Windows

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

Following a completely mysterious sequence of events I found myself before three discs with GK3 and something compelled me to put them in - just to see what had changed. After about three hours in I am relieved that it's still the greatest game ever in any genre ever made (regardless of what I said in the neighbouring thread).

They say that the greatest pieces of music are those that defy a one word association. That's why I find it hard to explain the rich tapestry of feelings passing through me, while listening to this.

No more GK, no more Grace, no more mysteries, no more music... Sad, really.

Oh, snap out of it, Martyne. Move along, everyone. Let the poor boy weep in solitude.

Oh, do I have to say it?

Oh, but whatever do you mean? ;-)

GK3 rocks my socks. Dig the free camera perspective. And the story is simply awesome. I mean, in what other game can you meet the Wandering Jew? :)

It's hard as hell, though. Typing words into that little computer required way too much thinking for my poor brain.

That. DAMN. MUSTACHE! PUZZLE )&#@$&)#@$#@

I hated the computer research part much more than the cat mustache madness.

It was just tedious. Often times I had already figured out the solution, but the game required me to first read some not-so-revealing article that just stated the obvious.

I blame GK3 for making me understand how important research can be. :p

It's a great game, no doubt, but why would you like it more than GK1?

Aside from the very cool 3D exploration feature, I prefer GK1 in every regard.

I guess my major complaint is that GK1 was actually pretty scary at times, but GK3 wasn't. For a game that so prominently features vampires, this is quite problematic.

Basically, the reason for preferring GK3 over GK1 (both of which are exquisitely great games, as you have said yourself) is that GK1 owes much to other Quest series of that time in its design, approach to art and general mood.

I do not want to say, that it wasn't original, but GK3 seemed more unique and being designed from ground up it really refreshes the stale formula of the adventure genre bringing new exiting, previously unexplored possibilities, to a computer game.

GK3 emphasizes two of the most important features I hold dear in adventures (and, maybe, in games in general) exploration and backstory. The research never felt tedious precisely because of the amount of though which went into developing the game's backstory. Mrs. Jensen is no slacker when it comes to pre-cooking stages.

Neither GK was really scary, so I wouldn't hold that against GK3 in particular. Perhaps GK was a little more moody, for the setting of New Orleans really does wonders no French province can replicate, but the whole scale of events unfolded in GK3 convincingly drives Sins Of Fathers into the ground.

Really, the only complaint I can level at the game (apart from weird moustached relics of the past of adventure game design), is that the day changing mechanics are completely unpredictable. There is no telling when a day would change, so it can be rather frustrating.