Nine Noir Lives

Nine Noir Lives has some of the best voice acting and animation you can see in an indie point and click game. Sadly it does get bogged down by the pacing and relevancy of its puzzles to the main game.

82%Game Brain Score

story, humor

gameplay, grinding

89% User Score Based on 142 reviews

Critic Score 68%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Nine Noir Lives is a single player action adventure game with a kids theme. It was developed by Silvernode Games and was released on September 7, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Nine Noir Lives" is a cinematic point-and-click adventure game centered around Cate Archer, a down-on-her-luck detective in a babylonian-noir city. With her unique ability to speak to cats, Cate unravels a mystery involving a series of disappearances and a shadowy organization. Utilize wit, charm, and feline companions to reveal the truth in this story-rich game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 142 reviews

story42 positive mentions

grinding6 negative mentions

The game features superb voice acting and a charming story that blends humor with a noir atmosphere, making it engaging and entertaining.
The graphics are well-designed, and the game includes a variety of quirky characters and clever puzzles that enhance the overall experience.
The unique mechanic of licking objects adds a fun twist to the gameplay, and the extensive dialogue provides depth and personality to the characters.

Many puzzles can be frustratingly obtuse, requiring players to backtrack frequently and sometimes leading to confusion about what to do next.
The dialogue can be excessively lengthy, which may detract from the pacing of the game and lead to moments of boredom.
Some players found the humor hit-or-miss, with certain jokes feeling forced or childish, which may not resonate with everyone.

story
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
57%
5%
The game's story is a blend of serious themes, such as organized crime and murder, with lighthearted elements and humor, making it suitable for younger audiences. While many players praised the rich narrative, engaging characters, and superb voice acting, some found the dialogue excessive and the plot occasionally predictable or lacking depth. Overall, the story is seen as captivating and well-executed, with a unique twist on classic noir elements, though it may not resonate with everyone due to its comedic approach.
- “The story is very interesting since it integrates classic hard-boiled elements while also playing on them by ridiculing the protagonist, which lessens the dramatic and dark effect of the hard-boiled setting.”
- “The story for this game is phenomenal.”
- “The story is way more serious and thoughtful than the art, snarky dialogue, comedy, and world it takes place in would have you believe.”
- “However, there are some real issues with the story that stops this game from being truly great.”
- “Unfortunately, the weakest point for me would have to be the story.”
- “The game tries to be funny all the time, but I found most of the jokes really lame and/or badly timed, the voice acting makes it even worse (a lot of overacting going on here) and the story is told in a rather clumsy and boring way.”
humor
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
4%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players praising its witty dialogue, clever puns, and the charming absurdity of licking objects to interact with them. While some found the humor to be spot-on and genuinely funny, others criticized it as childish or poorly timed, suggesting that not every joke lands effectively. Overall, the voice acting and comedic elements contribute significantly to the game's appeal, particularly for fans of quirky, dialogue-heavy point-and-click adventures.
- “The voice acting is top-notch and the script is just too funny and clever.”
- “A lot of the comedy genuinely made me laugh and made me feel closer to the characters, as all of them had such colorful and unique personalities.”
- “Great story beats, good puzzles, well executed theme and humor.”
- “The humor falls flat and often feels forced, making it hard to enjoy the game.”
- “The jokes are repetitive and lack originality, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- “The exaggerated voice acting overshadows any potential humor, leaving the dialogue feeling cringeworthy.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
53%
8%
The graphics of the game receive largely positive feedback, with many praising the art style as charming and well-suited to the noir atmosphere, despite some criticism for being overly colorful and childish. The visuals are complemented by high-quality voice acting and a rich dialogue, creating an engaging experience reminiscent of early 2010s games. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal, enhancing its storytelling and immersive qualities.
- “The graphics are perfect, the characters are amazing, there are thousands of lines of dialogue, the voice acting is superb, and the story is on par with a good movie.”
- “The visuals of the game are good; I can't make any complaints there.”
- “I adore the art style and the voice acting is top-notch; you typically don't get this level of quality in most indie games, if you get voice acting at all.”
- “The graphics and especially the dialogue very much feel like throwbacks to early '10s games.”
- “- inappropriate artwork (too much colorful and childish for a noir setting)”
- “Graphics are okay and the interface is decent but the price is insanely high for this game.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
16%
17%
The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the noir atmosphere, featuring a solid film noir soundtrack and a charming piano theme that sets the mood effectively. While some reviewers note that the soundtrack could be more extensive, the existing music is described as fitting and enjoyable, contributing significantly to the overall experience. Players who appreciate jazzy tunes and a detective noir vibe will likely find the music particularly appealing.
- “The music is good; the noir piano theme that plays whenever you're in the start menu is really nice.”
- “Here, the music all conveys that excellent noir vibe to every scene.”
- “If you love a detective noir atmosphere with jazzy music, fun quirky characters, and great art style, you will definitely vibe with this game.”
- “So many smaller games ignore creating quality music, which is absurd as it’s critical to the game.”
- “The solid film noir soundtrack is nice, but it feels out of place in some scenes.”
- “The music lacks variety and becomes repetitive, detracting from the overall experience.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The gameplay is primarily a point-and-click experience, featuring a unique and humorous mechanic of licking interactive elements, which adds depth to the game world. However, the verb selection process is cumbersome, requiring players to cycle through options, leading to some frustration with controls. Despite these issues, the engaging characters, dialogue, and overall atmosphere contribute positively to the gameplay experience.
- “The gameplay is typically that of a point & click game, but one of the actions consists of licking interactive elements, which adds a humorous depth to the gameplay and the game's world.”
- “But the characters, the dialogue, the gameplay, the graphics, and the atmosphere really made up for it, so I recommend it.”
- “- Easy to use interface and smooth gameplay.”
- “Unfortunately, the verb selection mechanic itself is somewhat cumbersome as the verbs have to be cycled with right click or scroll wheel before they can be applied with left click.”
- “Most notably, the controls are way more annoying and tedious than the gameplay would excuse.”
- “I didn't mind as I liked the dialogue (mostly), but it did feel like it was being used to pad gameplay time.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game effectively balances humor and emotional depth, with vibrant characters that foster a strong connection with players. While it features whimsical worldbuilding, it also delves into serious themes, particularly the emotional impact of loss, eliciting both laughter and tears from players. Overall, the emotional experience is both surprising and impactful.
- “But what I got was whimsical worldbuilding juxtaposed with a surprisingly grounded exploration of the emotional toll of a person dying.”
- “The game made me laugh more than once and even shed a tear, which was very unexpected.”
- “There are some impressive serious and emotional parts too.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly criticizing the controls as more frustrating than the gameplay warrants. While the puzzles are easy, this simplicity does not necessarily detract from the overall enjoyment of the game, suggesting that difficulty is not a prerequisite for fun.
- “Tedious.”
- “Most notably, the controls are way more annoying and tedious than the gameplay would excuse.”
- “All puzzles are quite easy, but this doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, because games don’t always need to be ridiculously hard and puzzles don’t need to be mind-numbingly tedious to enjoy a game.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive noir aesthetic, featuring well-drawn environments, jazzy music, and quirky characters that enhance the overall experience. Players who appreciate a detective noir vibe will find the atmosphere particularly engaging and enjoyable.
- “All the places you visit are so well drawn and convey the noir atmosphere of this world.”
- “If you love a detective noir atmosphere with jazzy music, fun quirky characters, and great art style, you will definitely vibe with this game.”
- “But the characters, the dialogue, the gameplay, the graphics, and the atmosphere really made up for it, so I recommend it.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight that the character design of the cats is exceptionally well-executed, contributing positively to the overall character development in the game.