Of all the universes in all of creation, she had to walk into mine. Genesis Noir is a stylish jazz-noir detective story set at the highest planes of existence, a mystery that sends you through time and space in an effort to stop the Big Bang from ever happening.
Genesis Noir’s story is at heart a love triangle. You’re a down-on-his-luck watch peddler, hopelessly in love with a jazz singer who has also courted the interest of a vain musician. When the triangle turns heated, the jealous god fires a shot at the singer—a shot that just so happens to spark an entire universe of existence.
What follows is an adventure game that blasts you through pockets of time, from the dawn of humanity to trillions of years in the future, each moment giving you tactile puzzles to solve. A demo at last year’s LudoNarraCon gave us a peek at some of these, tracking down a radio frequency to then engage in a saxophone duet with the cellist at its source.
It’s a hell of a thing to look at, mind. Genesis Noir draws from the same Saul Bass-style jazz visuals as Ape Out, but smokier, smoother, and a little more moody. That’s matched by a sax-packed soundtrack that immediately sets the noire tone. It’s powerful stuff.
Genesis Noir was previously meant to drop last fall, but appears to have been delayed a few more months. The game will now arrive on Steam, GOG, Humble and the Epic Games Store on March 26th.