Gabriel Knight: 20th Anniversary Edition - remake by Jane Jensen

[Gragt]

I guess I'll replay the first game since it's been ages since I did. I even took the comic book with me here in Mexico.

Edit: thinking about it, while I still do not like remakes, I could accept if they did a new and more modern edition of GK1, tidying the screens a bit and maybe improving the music (MIDI could sound very different whether you had a Sound Blaster or MT-32) and of course make it run on modern systems without using emulators. That way it could refresh the GK serie, be released at budget price (maybe even update the version on GOG for free for those who already have it) and pave the way for a sequel without taking too much ressources, but heh …

I'm more inclined to see a remake of GK2 if it actually adds meaningful stuff, like that chapter where the player was supposed to take the role of Ludwig and hide the opera, trimmed to a single cinematic in the final game. And I'm not talking of trite added sequences similar to the modern version of Broken Sword.

Of course that won't happen and I'll curse them anyway.

 

[Drakron]

GK2 is a FMV game, it doesnt work or rather ... to do a remake you would have to make a entire game from scratch even more that GK1 because its a FMV game, it uses photo backdrops and sprite animations.

Also it works pretty well as a FMV game that amazing considering how shite those tended to be, a remake without it would be ... a loss.

 

[DeepOcean]

GK2 is a FMV game, it doesnt work or rather ... to do a remake you would have to make a entire game from scratch even more that GK1 because its a FMV game, it uses photo backdrops and sprite animations.

Also it works pretty well as a FMV game that amazing considering how shite those tended to be, a remake without it would be ... a loss.

Yep. GK 2 was an excelent game and a part of the charm ist it being a FMV game. If you make a remake, you lose the actors performances (Grace and Von Glower performances are quite good for a FMV) and the scenes with real props that gave it a certain charm. A remake would be just GK 1,5 with a weaker storyline.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Hopefully they will keep it set in the early 90s and won't add blackberries or internet. I could see them updating it with a shitty in game Iphone interface or something.

 

[Infinitron]

Hopefully they will keep it set in the early 90s and won't add blackberries or internet. I could see them updating it with a shitty in game Iphone interface or something.

They'd better not! The game's plot depends on Wolfgang not being able to successfully make contact with Gabriel until a week into the game. That could never happen today.

 

[Keshik]

Well, Gabriel does ignore him for a bit. Maybe Wolfgang can get flagged as spam, or something.

 

[Abelian]

Remaking GK1 is like painting gluing a cat-hair mustache on the Mona Lisa.

FTFY

I recently bought GK1 since I never played it, so I'm going to pass on the remake. I did finish GK2 and enjoyed its campiness.

 

[m_s0]

Well, Gabriel does ignore him for a bit. Maybe Wolfgang can get flagged as spam, or something.

From what I've read they don't plan any rewrites for this remake, so I doubt they're going to update the setting. GK1-3 belong in the 90s anyway. Changing that would be a big mistake and would probably ruin the atmosphere of these games.

I just hope this one remake is enough to get GK4 off the ground. That would be a much better use of the license owner's good will. If there's even a chance for GK4, that is.

 

[Abelian]

This is my main problem with Jane Jensen. She is brilliant, there is no arguing that. But there are ALWAYS stuff that makes her always very good stories go sour. Some chapters of the said story, that is. Mostly the endings. [. . .] As for GK2, the ending seems off to me. I have read some explanations in this forum, but I am still not convinced ; you pretty much murder Von Glower because fuck you.

I've read that there was supposed to be a whole another chapter before the final one, where you played as King Ludwig and hid the opera around the castle.
The production costs were already too expensive so they cut out that part. That's why they needed Gabriel to have his vision of Ludwig for exposition purposes.

As, for Gabriel's motivation in killing von Glower, it's found in the in-game book Lycanthropes: Lore and Law:

A person who becomes a werewolf against his will (birth, curse, or bite) is not completely damned until he tastes of human blood. Once he does, his soul is eternally damned and nothing may redeem him. Even without tasting of human blood, however, as long as the taint lays upon the immortal soul, it cannot enter into Heaven, and will remain chained to the mortal plane upon death.
[. . .]
The victim does, however, have some hope -- as long as THEY THEMSELVES do not taste of human blood, the curse is reversible. If the Alpha werewolf is killed -- THROUGH SOME ACTION OF THE BETA -- the Beta's curse is broken.

I do have a gripe regrading apparent clues that didn't go anywhere, such as finding how the Ritter ancestor died, why wasn't the warning letter to Ludwig sent, why the different measurements for the theater mattered and the significance of the wooden mask (that may just be a red herring).

 

[Infinitron]

Activision hates Linux: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/12/cracktivsion-gabriel-knight-remake-linux-version-banned/

 

[Redlands]

Activision hates Linux: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/01/advent-calendar/

Correction: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/12/cracktivsion-gabriel-knight-remake-linux-version-banned/

 

[SCO]

Microsoft bribe.

 

[taxalot]

I am actually wondering when this is going to start : console manufacturers are payiing developers for exclusives. When is Microsoft going to pay for a game not to be on linux ? It is starting to make sense for them to do it now. Linux gaming is having a boom even though it is nothing to be amazed at yet ; they probably are going to want to kill it in the egg though : for a lot of gamers, the switch to Linux isn't happening only because of games.

I wonder if Activision is really being honest when they gave a correction to RPS.

 

[Keshik]

GDC trailer, shows a couple of scenes.

 

[suejak]

Ugly as sin. Only thing I liked was the music.

 

[Gragt]

If Roberth Holmes handles the music, it's probably gonna be done well. The 2D cutscenes look ok but at first glance the 3D characters do not have the charm of the old sprites. I guess I could get used to them but I'm not sure it's a change for the better.

 

[Jaesun]

That actually looks half way decent (I was expecting a LOT worse). Just do NOT fuck up the score for this game.

 

[RK47]

Good enough.
Looked fresh.

 

[Aeschylus]

That actually looks half way decent (I was expecting a LOT worse). Just do NOT fuck up the score for this game.

Well, considering the guy who wrote the original score is working on the game, I think it should be ok.

 

[ghostdog]

I vastly prefer the low res hand drawn 2D to this. Also are there going to be new voice overs ? If so, I won't bother.

 

[tuluse]

The only cool thing would be if they had the original recordings before they had to compress them for release and could include those. No more pops and skips!

Otherwise, I don't see the point of this remake.

 

[Abelian]

The only cool thing would be if they had the original recordings before they had to compress them for release and could include those. No more pops and skips!

Otherwise, I don't see the point of this remake.

I'll answer with two Pink Floyd lyrics: "Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash" and "And did we tell you the name of the game, boy? We call it 'Riding the Gravy Train'"

I find it sad how it's become increasingly common for video game developers to revisit past hits with remakes and enhanced editions, hoping to get old fans to buy another copy and to attract new ones who might be put off by the older graphics.

 

[suejak]

I don't think it's sad; I just think it's being wasted on point-and-clicks that were already beautiful. Why mess with perfection like GK1? Go all out and give me a decent remake of SQ3, LSL2, Maniac Mansion, or some other beautiful 16-colour monstrosity.

What would be really interesting is a GK2 remake in this style, with no FMV. That's worth the money.

 

[taxalot]

What would be really interesting is a GK2 remake in this style, with no FMV. That's worth the money.

No. God no.

 

[DeepOcean]

The only cool thing would be if they had the original recordings before they had to compress them for release and could include those. No more pops and skips!

Otherwise, I don't see the point of this remake.

I'll answer with two Pink Floyd lyrics: "Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash" and "And did we tell you the name of the game, boy? We call it 'Riding the Gravy Train'"

I find it sad how it's become increasingly common for video game developers to revisit past hits with remakes and enhanced editions, hoping to get old fans to buy another copy and to attract new ones who might be put off by the older graphics.

If this is to test the viability of a GK 4 made by Jane Jensen, I'm okay with it and even if GK 4 doesn't materialize I think she deserve having her work recognized more. Jane Jensen is one of the very few gamming writers that have talent, she achieved something difficult, characters with personality with stories that explore unusual themes and take you on a journey exploring voodoo, bavaria and France. On contrary to other Sierra veterans, she actually stayed on the gamming industry all those years instead of throwing the towel like the others. Even Gray Matter that in my opinion is her weakest game, it is a quality adventure game when you compare with the shovelware garbage that is released lately.