The Norwood Suite

released on Oct 02, 2017

The sequel to Off-Peak, The Norwood Suite is a surreal first-person adventure game by Cosmo D. Journey to the secluded Hotel Norwood, where odd characters, forgotten secrets, and head-nodding music await.


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not entirely sure wtf happened but who cares?? beautiful beautiful game, brilliant textures (visually and sonically) and essentially a playground/labyrinth of little errands to be completed in any order...progression always feels comfortable and never particularly hurried...i do wish i had a bit more emotional investment in the wider story but overall, great way to spend 2 hours of my time :)

- Weird aesthetic. Like dreamlike or Dadaism.
- Great writing. Love listening to conversation between NPCs.
- The hotel feels like a metaphor for something. But the dialogue itself is thought-provoking about creativity and career.
- Not sure if this game is actually great but I think this game will be on my mind for awhile and that counts for something.

Zany and intriguing but also just a little more drawn out and slow paced than it should be. I'm not sure why Cosmo got rid of the ability to run from Off-Peak but otherwise it was a fun environment to explore and make connections in. The secret passages were great as well and the music is of course 🤌

The Norwood Suite brought me new discoveries with every room. With his free-to-play 2015 release, Off-Peak, NYC musician and developer Cosmo D brought his electric, off-the-cuff style of jazz to game space. That energy is focused and brought to life in new ways in The Norwood Suite, one of the best first-person experience games(walking sim, if you prefer) since 2015's The Beginner's Guide. Strictly speaking, you progress through the game by performing menial tasks for the clientele and staff at The Norwood Suite, a demented hotel tucked among the evergreens in the rural sprawl around NYC. But the game’s charm lies in the setting and characters, a storied hotel with intrigue, Dadaist absurdity, and architecture that gleefully folds in on itself. The story goes...places, but it's the music that will constantly nip at your heels (literally, the music always manifests in the world through speakers peppering the estate), guiding you from hall to hall in a world where internet modems have eyes, voices are interpreted as freeform instrumentals, and Red Bull has taken over the world. It's the best world to get lost in, where musical and visual discovery await at every turn.

This one is a bit hard for me to rate. It wasn't a bad game. It's a psychedelic experience, like walking into a surrealism painting. Personally not my go-to genre but someone else might love it. The atmosphere and design is memorable in a bizarre dream-like trip.

There's a story to uncover as you explore the hotel and speak with odd NCPs. You can eavesdrop and assist them in return for items. They will also give you backstory to better understand the setting and important characters. It plays like an adventure game.

Assim como "Off-Peak" e "Tales from Off-Peak City Vol. 1", que pude jogar anteriormente, The Norwood Suite é uma experiência muito mais que um game.
Nas palavras do próprio Cosmo D:
"The Norwood Suite is a much more involved game, in terms of its mechanics, its systems, and the way you interact with people." O surrealismo comum das obras do desenvolvedor está afinado como sempre, mas a narrativa é muito melhor e mais envolvendo que em "Off-Peak". É clara a evolução do desenvolvedor nos dois anos entre os games.
É o tipo de obra para se sentir, não entender, e é aí que mora o brilho. Grande parte dos jogos, filmes, séries e livros fazem questão de explicar tudo com a maior quantidade possível de detalhes e deixam poucas questões abertas para a interpretação do público. Cosmo D faz o oposto, como se dissesse "entende o que quiser aí, maluco, eu fiz a minha parte".
Essa é a magia deste desenvolvedor que não cria jogos, mas sim sonhos tangíveis.