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Mystery Game X - Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, 20th Anniversary Edition
Old games had such a low resolution so can anybody really claim they looked realistic? I think you had to use your imagination quite a bit to really get a clear image of what things looked like. This has lead to the current state where different people have formed different images in their head.
To me it looked liked the first Gabriel Knight game was inspired by Pointillism. This was probably done mostly due to the huge pixels. If you look at the cover box or the comic you should get an idea of what style the game wanted to aim for and I belive this is what they’re trying to do with the remake. I think the graphics is reminiscent of oil paintings from the Romantic period which should suit the game great if you think about story and theme.
NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr
You mean Ruskin Spear? So you want less realism and more like Cognition? Can’t say I agree on that one.
EDIT: Oh, now I get it. You compared the comics from the first and third game. Still, Cognition looked much closer to Ron Spears illustrations than the GK remake seems to look like IMO.
NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr
Not sure about the purpose of “This” posts, but I have a feeling people want to see exactly the same game… Which can be already bought on GOG. I’d say this is how the new team sees the Gabriel universe, just like any director re-imagines classics with their remakes. More realism for Sierra, more mysticism for Phoenix. The same happened to Monkey Island series that went from more or less realistic characters to a completely Disney-ish world of Curse of Monkey Island they tried to keep in later remakes. Changing the mood, while not something I’m happy about, is their right. Especially with Jensen’s blessing. It’s gameplay that matters.
What’s wrong with wanting the same game? The game already exists and is already a classic. There was no demand for a new GK1. It stands to reason than an “update” should be just that, not a total philosophy change in design.
That said, nowhere did I say they had to just make the exact same game. But the differences in style I pointed out are very big. There’s a lot of middle ground between real-life and fantasy I would willingly concede.
It still feels like the same game though. You still have the creole narrator reading Gabriel the paper every morning—still have a slightly nagging Grace on your ass the whole time. Honestly, once you get used to the new visuals, you slip right into the usual paces of the game. At least, that’s how it felt to me.
Old games had such a low resolution so can anybody really claim they looked realistic? I think you had to use your imagination quite a bit to really get a clear image of what things looked like. This has lead to the current state where different people have formed different images in their head.
To understand what they were going for, you kinda had to be there. Back then those WERE “realistic” graphics. That was also the mindset of the time in a lot of games, the cartooniness was often just a side effect of poor graphics, and not necessarily an artistic vision. There wasn’t “pixel art” in those days, that was just the most advanced you could get. Everyone wanted “modern graphics” not retro. Retro would’ve been a ridiculous idea. You could argue that the fact that GK2 went for straight-up real actors underscores that perhaps they were on a quest for more and more life-like game experience.
A lot of games around that time were starting to use “digitized graphics” which were basically shitty sprites that were based on images real actors. Think Mortal Kombat II. Sierra was among this, think Police Quest 4. GK1 fits more in that mold than it does in the KQ mold. But I wouldn’t necessarily even go so far as to say they were thinking it looked fully real, but the lighting and vibe of NOLA during the first half of the game is very naturalistic at the very least. The stores were lit like a typical novelty shop. The police station was a cold, boring police station. Gabriel’s book shop was a charming mom-and-pop, but it didn’t have magical fairy dust trickling in from the windows. Nothing is really exaggerated beyond what you’d find in real life. The sky was blue. Not majestic purple and orange with a disney sunset. It was all very much set in the “present-day” (90s) and was meant to lay a foundation of realism with a slight seediness. This sets the stage for the story to turn to the supernatural later. All the GK games basically follow this formula when you think about it.
It still feels like the same game though. You still have the creole narrator reading Gabriel the paper every morning—still have a slightly nagging Grace on your ass the whole time. Honestly, once you get used to the new visuals, you slip right into the usual paces of the game. At least, that’s how it felt to me.
That’s good to hear. I’ll play it, I’ll probably enjoy it because it’s still GK1. I just really wish the art was different. I’ve yet to see Phoenix do artwork “right” imo.
Also I bet you anything they simplify some of the puzzles. Namely the drum language stuff.
Also I bet you anything they simplify some of the puzzles. Namely the drum language stuff.
I know for a fact that a few have been changed and some items have been moved around, but I don’t know any of the specifics—I didn’t see anything in the limited time I had with the game. Supposedly all the changes were to things that Jane wasn’t satisfied with from the original, for whatever that’s worth.
Also I bet you anything they simplify some of the puzzles. Namely the drum language stuff.
I know for a fact that a few have been changed and some items have been moved around, but I don’t know any of the specifics—I didn’t see anything in the limited time I had with the game. Supposedly all the changes were to things that Jane wasn’t satisfied with from the original, for whatever that’s worth.
I do recall her saying that some of the stuff was changed in her novelization of the game, and that some of that made its way into this.
Bt
I posted a recent interview she did on another site. She specifically mentioned some location from the book that have been added in, like the outside of the police station and how she has written new puzzles for that area.
about 1:22.
It’s not the best interview as he talks too much rather than getting Jane to talk.
An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams
Thanks for posting this.
Really good interview. Lots of stuff I didn’t know.
What’s wrong with wanting the same game? The game already exists and is already a classic. There was no demand for a new GK1. It stands to reason than an “update” should be just that, not a total philosophy change in design.
That said, nowhere did I say they had to just make the exact same game. But the differences in style I pointed out are very big. There’s a lot of middle ground between real-life and fantasy I would willingly concede.
But we all understand the reason behind this remake: to interest new people so that new Gabriel Knight 4 will become possible. Pleasing the same old gamers won’t do the trick, even if they’ll instantly buy the remake. I wouldn’t be surprised if this kind of change was a pure marketing decision. Although I fail to see it as fantasy setting. Just some comic touch, along the lines of latest Batman installments.
PC means personal computer
The narrator has a Creole accent again? That’s awesome.
Old games had such a low resolution so can anybody really claim they looked realistic? I think you had to use your imagination quite a bit to really get a clear image of what things looked like. This has lead to the current state where different people have formed different images in their head.
To understand what they were going for, you kinda had to be there. Back then those WERE “realistic” graphics. That was also the mindset of the time in a lot of games, the cartooniness was often just a side effect of poor graphics, and not necessarily an artistic vision. There wasn’t “pixel art” in those days, that was just the most advanced you could get. Everyone wanted “modern graphics” not retro. Retro would’ve been a ridiculous idea. You could argue that the fact that GK2 went for straight-up real actors underscores that perhaps they were on a quest for more and more life-like game experience.
A lot of games around that time were starting to use “digitized graphics” which were basically shitty sprites that were based on images real actors. Think Mortal Kombat II. Sierra was among this, think Police Quest 4. GK1 fits more in that mold than it does in the KQ mold. But I wouldn’t necessarily even go so far as to say they were thinking it looked fully real, but the lighting and vibe of NOLA during the first half of the game is very naturalistic at the very least. The stores were lit like a typical novelty shop. The police station was a cold, boring police station. Gabriel’s book shop was a charming mom-and-pop, but it didn’t have magical fairy dust trickling in from the windows. Nothing is really exaggerated beyond what you’d find in real life. The sky was blue. Not majestic purple and orange with a disney sunset. It was all very much set in the “present-day” (90s) and was meant to lay a foundation of realism with a slight seediness. This sets the stage for the story to turn to the supernatural later. All the GK games basically follow this formula when you think about it.
You must have misunderstood my post completely. This must come as a huge shock to you but I “was there” at the time (or a year later to be more precise). I don’t get the whole “retro” thing you’re talking about here. When you say “cartooniness was often just a side effect of poor graphics” you’re basicly saying the exact same thing I said.
But I still don’t get your reasoning behind “realism”. What games from the early 90s do you think had the same style as the GK remake have today but with lower resolution? What current games have realistic graphics in the same vein as you imagined the GK remake to look like?
NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr
But we all understand the reason behind this remake: to interest new people so that new Gabriel Knight 4 will become possible. Pleasing the same old gamers won’t do the trick, even if they’ll instantly buy the remake. I wouldn’t be surprised if this kind of change was a pure marketing decision. Although I fail to see it as fantasy setting. Just some comic touch, along the lines of latest Batman installments.
Well if they really want to interest new people(and make Gabriel Knight 4 become possible)must redesign gameplay as an action ag like TWAU or at least like Cognition but never a p&c like BS5.
“Going on means going far - Going far means returning”
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