NORCO Reviews
A must-play for anyone interested in narrative-driven games.
NORCO is a brilliant game with an incredibly high level of craft, particularly with its writing. It is one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking games in years, and everyone should play it.
Norco takes the point n' click adventure to a despair-stained new plane. I've never been so happy to feel unhappy as I did living in this tech-noir graveyard of a world.
Overall, NORCO is a game I could not stop thinking about. Even long after completing my first playthrough, I find myself thinking about Kay, Catherine, the AI security robot Millions, Private Investigator Leblanc, and the multitude of ordinary citizens I encountered that profoundly impacted me throughout my time in NORCO. It’s been a while since a game has managed to cause so much emotional damage in such a short period of time, and I cannot recommend NORCO highly enough.
NORCO is a confronting video game; a confident, biographical and bewildering point-and-click narrative experience that feels more like something you inhale rather than play, with an effective cocktail of magical realism, societal heartbreak, and bummer coolness.
This award-winning single-person adventure, set in a run-down refinery town, is full of compelling mysteries
Even the perpetually overcast skies feel like a sign of what’s to come for its characters, as if a torrential rain is set to descend anytime soon. But look beyond the parted clouds and we may see a slither of hope yet. Likewise, this is the proverbial silver lining that Norco represents for the videogame industry: a modest title that demonstrates that a narrative-rich experience, made by a first-time indie developer, doesn’t always have to be overshadowed by ostentatious displays of bigger releases. Norco may refer to itself as a sort of pixel ephemera, but its adventure is a vast, cosmic tale that will be fondly remembered decades after.
Norco ends on a visceral note that will speak to Louisiana’s staunch hangers-on, but also to anyone seeking a beautiful, oppressive, and ultimately hopeful story. The past and future compound, and my reaction was unbridled. As I heaved and sobbed over my computer screen, I thought once again about faith — the kind it takes to stay here. If you don’t understand that faith, Norco may very well convince you.
Norco is a beautiful, surprising, human, and utterly magnetic debut.
This pairing of humans and the natural world up against a common antagonist, not necessarily as allies but as common victims, makes it clear how intimately Norco is tied to the swamps, valleys and fields that surround it. This interconnection between individuals with little in common on the surface but a shared place and history is where “Norco” locates the possibility for hope, a provocation that might offer those of us playing a model for our own local responses to corporate encroachment and environmental devastation. Through these mutually affecting connections between humans, nature and technology, “Norco” creates its own robotic story, disturbing, personal and fresh, an experience that should not be missed.