Game Plane took the time to ask Jane Jensen a few questions about her favorite adventures, and the remake of the recently released Gabriel Knight.

Reproductions of old videogame series are often made for casual gamers. Should we expect a softer version of Gabriel Knight? Or does death once again lurk around every corner?

All of the original deaths are still present in this one, but we have added things like a retry that will take you back to just before you died. I think it’s a good update to have—you still have the death, and it’s still smart to save your game. But you won’t die and have to replay a large portion of the game, either.

What’s your game’s main target group?

There’s the obvious group of fans and players of the original GK games, and adventure game fans in general. I think the game and story appeal a lot to that more casual audience as well.

How do you want to introduce players to the game, who are not familiar with it at the time being?

We’ve added a few things to make the game friendly to new players. There are tutorial tips when you encounter anything for the first time, like the inventory or the dialogue system. There’s a First Time User Experience that tells you what everything on the screen does. We’ve added some in-game hints and the journal that recaps all of the important information you learn as you go.  The essential dialogue topics have been highlighted in most cases, as well. We’ve spread the information more evenly throughout the game as well, so players aren’t overwhelmed with too much on Day 1.

If any of you want to try out the new Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition you can as Steam now offers a new demo to download.

Experience one of adventure gaming’s most stunning masterpieces all over again in this blockbuster retelling of the award-winning 1993 murder-mystery, which adds all-new puzzles, scenes, and HD graphics!

Blending the best of yesterday and today, it re-imagines the 1993 original, voted one of the greatest games of all time, for an entirely new generation of fans. As struggling author and bookstore owner Gabriel Knight, players will investigate a series of savage ritual killings in New Orleans and their connection to voodoo’s sinister mysteries.

The deeper you dive into master storyteller Jane Jensen’s tale of terror and suspense, the closer you’ll come to discovering the secrets of Gabriel’s family history–and unfolding his destiny.

Pinkerton Road Studio announces that Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers Anniversary Edition is now available or PC and Mac, for $19.99 from major online retailers.

GABRIEL KNIGHT: SINS OF THE FATHERS 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION NOW AVAILABLE

Hi-Res Remake of Adventure Game Masterpiece Comes to PC & Mac Today with New Puzzles, Scenes, and Remastered Soundtrack

Mount Joy, Penn. – October 15th, 2014 – Pinkerton Road Studio today announced that Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers® 20th Anniversary Edition (www.GabrielKnight20th.com) has shipped for PC and Mac, and is now available for purchase online for $19.99 from major online retailers such as Steam, GOG.com and the Phoenix Online Store. Gorgeous high-res 3D graphics, new playable puzzles/scenes, a remastered soundtrack, and exclusive behind-the-scenes bonuses from concept art and storyboards to making-of interviews are just a few of many captivating new features to be found in this brand-new edition of the award-winning classic, which critics consistently rank among the best games of all time.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition builds upon and greatly enhances one of gaming’s most storied adventures, reimagining the groundbreaking voodoo murder mystery, first released in 1993, for an entirely new generation of fans. Allowing players to experience the award-winning tale through the lens of a stunning visual makeover, and adding entirely new backgrounds and puzzles, it offers a must-see mix of new and familiar challenges alike.

Key Features:

• Relive one of gaming’s greatest adventures of all-time
• Experience the award-winning voodoo murder-mystery in stunning high-res 3D
• Adds new puzzles and scenes to familiar challenges
• Includes remastered soundtrack by original composer Robert Holmes
• Enjoy special extras and bonus edition content

As struggling author and bookstore owner Gabriel Knight, players will investigate a series of savage ritual killings in New Orleans and their connection to voodoo’s sinister mysteries. The deeper they dive into master storyteller Jane Jensen’s tale of terror and suspense, the closer they’ll come to discovering the secrets of Gabriel’s family history–and unfolding his destiny.

As part of a special launch celebration, publisher Pinkerton Road Studios and developer Phoenix Online are hosting a Launch Day Google Hangout at www.youtube.com/POStudios today at 2 PM Eastern/11 AM Pacific/7 PM GMT. More information can be found at www.GabrielKnight20th.com.

Pinkerton Road and Phoenix Online have been leading up to the game’s launch with a 10 Days of Gabriel Knight Countdown, featuring screenshots, music and free content downloads, including a new Gabriel Knight short story, “The Temptation”, the first official addition to the Schattenjäger’s story since  1999’s Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. Fans can catch up on the various releases and activities here:
 10 Days of Gabriel Knight: www.postudios.com/blog/?cat=52
“The Temptation” short story by Jane Jensen: s3.amazonaws.com/POStudios_Games/PR/GK10Days_Day3.zip

The Gabriel Knight Blog Series: A look at the story, gameplay, features, history and more of Gabriel Knight: http://www.postudios.com/blog/?cat=43
Rediscover the Adventure Webseries: A webseries about the adventure and storytelling genre, featuring leading adventure game designers and industry experts: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL81fkQFV9OUluiUr2cbfQV4ZV6VzyNrL1

A site the name of Automaton posted a new interview with Jane Jensen about her soon to be released 20th Anniversary Edition of Gabriel Knight in October.

In the original version, Tim Curry voiced the title character, affecting a New Orleans accent for the role. The new Gabriel Knight is voiced by Jason Victor, whom Jensen discovered to be huge fan of the original game. “[Jason] was delightful to work with because he knew the game so well, and knew the character so well, that when we were in the studio he knew immediately where a line occurred and what the context was. He has a very deep voice, and he adds a more interesting earthiness to the character. Of course we love Tim Curry and we hope he's doing well, but it was interesting to see someone else's take on it.

“The only person we had difficulty casting was Gabriel. We couldn't find anyone among [BA Sound's] stable of actors. Jason had worked on the King's Quest game that Phoenix had done, and he was a big fan. We had even used him as a Gabe voice when we did our Kickstarter promos. We let him audition for that, and I loved it, and so did the voice director at BA Sound. When you do a character like that, he had 5,000 lines of dialogue, and it can be excruciatingly slow if he's not getting it.”

For the 20th Anniversary Edition, Jensen has added some new puzzles, locations, and gameplay tweaks.  “The approach I tried to take is not to reinvent the wheel on it. To stay as true to the original as was reasonable. It was something that was successful and that people loved, and we knew that the more that we changed it, the more the fans would have a problem with that... In the original game, Gabriel could ask anyone about anything. Which meant you'd have a dialogue tree that had twenty topics, and a lot of times that person wouldn't know anything about ‘Cabrit Sans Cor’, but you still felt like you had to ask them.

Pinkerton Road Studio today announced that Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers will be released on October 15th. You can also pre-order the game now.

Jane Jensen’s Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition Coming to Steam, GOG and Other Online Retailers for PC & Mac

Pinkerton Road Studio today announced that the highly-anticipated Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers® 20th Anniversary Edition, a modern remake of one of Sierra ‘s greatest adventure games of all-time, is expected to be available for purchase on PC and Mac on October 15th, 2014.

Licensed from Activision Publishing, Inc, overseen by original series creator Jane Jensen, and developed in partnership with leading indie team Phoenix Online Studios, this high-definition update of the adventure game classic Gabriel Knight adds brand new puzzles and scenes, gorgeous new high-res backgrounds, a remastered soundtrack, and more New Orleans flavor to the beloved original story, plus exclusive new behind-the-scenes material including original concept sketches, articles and brand new audio interviews with Jane Jensen and members of the original Sierra development team to provide a more complete view on the Gabriel Knight series than has ever been available before.

Preorders are now available at Steam, GOG.com, the Phoenix Online Store and more at 15% off the $19.99 retail price, and include the pre-order exclusive soundtrack by Robert Holmes.

In anticipation of the release, starting on October 6th, Pinkerton and Phoenix will be running a “10 Days of Gabriel Knight” countdown with a host of new assets releasing daily, including screenshots, music downloads, cutscenes from the game, and a brand new Gabriel Knight short story by Jane Jensen—the first new addition to the official Gabriel Knight canon since 1998!

Hailed by Adventure Gamers as one of the most well-written games ever and given an Honorable Mention in the AV Club’s Top 100 Games of All Time, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition invites players to relive the classic voodoo murder mystery that’s captivated generations of game enthusiasts for two decades.  In the game, players will take on the role of roguishly handsome Gabriel Knight, a struggling author and owner of a bookstore in New Orleans, who is investigating the Voodoo Murders for his new book: a series of savage ritual killings surrounded by voodoo trappings. But his search into the dark underbelly of New Orleans will reveal far more than who’s behind the killings, as Gabriel is drawn to the beautiful and aloof Malia Gedde, learns the secrets of his family history, and must comes to grips with his own destiny if he’s going to survive.

“It’s been a dream to be able to work on Gabriel Knight again, and I’m so exciting to bring it to a new audience. I think it looks amazing and it has all the classic gameplay,” said Jane Jensen, creator of the series.

“Gabriel Knight is the reason why I became a developer. It was a groundbreaking game that showed the power of Jane Jensen’s storytelling,” added Cesar Bittar, CEO of Phoenix Online and producer of the project. “

The honor of working alongside Jane in remaking one the most beloved adventure games of all times is definitely for me a golden opportunity, but also a huge responsibility, and we are doing our very best to ensure old fans and new will be thrilled by the results and ready to play as a Schattenjäger once again.”

More information is available at www.GabrielKnight20th.com

IncGamers posted a new interview with Jane Jensen about her remake of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. So here are a few questions. and answers I took as a quote.

TM: I suppose the most obvious question to start with, then, is: why remake Gabriel Knight? It was extraordinarily well-received and lots of people have very fond memories of it, so… why remake something that’s still so beloved?

JJ: Well, the original game was released in 1993. It’s very low-resolution – the characters are cute little blobs, and it really doesn’t impress a modern market. I guess our old fans still play it, but there aren’t too many new people that have adopted it.

Ideally, we’d like to bring back the Gabriel Knight franchise. We’ve been talking to Activision and we thought the best way to approach it was to redo the first game, which was basically like a pilot episode; it shows how Gabriel Knight becomes a Schattenjager. And from there, we might be able to proceed with new episodes.

TM: So was introducing new people to the franchise the primary reason for the remake, then? From what I understand this isn’t just a graphical update – you’re changing some of the puzzles, too.

JJ: We’ve added some new puzzles and some new scenes, and a couple of the older puzzles were changed as well, but it’s mostly the original gameplay with some additional material.

TM: Out of interest, which of the older puzzles were changed? I remember with not-much-fondness the clock puzzle in Grandma Knight’s house, amongst other things. Most of them were fine, and logical, and great! That one, though…

JJ: [Laughs] Well, that one hasn’t changed!

On… Day Six, I think it is, you sneak into Mosely’s office, and the original puzzle involved distracting the cops with a beignet vendor. It was sort of a silly sequence, and by that time in the game I felt like the mood should be much more serious and scary. So that puzzle has been revised, and we’ve added a new cutscene in there. How you get into his office is a brand-new puzzle sequence.

We’ve also added some exteriors to try to increase the feeling of being in the French Quarter of New Orleans, as a lot of the original game’s rooms were interiors, so we’ve added some nice exterior shots. Little things like how you get the snake scale at the crime scene has changed, too.