Explore cyberpunk Louisiana in Norco: Faraway Lights
Norco trafficantes
Do you want a homecoming tale but don’t want to put up with those deplorably cute animals of Night In The Woods? No worries, here’s Norco: Faraway Lights [itch.io page], a neon text adventure of conspiracy theorists in a cyberpunk New Orleans. Or more accurately, here’s a demo for the opening chapter. The story is: You’ve come back home because your mum has died and your brother has gone missing. Why are brothers so rubbish?
First off, I can't believe they didn't call the city "Neo Orleans". Tut tut. But the developers do call it “a rich pixelated universe of bizarre conspiracies, difficult family histories, and insurrectionary androids hiding in the swamp.” Here’s a trailer that offers a look at the retro-futurustic tone. Basically, it’s like the 80s. You can tell because of all the colours and bad fonts.
But also because of the music, right? That’s done by synther Gewgawly I. There’s also a guest track by Andy Gibbs from the shouty metal band Thou, we’re told. Meanwhile the game itself is being done by Geography of Robots.
I haven’t had a pop at this demo, because I’m allergic to the 80s and virtually everything associated with it. But you can download it from the Itch.io page or simply play it in your browser here (Google Chrome is said to be the best for this).
The full game is still underway (no word on an ultimate release date) and will feature “dozens more unique environments; 2+ hours of non-linear, consequential dialogue; improved dialogue handling; side-quests; mini-games; an item inventory; a ‘journal’ feature, and more.”