Publisher Raw Fury recently announced that the upcoming sci-fi Gothic adventure game Norco will be delayed, though no new release date has been given. The game, which is being developed by indie studio Geography of Robots, has been available on PC since March 2022 and received rave reviews on both Steam and OpenCritic. It was originally slated to release on Xbox and PlayStation consoles on October 20.In June, Norco became the first-ever video game to win an award at the Tribeca Film Festival, with the developer’s work being recognized for its “potential for excellence in art and storytelling.” The point-and-click adventure game takes place in the “suburbs and verdant industrial swamps” of an alternate version of a town called Norco in southern Louisiana. The game has been compared to the 2019 award-winning RPG Disco Elysium, primarily for its successful creation of a lived-in world.Unfortunately for console gamers who were looking forward to the upcoming release of Norco in October, that plan has been delayed. In a Twitter post, Raw Fury made the announcement, and developer Geography of Robots later explained the reason for the postponed console launch. Essentially, there was a “little oops” with the indie game’s certification, and so Norco’s release is on hold until it can get another certification review.
It will likely be worth the wait, and not only for Xbox Game Pass subscribers who will get Norco as a day one release. Since it launched, the developer has continued to improve Norco via regular updates that have added controller support, auto combat, expert mode for increased challenge, localization options, and a number of bug fixes. Geography of Robots also recently held a Twitter poll asking for opinions about a planned chapter select feature, which shows that the developer is actively listening to player feedback.
In Norco, players take on the role of a woman named Kay, who returns to her hometown after her mother dies. Norco is a real town in Louisiana, and one of the game’s developers, a geographer who goes by the pseudonym Yuts, grew up there. The area presents a unique landscape that has been shaped by decades of industrialization and the accompanying environmental catastrophes.
Besides Disco Elysium, many reviewers compared Norco to Cardboard Computer’s point-and-click adventure game Kentucky Route Zero due to its narrative-driven gameplay. However, despite the similar feel of the games, Cardboard Computer’s release differs greatly from Norco. Also having received high praise from reviewers and players, Kentucky Route Zero came out in 2013 and takes gamers on a trip down a secret highway in Kentucky, where they meat a variety of interesting characters in a unique and memorable setting.
Norco is currently available on PC, with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions in development.
Source: The New Yorker