Some thoughts on GK2

[AndreaDraco]

For me, GK2 was the first GK. It is the reason why I love FMV games so much. I've played tons of them, and still GK2 remains to me the best. Yes, the Tex Murphy series is great, but, to me, the story and characters (Von Glower and Ludwig especially) of GK2 are simply unrivalled. And since when I play, read or watch something, story and characters are what matters the most to me, I consider GK2 my favorite adventure game of all time.

[Elindira]

Ok, so I've finished chapter 4, and I'm starting chapter 5. Chapter 4 was ineresting in terms of getting to know more about Ludwig, and seeing how a mental picture of him was formed in my mind through all of the research that had to be done. However, I did not like the fact that many things in the chapter were triggered by looking at specific displays, many of which were very well hidden and they were easy to miss. I got pretty stuck there a couple of times. Though I think the worst part was the flowers that I had to take from the church's garden; I tried to many times to do something with them, with no success... and finally making progress somewhere else made them blossom and be gettable.... which didn't make any sense at all.. Since I enjoy history a lot, I had lots of fun reading about Ludwig in this chapter... though I think the game mechanics for the chapter were not really that good.

In chapter 5, I've already started the club's "trip"... When I first went out to the forest, I kept on thinking about the bayou in GK1; I was pretty sure I was going to get lost in there forever, but I tried going into the forest nonetheless... which turned out to be good, as that was what I was supposed to do.

So far I've enjoyed the game, and again, being a history buff, I've enjoyed learning about Ludwig's history. But I can help but feel that my actions seem to be so limited because of the gameplay mechanics of the FMV format...

[Tawmis]

So far I've enjoyed the game, and again, being a history buff, I've enjoyed learning about Ludwig's history. But I can help but feel that my actions seem to be so limited because of the gameplay mechanics of the FMV format...

To me, GK2 is much more like an interactive story. Unlike GK1 and GK3, where you can virtually roam anywhere, anytime - GK2 seems more linear.

[Elindira]

Ok, so I finally finished GK2. If I look at the game as an interactive movie, I think I enoyed it very much. The story was very good, and some of the actors were pretty convincing too. And mixing a plot with historical events is always going to get me interested. I was surprised that they filmed a whole act of an opera for the last chapter; was that a made-up opera? That must have been really expensive, and it must have required a lot of effort, but I enjoyed that part a lot.

As for gameplay, I still stand by my previous assessment: I don't like FMV games as games. They feel too restricted, and the gameplay is seriously lacking in depth. But even ignoring this, there were enough pixel hunts and totally illogical triggers to stump me way too many times. But I actually did enjoy the last puzzle, even if it was very different from the rest of the game.

I kept on being surprised at how different the characters were from their counterparts in GK1, particularly Grace. Gabriel and Gerde had some notable differences, but Grace felt like a totally different character... apart from being different from GK1, her character was not very likable, something weird for your alter ego. (Btw, I just realized that the three characters from GK1 that appear again in GK2 start with G.. Gabriel, Grace, and Gerde... coincidence?).

So to sum it up: the gameplay aspect of the game was passable, but the story was wonderful. Anyway, I enjoyed the experience of playing it a lot. Now on to GK3!

[AndreaDraco]

What you say about FMV is certainly true: they're more restricted than their VGA counterparts, especially in the numer of hotspots present on screen. Still, I think that GK2 did a wonderful job at creating a vivid and consistent game-world, thanks to the use of colors, music and, of course, thanks to Jane's vibrant writing. The director, too, did a very good job, as did the cinematographer (especially in later chapters), and I liked most of the actors. But the most important thing, at least for me, is the unique atmosphere that permeate the game - the feeling to really be there.

And the wonderful, thought-provoking story! And the characters!

Is it clear that GK2 is y favorite adventure game of all time?

[Fender_178]

There were a few things in GK2 that annoyed me. In Chapter 4 you have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb or you cannot progress if you forgot the tiniest thing. Also the Final part of the Game where you play as Gabriel as a wolf and prevent Von Gower from escaping while preventing you from getting trapped in a room. Other than that I enjoyed the story plot of the game very much.

[Elindira]

I guess I agree overall with both of you. The atmosphere, plot, characters.... it was very, very good. But I had higher expectations of the gameplay, and the FMV limitations plus several ilogical puzzles/triggers were less than what I expected. But my overall experience with the game was very positive.

Though I have to say again, it seems that several people didn't like the last puzzle... I enjoyed it, even though it didn't seem to fit that well with the overall experience. Maybe it's just because I like that type of puzzle.

[Maxor127]

I don't think Gabriel Knight's gameplay is any different from other point and click Sierra games or adventure games in general. Go screen to screen pixel hunting until you solve all of the puzzles until you can open up the next section.

[Elindira]

I guess it depends on the level you are looking at the game from. At a high level, yes, the overall idea is the same. But let's compare it to GK1. In GK1, you had a lot of verb icons (too many in my opinion, but still), you could freely walk around the game world (like move two feet in that direction, or around the corner, etc), and you could generate a lot more different responses on your actions by trying out different things on characters or items (most of those responses were not really necessary for the plot). Having all of these in a FMV is much more expensive, so the level of interaction is much lower in GK2 than what it was in GK1. The game world feels much more constrained and emptier (again, in terms of interaction). Maybe there isn't that much of a difference deep inside, but at least it feels that way.

And I also have to say that there are some games that rely on pixel hunting much more than others, and GK2 relied on that a lot. The same goes for triggers, though my complain here is that the triggers in GK2 were easy to miss and sometimes very hard to trigger.

[Tawmis]

Though I have to say again, it seems that several people didn't like the last puzzle... I enjoyed it, even though it didn't seem to fit that well with the overall experience. Maybe it's just because I like that type of puzzle.

To me, it sort of reminds me of Gabe avoiding the zombies in GK1, and then the final puzzle in GK3 (I won't mention what it is, since you have yet to play it). But all three GK games to me have that themed puzzle at least once.

[BBP]

Of course, you could also start up the GK2 community playthrough.

I'm still waiting for you to do the playthrough as well Andrea.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now, with the internship and all. But maybe during the holiday season!

"It's the time of the season..."

[Mostly]

I didn't think this deserved a new thread so putting it here...

The funniest thing happened to me tonight. I was flipping through channels on tv and came upon a rerun of The X-Files that starts with mobsters playing poker. I recognized one of them as Nicholas Worth, who played Kriminal-Kommissar Leber in GK2 (most people probably know him from The Naked Gun and Darkman). Then I changed to the next channel and it was a rerun of Frasier, and the scene was Daphne flirting with the waiter played by Dean Erickson.

That got me thinking about GK so much that I posted in another thread about my idea for GK4. Maybe the universe wants me to replay the series? Either way that was a very pleasant surprise and put a big smile on my face. :p

[Tawmis]

I didn't think this deserved a new thread so putting it here...

The funniest thing happened to me tonight. I was flipping through channels on tv and came upon a rerun of The X-Files that starts with mobsters playing poker. I recognized one of them as Nicholas Worth, who played Kriminal-Kommissar Leber in GK2 (most people probably know him from The Naked Gun and Darkman). Then I changed to the next channel and it was a rerun of Frasier, and the scene was Daphne flirting with the waiter played by Dean Erickson.

That got me thinking about GK so much that I posted in another thread about my idea for GK4. Maybe the universe wants me to replay the series? Either way that was a very pleasant surprise and put a big smile on my face. :p

Wasn't aware Dean was in an episode of Frasier (not that I watched it), but it was a big show back in the day!

[Mostly]

I didn't think this deserved a new thread so putting it here...

The funniest thing happened to me tonight. I was flipping through channels on tv and came upon a rerun of The X-Files that starts with mobsters playing poker. I recognized one of them as Nicholas Worth, who played Kriminal-Kommissar Leber in GK2 (most people probably know him from The Naked Gun and Darkman). Then I changed to the next channel and it was a rerun of Frasier, and the scene was Daphne flirting with the waiter played by Dean Erickson.

That got me thinking about GK so much that I posted in another thread about my idea for GK4. Maybe the universe wants me to replay the series? Either way that was a very pleasant surprise and put a big smile on my face. :p

Wasn't aware Dean was in an episode of Frasier (not that I watched it), but it was a big show back in the day!

Yea he was actually in three or four episodes. I remember seeing him originally in a rerun back in the late 90s and thinking, "Holy sh*t it's Gabriel Knight!" Same thing when Kay Kuter (Werner Huber) played an Orthodox priest on Seinfeld.

I was never a full-time Frasier viewer when it was airing new episodes but I've seen a good chunk of the show over the years, since the reruns seemed to always be before or after Seinfeld's rerun slots.