Once I got to the end of Norco I really didn't feel anything, prior to that the game had definitely got a mixture of emotions out of me but this game, one with fantastic world building, great dialogue and beautiful pixel art - this game, one I thought I would love I just felt... nothing really.

Like a cliché break-up maybe it's me and not you (Norco) but the game didn't click how I expected it to and maybe it just wasn't our time.

I sit here trying to figure why I didn't care for Norco as much as others, as much as I expected to myself.
I look to see if different endings would make me care more, they don't.

Maybe it's because some of it's comedy didn't hit? But that's not it, it made me laugh more than once and game writing is not always the best for that.

The only negatives I can really say and there are three that come to mind are all either minor or arguably not true.
Games are subjective after all I guess?

The first is the "combat" there's a few bits of combat in the game and they're basically QTE's with a JRPG-like display and really they were easy, pointless and added nothing.
I'd have much preferred the "combat" taken place in the writing, especially when we've seen how effective that can be with the likes of Disco Elysium.

The other two negative points go hand-in-hand.
The world building is good, there's a lot of detail but I felt a lot of it was front loaded or at least I struggled to make a picture of this world as easily as I should have because I was battered with it from the start before I'd even got to move a cursor.
This ties into Blake, the brother. He felt like a completely blank slate and the dialogue choices at the start which where there to help paint a picture didn't feel at all like interesting or powerful decisions.
For me, the entire game long quest to search him felt off, he felt more like a McGuffin than a character.

Considering this game is "free" and not particularly long, I may reappraise it in the future. Right now I can still recommend it but who knows, maybe my hollow feeling will actually temper expectations of anyone playing it after and they will enjoy it more.

Possibly the world's stupidest review because honestly, I think it does everything right but also it definitely doesn't but I can't figure out what.

It's me Norco.

There is no other game that I have played that makes me feel the way that Fallout 4 makes me feel. I feel so lonely but also so extremely immersed when exploring the wasteland. Turning on the radio and killing creatures, stealing from people, base building, the story, the silly little glitches that happen here and there along with the many other features that make this game so amazing to me. This is my favorite Fallout game in the franchise and It's a really amazing experience when you don't have a New Vegas super fan screaming in your ear that the game is bad. Mods also take this game to a whole other level and I highly recommend.

The writing is so bad, I couldn't continue playing (No, it's not about the localization). Nowa and Seign meeting for the first time and spending one mission together and suddenly they're best friends is just one example.

The game feels so half-baked the sprites don't even have a proper running animation during cutscenes.

I respect and appreciate the devs for making this game and I think Suikoden 2 is one of the best RPGs in the 90s, but imho this isn't a worthy successor to Suikoden.

Hopefully the sequel they're making is much better than this one and I'm still willing to give the sequel a chance.

I really, really wanted to enjoy Harold Halibut more than I did. Harold, our protagonist, is a fish out of water: an autistic-coded janitor slash jack-of-all-trades, whose daily grind involves doing various tasks for the mostly warm but slightly stuck up crew of scientists and venture capitalists aboard the marooned spaceship, The Fedora. The game is underwater, so there's the expected Bioshock-esque critique of capitalism run riot, presented with a more dry, wry sense of humor. The game makes a strong first impression, with several mysteries piling up alongside the slow reveal of this artful, beautiful world. I particularly loved how you get around on The Fedora via a salmon cannon that shoots the people from hub to hub (for a nominal fee).

And, c'mon, the art! I know it's not the most technical game running under the hood, but this game is a sight to behold. Each interior is handcrafted and rich with detail, but then digitalized and animated so that the puppetry has no strings. Even though the gameplay is light, I found myself mashing the trigger on the controller to zoom into each interior and soak in as much of the ambiance as I could. The soundtrack, too, is subtle but evocative, fading in and out when the player enters certain locations. Tremendous stuff.

During its introductory moments, I thought this game might be another Night in the Woods-esque narrative game, one that took a story and set it across many days so that you could build relationships and be rewarded for meandering from the main task routes at every turn. And, for a while, it was. I would get invited to dinner by the former pilot, or pore over love letters from decades past with the postman. And each character, lovingly designed and voice acted, always had something to say about life's meaning, or the dulling effect of daily jobs (and the threat of debtor's prison) in an alien, water-logged world.

But my return visits to the various wings of The Fedora yielded less and less surprise, or even change, as the days went on. By midgame, Harold had stumbled upon a seemingly huge reveal, with widespread implications for him, his shipmates--maybe even the human race--yet our daily tasks consisted of slow runs to the pharmacy with almost no diversity of content. It felt like we were being forced to play out an extended montage, a pain that only sharpened once the weeklong scenario ended with a literal montage.

Repetition in videogames is part of the act, of course. It can be gameplay, the ritualistic dance of combat that break up FPS campaigns, or the return trips of roguelites that build repetitiveness into their DNA as a means of player progression. But Harold Halibut seems to say: God, isn't capitalist bureaucracy boring and awful?" Yes, it is. And it's especially boring and awful when it's hammered home in a world as lush and gorgeous as Harold Halibut.

There is a payoff, and the narrative eventually does get going. But the jarring pace and tonal shifts never really go away.

I'm glad this game exists. And it's clear that there's a huge amount of work that's gone into this game and realizing its vision. Unfortunately, Harold Halibut isn't able to successfully navigate the choppy waters separating sincerity and comedy, and ends up splitting the two in a way that challenged me to go on.

In the end, Harold Halibut is way more niche than you might expect. Its messages on capitalism, and humanity's tendency toward resource drain even in the face of calamity, are all vital and integrated well into the story. I just wish the game, like its main character, was a little more self-assured.

Harold Halibut is a strange, unique, and also heart-warming experience that unfortunately isn't going to be everyone's flavor. "Game" might even be a strong word for Harold Halibut -- there's very little in the way of mechanical friction for the player; no real puzzles, challenges, or other elements you might expect from an "adventure game". Instead, Harold Halibut presents a quirky cast of characters living aboard a crashed, underwater spaceship-city and invites you to intimately get to know their lives, their routines, their thoughts, fears, and everything in between. If you give this one a shot and aren't intrigued by the world within the first hour, I'll be honest: bounce off it. You're not likely to find much to love here.

That IS Harold Halibut, though. The game revolves entirely around running here and there, helping neighbors and friends by doing odd-jobs or delivering messages, and getting to build up relationships with the cast. Sometimes, that's enjoyable enough. The art direction of the game frankly incredible, the soundtrack is great, the animations and acting are solid and feels like you're watching a real claymation film -- most of the time I was fully engaged. Sometimes it drags, though. The titular Harold, being a quite plain guy, often does plain, boring things; understandable that the player will too, to better understand him and the grievances he comes to express in the story. However, when you're nearing double-digits in play time and still running back-and-forth, back-and-forth to initiate a chat with a character 3 loading screens away, it starts getting old. Not to mention there are multiple instances where the game forcibly takes away your ability to run, or even in one scene towards the end, makes you move in slow motion, which only compounds how slow things feel sometimes.

All-in-all I liked Harold Halibut quite a bit, and even had a melancholy feeling when it ended, having to say goodbye to a cast of characters I felt like I had grown to know personally. It's hard to shake the feeling, however, that there could have been more use of the video game medium here, and a bit less of the running around the game has you do most of the time.

Wow wow wow

This game makes you feel like an action movie star

Incredible for its time

Controls were a lil clunky, lots of backtracking, and the story was a bit confusing

But none of that detracted from the core experience

Gah gah gah I really wanted this to work but it just didn’t click for me

The first five hours were captivating, I was hooked the first play session and seeing the main story beats in HD was exhilarating

But then the mini games kept piling on, the storylines began feeling cheesier and less authentic, and the structure more fan service-y…

The main story was solid most of the time, but it was hard to keep the momentum when there was all the side stuff that was downright bad at times

Also crazy annoying difficulty spikes, and finicky confusing mechanics. I was at 70+ hours and still had to bump it down to easy at times to progress

I feel like this game could have been way better as a 30-40 hour main story, 50-60 hour completionist vibe. I felt myself just wanting it to be over towards the end and couldn’t enjoy it as much as a non-completionist

I’ll still play the third one but it won’t be my most anticipated game that’s for sure

Was vibing pretty hard with this game despite some minor gripes and lacking QoL. Then the main hook of the game kicked in (At around the 9-10 hour mark) and the narrative/pacing quality spiraled downward so rapidly that I've opted to shelf the game for a bit to play some other stuff.

Sad to say it honestly, was really enjoying it.

That said- nice music and really nice presentation with some charming characters.