Norco Review - A Narrative Masterpiece

thegamer.com:

It’s easy to miss a game like Norco, an indie point-and-click game delivered in the midst of several blockbuster games like Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Despite dripping with pixel-art flair, Norco doesn’t quite arrest your attention immediately. Its melancholy, as enticing as it is unassuming, could have faded into the backdrop of game releases in recent months, almost lost into the bluster of more mainstream titles. But Norco is also quietly garnering a reputation for its tale: a honest portrayal on the complications the petrochemical industry can wreak on a small town, and its murky themes revolving around religion, change and grief—which saw the game become the very first to win the Tribeca Film Festival’s game award.

I may not know much about Norco, the real-life town in Louisiana, United States that the game is set in, but parts of this point-and-click title feel so intimate that it’s not surprising to learn that these are somewhat anecdotal, based on the childhood experiences of its developer. As Kay, a young woman returning to Norco and her childhood home after your mother’s death, you become increasingly mired in your late mother’s affairs as you uncover more about her research work—all of which took place within the imposing presence of an oil refinery that has set up shop in the community. Then there’s also your missing brother, who is also nowhere to be found. Thus you take off together with your trusty monkey plushie and a security android in search of your sibling across the city, while meeting several colourful characters along the way.

Related: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Review - Sci-fi Lovers Rejoice

Norco’s Louisiana-style setting and wretched tale are drenched in the motifs of