I know... I know... this game is a really.. really... old game... Hehehe... BUT, what can I do? I really.. really.. Love this game... *devilish smile* I just want to share my memories of this game to all of you... and this game is the first game I encounter with different type of technology everytime they launch the next version... the first in the series is Fully 2D animated classic P&C Adventure games like King's Quest, and the second is Video cast by real human (It took 6 CD's for this release), and the third is Fully 3D Graphics model... Well, this is as far as I know the first and only game doing like that... if you guys know any other game like this one, please fill me up to add my knowledge... I found this info from wikipedia & the pictures from Moby Games, and I thank to both sites for it.. Hehehe.... OK, let's start...

The Gabriel Knight Series focus on Gabriel Knight adventures, a New Orleans author and bookstore owner who finds that his destiny is to become a Schattenjäger (Shadow Hunter in German language). Gabriel have an assistant, sidekick, and sometime romantic interest. her name is Grace Nakimura, who have major supporting character in The first game and share the role of protagonist with Gabriel in the second and third games. The player alternates between Gabriel and Grace for different portions of each game.

The Games

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993)

The first game in the series introduces Gabriel Knight, a financially struggling horror novelist based in New Orleans. Gabriel is following a series of homicides, dubbed "The Voodoo Murders" for their apparent voodoo overtones hoping to use the police investigation, led by Detective Mosely, as the basis of a new novel. However, as he draws deeper into the investigation, and his shop assistant Grace Nakimura performs historical research for him, Gabriel links the murder spree both to New Orleans' voodoo past and towards the beautiful and mysterious New Orleans socialite, Malia Gedde.

Gabriel also discovers connections between the case and a horrific recurring nightmare which has plagued him all of his life. His investigation brings him into contact with Wolfgang Ritter, a lost family relative in Germany. Wolfgang informs Gabriel that his family has an ancient heritage in investigating supernatural evil and that Gabriel himself has inherited the mantle of Schattenjäger, a sort of modern day Inquisitor. Gabriel discovers that his nightmares are the result of a curse brought upon his family by one of his ancestors, and that only by embracing his calling and solving the Voodoo Murders can he undo it.

Gabriel travels to Germany and Africa, before returning to New Orleans to confront those responsible for the murders and his family's suffering. The climax ends with Gabriel choosing between love and forgiveness or fulfilling his duty, offering two different dénouement's as a result.

The CD-ROM version featured voice talents of such well-known actors as Tim Curry as Gabriel, Mark Hamill as Mosely, Leah Remini as Grace and Michael Dorn as Dr. John, a proprietor of a voodoo museum in central New Orleans.

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1995)

The second game follows Gabriel on his second Schattenjäger case. A year after the events of Sins of the Fathers, he has moved to his ancestral home in Bavaria, Germany to write his new novel. The population of Rittersberg, the seat of the Schattenjägers, are well aware of his family's reputation and when word reaches them of what is reported to be a werewolf attack in Munich, they compel Gabriel to go and investigate. Gabriel is joined in Germany by Grace, once she learns that he has begun a new case and hasn't asked her to join him. Whilst Gabriel follows a trail from missing zoo wolves to a mysterious men's hunting club in Munich, Grace conducts research back in Rittersberg and around Bavaria. Her investigations lead her to the history of King Ludwig II, the composer Richard Wagner and a shadowy figure known as the Black Wolf. Eventually the links between the cases become clear, and Grace discovers that the person in the greatest danger has become Gabriel himself.

The game was created using techniques developed in Phantasmagoria, with the characters and many objects captured in real-time video against blue screen backgrounds and appearing on "virtual sets" consisting largely of photographic backgrounds. Although this technique has come in for much criticism from games makers and players alike, The Beast Within was generally well received with the quality of the script and some of the performances coming in for particular praise. Dean Erickson plays Gabriel Knight and Joanne Takahashi plays Grace Nakamura.

The Beast Within was originally going to be much longer. Its original design indicated eight chapters rather than the published six, including one that required the player to act as Ludwig II and hide the Lost Opera in his castles. However, according to game designer Jane Jensen, the game ran over budget (almost a million dollars over its original three million dollar budget) and the required material could therefore not be filmed. It would also have taken up to nine CD-ROMs to incoporate all the additional story (the release version of the game shipped on six). This helps explain why there is a great deal of plot exposition in some of the cutscenes; particularly in the transition from Chapter Five to Six.

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999)

A year after the events of the second game, Gabriel and Grace are asked by the exiled Prince of Albany to protect his newborn son from a centuries old family threat which appears to be a group of vampires. Shortly afterwards, the boy is kidnapped and Gabriel follows the kidnappers to the mysterious French village of Rennes-le-Château. Gabriel's arrival coincides with that of a tour group; supposedly all in town hunting for a legendary local treasure linked to the Knights Templar, the Cathars and supposedly connected to the Holy Grail. Amongst the international tour group is Gabriel's old friend, Detective Mosely, from New Orleans. Gabriel's search leads him to investigate the members of the group and search the town. Grace arrives shortly afterwards and delves into the history of the area to try and find the connection between the kidnapping and the area's rich history. Together they uncover the truth behind an incredible mystery, stretching back to the birth of Jesus Christ.

A custom designed 3D engine, the G-Engine, was created to drive the game which allowed the player control of a free roaming camera to explore environments and to watch non-interactive sequences from any distance or angle. The creation of such an ambitious engine came at a price, however, and the game which was originally due for release in Summer 1998 didn't ship until Fall 1999 after changes in the design team and the decision to undertake a major rearchitecture of the engine halfway through production.[2] The detailed story was inspired in part by The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail book. Tim Curry also returned to voice Gabriel Knight.

Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned received mixed reviews with the general gaming press being less enthusiastic about the game's merits than dedicated adventure gaming publications. As with the other games in the series, though, most reviews of the game cited Jane Jensen's story as a subject for praise. The game received the dubious honor of being named "the last title of note in the adventure game genre" in an article on Old Man Murray in which the author uses a puzzle from the game to lambast the absurd puzzles of adventure games as a whole. It is the last adventure game to be published to date by Sierra Entertainment.

Principal characters

Gabriel Knight is the central protagonist of the series. Aside from his double duties as a novelist and supernatural investigator, Gabriel is also the proprietor of St. George's Rare Books in his hometown of New Orleans. Charismatic, sardonic, and intuitive, he has a way with women that has at times proven to impede the progress of his cases. When the series starts, Gabriel is a down on his luck author whose instinctive drive to solve a killing spree ultimately leads him to discover his family's ancient heritage as a line of supernatural detectives; the Schattenjägers. Upon the conclusion of his first case, Gabriel moves to Bavaria to reluctantly take up his birthright. His next two cases as a Schattenjäger are chronicled in the second and third games of the series.

Grace Nakimura is Gabriel's one time assistant, researcher and, eventually, investigative partner . At the start of the series, she has taken a hiatus from her Ivy-league doctorate ambitions and moved to New Orleans and took a job at St. George's Rare Books on a whim; partly to seek adventure, and partly to escape the oppressive tradition her Japanese parents try to push on her. Optimistic and intelligent, Grace has strong sense of danger, a willingness to believe in the supernatural, and a talent for research. When not book-keeping and researching for her employer, she practices Tai Chi and oil painting, two talents which prove useful in Gabriel's first case. The second entry in the series sees Grace taking a more proactive role, becoming a playable character who takes up the research and historical context aspect of the game, much to Gabriel's chagrin. She at times displays a hostility toward people who are unwilling to aid her in her research, in particular Gerde, the housekeeper of Schloss Ritter. Her perseverance proves vital to Gabriel's investigation and his life, leading him to re-examine his over-protective attitude toward her and regard her as a full partner by the time of the third game. While she often regards Gabriel with dismay and sarcasm, it is apparent that they do indeed care for each other, perhaps beyond the realm of the platonic.

Franklin Mosely is Gabriel's best friend since childhood. At the beginning of the series, he is working as a detective for the New Orleans Police Department. He dismisses the supernatural aspects of the Voodoo Murders investigation that Gabriel pursues, but as the facts of the case become undeniable, he proves himself as a strong ally in helping to solve the case. He returns in the third game, where he "coincidentally" is touring the same area in the Languedoc of France where Gabriel is investigating a kidnapping. He displays a suspicious interest in Gabriel's case and a reluctance to reveal his actual intentions. He and Gabriel have a playfully antagonistic relationship, with Mosely often ending up as the butt of Gabriel's jokes. He harbors a secret crush for Grace, and takes offense at Gabriel's demeaning treatment and overall attitude toward her.

Gerde Hull is the maid of Schloss Ritter; Gabriel's ancestral home. When Gabriel first meets her she appears as an anxious, enthusiastic, and misguidedly optimistic young woman. Her overwhelming concern and eagerness to help Gabriel find his great uncle Wolfgang is indicative of her love for him and, following Wolfgang's death in Sins of the Fathers, she agrees to stay on to help Gabriel out of loyalty to his memory. Still grieving, she presents a marked sadness in the second game, yet a rebellious resilience to Grace's hostile attempts to supplant her as Gabriel's research assistance. After eventually caving to Grace's will, the two women ally to save Gabriel's life. As Gerde maintains her position as the caretaker of the castle, she does not appear in the third game, which takes place entirely in France.

OK, folks... that's one of my favourite games... and, I hope it can add knowledge to the reader... and if I have made a mistake, please correct me... Hehehe...