Norco (video game)
Norco is a 2022 point-and-click adventure game developed by Geography of Robots and published by Raw Fury. It released for macOS and Windows in May and for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in November. The game takes place in an alternate version of Norco, Louisiana, and follows Kay, a woman who has returned home after her mother's death. Norco received positive reviews, The AMAZE award for best long feature, and several award nominations.
| Norco | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Geography of Robots |
| Publisher(s) | Raw Fury |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) | Yuts |
| Composer(s) | Gewgawly I |
| Engine | Unity[1] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Premise and setting edit
The game is set in an alternate version of Norco, a town in Louisiana, and in other portions of the state around New Orleans.[2] The game follows Kay, a woman who has returned to Norco after her mother's death.[3] The game's developer goes by a pseudonym, Yuts, derived from a nickname for his grandfather.[4] Yuts spent his childhood and some of his later life in Norco.[2] Growing up, Yuts was "frightened yet transfixed" by the landscape in and around Norco, which has been shaped by the petroleum industry and hosts a major Shell facility which has twice experienced catastrophic explosions.[2]
Development and release edit
The game grew out of a multimedia documentary work by Yuts and a friend, started in 2015.[4] The work incorporated writing, interviews, and audio-visual components, focused on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana and its landscape.[4] In addition to Yuts, members of the development team, Geography of Robots, include Yuts' sister,[2] Aaron Gray, Jesse Jacobi, and pseudonymous musicians fmAura and Gewgawly I.[4] Part of the multimedia project was a side-scrolling game in which a robot attempts to enter a refinery in Norco; this game became Norco, and the earliest version of the current game was created in 2016.[4] Yuts and Geography of Robots designed the game in the pixel art style.[2] Yuts relied on internet research to teach himself how to create the illustrations he contributed to the game.[2]
Gewgawly I was Yuts' original collaborator.[3] Gewgawly I and fmAura worked to design the game's soundtrack, attempting to "capture the... mood and ambience" of the River Parishes.[3] The game incorporates field recordings by a friend of the development team, Matt Carney, taken around Baton Rouge.[3]
Raw Fury signed to publish the game in 2020.[4] Yuts has said Norco will be the first game in a trilogy.[5] Geography of Robots announced in September 2022 that the game would become available on consoles on 20 October 2022.[6]
Influences edit
Direct influences on Norco include the games Déjà Vu and Snatcher.[7] Yuts was also influenced by the fictional city Midgar from the Final Fantasy series.[8] He has said Midgar, a highly stratified city controlled by a power company, gave him a "framework for understanding how both industry and industrial disaster [sic] are distributed across society".[8] Yuts, who previously worked for the city of New Orleans doing GIS work, has cited Mike Davis as an influence.[2] Davis, a Marxist scholar and critical geographer, often wrote about the intersection between environmental and social issues.
Reception edit
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | (PC) 89/100[9] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 9/10[14] |
| Edge | 7/10[9] |
| Eurogamer | Recommended[12] |
| Game Informer | 9.25/10[10] |
| GameSpot | 9/10[13] |
| Hardcore Gamer | 4/5[17] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 94/100[11] |
| The Guardian | [16] |
| VideoGamer.com | 8/10[15] |
The game received positive reviews from critics.[18][19] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received "generally favorable reviews".[9]
The game's art received praise.[20] Kyle LeClair wrote that the art was "impressive" especially the "variety of detail".[20] Noelle Warner, in an article published by Destructoid, wrote that the game's "visuals [were] often gorgeous" and noted that they could look "ugly and grotesque" in a way that helped convey the game's message.[21] Warner further wrote that the "risks" the game took with its art "worked in its favor".[21]
As with the game's art, critics emphasized the quality of NORCO's writing.[18][19] Writing for The Gamer, Khee Hoon Chan referred to the writing as "impeccable" and "accentuat[ed]" by sudden turns in the narrative.[18] In a review for Kotaku, John Walker echoed this sentiment, praising the writing as the portion of the game that "shines the brightest...embracing that magical realism theme, often poetic, yet stark and pessimistic".[19]
Critics have compared Norco to Disco Elysium,[22] a role-playing video game, and Kentucky Route Zero, a point-and-click adventure game.[21][23][24] Chris Tapsell, in a review written for Eurogamer criticized Norco as "overwritten, in places, in the same way Kentucky Route Zero or Disco Elysium could be".[24] Writing for Vice, Cameron Kunzelman praised the game as having also achieved the "great accomplishment" of Kentucky Route Zero and Disco Elysium: their creation of "lived-in worlds where people tried to make do".[25]
Yuts views comparisons to between Norco and Kentucky Route Zero as fair, but has said that he sees Norco "as very different mechanically, thematically".[26] Alexis Ong, writing for PC Gamer, grouped Norco, Kentucky Route Zero, and Night in the Woods in a "small but vital group of hyperlocal narrative-driven point-and-click games" which emphasize economic concerns.[26] Ong faulted critics and players for hastily comparing the games and failing to "[cultivate] better ways to talk about this sub-genre".[26]
Awards edit
Norco won the inaugural Tribeca Games Award at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.[27] At the AMAZE festival 2022, Norco won the award for best long feature. Polygon and The New Yorker included Norco on their lists of the best games of 2022.[28][29]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Storytelling | Nominated | [30] |
| The Game Awards 2022 | Best Debut Indie Game | Nominated | [31] | |
| 2023 | New York Game Awards | Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game | Nominated | [32] |
| Chumley's Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem | Nominated | |||
| 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Adventure Game of the Year | Nominated | [33] | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Story | Nominated | |||
| 23rd Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Debut | Nominated | [34] | |
| Best Narrative | Honorable mention | |||
| Social Impact Award | Honorable mention | |||
| Independent Games Festival | Excellence in Narrative | Nominated | [35] |
References edit
- ^ Saver, Michael (December 27, 2022). "Made with Unity: 2022 in review". Unity Technologies. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lucas, Julian (January 20, 2022). "Mapping Climate Grief, One Pixel at a Time". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Setyawan, Kezia (April 1, 2022). "Q&A with the creator of NORCO, a transformative point-and-click game exploring the South". WWNO. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Carpenter, Nicole (April 8, 2022). "How Norco's creators used sci-fi to paint an honest depiction of Louisiana". Polygon. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ Ryckman, Weldon. "NORCO: FARAWAY LIGHTS a Cc interview and gallery with Yutsi". Carboncopy. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ Warner, Noelle (September 15, 2022). "Southern gothic narrative adventure NORCO is coming to consoles". Destructoid. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ Clogher, Marisa (October 1, 2021). "No Place Like Home". Antigravity Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b Zorba, Philip. "An Interview With Yutsi On 'Geography of Robots'". honeysweat. No. 1 May 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c "NORCO for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ Guisao, Jason (April 12, 2022). "Norco Review - Soul Food". Game Informer. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ Ong, Alexis (March 29, 2022). "Norco review: A landmark moment for point-and-click adventures". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ Tapsell, Chris (March 30, 2022). "Norco review - a shifting, mesmerising tale of the future". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ Wakeling, Richard (April 11, 2022). "Norco Review - Deep South Dystopia". GameSpot. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ Warner, Noelle (April 1, 2022). "Review: NORCO". Destructoid. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ Wise, Josh (April 5, 2022). "Norco review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ Parkin, Simon (October 8, 2022). "Norco review – dour, compelling Louisiana adventure". The Guardian. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ LeClair, Kyle (April 1, 2022). "Review: NORCO - Hardcore Gamer". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c Chan, Khee Hoon (April 5, 2022). "Norco Review - A Narrative Masterpiece". TheGamer. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c Walker, John (March 30, 2022). "A Stunning Southern Dystopia Is One Of The Best-Written Games Of The Year". Kotaku. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (April 1, 2022). "Review: NORCO". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c Warner, Noelle (June 22, 2021). "NORCO looks bizarre, but that's its biggest strength". Destructoid. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ Goehler, Emma (April 25, 2022). "On Bad Endings: Resistance and Meaning-Making in the Apocalypse". Uppercut. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ Martens, Todd (April 8, 2022). "The video game of 2022 so far: 'Norco,' a masterpiece of interactive storytelling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b Tapsell, Chris (June 18, 2021). "Norco is a tantalising Southern Gothic mystery". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ Kunzelman, Cameron (March 31, 2022). "The Greatness of 'Norco' Is Found in the Tenacious Weirdos Who Live There". Vice. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c Ong, Alexis Ong (March 22, 2022). "This stunning Deep South fable isn't the next Kentucky Route Zero—it's the first Norco". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ Beresford, Trilby (June 18, 2021). "Tribeca: 'Norco' Wins First-Ever Games Award at Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ Mahardy, Mike (March 2, 2022). "The 50 best video games of 2022". Polygon. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
- ^ Parkin, Simon (December 2, 2022). "The Best Video Games of 2022". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Jones, Ali (October 20, 2022). "Time is running out to cast your vote in the Golden Joystick Awards 2022". GamesRadar+. from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Harte, Charles (November 14, 2022). "The Full List of the 2022 Game Awards Nominees". Game Informer. from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
- ^ Bankhurst, Adam (January 18, 2023). "New York Game Awards 2023: Elden Ring Wins Two Awards as Phil Spencer Is Honored". IGN. from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Bankhurst, Adam (February 23, 2023). "DICE Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List". IGN. from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ Mejia, Ozzie (January 26, 2023). "Elden Ring & Stray lead Game Developers Choice Awards 2023 nominees". Shacknews. from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Mejia, Ozzie (January 24, 2023). "Independent Games Festival Awards 2023 finalists revealed". Shacknews. from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
External links edit
- Official website