From: Lucian Mogosanu Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 13:49:49 +0000 (+0300) Subject: posts: 005 X-Git-Tag: v0.2~34 X-Git-Url: https://git.mogosanu.ro/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=0eef503ed188a1c732801bd56bdf3a40c66a87d2;p=thetarpit.git posts: 005 --- diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-003-thumb.png b/images/2013/08/gk-003-thumb.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..275ba18 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-003-thumb.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-003.png b/images/2013/08/gk-003.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2adec3 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-003.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-007-thumb.png b/images/2013/08/gk-007-thumb.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da64b33 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-007-thumb.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-007.png b/images/2013/08/gk-007.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01d4290 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-007.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-008-thumb.png b/images/2013/08/gk-008-thumb.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..acafb74 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-008-thumb.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-008.png b/images/2013/08/gk-008.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..efdffab Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-008.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-009-thumb.png b/images/2013/08/gk-009-thumb.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4afbed0 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-009-thumb.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-009.png b/images/2013/08/gk-009.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b6a8fc Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-009.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-013-thumb.png b/images/2013/08/gk-013-thumb.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9aa9782 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-013-thumb.png differ diff --git a/images/2013/08/gk-013.png b/images/2013/08/gk-013.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b7a4cf Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2013/08/gk-013.png differ diff --git a/posts/005-gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers.markdown b/posts/005-gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3f33a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/005-gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +--- +postid: 005 +title: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers +author: Lucian Mogoșanu +date: August 4, 2013 +tags: gaming +--- + +

*Gabriel's mini-stereo isn't exactly +high-fidelity. Then again, neither is he.*

+ +Back in 1993, when all was fine and dandy and Sierra were still making awesome +games, they launched the first game from the Gabriel Knight series, written by +none other than Jane Jensen. I hadn't gotten to play it then, as I only got a +PC about five years later. Actually I only played Gabriel Knight about a few +months ago, which is pretty odd considering the bunch of awesome adventure +games I had experienced before. + + + +So then it was, long after playing the first two games from the Broken Sword +series[^1], that I gave GK a try: a random guy in a random city (New Orleans) +is having weird dreams about weird rituals, then wakes up in his boring, +typical American room. It seems that our Gabriel owns a rare book store, his +only employee an Asian American chick (Grace Nakimura) who on a first look +seems to be either frigid or just some stuck up bitch. Up until now, it sounds +like your typical American cliché. + +To drive the cliché further, this Gabriel Knight guy is also a writer, and he's +got a friend (Det. Mosely) who's a cop who's investigating a weird ritualistic +murder that just by some weird coincidence took place on the edge of the city. +Gabriel's ass is itching, so he decides to investigate the murder mostly all by +himself, which is just great if you're a guy with no prior detective +experience. In other words, even more cliché. + + + +Fortunately, the story gets interesting when Gabriel starts to delve into New +Orleans' Vodoo history, which, as far as I can tell from the point of view of a +non-specialist, is very well documented within the game. A lot of the high +points of the game are entirely made up of Voodoo lore, exploring the subject a +lot deeper than other adventure games involving more "exotic" cultures, from +what I've played[^2]. + +Another aspect that kept me hooked was the "little" things, elements of the +story, that come up as the story advances, from short poems to the daily +astrological forecast. Symbols are often present were you least expect them and +all these things are tightly integrated so that they give the player a more +book-like experience, an experience which is also enhanced by the narrator's +rather peculiar voice. This is more so relevant as the narrator doesn't just +give a piece of information, but she gives it in a non-dull, non-mechanical +manner. + + + +Most of the voice actors are top notch: Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn +and Jim Cummings are a few names. The acting didn't cease to give me that +annoying Hollywood-like feeling at the beginning, but it either faded away in +time or I got used to it. Besides that, the graphics are up to par with other +adventure games in the early '90s and the music (by Robert Holmes, Jane +Jensen's husband) adds greatly to the atmosphere. + +Frankly, I feel ashamed that I haven't played the game earlier. It's not my +favourite adventure, but it's original enough that I find it hard to compare +with others, older or newer, and I feel that I must give it its own separate +place in my book. + + + + + + +[^1]: Arguably the only games from the Broken Sword series. +[^2]: The Broken Sword games are one example.