macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
and
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
in May and for
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North A ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, 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 and several award nominations.
Premise and setting
The game is set in an alternate version of Norco, a town in Louisiana, and in other portions of the state around
petroleum industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (of ...
The game grew out of a multimedia documentary work by Yuts and a friend, started in 2015. The work incorporated writing, interviews, and audio-visual components, focused on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana and its landscape. In addition to Yuts, members of the development team, Geography of Robots, include Yuts' sister, Aaron Gray, Jesse Jacobi, and pseudonymous musicians fmAura and Gewgawly I. 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. Yuts and Geography of Robots designed the game in the pixel art style. Yuts relied on internet research to teach himself how to create the illustrations he contributed to the game.
Gewgawly I was Yuts' original collaborator. Gewgawly I and fmAura worked to design the game's soundtrack, attempting to "capture the... mood and ambience" of the River Parishes. The game incorporates field recordings by a friend of the development team, Matt Carney, taken around
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...
.
Raw Fury signed to publish the game in 2020. Yuts has said ''Norco'' will be the first game in a trilogy. Geography of Robots announced in September 2022 that the game would become available on consoles on 20 October 2022.
Influences
Direct influences on ''Norco'' include the games '' Déjà Vu'' and '' Snatcher''. Yuts was also influenced by the fictional city Midgar from the '' Final Fantasy'' series. 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". Yuts, who previously worked for the city of
GIS work, has cited Mike Davis as an influence. Davis, a Marxist scholar and critical geographer, often writes about the intersection between environmental and social issues.
Reception
The game received positive reviews from critics. According to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the game received "generally favorable reviews".
The game's art received praise. Kyle LeClair wrote that the art was "impressive" especially the "variety of detail". Noelle Warner, in an article published by ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
...
'', wrote that the game's "visuals ereoften gorgeous" and noted that they could look "ugly and grotesque" in a way that helped convey the game's message. Warner further wrote that the "risks" the game took with its art "worked in its favor".
As with the game's art, critics emphasized the quality of ''NORCO''s writing. Writing for ''The Gamer'', Khee Hoon Chan referred to the writing as "impeccable" and "accentuat d by sudden turns in the narrative. 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".
Critics have compared ''Norco'' to '' Disco Elysium'', a role-playing video game, and '' Kentucky Route Zero'', a point-and-click adventure game. Chris Tapsell, in a review written for ''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' criticized ''Norco'' as "overwritten, in places, in the same way Kentucky Route Zero or Disco Elysium could be". 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".
Yuts views comparisons to between ''Norco'' and ''Kentucky Route Zero'' as fair, but has said that he sees ''Norco'' "as very different mechanically, thematically". 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. Ong faulted critics and players for hastily comparing the games and failing to " ultivatebetter ways to talk about this sub-genre".
Awards
''Norco'' won the inaugural Tribeca Games Award at the 2021
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...
. ''
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'' included ''Norco'' on their lists of the best games of 2022.