Gabriel seems a bit sexist

[Zidders 'Rockin' Bard' Roofurry]

I really can't get past how sexist the main character is, and from many of the reviews I've read this goes beyond the cringeworthy interactions in the first few minutes of the demo that prompted me to write this. The joke about him looking down the other characters shirt..not only is that not cool but it's also a really bad joke to use as a reason not to give people the option to climb the ladder.

It kills whatever motivation I might have to buy this game despite having wanted to see what this series was like since I'm a big fan of adventure games. I'm not into playing a game that stars a dude who has a total lack of respect for other peoples personal boundaries, and who doesn't seem to know the meaning of consent.

[DN]

Not every character is written as an asexual bland nothing. Maybe you should try reading books or watching films that provide a wide variety of characters who have a range of personalities and aren't squeaky clean all the time.

[Kain]

Did you know that this game was created by female designer?
PS - and I wonder what do you think about Leisure Suit Larry

[PE4]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=329370997

[Vi]

There was a post by Jane Jensen on Gamasutra that explains her world view pretty well:

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/JaneJensen/20140414/215473/WRITING_HOT_MEN_FOR_GAMES_Yes_please.php

She comes from a different time with different values. Pretty hard to swallow, nevertheless.

(Bringing in Larry to justify Jensen's embrace of 'hot male and slightly sexist characters' doesn't help at all. Though I think she just loves sexual tension in general. The Beast Within was one whole homoerotic tensionfest. Which was pretty cool.)

[Kain]

Początkowo opublikowane przez V R.:

She comes from a different time with different values.

Good times unlike current extreeeme tolerance age.

[St1ka]

Gabriel Knight is among other things, a journey of self-discovery. One of the game's themes is that of cleansing one's own sins as well as that of your family's. This progress is seen throughout both the first game and the series in general. Towards the end of the game, Gabriel has grown into a different character than what we see in the beginning

The Gabriel Knight series and dialogues have always had sexual connotations, especially in the sequel which featured a heavy homoerotic tension. However, the series has always handled this theme differently than most games. For example, Grace is not and was never meant to be eye candy. She, just as Gabriel, evolves and grows a character throughout the series. She is also smart enough to not fall for Gabriel's advances. In fact, the story itself does not reward Gabriel's advances or attitude, which once again, ties to its theme of redemption.

[Kestrel]

Pretty much this - if a character is just like he should be right from the start, where's the room for charcter development? And Gabriel does get better - but in the beginning of the game, he's been a massive slut for quite some time now (which he doesn't get brofisted for all the time or something - Grace actually rips on him for his womanizing ways a couple of times over the game).

I think Jane's character writing works pretty well most of the time. I'm a big fan of Gabriel and Grace as well as Sam and David from Gray Matter - the only ones I couldn't really warm up to were Malachi and David from Moebius.

If you can muscle through it, I strongly recommend playing Sins of the Fathers to the end - 20 USD isn't really a lot of money for a video game and you'll probably come to like the protagonist better by the end. If you can't get past Gabe's personality though, I still recommend picking up Gray Matter - it's a really great game written by the same author and doesn't have the issues you described in your initial post.

[StGeorge]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Stika:

Gabriel Knight is among other things, a journey of self-discovery. One of the game's themes is that of cleansing one's own sins as well as that of your family's. This progress is seen throughout both the first game and the series in general. Towards the end of the game, Gabriel has grown into a different character than what we see in the beginning

The Gabriel Knight series and dialogues have always had sexual connotations, especially in the sequel which featured a heavy homoerotic tension. However, the series has always handled this theme differently than most games. For example, Grace is not and was never meant to be eye candy. She, just as Gabriel, evolves and grows a character throughout the series. She is also smart enough to not fall for Gabriel's advances. In fact, the story itself does not reward Gabriel's advances or attitude, which once again, ties to its theme of redemption.

I totally agree about the series use of sexual tension.

Except one thing I didn't like about the remake is that Grace is way too sexy. She's super thin, has large breasts and a very cute butt... that's not really Grace. She's supposed to be the frumpy intellectual girl who gets ignored by the guys. I notice the quotes about her parents setting up an arranged marriage for her have been removed from the remake... she's a girl who is sexually frustrated and kind of latches onto Gabriel because she sees something in him beyond what the sexist womanizer he projects.

I think the Grace in GK2 more closely represents her - she's not unattractive but actually doesn't do anything to improve her looks, she dresses badly, wears baggy clothes, more concerned about studying than playing the game. Her jealousy in the beginning of GK2 was overdone but accurately described her true feelings for Gabe (I saw more of this overtly referenced in the GK1 remake as well).

Gabriel was always just playing the shark with her playfully because he liked to make all women feel wanted (Gabe really acts quite silly when he truly wants someone, like with Malia) and it wasn't until much later that he began to have romantic feelings for Grace (possibly even as late as the ending of GK3).

One other thing... I don't remember if all the wolf references were in GK1 original, but it's a really interesting that the climax of both GK1 and GK2 end with him as a wolf, lol

[Woeful Wraith]

If he seems to be sexist then you're interpreting his character correctly.

[Chubzdoomer]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Zidders Roofurry -{EAC}-:

I'm not into playing a game that stars a dude who has a total lack of respect for other peoples personal boundaries, and who doesn't seem to know the meaning of consent.

If you're being serious... wow, just wow.

[SandvichBAWWW]

"Sexism" is now the kind of buzzword that is used by people who don't know it's meaning anymore and just want to jump to conclusion regarding characters and their motivations.

As other people have pointed out, Gabriel undergoes a series of change that transform him from his womanizing ways, which are part of his personnality, and it's this character development and (along with other character's in the series) that make him interesting.

[Thunder]

Is it worthwhile to point out OP bought the game anyway? Seems like a point was made here.

[SunshineSlayer]

Wow, people are waaaay too sensitive these days. I don't remember anyone really having a problem with Gabriel's slightly sexist perspective back in the day. He is a womanizer - but he is not a bad guy. There is a difference. The character also grows throughout the series. It would be bad writing if the character is basically perfect from the start......

[Vaiden]

Oh yeah, no, he's totally a sexist pig. The story also makes it quite clear that Gabriel is not a good person. Hell, even after he sets forth on the path of redemption he's still not exactly playing up and up. The way Gabriel treats Mosely is a prime example.

[Zidders 'Rockin' Bard' Roofurry]

First off I'd like to thank everyone for being cool enough to explain why I didn't give the character enough of a chance. I'd especially like to thank Stika for giving me their perspective on the way the character has been written. I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night. The reasoning behind my statement is that I grew up raised by my aunt. She was a professional nurse who was director of nurse employee training at the Rhode Island state institute of mental health for almost 40 years. I watched the challenges she faced as well as her fight to get her fellow nurses more benefits and pay.

I grew up seeing my grandmother invent new electrical wire designs for Victor-electric, designs she was never credited for (the credit went to men). I also had to watch my mom put up with being denied position after position at the hospital where she was an R.N. She ended up working in the kitchen for most of her career while other less qualified men were promoted past here. It's made me a bit too sensitive towards sexism and misogyny, and it caused me to forget that characters very often have archs, and that sometimes people see good things in others that those too quick to judge might not.

I'm still doing my best to not overreact to stuff. One of my partners is trans/ftm, and I myself consder myself genderqueer. It's hard not to react to even the slightest hint of anything that might seem problematic but I realize that I need to spend more time getting to know something (or someone) before I make any judgments. The odds are pretty good that I will buy this game as soon as I have the money for it (which may be awhile) but based upon the developers responses on this forum, the heart they put into bringing this game back, and the friendliness of the community I feel it's a game worth supporting.

Thanks for reading all this by the way.
-Z