Forum Overview :: Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller :: It's okay

[quote name="fabio"]Just finished episode 1. Its main strengths is that it almost completely avoids adventure game logic and most of the puzzles make total sense, which is strange since it turns out the main character (and theme song vocalist?) is voiced by Jane Jensen's stepdaughter. Maybe this game was a giant "Screw you, mom!" ? So in that sense it's decent where you're investigating an FBI murder case and logically following clues. On that alone I'd say pick it up if you want an adventure game. Negatives: -BOSTON ACCENTS DON'T SOUND LIKE THAT. The main character sounds like a French Canadian trying a Hollywood Boston accent. Plus the amount of people in Boston (outside of Southie) who have a "Boston" accent is maybe 5%. -Actions take 1-2 clicks more than they should. -Character models often break down into horrific marionettes. When they talk, the mouth completely separates from head and it looks like they're wearing Lisa Simpson head gear. Limbs look like they're constantly trying to twist off and float away. -Backtracking gets obnoxious, and half of it seems unnecessary. You constantly have to visit a fortune teller to unlock new psychic powers when they could just give you the tutorials for new stuff right when you need it. You're interrogating a suspect, need to use a power on him but the power is scrambled, click "exit" to stop talking to him, click the door to exit the room, click the elevator, click the use icon, click the garage floor button, click the use icon, click the fortune teller location on the map, click the "drive" icon, talk to the fortune teller for a Miss Cleo narrated tutorial on the new power, then do all those actions in reverse to get back to the interrogation room. Why couldn't they just give you the new power during the interrogation? So much time is wasted going back to that stupid voodoo fortune teller for no other apparent reason then because Gabriel Knight did it. -Some puzzles dip into adventure game logic territory. The FBI stores evidence on tapes, but the only way to get a tape player to listen to it is to use adventure game shenanigans to steal one from a fellow employee (who naturally is located nowhere near where you get or need the tape). You need to download a picture from the computer to "a device", so you try using your cell phone <i>which is used to handle all pictures throughout the game</i>, which of course does not work. The device you need to download a picture of a fingerprint onto turns out to be...a viewmaster gadget that lets you see through paint and graffiti on walls? What the fuck? -It is wildly obvious who the killer is. Although they don't tell you by the end of episode 1, I would be amazed if it's not who I think it is.[/quote]