I've played all of the Gabriel Knight games, think they are wonderful & can play them over & over. I've also played Gray Matter which I found very engaging & thought had a deep & interesting story.

But there have been so many comments about GM not matching up to GK. Why?

The main criticisms I've read is about the Magician Tricks which I though were well integrated into the story. From what I can remember every GK game had a puzzle you rather wasn't there (were they timed?) i.e. getting past zombies? in GK 1, a maze puzzle in GK 2 & a swinging axe scenario in GK 3.

So were the Magician Tricks the problem?
Was the story not as good? or as I tend to think perhaps the way the characters were portrayed weren't as strong or as appealing as GK & Grace! I liked the characters but do you think it would have made a difference if JJ had made exactly the same game using GK & Grace in the roles? (somehow)

Why do you think for most players GM didn't match up to the GK series?

One thought I had is that Gabe and Grace grew up with the gamers plus they came fresh with no expectations. So the gamers were pleasantly surprised and loved it.

In Gray Matter; the expectations were high plus the gamers waited after some postponements. They are already leaning to a Gabe Knight way of story and puzzles, so there were some disappointment.

If you take GK series one game at a time, they are also of different quality to each other in the series.

If you compare GK 1 alone to Gray Matter I would say Gray Matter is way better. But to compare the whole series is not fair to Gray Matter. It is a different presentation of a story.

I think Gray Matter did have an engaging story, but the magic tricks took away from it, for me. Also, Gabe and Grace were more likeable.

It was not as easy to care for the characters in Gray Matter. Gabe and Grace played off each other really well, but in Gray Matter the main characters (and I can't even remember their names now) just didn't. It reminded me of a bad romance novel.

I don't feel that trying to compare Gray Matter to any of the The GK games is sensible, personally, but of course it's being done all the time !!

The GK games were all produced at a time when game expectations were very different and likewise Jane Jenson's ideas for game presentation would have have been very different, too.

For me, sadly, Gray Matter just didn't stand up. Regardless of who had created it

I found the repetative magic tricks very boring and as they were such an important part of the story I pretty soon became disenchanted with the whole concept.

But not liking this particular Jane Jensen game certainly won't stop me trying any others she might come up with.
She has a very special talent

Yup. Expectations were a lot lower for game resolution and graphics, and a lot higher for puzzles and puzzle difficulty. You didn't have repetitive "puzzles" like the magic tricks in Gray Matter.

I think Gray Matter could have been a lot better than what it actually is.
I personally didn't like the cut scenes at all. The character development was lacking. The puzzles weren't very well planned, if you'd ask me. Ending to abrupt. And generally - not as deep as the GK series. You just can't compare the amount of research made in games like GK2 and GK3 with that done in Gray Matter. And yes, people have waited for the game for like 8 years... so with all these factors, although it really is a great game, I find GK a lot better. And not because of their nostalgic value.

What Tomer said and then some. Consider GK2 as an example of development and research. King Ludwig was a historical character most here in the states know little about. Jensen with her historical digging created a story line where fact blended with fantasy so well you had a hard time separating the two. We know the mad king was not not a werewolf but Jensen almost had you convinced he might have been.

What Jensen accomplished with just that bit of the story was to drive many people to research Ludwig to determine how much of the story was fantasy. That was quite an accomplishment. I cannot at any level equate GM to GK2 or one or three for that matter.

As offered above you really cared for Gabe, Grace and friends in Gm not so much. One has a hard time remembering the character's names in GM let alone marvel at their endearing presence.

Thank you all for the interesting replies.

MaG, I have to agree that expectations were high - I think that as a series GK was very strong & it was diffficult for players to accept different charcaters & a change in direction of story elements.

JeanK, Mad & Jenny100 - I didn't really mind the magic tricks, which I thought fitted in quite well, but I think it's always a mistake for any developer to repeat the same type of puzzle over & over - you always come across a puzzle you hate but if it's one that recurs throughout the game it is going to dominate your experience if it's one that you particularly don't like! - Jenny100, I agree the graphics are better but also that a repetitive puzzle is going to influence your assessment of the game.

Tomer, I disagree with you a tad - I did get a good sense of the characters by the end of the game - & oldmariner, I do think that the game reflected a lot of research albeit it was not 'historical'. Also I do think that there was a blending of fantasy & fiction that made the story believable - well for me at least!

Overall, in comparison, I think that the voice acting was excellent in both GK & GM but the voice actors in GK were especially enigmatic & gave you much more of a sense of their personalities - but I would love to see the personalities of Sam & David developed in future games (I really got to like them so I live in hope!)

You're scaring me. I haven't played Gray Matter yet. It's in line after a dozen other games I have but have not played yet.

Don't be put off by our comments, GuybrushThreepwood !!

Everyone's tastes differ and Gray Matter could well be something you will really enjoy

Chrissie described exactly what made me stop playing Gray Matter: I hated the first magic puzzle, followed the walkthrough, and got past it, only to learn there were a bunch more to deal with! The game is still sitting on my computer waiting for me to find "time" to play it. Now I don't remember what I have done already, so I don't know if I'll ever complete it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Gabriel Knight games.

I enjoyed the game and the characters. About the puzzles (I mentioned this before) the only thing I disliked was the interruptions to go and buy the materials needed in the middle of performing a trick (not logical at all), it would make more sense to get the character to buy a stock of tricks at the beginning and later to use whatever was needed.

GuybrushThreepwood, story and graphics IMO are very good and characters touched me, if you choose games for a variety of well designed puzzles then you may not find it as enjoyable as I did.

GK games were something different altogether, I enjoyed them, and it was a different time and different expectations. We followed Grace and Gabriel and got familiar with them, was the appeal as strong after the first game? I am not sure. The personality of David, wounded physically and more important mentally, in an accident is very interesting as are his experiments. I find Samantha somehow the perfect match to get him out of his misery.

Hi Mary, if you didn't like the magic puzzles I can see why you've been put off! But,there is such an interesting story to be unravelled!

Those of you who have finished the game may find THIS ARTICLE interesting.

I loved Gray Matter. No, I don't think it had the depth of the Gabriel Knight games, but I do think it had more depth than most games. As I've said before, if it had been most any other developer, I would have been blown away by the game. Since it was Jane Jensen, my expectations were higher, so there was disappointment mixed in with captivation, if that makes any sense.

The puzzles were not as good as the GK games, particularly compared to the third with Le Serpent Rouge, but if given the choice, I will take a stronger story over stronger puzzles. (Of course, ideally, a game would include both.) I didn't mind the magic tricks at all, though when I first heard about them, they sounded more a lot more interesting than what we ended up with.

Now I do think the GK series had the better stories overall, but Gray Matter still had quite an excellent one, and I would jump at the chance to play a sequel. I still consider it one of the better games I've played, though in the second "tier" of my favorites rather than the first where the GKs reside.

Venus, I totally agree with what you write, with the exception that I can also really enjoy tough puzzle games, plotless, dry puzzle games. But then they should really declare themselves as puzzle games and not try and portray some shadow of a plot, which only takes away from their quality, if you ask me.
I think in Rhem it's almost clear that he hardly wanted to mess with the plot, it's almost a red herring, hardly serves as a motivation.
Sure, sometimes there are letters and strange Characters popping, but they're really sublime, and no one really cares who they are :-)
(wasn't the case in Myst - there I was always attached to the plot, even though it reveals itself slowly - which is why I like Myst a lot more, cause as you said, it ideally for me combines puzzles and plot).

I didnt enjoy Gray Matter at all - I just didnt feel involved with it, I wasnt absorbed in the story line, I didnt connect with the characters.
I found it exceedingly dull and was bored out of my mind - although I did persevere right to the end.
I'm glad some did enjoy it but obviously it wasnt the right game for me

I've just recently started Grey Matter, now in Chapter 3 where you play Styles.

I am enjoying the game, and the magic tricks don't bother me at all. (though so far they have been fairly easy to figure out).

I admit the characters don't grab me the way Gabriel and Gracie did. I especially can't seem to get into the Styles character, as he seems a bit 'dry'.

I am enjoying the storyline, and I'm glad to be playing another Jane Jensen game again, after a long absence.

Any idea if she has any new ones in the works?

Well, she keeps mentioning having a few scripts for GK4 but there are terrible rights issues...
And I think she would like to do a GM sequel if it sells well... unfortuntaly, I don't think it has.

She's working with Phoenix Online Studios on Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller. If they could do a Kings Quest series (Silver Lining).... who knows, maybe they'll take on Gabriel knight some time.

Sorry to say that I agree with all those who weren't keen on Gray Matter. I'm one who started the game, wasn't keen so left it while playing other games instead, picked it up once more but then was so bored I haven't finished it.

Mind you, to be fair, it's probably not a good idea to abandon a game after the first chapter or two, so often if one perseveres one will find that the game actually does improve as it progresses.

My main problem with it is to me it's lacking in atmosphere and I really can't feel any empathy for any of the characters, whereas the GK games grabbed me from the start with both storyline, characters, music and of course atmosphere and I've played and replayed those 3 GK games many times, admittedly not recently.

As for the magic tricks - I felt they were boring - but again, maybe I shouldn't even be commenting since I haven't finished it.

That would be fantastic. Here's hoping.