NORCO

An interesting game with a cool artstyle and a well-written story. However, I HEAVILY RECOMMEND PLAYING IN "EXPERT MODE". The game is way too easy otherwise and almost tells you the answer to its puzzles before you've even looked at thtem.

This isn't just one of my favourite indie games of the past few years; it's one of the best pieces of sci-fi in any medium that I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Dark, absurd, funny, heartbreaking, its writing is honed to perfection - a must play. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

The game has one major flaw: sometimes its presentation gets too weird for its own good. This occasionally affects the dialog, character portraits, puzzles and some of the in-game scripted sequences. Is the main character on drugs? Not sure. I was initially worried that this is one of those titles where the authors just pile up a bunch of "creative" fluff without any coherence or substance. However, it turned out that the base narrative of Norco is solid and well-crafted. There is an intricate web of relationships between most characters and it is interwoven into the fabric of the town and the events of the game. It all unfolds quite nicely. Aside from that, this is a very cool adventure game that combines good aspects of the point-and-click games of the 90s with many novel ideas about interactive storytelling. Some of its design decisions are very clever and work remarkably well. For example, the use for kind-of-first-person view is an excellent innovation. It made the game look less gimmicky and probably saved a lot of effort on animation. The "mind map" (part journal, part dialog) is another really interesting idea. Edit: I second the recommendations to turn on the "expect mode".

Really well-written and imaginative adventure game, which also expresses quite a serious worldview (even if it's not my own). Probably the best compliment I can give it is to say that if you like Disco Elysium, you'll like this, though that's basically coming from a post-communist worldview and this is coming from a more religious outlook. I'm probably not making it sound very fun, but it is! Pawpaw is a tremendous character, all malevolence and madness.

A great experience that plays flawlessly on the SteamDeck. Norco is a surreal, mindbending adventure title: part southern-gothic, part cyberpunk. The game is set in Norco, Louisiana, an oil manufacturing complex (and impoverished surrounding 'company town' or corporate zone) owned by Shell. No date is every given, but it's not hard to imagine the game taking place in 2045-2050ish. The name 'Norco' originates from New Orleans Refining Company and goes back nearly 100 years). In terms of genre, Norco unfolds like a classic golden-age point-and-click PC adventure game... but with far less obtuseness and a light touch around key items and player inventory. It still includes sequences that you have to 'figure out' and these lend it a meaningful degree of depth. Aesthetically, Norco is incredibly well-made and just oozes creative confidence. Possibly the game's greatest trick is that, it pulls you into an incredibly strange experience, but you 'buy it.' You don't feel it is trying too hard, or being cRaAaAzY in a clumsy way. Fans compare the writing to 2019's Disco Elysium, and while I don't think any game can really 'hang' with DE's writing, Norco deserves a ton of recognition. One of the better games of 2022.

A very interesting and engaging story that always had me guessing. Played through in full in one day on Steam Deck, would highly recommend.

Adventure components are so boring and trivial it should have been a visual novel.

it's an ok PnC game but I personally don't get the story, I'm not from Norco, so I might be missing some level of symbolism/culture :/

[h2][b]The [i]bad daddy[/i] slathered up another poor bastard with the oyster flavored peanut butter.[/b][/h2] [h3][i]Sends a shiver down my spine.[/i][/h3]

You need a clean a s s to do detective work. Everyone knows that. Great atmosphere, funny writing. Heartfelt and deeply weird.

now i want to live in a sludge filled megacorporation city

Gorgeous. Not long. You'll remember it.

Standard Louisiana experience

Zack McKracken on a bad acid trip.

Nice

Good

Swamp gas.