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Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

VioletShadow

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Alright so I finished all four episodes a couple days ago. Overall, it is not a bad game and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Managed to solve a couple of the time-based puzzles on the first try so I felt quite :smug: but I can see why those wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea. The animations need some work, but I did like the presentation and art direction. The voice acting and soundtrack are nice. As for story, first episode is meh, second OK, third very good, and last good for what it is with some nice moments but too many cutscenes. The ending was a bit predictable to me, dunno if the same for everybody else. The third episode has the best puzzles :) Not a bad deal at its current Steam price right now, full price only if you are adventure geek starving for new games.
I liked Erica, would play a sequel. Asked about it on twitter and the Phoenix people replied 'maybe, someday'.
 

HoboForEternity

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
:necro:
started playing this today. got to where i visit the morgue after the night in the crime scene. seems good so far. the cahracters are all likeable, human. voice acting isn't bad, animation is wonky, but nothing distract from experience. puzzles are really bit on the easy side, because they follow strict IRL logic so far.
 

Boleskine

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Best character, from the morgue.

PPplCgf.jpg
 

HoboForEternity

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just finished it. i really really like it. the puzzles are great most of the time, the writing and atmosphere hold up consistently (there are some hiccups here and there but pretty tolerable) and the characters imo are the ones who made this game up. from erica, to john, even sully who i thought gonna be irrelevant end up really likeable.

it's buggy as fuck, but none of them are game breaking, just goofy as fuck like erica twisting her limbs and head like some eldritch horror and stuff. great game, raelly sad phoenix online studios is dead
 

HoboForEternity

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
just finished it. i really really like it.

Compared to the other Jane Jensen games? GK, Grey Matter, Moebius. Compared to other "modern" adventures? Daedalic, WEG
haven't played gabriel knight and moebius, imo it is better than grey matter and i like GM. as for daedalic and WEG i like it as much as the blackwell games. wouldn't put it on the same level as chain of satinav/memoria or primordia and gemini rue, but it hold up to most of them.
 

Zombra

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Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
The central mystery of the game is, who is the Cain Killer, and why is he doing all this? The game does not ever supply a satisfactory answer.
The second core mystery of Cognition is, the eponymous psi power itself, where does it come from, why does Reed have it? The game has no answer to this, it doesn't even try.
I'm sorry if my review misled you to try a game you didn't end up liking - but you made this up. These aren't questions the game asks, they're just questions that you wanted answers to. Erica didn't agonize about the killer's motivation - she didn't care and neither did I. She just wanted to stop him and so did I. And no one ever asked where the psychic powers come from. Again, Erica didn't care (and I definitely didn't care); all she cared about was learning to use them and live with them, which she did. This seems to be the main reason you disliked the game. My opinion stands and I'd still recommend it to anyone who isn't caught up in what they want the story to be about. Sorry again that that wasn't you.
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Freddie

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Got this from GOG at some point during last year and played it through during summer I think.

I liked it. I didn't like couple of puzzles, don't recall for sure if both of them were timed, but overall it was something different. For me it's not like greatest adventure ever, but good and sure as hell less shallow like some attempts at mature game, like Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy).
 

Zombra

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Don't claim to speak for "readers". Plenty of people like the story in Cognition, and plenty of people like Hannibal Lecter in Silence despite the movie not explaining his origin at all (I like him more because of that). It's true that a certain kind of person gets mad when mysteries aren't explained, but there are others of us who appreciate that shining a light into every corner and cranny isn't necessary to a good story, and can even ruin it.

Again, it's perfectly OK that you only like a story where everything is explained and every lingering question is dragged into the light and beaten to death ... but to suggest that's the only kind of story that's any good is ridiculous.
 

Zombra

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Lecter may not be explained in Silence, that's fair (and comports with the novel), but surely Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill are.
Sure, and explanations like that can be fascinating to explore. That doesn't mean a story is wrong or a failure if it chooses not to do so. In all three cases (exploring Starling, exploring Bill, and not exploring Lecter) the exposition or lack thereof served to make the story better.

Similarly, spiritual black woman can remain a mystery. But the protagonist? She doesn't even question it?
You know what it would have looked like if Erica did have a burning desire to uncover the origin? Another 6 hours of her lying on that fucking couch in the antique shop, with the magical spirit woman guiding her on a vision quest to learn the truth about her inner power. No fucking thank you. It wasn't necessary and it wouldn't have made the story better or more entertaining. Unless the writers had a fantastic idea to tell a really cool and original story about it, explanations would have just been a dull letdown. Leave it in the shadows and let the player wonder.
 
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