optional actions that can provide background on the game's story and events. Each chapter features a variety of locations that the player can visit, some of which involve an overhead map which uses a hint system to highlight key locations that have actions to be performed in the chapter. With Sierra games of the time, a running score is used to keep check on actions, both required and optional, that players have completed (i.e. acquiring an object needed for a puzzle). In each location, the player can move the cursor to find items to interact with, or places where they can move to another spot or site. Unlike Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, the cursor is context sensitive, and will conduct an action when the player interacts with something, depending on what the interaction will involve - interacting with a person, for example, will begin a conversation. However, items collected and placed in the character's inventory, which can be examined when selected, need to be made an active item before they can be used on interactive objects. Other options include: access to a main menu to save/load a game, change settings, or quit the current game; a movie section, allowing players to replay movies unlocked during the game; and an option, available until the final chapter, to look back over previous conversations as Gabriel, or review notes made by Grace. Conversations focus on a series of topics, with additional ones becoming available as the player makes progress on the story. In some situations, the player must overcome a dangerous situation or risk occurring a game over moment, forcing them to retry, restart the game, or restore a previous save. Story Setting The Beast Within takes place within a world where supernatural forces, both good and evil, have existed throughout human history, with any becoming a threat to humanity being combatted by people who specialize in fighting such powers. The story incorporates the mythology of werewolves, and the historical backgrounds of King Ludwig II and Richard Wagner between 1870 and 1886, as well as fictional events surrounding the relationship between the two during this period of Germany's history. Locations used in the game include the city of Munich, the fictional town of Rittersberg, and a number of sites around southern Bavaria, including Neuschwanstein Castle. Plot A year after the "Voodoo Murders" in New Orleans, novelist Gabriel Knight takes over residency