Adventure Gamers - Forums

I am in the middle of Conquests of Camelot: The Search For The Grail, by Sierra/Christie Marx.
This is my second play through, the first being ~ten years ago, and I am really enjoying it. There are a few arcade sequences, but once you figure out the trick to each one they are not so challenging. The puzzles are very reasonable and logical, and the art and atmosphere are excellent. A large part of this is due to Christie Marx’s writing, which I think is some of the best the genre has ever seen. All of her games (this and Conquests of the Longbow) are such labors of love, so thoroughly researched and carefully crafted. Her stories, her characters, and the worlds they inhabit, are imbued with such a sense of time and place that I lose myself in them like in few other adventure games. Oh, and most importantly, her games aren’t just a sequence of puzzles to be solved and obstacles to be overcome—they feel like going on a real *adventure*. Just so good.

On the down side, the text parser, while *very good* has a few frustrating imperfections. For example, I spent a while knowing something was in the well, but didn’t think to SEARCH THE WELL instead of EXAMINE THE WELL for quite some time, which was a little irksome. Yeah, examine and search are two different things, but close enough that I think the parser should have treated them the same.

Anyway, great game so far. But not as good as Conquests of the Longbow, which is my favorite adventure game ever.

I started playing Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within a while ago.
The first chapter was great. There’s a campiness to the mediocre acting, and some of the puzzles have been of *very* high quality, especially the one where you splice the tape to fake a phone call - that one was exquisite!
And while we only see him for a couple of minutes at the end of the chapter, it’s already obvious that Von Glower is going to be an interesting character.

But then Chapter 2 started, and it completely halted me in my tracks.
Grace is such an annoying, jealous and petty character that constantly blows hot and cold, that she’s completely turning me off of the game. I dread continuing because of how much I dislike her here - which is odd because she was such a great character in the first game.

Finishing this game is going to take some perseverance if every other chapter features Grace…

TimovieMan - 02 March 2021 01:14 PM

But then Chapter 2 started, and it completely halted me in my tracks.
Grace is such an annoying, jealous and petty character that constantly blows hot and cold, that she’s completely turning me off of the game. I dread continuing because of how much I dislike her here - which is odd because she was such a great character in the first game.

Finishing this game is going to take some perseverance if every other chapter features Grace…

If I promise Grace will behave better in later chapters, do you promise you will finish this marvelous game?

But she will always be a somewhat prissy schoolmarm, she can’t really help it.

Karlok - 02 March 2021 01:20 PM

TimovieMan - 02 March 2021 01:14 PM

But then Chapter 2 started, and it completely halted me in my tracks.
Grace is such an annoying, jealous and petty character that constantly blows hot and cold, that she’s completely turning me off of the game. I dread continuing because of how much I dislike her here - which is odd because she was such a great character in the first game.

Finishing this game is going to take some perseverance if every other chapter features Grace…

If I promise Grace will behave better in later chapters, do you promise you will finish this marvelous game?

But she will always be a somewhat prissy schoolmarm, she can’t really help it.

Does she get better or do we just get used to her? Either way, she is still the weakest link in the game. FMV is a double edged sword—charm, whether due to great acting, writing, etc. or the campiness of doing those things poorly—can make a mediocre game a good one (or at least, an enjoyable one, if you’d like to make that distinction. But utter lack of charm/charisma can be so grating as to make an otherwise great game very difficult to enjoy. Much more so, I think, than in a traditional animated game.

Still, in the case of GK2, the game is good enough that it’s worth persevering through Grace’s lack of grace. Heck, speaking of lack of grace, the entire game is kind of awkward, despite it being often hailed as ‘a pinnacle of the FMV era’. But it’s still really good, so don’t give up!

Baron_Blubba - 02 March 2021 01:57 PM

Karlok - 02 March 2021 01:20 PM

If I promise Grace will behave better in later chapters, do you promise you will finish this marvelous game?

But she will always be a somewhat prissy schoolmarm, she can’t really help it.

Does she get better or do we just get used to her?

Karlok is correct, Grace definitely improves. I think that most people who have played GK2 would be of the opinion that that bit in Chapter 2 (and a little bit further on if memory serves) is decidedly naff and not really in keeping with the overall character but I’d say to Tim it’s well worth persevering past that bit.

I just finished the very unique Gorogoa, which I really enjoyed.  The artwork is lovely and the puzzles within the four screens were quite fun to figure out.

I also finished Pahelika: Secret Legends and am now playing the sequel called Pahelika: Revelations.  The first one was almost like an escape the room game while the second allows for more movement between scenes.  I would call both of them adventure-light games since there are puzzles within a story and no hidden objects, but they’re very linear with automatic saves when exiting.

Jabod - 02 March 2021 03:02 PM

Karlok is correct, Grace definitely improves. I think that most people who have played GK2 would be of the opinion that that bit in Chapter 2 (and a little bit further on if memory serves) is decidedly naff and not really in keeping with the overall character but I’d say to Tim it’s well worth persevering past that bit.

IMO the terrible overacting has a lot to do with it. If Grace showed her jealousy and anger in a subtle way that would make her character much more interesting. With a few exceptions (like Von Glower and Herr Doktor Klingmann) everybody is overacting dramatically, like that idiotic woman at the museum who starts shouting and banging her fist on the counter when Grace asks a perfectly normal question. And Kommissar Leber made me cringe every time he opened his mouth. Gabe himself is also nothing like the Gabriel from the first game. I found Dean Erickson’s performance convincing in the few scenes where he doesn’t have an attitude. So I guess the director is to blame for the overacting.

TimovieMan, if you’re still reading this: The amazing story alone is reason enough to play GK2. Jane Jensen did a great job. The historical facts are all correct btw, except perhaps for the werewolfery. For me, GK2 stands out for the story, the music, and the FMV cut scenes (chapter 6 in particular).

GK2 is one of the best adventure games ever. Yeah, Grace is annoying at first, but if you can let it go, the rest of the game worths it (you don’t know the neurons we lost trying to translate the tapes puzzle and make it work…)

My biggest problem with GK2 was not Grace (although I also found her very irritating), but Gabriel. Played it after the 1st and 3rd chapters and just didn’t see him in Erickson after what Tim Curry did to the character. His voice, his half-smile and clumsy movements just didn’t fit the cynical womanizer and fearless evil fighter. Of course, today I think he did a pretty decent job taking all other attempts at FMV adventure making, but the game is still far from my top ratongs, unlike other two chapters. Enjoyed Von Glower and Kommissar Leber though despite his overrating and atrocious German accent))

Karlok - 03 March 2021 04:02 AM

TimovieMan, if you’re still reading this: The amazing story alone is reason enough to play GK2. Jane Jensen did a great job. The historical facts are all correct btw, except perhaps for the werewolfery. For me, GK2 stands out for the story, the music, and the FMV cut scenes (chapter 6 in particular).

If you are interested in learning more about Ludwig II and his relationship with Wagner, there is a very cool book called The Dream King, by Wilfrid Blunt. I happened upon it in a used book store once while in the middle of or after just finishing playing Gabriel Knight 2, so of course I picked it up. On it’s own, it is just a ‘good’ book. As a companion piece to GK 2, it’s excellent.

I also found Grace to be very irritating in GK1 as well, it’s just the way she is. I’m used to her and actually find her abrasive personality to be kind of funny after awhile.

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I’ve just begun my Nth play through of Conquests of the Longbow, an early 90’s Sierra adventure game by Christy Marx.

I play this game every couple of years. It’s my favorite adventure game, and one of my favorite games full stop. I’m sure my high regard for the game is partially due to nostalgia, but even when I look at it through as objective a lens as I possibly can, it is still a monolithic achievement in point and click gaming—by the standards of any time, but especially when you consider the time in which it was made. I’ll tell why I think so in a future post, once I’ve completed it. For now, I’ll just say that if you haven’t played it and are looking for a wonderful *adventure* to get lost in, please give this a try.

I am playing Lamplight City. So far so good, it looks like I’ll be able to complete it. Not the best game I’ve ever played, but it does have some charm. I’ll report more later, I’ve only just started it.