Tag: Jane Jensen

1370: What’s Up, Red?

As predicted, I completed Tales of Xillia (like, Platinum completed) earlier, but prior to jumping back into Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory I decided to give Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller a try.

I’ve had my eye on Cognition ever since it was a modest Kickstarter campaign from a group previously best-known for a(n admittedly very good) King’s Quest spinoff. It sounded interesting for a number of reasons: firstly, that it was a modern adventure game — the supposed “death” of the point-and-click genre was somewhat exaggerated — and secondly, that Jane Jensen (of King’s Quest VI and Gabriel Knight fame) was acting as “story consultant”. While this isn’t quite the same as having her actually write it, it would, I thought, at least provide a greater-than-average chance of the game having a decent, well-written story.

I played through the first of the game’s four episodes earlier, and was not disappointed. Given that most people I know who have played it seem to think that the first episode is the weakest, I’m very excited to see what follows.

Cognition follows the adventures of FBI agent Erica Reed, a feisty redhead haunted by her inability to save her brother from a serial killer three years prior to the events of the main plot. Erica’s a little unusual, however, in that she has a strange supernatural ability that enables her to relive and even manifest memories from the past simply by touching things. Initially, all she can do is touch an object or body and witness a short snippet of what happened, but as the game proceeds, she learns a couple of new abilities under the tutelage of the Wise Old Mystic Woman Who Runs the Antique Shop.

It would have been easy for Cognition to play up its supernatural aspect and even rely on it too much to carry its mystery story, but Erica’s abilities are used sparingly, subtly and effectively. It’s rarely a “magic bullet” that allows her to do things a good forensics team wouldn’t be able to do given enough time; it is, more often than not, used as a means of ushering the story along by providing clues.

It’s much more complex than just flashbacks, though; in one of the best puzzles in the game, you’re tasked with using your “regression” ability to reconstruct the memories of a key witness who can’t remember some important information you need. By collecting information and using it to prompt the witness to remember things, you’re able to manipulate the images of his memories to provide specific details — the colour of someone’s dress, the time a photo was taken, what was written on a note — that ultimately lead you to the answers you seek. It’s a clever system that works really well without resorting to mystical mumbo-jumbo — it’s just something Erica can do and while it’s clear that part of the plot is going to revolve around her struggling with these visions, for the most part she accepts it as just another tool in her arsenal.

Jensen’s influence is apparent in the characters, all of whom are strongly defined. Erica herself initially appears to be somewhat “flat” personality-wise, but over time it becomes clear that she is, more often than not, being quite deadpan, and when she’s around people she likes and trusts, she opens up and shows her more good-humoured side.

One of the things I’m particularly enamoured with is that I’m getting a slight “Dr. Naomi” vibe from Cognition. It’s not quite the same, of course — Erica is an FBI field agent compared to Naomi’s forensic investigator — but there are certain similarities. Most notably, on a number of occasions you’re “quizzed” by characters on what you’ve learned from your investigations, with progression dependent on you giving the correct answers. The penalty for giving an incorrect answer isn’t as harsh as in Trauma Team — there are relatively few moments in the game where you can die or “fail” — but it’s nice to have a game check that you’re paying attention in a suitable, plausible context.

I’m intrigued to try the subsequent episodes now. I have a feeling that four won’t be enough!

1218: Sins of the Fathers

May 21 -- Gabriel KnightI’ve been replaying Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers recently. I’ve been meaning to do this for some time now and have in fact restarted it several times, but never got around to finishing it for various reasons. This time is “the charm”, though, and I intend on running through the whole series — I can’t remember much about The Beast Within (except, bizarrely, for the puzzle solution “Thomas? Thomas? Herr Doktor Klingmann here. Show our wolves to Mr. Knight.”) and I’ve never finished Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. Perhaps more impressively, I’ve managed to survive this long without having the latter spoiled at all, though I do know it ends on an apparently-infuriating cliffhanger that will likely never be resolved. Oh well.

Back to the subject, though: Sins of the Fathers is still a cracking good time, and one of the best adventures that ever came out of the Sierra stable. Sure, it’s not quite as elegant as LucasArts’ best work — the lack of smart cursor is still somewhat exasperating when hunting for teeny-tiny interactive hotspots on the screen and the game has a peculiar habit of adjusting its animation speed seemingly at random occasionally — but the important thing is that it tells one of the best stories ever seen in video games. And it’s a well-written story, too, because having a good story and being well-written aren’t necessarily the same thing.

I first played Sins of the Fathers when I was but a teenage whelp. I enjoyed it a lot and have thought back fondly on it and its successors ever since, but playing it now at the age of 32, I find myself wondering how much I truly appreciated it when I first played it. Playing it now, it’s abundantly clear that it’s a genuinely mature game, written for adults. This doesn’t mean it’s full of sex, violence and bad language — though it does contain all three to varying degrees — but that it doesn’t treat its audience as idiots. The characters are written in such a way as to be realistic and believable, even once the plot starts entering its stranger territory in the latter half of the game.

It’s also a wonderful example of pacing. By splitting the game into “days”, it has a somewhat episodic flavour that helps structure the story and gradually ramp up the intensity as it progresses. The activities you’re doing on Day 1 of the game are rather mundane — they’re the interactive equivalent of “establishing shots” — but by the end of the game, you’re thoroughly immersed in the game’s small world, feel like you know the game’s cast of characters extremely well and you’re emotionally invested in seeing things through to their conclusion.

The amount of detail in the setting is impressive, too. The topic-based conversation system allows you to quiz most of the game’s characters on any of the subjects Gabriel has found out about throughout the course of the plot, and most people have something to say about most of them. Whether it’s discovering Gabriel’s family history or delving into the historical roots of Voodoo, there’s a massive amount of obviously well-researched material in the game — much of which can be safely skipped past if you just want to get to the meat of the plot, but much of which provides some wonderfully flavourful background information on the game world, plot, characters and real-life concepts on which the narrative is based.

Also, mid-’90s all-star voice cast? Tim Curry! Mark Hamill! Leah Remini! Michael Dorn! Efrem Zimbalist Jr!

In short, if you haven’t yet played Sins of the Fathers, you should rectify this as soon as possible. It costs just $5.99 over at GOG.com, so there’s really no excuse. Get to it, Schattenjäger!