Norco

I didn't finish it. I sympathize with the themes, but if a game is going to make me read it better be amazing, or have amazing soundtrack/artstyle/meaningful interaction of the themes with the mechanics. If not, I prefer other written media. The visuals are kinda good, the first act makes for an interesting beginning. But then it simply didn't have anything special enough to keep me going. Maybe I already feel that depressive pit in places without what this game offers, or maybe I didn't get it.

A solid indie effort with charm and excellent writing. Could rate higher after more time spent with it, TBD.

A really solid experience full of mystique and grime, mixing squalor and wonder in a way that feels completely natural within its world and narrative. Simple but striking visuals and complimentary audio round it off well.

Norco's "puzzles" are handholdey and I don't think its gameplay has merits to it otherwise. But Norco is a game that's rich in its themes of place and degradation, not succumbing to misery porn or cheap jabs at corporations but moreso conveying a sense of visual wonder for even the morally deprived. The characterization can seem limited and limp, but I do think that this is a game more about its setting than its characters and on that front what it conveys about that setting is fantastic.