I'm always hesitant about adventure games. I blame some childhood first impression, formed by cheap PC games on Steam in 2011, supposedly beloved by game likers older than I was. I don't know if I would like "Time Gentleman, Please" or the 3D Sam and Max these days, and hell no I am not going back to check, because this is 2022 and we've got fucking NORCO, dude.
Despite its many science fiction anxieties and cultic fascinations, Norco is an example of a hopefully ever-increasing trend of a game trying to share a real experience about living in a real culture in a real place. Even aside from its writing, which refracts elements of 21st century American culture into uncanny technological demons that haunt every character, its audiovisuals bleed sense of place. Norco's bayou feels, at times, like Hotline Miami's Miami-- hot, humid, and claustrophobic.
The writing, though, is wonderful. The characters are memorable, goofy, and heartbreaking, and they expose and resolve the mysteries of the swamp and the city with grace. The game does cool things with perspective as well, and adds new game mechanics, always explained narratively, to interactions as necessary while the plot develops.
Its puzzles are never too obtuse, and usually come together if you're clearly thinking of your goal: to get access to a locked door, for example, or to make a dude mad at his friends. I think I actually avoided a bad ending by doing a few totally optional interactions before the final scene.
so yeah, play norco, it's on sale, worth the money, goty 2022 cause i only played poinpy and vampire survivors this year
Despite its many science fiction anxieties and cultic fascinations, Norco is an example of a hopefully ever-increasing trend of a game trying to share a real experience about living in a real culture in a real place. Even aside from its writing, which refracts elements of 21st century American culture into uncanny technological demons that haunt every character, its audiovisuals bleed sense of place. Norco's bayou feels, at times, like Hotline Miami's Miami-- hot, humid, and claustrophobic.
The writing, though, is wonderful. The characters are memorable, goofy, and heartbreaking, and they expose and resolve the mysteries of the swamp and the city with grace. The game does cool things with perspective as well, and adds new game mechanics, always explained narratively, to interactions as necessary while the plot develops.
Its puzzles are never too obtuse, and usually come together if you're clearly thinking of your goal: to get access to a locked door, for example, or to make a dude mad at his friends. I think I actually avoided a bad ending by doing a few totally optional interactions before the final scene.
so yeah, play norco, it's on sale, worth the money, goty 2022 cause i only played poinpy and vampire survivors this year