I don't know, I have no ulterior motive for starting this thread except I do want to talk about voodoo.

Magic people, Voodoo people! The Voodoo "who do what you don't dare do" people!

I liked the research that went into the first two games. I was a bit disappointed with the way they tied up their respective plots - they could've been more daring, after getting into potentially subversive subject matter, but they went kinda whitebread instead.

The sleaziness of the first Gabriel Knight was a little too much for me, I guess this is what a bad boy acted like at the time of release. Beast Within Gabriel is one of my favourite AG characters, intuitive, charming and playing just a little dumber than he actually is to get people talking. I liked the inclusion of Grace and the way her approach was different from Gabe's, the jealousy angle was a bit on the tropey side, though.

The code on the wall puzzle in Sins of the Father and the tape recorder puzzle in The Beast Within were fantastic and still get mimicked - here's looking at you, Kathy Rain.

..back to Voodoo. Or Hoodoo. Or both?

Any personal experiences you'd like to share?

I miss the FMV point and click genre so much! There were only a few games made in that style and it's so cool to be able to basically live the experience of being an actor in a movie and choose what to do. Modern FMVs are so passive with just clicking dialogs, they lack immersion. I really want GK4, Jane Jensen has the story ready and is willing to work on it, but the roadblocks seem to be plentiful. ><

The three games are so different from each other. The first one is still the most memorable. The atmosphere was incredible.

I also really enjoyed the game Jane Jensen made afterward: Gray Matter.

I love all 3 games in their own way, for example I like that they each have a different art style, but I have to say my favorite is part 2. Dean Erikson isn't as good as Tim Curry, how could he be, but he he still does a great job considering the constraints of the job, and the actor that plays Von Glower is perfect. The story feels so epic and rich, and I love the art style with the kind of touched up photographs.

I could play armchair game designer and nitpick little details in all of the games (I'm from Louisiana originally... there's no way he would be wearing a leather trench coat in summer) but they're all masterpieces. The stories, puzzles, settings, blending of history and fiction, etc etc etc. Just so good! I've always hoped for a part 4, but still, having 3 games this good is enough.

I’ve never played GK3, and it’s been a very long time since I played GK2, but I *love* GK1. It is so wonderfully disturbing, in a GREAT way! Playing it in my mid teens certainly made an impression… I could not believe how grotesque Wolfgang’s death was, and was terrified of the zombies. I was pretty terrified by the whole plot, to be honest. The nightmare repeating itself every night... So disturbing. The poor guy dying in the church. The whole voodoo cult thing, and the way the plot keeps escalating, finding out about Gabriel’s heritage… No other game had a story like this!

I really need to replay it. There was a special edition released sometime, how do you feel it holds up? Is it best avoided, in favour of the original DOS CD version?
I really can’t play the «high res» version (the one that ran in Windows, I think). If I remember correctly, only the portraits, interface and certain objects were in 640x480, while the background art was still in stretched 320x200. It looked *horrible*. So even though the portraits were great, I really couldn’t. Original 320x200 was the only way for me...

Definitely avoid horrendous "special edition" and try to find original DOS CD.
It works well in both scummvm and dosbox.

Thanks! I already have the original DOS CD. Actually I think it is the SierraOriginals re-release, but probably the same content

I'll be fair and say that the special edition of Gabriel Knight 1 needs to be played at least once - they did at least try.

With that said, the original version is the superior one. I did feel a lot of the storyline material were stuffed in awkwardly in the Special Edition one. Still, support Jane Jensen, buy it on Steam.