Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (PC) - Retrospective and Review 

Love those old Sierra and Lucas Arts adventure games. I still go back to them on occasion myself.

Tim Curry hamming it up as Gabriel Knight is burned into my brain forever. What can you tell me about "cabrit sans cor"? And thanks Pam! For introducing me to Eli Easton!

"What can you tell me about Voodoo"? Fantastic review of one of the most important games of my childhood. This game is one of the reason I was inspired to live in New Orleans when I was younger! The whole series is phenomenal, but the first game and original voice cast is iconic!

I live in the Dominican Republic, the country right beside Haiti. And my Haitian friends tell me that even themselves are afraid of Voodoo. So, I wouldn't blame 90s American game designers taking this approach to Voodoo. Great retrospective!

this one I never played, I really like point and click games, what caught my attention the most was the artistic style of the game, which is incredible.

You know, for whatever reason I have never played GK. And I love all the adventures of the 90s. I need to remedy that. Thanks for the great vid as usual Pam!

Awesome contribution! Thanks for especially fletching out the part with the voice actors. Pretty interesting.

I loved that series alot. I'm so happy that channels like yours and that of Pushing Up Roses are still holding the flame of Point and Click adventure so high. May this genre never be forgotten.

"He can't let any conversation with an attractive woman go by without saying something creepy" then "I wish Malia Gedde was permanently grafted to my thighs." lol.

I’ve watched your videos in the past but you’re quickly becoming my favorite RU-vidr after watching a bunch lately. Thanks for the quality content, Pam! -bianca

I love all the research and creative blending of folklore and history that Jane put into the Gabriel Knight series.... Unlike most Sierra-quest games... GK is very free of walking dead scenarios. I love Tim Curry, and liked him a lot in the first game. The third game though... his voice is just.... I can't describe it.

Yet another amazing review and criticism! Thank you so much for doing these videos as they help me bridging the gaps between games I wanted to play during my childhood and what they truly are. You are great!

This is such a great retrospective review. Thank you so much for sharing it!

What a cast of voice actors!!! Wow! O.o

Gabriel and Malia are supposed to be drawn together against their will. In the comic that came in the box, the same that happened with Gunther Ritter and Tetelo, which is why he was so crazy for Tetelo that he gave her the family amulet and the Ritter family power. It's implied to be supernatural in origin, so it kind of makes up for the rushed romance.

I never had the opportunity to play this game growing up, and I didn't even know about it until I saw a review of it that Pushing Up Roses did awhile back. It seems to have a similar charm to the Broken Sword series, which I loved playing when I was younger. In particular, I really enjoyed Broken Sword 2. George Stoddart seems to be a bit similar to Gabriel Knight. Haha.

I recently was stuck at home, sick for a few weeks so finally played the remake--and then went looking for youtube vids about the original and came across this. I played the game when it came out when I was 13 and it blew my young mind. I admit, even with all their issues, I became so attached to this world that I enjoyed the sequels (as well as Jensen's Grey Matter and, yes, the very flawed Moebius which I still kinda want a sequel for knowing now that it was going in a M/M direction and that wasn't just my imagination. But I digress...) All the faults you give are definitely fair (and surprisingly, Gabriel's constant come-ons are NOT toned down in the remake which seems to basically use the same dialogue.) I could get past that by just thinking of it as pulp fiction from a different era, but I get that others mileage may vary (I did have less of a crush on Gabriel though than I did as a teen--or maybe it's just that he looks awful in the remake.) You raise a good point about "real world set adventure games." I was trying to think if there had been any I'd played before GK, since I had been playing Sierra games for about 5 years before then, since I was 8 or 9. I had never played any of the Police Quests--and I'm not sure they count as they're not in any particular city. However, I did think of the Laura Bow games (and hey, the first one takes place right outside of New Orleans,) both of which I absolutely loved and in some ways felt like a warm up to Gabriel Knight. However, though they take place in real locations, *actual* locations aren't used, so...

Terrific review. This is a landmark title, but with the shortcomings you mentioned. Another shortcoming is that, as I recall, one of the puzzles puts you in a dead end: if you don't perform the exact action, the game won't tell you, and it lets you continue playing until no progress is made. Many old adventure games did this. Today's games simply won't let you progress until you do the correct action. The 2013 remake remedies this by doing just that.

It was great to hear you go over the game and give your opinions, it's one of those games that I just missed, although I do have it on CD.

RU-vid recommended your channel to me. I checked out a couple of your retro video games reviews. Really good stuff really enjoyed it. I'm definitely a subscriber now. Good shit.

I was 15 when I got a copy of this back in 1994 and it took me until Red Dead Redemption 2 before I got as invested in a character and story in a game again. Gabriel Knight is, even today, in the Top 3 games I've ever played. This was prior to the internet, so you could easily be stuck on puzzles for days, if not even weeks. I only got past the GPS puzzle because a friend of mine had read a hint in a magazine. To this day, the music from the game brings back good memories. If you haven't already, I also recommend you read the book - even if it's basically the game word for word.

I played and loved this when it came out in the early 90s, but didn't have the version with all the voice acting! Imagine my surprise years later finding out that such an all-star cast was what I missed out on.

I adored this series so much, yes even Beast Within which wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s definitely ripe for a fresh new entry.

If you are enthralled by the Gabriel Knight milieu, there is a 1987 horror film called "Angel Heart" where Mickey Rourke plays a detective investigating murders and voodoo rituals in New Orleans. It has many of the same elements in Gabriel Knight such as mysterious ladies, terrible secrets, nightmarish visions, etc., right down to the scummy male character. Like Gabriel Knight, the film is a product of its time in terms of female portrayals. One scene shows the detective uncovering clues in his notes while undressing his secretary. The sex scene in the film between Rourke and Lisa Bonet originally got an X rating.

Was always curious about this one. Great review, as always!

As much as I was a fan of the Quest for Glory series, the first Gabriel Knight easily stood out as my favorite point-and-click. Grace was major crush material. I was thrilled when I found out I could get it off GOG. Sadly, I didn't care for the sequels or the remake. The visual style and voice cast of the original game just nailed it for me and with those missing, I'm just not interested. When Dad saw me playing this back in the day he pointed how some of the locations were real places in New Orleans. It took over twenty years but eventually we traveled there. It was the last time we would ever take a trip together.

I absolutely adore Virginia Capers. I can't recall any other games having such an influential narrator.

I love your work Pam. Great review

I did try Gabriel Knight a while back. I played it all the way through and enjoyed it. Some of the puzzles were impossible and had to look up a guide for help. I love artwork, it's some of the best for 90's point and click and I personally love the narrater's voice when I inspected anything. It was very charming and personable.

Thank you for the review! I liked this when I was just getting into computer games. It was so hard for me! Knew tim currey was involved, but did not know the others were involved! Love this review! Thanks for the old feels!

“What can you tell me about Voodoo?” Love these games.

Just wanted to add that the Sargent at the desk was voiced by Jim Cummings, the voice actor behind Winnie the Pooh and countless other iconic cartoon characters. Thanks for remembering and keeping these games relevant to a new generation :)

Man, last time I heard anyone talk about this series was a game Informer article from 2011, very cool to see. Great review

You and PUR are probably the people I associate most with pont-and-clicks on here, so I am very happy to see you tackle this one.

I remember how, as a console gamer growing up, I was always envious of PC owners. Those adventure games were a big reason for that. Great video as always. ^.^ Gabriel Knight was one of those names I'd heard, but didn't know much about.

oh cool, was always curious about this game. Great video.

“This is NOT that kinda bar” 😂 when you touch the guy’s butt in the bar.

I can't imagine this game without Virginia Capers. Her delivery feels like the voice of the city.

I love this channel. It’s so cool.

Tim Curry doing an irish accent on top of a New Orleans accent, whilst saying french words is... quite a thing to behold with your ears.

i also played this game when i was a kid and loved it. i played through it again about 5 years ago and still enjoyed it quite a bit. i would say you can figure out 85% of the puzzles on your own no problem, but there are a few like the clock puzzle that are kind of ridiculous. somehow i've managed to keep my copy of the physical hint book that came with the game. also there's a really awesome mini graphic novel that used to come with the game as well that's worth reading.

Never played this game but I LOVED Tim Curry! Thank you for the content and it’s great to see you on this Sunday holiday!

Wow this was a great review! I also appreciate that you still talk retro games, as most other channels wandered into other subjects when de-monetizing became a thing, which was a bit of a F%@$# you to the fans who subscribed for that in the first place haha. Anyway, I feel your channel started out good, but seems to consistently get better as you go along, for what my two cents are worth, and is quickly becoming one of the best. My personal suggestion: I enjoy when you add personal anecdotes or memories of the game more, as it is just nice to hear about personal reactions to the games. How you got your first copy, etc. Just my thoughts on the inclusions I enjoy the most. KEEP UP THE GREAT VIDEOS!

I’d only heard of this game in passing till now-looks fun. And that voice cast, wow!

excellent review of one of my favourite games

This video was a delight! I knew very little about the series (but at least have some real reading on voodoo)

thank you very much for this video i never played it but i'm fan of the genre. and i also remember it from the old days

This is one of the 'classic' point & click games of the 90s I never got around to play, so thanks for the well made review. Oddly enough I was searching for reviews of it just a couple of days ago.

This is a delightful review. I really miss the feel and the mood of oldschool point & clicks. Some of my favourites are the two first Monkey Island and the two first Broken Sword.

Nextlander just finished a playthrough, and man, I loved it.

Keep up the good work pam. Love your work.

Love you Pam

Dang these A list actors did voices in a Sierra game. That's pretty awesome. There's also a book on this game. I read it in elementary school (I think) it was pretty good too.

Really love your review of gabriel knight😊😊

I've had a desire to go back to the Adventure game genre a lot in the last 2 weeks. My favourites of the late 80's and 90's were Future Wars, Cruise For A Corpse, Beneath A Steel Sky, Darkseed, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Fate Of Atlantis, Operation Stealth, Legend Of Kyrianda, The Longest Journey, Rise Of The Dragon, Dreamweb, Bloodnet... ahh.. the list just goes on and on ;)

Great video. I still fire this game up every few years. My friend and I play it together over discord voice chat. So much fun!

Great video Pam!

Hey Pam! Cool game and cool review! 🤗

Can't say I've even heard of it so I appreciate the introduction.

Hi Pam, another great review, this looks like a fun game to play. I think I’ll get it for my daughter, she loves these types of adventure games. 😎👍👍👍

Love point and click adventure games. Thanks for this great video.

10:11 So glad you showed that! This game taught me a valuable lesson as a kid: *Sleep on it*. I could NOT get past that damned zombie all night, and got absolutely furious. Then I got up in the morning and immediately clicked on the branch to try and jump over it (jumping is something you can't do at any point in the whole game!) because it was the only possible thing left to try. And it worked! Thank you Cannot be Tamed! What do you know about Voodoo?

this was a great franchise all the way down to the infamous cat hair moustache puzzle that killed it

Seems like a very interesting game. Thanks for posting this review.

Spot on review. Really good. My two cents: The Seventh Guest and Myst are more puzzle oriented, this one is a more graphic adventure point and click deal. So those of you thinking of grabbing this title (and if you played Myst or The Seventh Guest) should be aware of this. As for GK I always thought he was a monumental douche... I can I only image what it would be like to pop this in and play it again today. In The Beast Within he's a live actor every bit as douchy as the character and he's constantly pulling is long hair back... wanted to punch him every time. I really like it when you talk about the writers and developers of the games, that's how I choose my games/music: I look at producers and writers and see what else they did... so I kind a' wished you had gotten even more sidetracked XD. I had forgotten Jane Jansen was involved in the writing of my favorite game of all time-->KQ6. Again, super cool and thorough review! want more!

Wow, this looks like it will be great to be remade!

This is one of my favorite point and click adventures - I played this when I was in college and missed some classes due to this game. I grew up in Louisiana and enjoyed seeing all these places represented here though of course my upbringing was much more prosaic than world presented in-game. I bought the remake recently but haven't played it yet, maybe it's time to give it a go!

Good game, this, back then. Loved it, and have also played all the GK games in the series. The 2nd is my favorite. And then Phantasmagoria 1 and 2. Yay!

Never played any Gabriel Knight games before. Perhaps now I will. Thanks!

I apologize for the necromancy, but GK1 is one of my absolute favorite games and IMHO the best P&C adventure Sierra ever made. Thank you for making this video

Im interested. This is like a mix of Maniac Mansion and Deja Vu, 2 games that made up my childhood.

Like your review! This is totally my favorite p&c adventure game. The combination of stellar cast, music, and interesting story really made an impression on me in the 90's. I suppose if the remake had included the old voices, I would have liked it better as that was my main complaint.

Are we going to talk about how much Gabriel is Conan O'brien?

Gabriel Knight remains my favorite adventure game series. I originally played the 3.5" disk version of Sins of the Fathers with no voices so MY Gabriel Knight was Dean Erickson and Tim Curry just sounded wrong by the time I got to GK3. I've had the Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition in my Steam library for a while but have yet to fully play it. Granted, I also need to repurchase and finish GK3, but earlier attempts were always at the end of my computer's life cycle.

What did you mean when you said: "Cabri san cor"?

I tried to play the remake first and got stuck at Jackson square, tried again about a year later with the original and not only had no issues, but liked the presentation a lot more. I really think there was a thing with adventure games where you had to have a humorously reprehensible protagonist. Sort of the ironically charismatic but bumbling narcissist who is easily made the butt of everyone else's jokes. I don't know if the trope started with Leisure Suit Larry, but he's a good example. They make for some good snarky dialogue, but the dynamic falls apart and turns cringe quickly when you toss in the initially reluctant love interest who inexplicably succumbs to their unrelenting harassment. I was super into Gabriel Knights story at first, like you said the voodoo history bits were really interesting and the game writes in a lot of fascinating characters. I was really hoping the story was veering more into the territory of "killer is taking advantage of the prejudices of a misunderstood religion" but was ultimately let down in the climax when it turned 180 and was all "JK these black people bad haha" I know it was 1993 and Jan Jensen was writing a glorified romance novel but I really think it was a missed opportunity for something more impactful.

I remember Virginia Capers from her role in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

for a long time i couldn't get the music from my head

Lots of comments here, but just wanted to say this was a joy to watch you did an excellent job!!! GK is still such an inspiration to me, while playing it now it can be a little cringy and frustrating for the reasons you mention, it really seems like it struck a nerve with just the right demographic at just the right time bc it totally rocked my world back then. I was about 11/12 and a huge X Files fan myself haha! I'd read GK novels if they existed bc the idea and characters were so fun. Side note: I played the 2013 version a little but clearly not as charming as the OG. Thanks again for this awesome video! PS OK I have to admit after playing at such an impressionable age, I wanted to live in New Orleans and be a used book store owner demon hunter adventurer for most of my 20s. So far I have the motorcycle and I'm a working professional artist so I'm 1/2 living the dream hahaha 😆 😂

GK! Man, you have impeccable taste in gaming. It’s funny you mention the cringy dialogue, I was watching Bio-Dome and noticed a lot of stuff that wouldn’t fly today that I never noticed before.

keep up the good work

Was Michael Dorn filming TNG at the same time as this VO session? ... trying to figure out if it's a Klingon thing or he actually rocks that moustache voluntarily 😁

I played a Gabriel Knight game once, long ago and I don't remember which one. I didn't know that this game had many celebrity voice actors. Besides this, it's funny you reviewed a game that was a lot about voodoo! xd

I loved this game! And yes I wanted to visit New Orleans because of this game.

I've always been more in the Lucasarts camp than Sierra and while I've enjoyed some of the latter's games quite a bit Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers is the one that I'd put above a lot of the Lucasarts ones even. I love a lot of things about it but I think the tone and atmosphere, and how well they accomplish them with the limitations they had to work with, are the things that stick the most to me. The few pixels that add up to create a staring face in the window, the drummer etc, they all make you feel like you're being watched through out the game which is such a unique accomplishment.

So many classic stories involve book stores....Gabriel Knight...The NeverEnding Story....You've Got Mail. P.s. Gabriel wouldn't have survived the Me Too movement...

Very good video!

Regarding your point about why Malia Gedde would fall for someone so obviously below her station; the game's novelization (yes, there is one) elaborates juuuust a little bit about the subject by hinting that neither Malia nor Gabriel really understand why they're so attracted to each other and when Malia visits Gabriel at his home and he states "you came" she replies something along the lines of "didn't have a choice". The novelization alludes to the fact that the romance between Gabriel and Malia is in fact a cosmic re-enactment of the romance between Günther and Tetelo with one side subconciously seeking validation of their conviction that history will repeat and one side subconciously seeking to right what went wrong the first time. This culminates in a very slight change in the penultimate scene in the novel where Malia doesn't break free of Tetelo on her own but instead, Günther's spirit very briefly addresses his former lover through Gabriel and tells her "Forgive me for being such a coward. I love you still." after which Tetelo relents. Malia still decides to let go and end things then and there though. You could argue that Malia falling for a guy beneath her station because she's simply a helpless pawn in a cosmic game isn't that much better than her simply having a shallow taste in men, but "cosmic plaything" is pretty much how Malia describes her entire life in the actual game, so it still fits.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers along with Secret of Monkey Island, were my two favorite PnC of all time. Awesome games.

This game is an all-time favourite. It's upsetting that the chances of having a fourth game in the series is quite slim.

Tim Curry was the thing that really put me off in the 3rd Gabriel Knight. I think if we got a more Mature Gabriel in that game, it would of been much better. I actually kind of enjoyed the 3D engine. It just seemed like his character reverted back to the 1st game character forgetting all the character growth from the 1st and 2nd games.

I love this series, great review!! The voice acting cracks me up 😆

I recently got both versions of this on GOG and I have started the original but I have a problem in the police station that is apparently quite common. In this release, apparently frames move too fast so theres an interaction with the desk officer that i cant get to work as a result. Though this video has inspired me to go back and look at it again and see if theres a work around for it.

Great modern analysis of a point and click classic.

Yes! Gabriel Knight, one of, if not the, my favorite game of all times! The story is amazing and the puzzles are challenging enough, the characters are perfect and I just can't get enough of it^^

I have not the brains nor patience for point and click games, but I love the way they look and play. Never heard of this one, the backdrops are beautiful here. These games usually have great humor and more mature themes, here's hoping the Blade Runner remake is good.

The remake fixes a lot of the annoying menu and control issues, but I wish there was an option to revert between the original voice cast, like there is to revert between the original art style. Also, have you really, never seen a privileged woman fall for a ‘boy’ from the wrong side of the tracks? Plus, he kind’a looks like Sting, and ladies *love* that guy.

Just finished the game, it has a lot of charm, and the overall theme (the culture of the region, voodoo etc) is very well implemented and quite fascinating, unfortunately I find the writing very cheesy, and some puzzles design is quite outlandish, overall it's still worth playing. PS: nice channel.

I played these games as a kid downloading ripped versions from abandonware sites and the like. I loved them so much. Then I bought "Blood of the sacred blood of the damned" and his character was completely ruined by his ridiculous voice acting. I laughed out loud when I heard him ask for coffee which was the first time I heard his voice ever. Still what a great series.

Very on-point review once again! I agree with all of the issues you have with the game, starting from the archaic verb interface which put me off of it for many years and the issues with the writing. I think Grace somewhat works as a character in this game (the voice acting certainly helps a ton in this regard), but damn in GK2 she is really badly written and it annoyed me to no end. Are you looking to tackle the sequels as well? The remake fixes a few issues such as the interface, the ability to turn off the narrator, presenting Jackson square as one screen instead of 4 etc But then it goes and replaces puzzles that kinda didn't work in the original with other puzzles that definitely don't work. Not to mention replacing the entire cast for the game, which never made sense to me, but they probably did it because they couldn't get access to higher quality recordings and had to use the compressed originals. IMO still better than the alternative, but I guess the new voice cast was not bad. But how can you ever compare? Overall though, considering this was 1993, I was amazed at just how dark and well written the game was, especially compared to previous Sierra games (and later games even, I'm looking at you Phantasmagoria!). Generally not a huge Sierra fan, but I played the GK games for the first time just a few years ago and I loved every one of them. They are all very different games and I do think the original is the best in the series, however I personally really loved the 3rd one despite some really bad writing, awful ending and overall issues with its design. I loved the ideas it had, the virtual tourism it provided (which is something you touched in your review and something that GK2 also excels at), the very Agatha-Christie-like whodunnit concept... Just wish it was executed a little bit better.