking for originality at all cost?? On the contrary, it’s you who gave the impression that you had something *new* to say about the prologue. I quote:

I'm indeed going to address the prologue, since I believe the Italian dubbing may reveal something about it.

Two more quotes:

Exactly Little Writer The first Italian edition's wording is: "Hurry up! They're coming"

and

...in first Italian edition of the game, it is strongly implied that they are coming and that their coming is the reason why the coach is waiting.

I’m afraid that I'm still confused. So is it implied in the Italian edition or is “they are coming” the literal translation? Is the coach mentioned or not? It would be great if you could you post the Italian words plus the translation. Many thanks.

And now for something completely different... Sam&Max, where are you...

[Intense Degree]

CONTROVERSY! I love it

@Fien. I don't really understand your issue with what Andrea has said. On all the GK playthroughs Andrea has provided his comments and insights after each section, some parts of which may well have been discussed previously by others as that's what we're trying to do isn't it? Discuss things and give our own views and opinions rather than post the definitive objective truth which must not be discussed or mentioned afterwards.

Personally I don't see that Andrea was saying he had something new and earth shattering (my words) to say about the prologue but only that he was going to address it, and that the Italian version (which I guess none or very few of the rest of us have seen) may reveal something further.

So basically I suppose that what i'm saying is that I love to hear everyone's opinions and don't mind if they touch on the same subjects as others or won't change my life!

Anyway thanks Andrea for the playthrough and thanks Fien for making it even more interesting!

And now ladies & gentlemen, back to our main feature ... Sam&Max ...

[AndreaDraco83]

Oh, don't worry Intense: we are used to Fien and her confrontational attitude.

Anyway, since I already wrote the exact words of the Italian version, I'm not going to repeat myself and Fien is free to be disappointed by the fact that I had nothing *new* to add.

Fine by me

[Fien]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

Oh, don't worry Intense: we are used to Fien and her confrontational attitude.

I ask a very simple question, which you refuse to answer. Why?

since I already wrote the exact words of the Italian version, I'm not going to repeat myself...

All you have to do is give me the Italian words. What's your problem? If the man just says "hurry up, they're coming" then no coach was mentioned.

[AndreaDraco83]

What's unclear in the sentence:

The first Italian edition's wording is: "Hurry up! They're coming"

But, I don't want to argue, and since I'm so not liking your tone...

Fien, the first Italian edition's wording is: "Hurry up! They're coming"

[Intense Degree]

Not worried, just enjoying the "confrontation"!

[AndreaDraco83]

I noticed that some of you didn't finish the adventure with a perfect score of 679 out of 679, and I thought you may be interested in the missing points.If you're looking for a complete point list, I'd recommend the Sierra Help's The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery Point List, which is very thorough and reliable.

On a related matter, while Sins of the Fathers and especially Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned have plenty of optional activities - that's saying clicking on something to obtain background tidbits that usually don't elicit points - The Beast Within only has a handful of them. Here they are and note that I signaled the one that actually results in a point awarded:

Chapter 1 - Check Gabriel's hair in the mirror
Chapter 2 - Click on Wolfgang's photo in Gerde's room
Chapter 2 - Examine Ludwig's portrait in the Gasthof
Chapter 3 - Examine mask in Von Glower's house (1)

I'll probably post some trivia about the game and a bibliography about various subject tomorrow and then I'll unstick the thread and we can consider the playthrough over

[Vel]

The game is cheesy. End of debate.

[DaveyB]

Thanks to Andrea for his, as usual, thought-provoking comments though I have to admit that I'm most certainly not a fan of Camille Paglia either. Neoconservatism wrapped up in fake feminism as far as I'm concerned. Not got a clue what Fien means by "Yippie dung". Either I'm losing my grasp on the English language or Fien means "Yuppie" or "Hippy" - I hope not the later, otherwise I'll be vehemently disagreeing with her too...and having seen recent levels of "politeness", I'd rather not risk that .

Personally, I'd say that Andrea's summary of the prologue goes along with my take on it too. Maybe Fien's right that it's not 100% realistic, but there certainly are reasons why they could be waiting long enough to make sure the fire's taken hold: e.g. eliminating traces of where they've gone, other records of von Ralick, even maybe evidence that von Glower is also a werewolf? They'd certainly want to stop that being known. Certainly von Glower unable to tear himself away from watching the fire, as his life up to that point is destroyed, feels right.

My slight reservation, as I've already commented, is that the man who comes in and says "Schnell! Die Kutsche wartet!" (2 sentences Fien ) most definitely does not say it in the tone of a servant or similar. It's much more like a command. So who is he? Certainly not von Ralick! A relative (brother of von Ralick or his wife) would make sense I guess.

Looking forward to Andrea's trivia!

[Fien]

Originally Posted by DaveyB

Not got a clue what Fien means by "Yippie dung". Either I'm losing my grasp on the English language or Fien means "Yuppie" or "Hippy" hope not the later, otherwise I'll be vehemently disagreeing with her too...and having seen recent levels of "politeness", I'd rather not risk that .

What! You don't know what yipple is? Tsk tsk. Fortunately Andrea does, because he participated in the community playthrough of the very funny game Zork Grand Inquisitor, led by yours truly. (Live dangerously! The true adventurer tackles Fearsome Fien with one hand tied behind his back. )

Here’s a nice pic of yipple.



"The yipple is a master of disguise, able to alter form to match its surroundings. If disturbed in the wild, some yipples may bite. They make wonderful pets, but should never be allowed to rest in the cookie jar if guests are expected. Yipples are violently allergic to many kinds of animal wastes."

Quote of the Day:
What a load of yipple dung! (Antharia Jack)

PS: I think Andrea and I are okay again, but I apologize to anybody who has felt offended in this playthrough by my...eh... somewhat abrasive personality.

[Sughly]

Wow, plenty to be said in here since I last visited . As usual, you're insight was very interesting Andrea! Thanks for all the info and guiding the playthrough for us all - I feel very privelaged to play through the game with everyone on my first turn. I'm sorry if I said that already - I can't remember any more...

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

Chapter 3 - Examine mask in Von Glower's house (1)

If this is what I'm thinking of, it was this that gave Von Glower away for me almost definitively - something about the link between South America and the lycanthropy book's mentioning of all that to-do over there. Memory already getting rusty . But yeah, I was like c'mon! He's a friggin' werewolf! He has to be!

[Little Writer]

Exactly, Sughly, do you could argue that he was one of the Manos del Sol instead (though indeed not very likely).

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

I noticed that some of you didn't finish the adventure with a perfect score of 679 out of 679, and I thought you may be interested in the missing points.If you're looking for a complete point list, I'd recommend the Sierra Help's The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery Point List, which is very thorough and reliable.

I don't need those for GK1 & 2 as I made my own walkthrough/points list sometime after I read the novels. The only guide I would need is for Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. As you probably remember I never managed to get the full score during the community playthrough. I've no idea what it was I missed, but hopefully the next time I play it I'll find out.

I'll probably post some trivia about the game and a bibliography about various subject tomorrow

Goody.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Fien

PS: I think Andrea and I are okay again, but I apologize to anybody who has felt offended in this playthrough by my...eh... somewhat abrasive personality.

Absolutely! No harm done

And Davey, if you didn't play Zork Grand Inquisitor, try to do so as soon as possible because that game is simply amazing.

[DaveyB]

Ok, good tips from you both, thanks...though at the moment me & my wife have managed 1 day of "The Pandora Detective" in the last 4 months - we're a bit short of time & have Bad Mojo, & Edna Bricht Aus still unstarted. Still, another one to add to the list (together with The Last Express)...

So if I understand it correctly, even without the word "Yippie", Fien's thoughts on Camilie Paglia are pretty clear...and the same as mine!

[UPtimist]

Just started playing the game this week - yeah, I'm a little late - but I'll be sure to check out what all of you have been talking when I have any spare time. I won't be making much comments as, you know, the show's over already, but maybe I'll do a summary of my thoughts once I've finished and read what's been said here.

Anyways, I felt like I should be at least some part of this disussion (the greatest game series, after all), even if it is the day after the party and only the cleaning people are left. And of course I had to thank Andrea for the awesome work. Too bad I always miss the action when I have the chance to participate

Dreading the end though. Those are the only parts in GKs I don't really enjoy at all as much as the rest. That is, the parts where you might die (and usually due to un-AG-like parts (like the semi timed puzzles of GK3 (though I'm not sure if that's the usual meaning of the phrase "timed puzzles") or the weird randomness of going to the wrong room or being too slow at certain things in GK1). For example, I've not finished GK3 nearly as many times I've entered the final time block. Still, the greatest games ever (and so far I feel that the order of betterness is in reverse to the actual order, that is 3>2>1(>all other games (though not unexceptionally) ))

[seagul]

Hello everybody,
I haven't got the time to take part in this playthrough, but i love the Gabriel Knight series.
So I read little by little every bit of your discussion.
It was a great experience, even if I could not participate directly.
I want to thank you all, especially AndreaDraco for his insights.

Right now I'm reading The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail - it wakes the desire in me to replay GB 3 ... it nerver ends!

[AndreaDraco83]

I finally found some time to finish up the playthrough properly, so, considering that we have already covered all three Gabriel Knight games, I thought it would be nice to post some interesting interviews and articles about the whole series and, in particular, The Beast Within. So, without further ado...

A Gabriel Knight series overview — this is an interesting overview by Dan Ravipinto, who also reviewed the three games for our site. Ironically, this overview was written in 2004, after the E3 announcement of Project-J. Well, we're still waiting for Gray Matter, so...

The Making Of... The Trilogy — a remarkable article from Edge Magazine, enriched with an interview with Jane Jensen.

Interview with Robert Holmes — in this amazing interview, Robert talks about writing the music for the three games and explains the challenges of writing a Wagner-like opera for The Beast Within

Interview with Dean Erickson, 1 — a lenghty and interesting interview with my favorite Gabriel!

Interview with Dean Erickson, 2 — another interesting interview from a fan of the series.

Interview with Peter J. Lucas — it's no secret that Baron Von Glower is my favorite character of the whole series, and this interview address a lot of interesting questions about the game, the shooting and even Von Glower's sexuality.

The Real Life Location Tour — in case you missed this earlier, from this blog you can view every video in this awesome location tour. I recommend particularly the two parts that make up the original 2008 tour.

A Love Letter to Sierra — In 1999, Jane Jensen wrote an editorial for The Adrenaline Vault and text is still actual today. A very recommanded read.

As a final closing note, if you're interested in werewolves and their occult lore, there are two books that you must absolutely read, and I recommend them both wholeheartedly:

Montague Summers, The Werewolf in Lore and Legend, Dover 2003
Montague Summers, Vampire and Vampirism, Dover 2005 — This one is obviously focused on vampires, but it draws some fascinating comparisons between the two myths.

If someone is interested, I also wrote a paper, Trials on behalf of supposed Vampires and Werewolves, that was originally to be published on the Gabriel Knight 4 Campaing website. I can't copy/paste it here, mainly because it's too long, but if you're interested let me know.

Also, if you want to say in the mood and keep your Schattenjager skills sharp until Gabriel Knight 4, I recommend you to read the Encyclopedia of Haunted Place, Castle Books 2008, and visit some of the ghostly locales presented in the encyclopedia. Some of them, even if you don't believe in the supernatural, make up for a stunning historical or architectural visit.

And now, let us all hope that Jane Jensen will some day pen the fourth adventure of our favorite Shadow Hunter.

[UPtimist]

Well, I'm not quite finished yet, but so far anyways that the plot's clear to me (in the opera scene), so here's a few thoughts.

First of all, I said above that I feel that the further the GKs got, the better they got and indeed that still stands. What a game! However, while the storyline was incredible, the killer-part was in my opinion very predictable. It didn't bother me, it probably was quite clear to Gabriel too, after all he didn't do much snooping outside the Hunt club. Originally I thought that they all were werewolves though, but I'm glad that wasn't the case (and eventually I changed my views). Still, not the kind of epicness to the story like GK3. Though obviously the story is still somewhere far, far above most games. The Grace parts were again really clever and just fun (and interesting and so on...) and I'd love to know how much of the "facts" were in fact real, how much was applied truth and how much was simply made up.

It's great how in the part where you can actually shoot the wolf, and you can see the telltale signs of Von Glower (if you read the book), how he can't actually kill Von Zell, how he has earplugs so the howling won't change him...

Somehow to me it always felt like Gabriel was a younger Gabriel than the one in the other two games, while Grace was older than at least in GK3. Both did a fine job though, even if not quite at the level of the voiced cast. I was originally a bit "terrified" about how the FMV would work, but I'm surprised at how well it did work, and it really gave the game such an original mood (and it looks so much better than what they would've accomplished with painted graphics). Also, while I loved the... interesting performance by Von Glower, sometimes I felt that if they ever made a parody (or even if they just had to recast the role) they would have to get Will Ferrel for it. It was just hilarious sometimes the way he acted (but to me that's just a good thing - everyone's not so alike, they actually have personalities). Also, just yesterday I watched Intolerable Cruelty and noticed Mrs. Smith there. Oh, what fun...

Loved Gabriel's humour again, like "what are they hunting here... Ninjas?"

Again, the end's parts where you can die were a bit dull, but fortunately they were way better than #1 and quite better than #3, and it was rather short. So, I didn't really mind it this time.

So, back to finish the game, I suppose And to read this thread at some point. And to read the links Andrea just provided (thanks! )