The Norwood Suite

96%
Game Brain Score Based on 930 reviews
  • music
  • story
  • graphics
The Norwood Suite Game Cover
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"The Norwood Suite" is a first-person narrative-driven game set in a mysterious hotel. As a visitor, you'll uncover eccentric characters, surreal events, and hidden secrets, all while trying to discover the truth behind the hotel's enigmatic host. With its distinctive jazz soundtrack and immersive environment, the game invites you on a unique adventure filled with intrigue and humor.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

96%
Audience ScoreBased on 930 reviews
music192 positive mentions
optimization3 negative mentions
  • The Norwood Suite offers a unique and surreal experience, filled with vibrant visuals and an engaging soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere.
  • The game features interesting characters and dialogue, encouraging exploration and interaction, making it feel like a living, breathing world.
  • The light puzzle-solving and fetch quests are enjoyable, providing a satisfying way to progress through the story while uncovering the hotel's mysteries.
  • The game is relatively short, with a playtime of around 2-3 hours, which may leave some players wanting more content.
  • There are frequent bugs and crashes reported, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to lost progress.
  • The dialogue can be lengthy and at times tedious, which may detract from the overall experience for some players.
  • music488 mentions

    The music in "The Norwood Suite" is widely praised for its originality and immersive quality, enhancing the game's surreal atmosphere and storytelling. Players appreciate the diverse soundtrack, which dynamically shifts as they explore the hotel, creating a unique auditory experience that complements the quirky visuals and characters. Many reviewers recommend purchasing the soundtrack alongside the game, highlighting its role as a central element of the overall experience.

    • “The music is wonderful and fits the environments perfectly.”
    • “The soundtrack is amazing, check out 'Murial's Ride' and 'DJ-Bogart-Takes-Control'.”
    • “The most beautiful part about the game is, at heart, the game is primarily about music preservation.”
    • “The music is nothing but a bunch of instruments playing in a cacophony of garbled nonsense.”
    • “The lag this game has is terrible, and the music is constantly clipping.”
    • “Its a bit jarring to walk into a specific place and have the music stop.”
  • story210 mentions

    The story of "The Norwood Suite" is a surreal and immersive exploration of art, music, and the complexities of identity, centered around a famed musician and the peculiar guests of a mysterious hotel. Players engage in a series of fetch quests that reveal intriguing lore and character backstories, all set against a backdrop of captivating visuals and an exceptional soundtrack. While the narrative can be abstract and non-linear, it rewards curiosity and exploration, making it a unique experience for those who appreciate artistic storytelling.

    • “I highly recommend this weird, off-beat story about a famed musician and the total solitude that comes from good art, how it weaves itself into your life and how you become less and less yourself and more and more defined by what you've made.”
    • “The unpredictable story, the odd events and quirky characters, the way it keeps you on edge...everything about this game is amazing, and it has great replayability.”
    • “The story is an exploration of music and musical culture, and the problems of originality and authenticity.”
    • “All this wouldn't be as bad if it was the clearly stated 'story' and purpose of the game, but it's covered in a pretend story that doesn't make enough sense.”
    • “In a nutshell, the plot felt a little clumsy and less than the sum of its parts.”
    • “If you asked me about the plot, I would be at a total loss for what to tell you.”
  • graphics166 mentions

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a distinct and surreal aesthetic that blends bizarre artwork with a whimsical, low-poly style, reminiscent of early 3D adventure games. While some players find the visuals striking and immersive, others criticize the character models as awkward or reminiscent of outdated graphics, leading to a mixed reception. Overall, the unique art direction and vibrant environments are praised for creating an engaging atmosphere, even if the execution may not appeal to everyone.

    • “The visuals are drop-dead gorgeous, and the music helps engross you in the game in a way that is unique to Cosmo D's work.”
    • “The graphics have an interesting low-poly style that's very visually striking.”
    • “Playing this game is like walking through a good modern art exhibit - it challenges you at every corner with images and music that stimulate the imagination, rather than spoonfeed the aesthetic centers of the brain like a traditionally 'pretty' game would.”
    • “The textures, graphics, and NPC models are god awful, like something out of the early 2000s, while the game itself doesn't even have a proper main menu.”
    • “Graphics honestly just remind me of Roblox, and in fact, you can probably replicate it on Roblox somehow.”
    • “The visuals obviously are a little wonky; character models look borderline silly, sometimes almost distorted or warped with how their arms or legs bend in some poses.”
  • atmosphere104 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its surreal, dreamy, and immersive qualities, often described as disorienting yet captivating. Players appreciate the unique blend of visuals, music, and design that creates a bizarre and enchanting world, making it easy to lose oneself in the experience. While some feel the narrative could have matched the depth of the atmosphere, the overall consensus is that the game's aesthetic and atmospheric elements are its standout features.

    • “A bizarre and dreamy world with an ocean deep atmosphere that completely pulled me into its world.”
    • “Atmosphere and game design are both amazing, really draws you into the world.”
    • “The atmosphere and music are amazing, and like its predecessor off-peak, the world is charmingly surreal.”
    • “Somehow though, by the end of the game it felt like the payoff was actually a bit tame relative to the atmosphere - it could have been pushed a bit more into the surreal.”
    • “There aren't really any puzzles, and although the atmosphere is surreal and strange, the narrative is a bit of a mess and I don't really know what was even happening.”
    • “Likewise, the 'surreal' atmosphere never really went anywhere.”
  • gameplay80 mentions

    The gameplay of "The Norwood Suite" is primarily a walking simulator with simple mechanics focused on exploration, item retrieval, and dialogue with quirky characters, which some players find lacking in depth and challenge. While it may not satisfy those seeking intricate puzzles or fast-paced action, its charm lies in its immersive atmosphere and surreal storytelling, making it more of an interactive art piece than a traditional game. Overall, players appreciate the unique experience but note that the gameplay is minimal and may not justify its price for everyone.

    • “The main gameplay involves exploring Hotel Norwood, conversing with occupants, and doing various tasks all in an effort to gain entry to an exclusive party taking place at the hotel.”
    • “Even though most of the gameplay is based around fetching things for other guests in the hotel to progress the game, the creators make it immersive by weaving a story through dialogue about a musical genius and the fate of his flamboyant hotel.”
    • “Gameplay has just enough direction to keep you moving forward without being completely certain you're right, but having fun anyway.”
    • “$10 is a big ask for such a short experience and so light on gameplay.”
    • “There's some puzzles but overall the gameplay's very lacking so it might feel a bit boring at first.”
    • “The gameplay is... particularly weak.”
  • humor26 mentions

    The humor in the game is described as charming, zany, and often silly, with a mix of tasteful randomness and mature themes that set it apart from typical adolescent humor. Players appreciate the hilarious characters, mind-bending visuals, and the overall immersive atmosphere that combines humor with intriguing puzzles and sound design. While some find the humor reminiscent of older adventure games, others note that it varies in intensity, with only a few moments of mild humor.

    • “The Norwood Suite is more of an art project than a video game, but the humor, puzzles, and weirdness of the atmosphere and story make it very enjoyable to walk around and be immersed in the world.”
    • “It's zany, sometimes silly, and there's a great sense of humor, but it's mature because there's no adolescence, shounen, power fantasy here.”
    • “Charming, weird, and funny.”
  • optimization16 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing subpar performance and high hardware demands, likely due to the Unity engine. However, others report smooth gameplay with steady frame rates averaging around 90-100fps, indicating that optimization may vary based on individual setups. Overall, while some users find the game underoptimized, others appreciate its performance and interactivity.

    • “Great optimization and nice interactivity.”
    • “Performance wise, I had no issues running the game fairly steadily over 60fps (avg. ~90-100fps).”
    • “Underoptimized.”
    • “Don't underestimate hardware demands or expect smooth performance.”
    • “The whole game runs a bit subpar probably resulting from the Unity engine and lack of optimization, which is fine, I've made games and optimization is tough stuff with Unity.”
  • replayability8 mentions

    The game exhibits mixed opinions on replayability; some players feel it lacks value due to the absence of multiple endings and a sense of finality, while others praise its unpredictable story and quirky elements, suggesting that these features enhance its replay potential. Overall, the consensus indicates that replayability may vary significantly among players.

    • “The unpredictable story, the odd events and quirky characters, the way it keeps you on edge...everything about this game is amazing, and it has great replayability.”
    • “It doesn't have much replay value: no multiple endings or anything like that.”
    • “The game doesn't seem to have any replay value (although I haven't finished, it's just a sense I'm getting), and I'm not sure if many people will enjoy this.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, noting that certain elements are shadowbanned and inaccessible, requiring tedious workarounds to access them. This has led to a perception that the grinding process is unnecessarily complicated and time-consuming.

  • character development2 mentions

    Character development is praised for its strong visual and narrative design, with engaging dialogue that enhances the storytelling. However, some players feel that certain characters tend to have lengthy monologues, which may detract from the overall pacing.

    • “The character designs are great, both visually and story-wise, and I like listening to what they have to say, though some speak for very long.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional aspect of "The Norwood Suite" is highlighted by users who suggest preparing oneself before engaging with the game, indicating that it may evoke strong feelings or require a certain mindset to fully appreciate its depth.

  • stability2 mentions

    Users report significant stability issues, including long loading times and frequent screen freezes and lags, which detract from the overall experience. While the game is praised for its quality, many feel it requires urgent fixes to improve performance.

    • “The loading title takes a long time to load, and the game screen frequently freezes and lags. It's an awesome game, but it needs some fixing.”
    • “The loading title takes a long time to load, and the game screen frequently freezes and lags. It's an awesome game, but it needs some fixing.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

5hMedian play time
5hAverage play time
2hMain story
2hCompletionist
5-8hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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