Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

Take the role of Erica Reed, an FBI agent with psychic powers that will aid her in her search for a brutal serial killer. A dark and twisted adventure game with great puzzles and a riveting story. Another gem from Jane Jensen, one of the most talented writers and game designers to work in the industry. I can't get enough of her collaborations with Phoenix Online Studios, but sadly there's a limited supply of them due to the low commercial viability of point-and-click adventure games. If only I was rich so I could buy her company and make her design games forever. Oh well, maybe some day....

This is a very interesting game with novel concepts. As usual for me, I had to play it with a text walkthrough but still I enjoyed the plot with its twist and turns. I recommend it for those with imagination and patience.

Within 30 minutes I had to stop playing. The writing was of a level below that of Tommy Wiseau. The characters, plot, and dialogue may have worked if done as satire but there's nothing witty or amusing about what's presented. The art and mechanical aspects of the game are unimpressive but serviceable. There's certainly worse out there but nothing is interesting, either. There may or may not be a decent set of puzzles under all this but the combination of mediocre visual design, weak mechanical design, and abysmal script make it impossible to engage further. There are better games with better art, better game engines, and better writing for the same price or less. Don't waste your time.

After the first episode I had hoped it would've picked up however the story remains painfully trite. The controls keep changing and are extremely un-intuitive, the puzzles are much the same and are based on logical leaps so high, I couldn't even reach them using a pogostick on a trampoline.