Review Fix Exclusive: Jane Jensen Talks ‘Gabriel Knight’ Remake

Review Fix chats with game developer Jane Jensen, who discusses the remake and 20th anniversary of the first game in her critically-acclaimed “Gabriel Knight” series. With new music, puzzles and characters, its so much more than your typical remastered anniversary edition. Discussing how the game has played a role in her career as a developer, Jensen shares her thoughts on why she feels the new edition of the first Gabriel Knight is more than just a blast from the past.

Review Fix: How does it feel to see the series has reached its 20-year anniversary?

Jane Jensen: It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?  When I figured out it had been 20 years, I could hardly believe it. I like I’ve had a productive career or just incredibly olds, depending on the day you ask me.

Review Fix: How do you think you’ve grown as a developer and person during that time?

Jensen: I’m much more laid back than I was then. I’ve worked on a lot of games so I’m more able to roll with the budget cuts/design changes/hassles than I used to be. I hope I have broader experience now too since I’ve worked on adventures with various publishers, casual, puzzles and online games too. I think I’m a better writer.

Review Fix: Why is the original game such an important one for you?

Jensen: It was the first game I ever did where I was the lead designer and director. It was my concept, my baby, and my one chance to start a new series at Sierra. As a big Sierra fan, it was an amazing opportunity and one I didn’t take lightly. And then the game did well, so it established my name as one of the known Sierra designers. I’m always surprised that people still remember it and the kind of nostalgia the name ‘Gabriel Knight’ envokes.

Review Fix: How do you want this new version to stand out when compared to the original?

Jensen: I just want people to like it as much as much as the original and think we did a great job with the update.  It’s all high-res and all of that, but at the end of the day, you hope it can convey the same mood and evoke the same emotions.

Review Fix: If you already own the original, why should you pick up this one?

Jensen: There are new puzzles and scenes added to this, plus I think it’s really interesting to see all the detail added to the scenes and the New Orleans location in general. The remake was built by people who love the game so there’s a lot of little detail added, inside jokes, references to the other games in the series. I hope fans will have a lot of fun with it. And the special edition content is pretty cool.

Review Fix: What else is different?

Jensen: The music has been redone from the ground up by the original composer (Robert Holmes), all the art is changed, there’s some new dialogue, a built in hint system (if you want it), new journal entries in Gabe’s voice, and, as I said, some new puzzles and characters.

Review Fix: Who will enjoy it the most?

Jensen: I would guess people who loved the game way back when but haven’t looked at it in a few years. It was amazing the memories playing the game again brought back to me when we first started working on the remake. I hadn’t played SOTF since the game shipped in 1993. And I think it will be fun to see the changes and the things that are new. Of course, I hope new players find it too.

Review Fix: How do you think the next 20 years of the series will be different from the first 20?

Jensen: Wow, interesting question. I really hope the GK1 remake can kick off some brand new Gabriel Knight games before I’m too old to write them anymore.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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