Gabriel Knight is a prime example of an excellent adventure game. This tribute is almost as good as the Jane Jensen's work and it's just the first episode of the game.

For a first effort and a brand-new IP, Phoenix Online Studios has done an admirable job. Although in places Cognition's graphics are little rough and the writing's a little unnatural, it offers us an adult-level adventure game full of interesting mechanics, a professional voice cast, great music and a compelling heroine. After playing the first Erica Reed episode, I have no doubt there will be future ones and no doubt that through them, Phoenix Online will iron out the remaining kinks and create for us a truly memorable adventure series.

Ultimately, Cognition is a good start, and at its core, a quality adventure game.

With their debut defects, but with tension, emotion and a plot that hooks you up, Phoenix Online Studio brings us the first episode of an adventure with huge potential.

Despite its minor flaws, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller delivers strong emotions and makes you feel like a real FBI agent.

Cognition feels like some old game by Sierra and this is its biggest strength. [1/2013, p.72]

After the hectic prologue I wanted to give up, but I am happy I hung in there. Erica's supernatural abilities are the highlight of the puzzle design. It feels fresh to "summon" old evidence or victims to get new information. The start to this series is far from perfect but it definitely sparked my curiosity.

The investigation of Erica Reed is a good mix of ideas, that can transmit the emotions of the characters and explain very well the events occurred during the gameplay. Cinematics are good as well as the in-game graphic “drawing style”, but there are many defects on animations that lower the technical global quality. Puzzles are good and mixed well in the context in which Erica trying to find her real dimension. The game presents a good characterization of the main character, explaining her gift - the cognition - with the right reasons.

As a first episode, The Hangman does more right than it does wrong.

Though flawed, the first episode of Cognition leaves a great final impression and sets up a series that could become a major achievement for episodic adventure gaming.

While it shares lots of flaws with its brethren of the genre, this point-and-click adventure game has enough going for it with its story and cognition mechanics to make it worth playing.

Cognition is a good surprise for crime lovers: thanks to its gameplay, the game makes the player feel really inside the story. If Phoenix will go ahead like this, it will become a very important actor in the adventure game genre.

The game opening is especially powerful and it manages to keep that momentum for a while before feeling like it's slowed down too much. It ramps things up for a fun interrogation sequence and an exciting ending.

The Hangman gets Cognition off to a promising start despite a few design and technical flaws. Genre aficionados should take note.

There are a fair number of things to like in Cognition and it certainly represents a promising start to the series. While it's not quite up to the "modern adventure" standard set by The Blackwell Deception at least Phoenix Online are trying, and I was pleased to see and feel how much thought and effort had gone into all the components.

A 2GB large (but only about 5 hour long) adventure game heavy on graphics and dialogue but light on challenges and not particularly compelling. I gotta rule this one for big fans of the genre only.

The game demonstrates a solid understanding of point-and-click fundamentals that work, but don't exactly set the genre on fire, and what players end up with is an adventure title that has the elements it needs to be intriguing but can't quite seem to fit all the pieces together yet.

With this fantastic themed thriller, Phoenix Online Studio manages to capture the attention of the player, despite serious shortcomings in terms of production values. The Erica Reed character is compelling, and one may be hooked by this first episode.

Cognition fails not from a lack of execution, but from a lack of imagination.