Replaying Blood Of The Sacred, a murder mystery set in the Templar country of France’s Languedoc region with a central theme of Christ as a mortal, today certainly conjures parallels with Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Does that particular pop culture phenomenon stick in Jensen’s throat somewhat? “Ha! Yes, when I read The Da Vinci Code I was like: ‘Damn, how many copies did this sell?’ You know, in becoming a best-seller there’s creating gripping content and then there’s luck. I guess I haven’t had that kind of luck! Or maybe I just overcomplicate things for a mass audience, I don’t know.

“If I have any regrets, it’s that the Gabriel Knight trilogy is basically inaccessible to most people simply because of the technology. You can’t even play Sins Of The Fathers and Beast Within any more on most machines. That’s unfortunate. In many ways my novel Dante’s Equation was more of a true bid for a Dan Brown level of success. It’s done well – but not that well!”

In hindsight, Jensen remains torn over her personal favourite instalment. “I think Blood Of The Sacred, Blood Of The Damned was the most satisfying in terms of way it integrated history and narrative into the puzzles. I mean, finding the remains of Jesus? That’s pretty out there stuff. Beast Within I’ll always love for its dark, romantic story with King Ludwig and Wagner and the Bavarian setting – and for the actors. They were wonderful. Sins Of The Fathers will always be special; after all, it was the original. And I love the New Orleans vibe. But, if you twisted my arm, I’d probably plump for Beast Within.”

Jensen is, however, not so enamoured with the unique ‘evolution’ of the series from 2D to FMV to 3D during the course of the trilogy: “I wouldn’t say I’m glad we did it simply for the sake of trying different technologies. It would have been nice if we could have just stuck with one basic technology and focused on just making each game better in terms of story, puzzles and art. But that’s not the way the business works.”

Jensen might have withdrawn from the spotlight somewhat after the demise of Sierra as an adventuring institution, but – when not taking time out to write the occasional novel – she remains very much connected to the game industry. “I just think there exists a larger potential in videogames for players to bond with the story and immerse themselves because they are acting as the protagonist – not just reading about him or her passively,” she explains.