Esse jogo é tipo um bolo muito bem confeitado e chamativo, mas com gosto de nada e sem recheio por dentro. Sério, chega a ser triste ver o potencial que esse game tinha e como ele foi literalmente DESTRUIDO por uma história completamente absurda de ruim.

Os dois primeiros atos do jogo é simplesmente perfeito. Um bom arco inicial de história, bons personagens, boa trilha sonora, tudo no jogo era uma boa ideia. Agora a partir da metade do jogo, fica tudo muito insuportável. A história começa a ter umas reviravoltas absurdas, ignorando literalmente toda a narrativa que tinha sido construída até ali.

A exploração começa a sumir do jogo à medida que a história cai num limbo da linearidade. Os diálogos, que não influenciam em praticamente nada na história, perderam seu valor quando percebi que independentemente da resposta, o resultado era o mesmo.

Em relação a história, que até então era o ponto mais forte do jogo, forçam uma reviravolta tão absurda que chega a não fazer sentido. É como se o autor da primeira metade da história do jogo fosse um apaixonado por romances policiais e na segunda metade outro autor assume e passa a escrever uma história de ficção científica. Sério, eu fiquei incrédulo com o "plot" e o fim do jogo.

O jogo tem uma direção de arte perfeita mas um roteiro "sem pé nem cabeça". Resumidamente a experiência com esse jogo é simplesmente decepcionante e digna de ser guardada como uma memória ruim.

words cannot express my disappointment and simultaneously my complete awe towards this game i have no idea how to convey what I feel about this altogether buy a letter

so somehow im a big fan of blacksad SHOCKER that a media who has furries and also has my boo my baby my sweet little husband my absolutely hot as shit hung gorgeous polite dominant sexy smirnov is one of my favorite things in the world so it came to NO SURPRISE . AT ALL that as soon AS I got to know that this game was a furry noir tale I had no other possibility if not to play it for better of for worse

backbone is the name I got to know this shit with and I will call it that way till the end of my days i don't care the developers decided to change the name or got copyright struck by someone or something of a greater force I have no idea what happened but its their fault anyway backbone was a SICK name and way more thematically coherent to the matter and twists specifically of the game so this is what the name of the game is I have no idea what tails noir is kisses

you're introduced to the main character of the game which is a pussy ass smelly dirty poor private investigator who also happens to live in a dystopia futuristic kind of vancouver and after getting a case about some missing people youre gonna uncover the secrets that lay below this wicked society

bomb premise amirite ? that's basically the premise of every single noir flavoured media in existence but always has a way to get me going theres a mystery and someone grieving for this mystery and youre out there trying to solve the mystery the end

so it's a secret to no-one how this game is gonna develop = investigative based text adventure with lots of talking and less action basically the blacksad game but I actually managed to finish this one without getting either too bored or too horny

what's interesting though is that it actually has a lot of freedom in the text based part where you're free to choose from a wide array of choices that don't really entertain any different story paths but it's just for personal sake: do you want lotor to be a cunty bitchass or a rude hobo or pretend to be an actually good investigator ? as I said the game doesn't reward you for choices but it was always pretty fun to go through like 5 different choices and choosing the most deranged unhinged disgusting responses to literally childs so there's that

while there's some simile action elements they won't ask you anything else than some sneaking around and touching items everywhere so for me it was kind of hit and miss BUT I hate stealth so it was definitely a good thing that they included these segments to be the most automated stuff in the world thank you

the story is pretty simple and I wont get into too much detail for now because trust me it gets into weird territory real fast this game is short so yknow its gonna happen sooner than you expect

from a narrative standpoint I liked the textbased part and the writing was competent or funny or weird most of the time I still have some kind of issues with how most of the characters are similarly written and they kind of mish mash together maybe excluding the fox girl the madame and the driver but everyone else is gonna disappear from my mind in tops 1 week so there's that

point of argue is the fact that they paint this beautiful backdrop of a city with some great worldbuilding elements (e.g. the wall) but seldom do they really get into lore territory or actually put into writing most of the stuff youre just gonna hear mentioned or see in the backgrounds whatsoever so THAT was probably something I wanted more depth poured infodumps are a big nono but at least I want to know why things are like this

so umh that being said the most gorgeous element of the game and possibly the best part of it all is definitely the art direction I kid you not every single frame of the game could be framed and hung in an art museum and nobody would know a thing literally JADROPPING level of pixel art both in the characters character designs and animations AND in the hyper detailed massive backgrounds and structures I had a blast just running in these streets BECAUSE of this shit sure as i said the entire gameplay loop isnt the tightest experience ive ever had in my life but just walking around in this world was a blast

the pixel art is particularly great and the disco elysium type of textbox was kind of neat but what i felt was really lacking was the fact that the characters (even the main ones) dont have character portraits which made them pretty less recognizable or interesting to look at than they wouldve if they had added some kind of little portrait to the side sure this is just me nitpicking but i would die to see the arts of some of the hotties in this game theres a lot of hunks up my alley and i had no idea how they looked like apart from those spriteworks

so yeah idk thats just something i was thinking of

that to say that the art direction is probably the best thing that came out of the entire game and still feels the most coherent stuff all the way through

lets talk SPOILERS shall we

so apart from the fact that the investigative phases were weirdly paced sometimes everything happened all at ones and sometimes nothing happens for like a hour but i digress most of the game is gonna play out in this investigative type of matter like discover the first secret and then investigate another area to get another secret and then another area for a plot twist then some gunplay then some blackmail then some femme fatale then this then that it checks all the boxes in the noir bingo and THEN all of the sudden it just gets into sci fi territory which is both controversial and bold at the same time

the game just starts crumbling on itself from here not because it actually gets bad (i liked the sci fi part of the game even though it was never really explained or really expanded upon and ended way to early for any sort of development or emotional punch to work but whatever) but because it starts deconstructing every single preconception you couldve had at the beginning of the game for how the story was gonna play out , did they manage to make it some sort of cathartic story line ? not really but it was interesting to see them take such a fucking bold decision all of the sudden and while they also stated that the game was rushed and the story was left somehow unfinished or whatever the fuck they meant in that PDF file i didnt particularly hate this change of pace and realistically i was having so much fun with exploring this huge huge plot twist and story diversion

all in all the emotional finale didnt stick with me either because i just didnt end up vibing with lotor at all during the games runtime or because i just generally feel like most of the characters were underdeveloped in many different ways even though the writing is pretty competent most of the time but what i mean is 3 months from now i will remember absolutely fucking nothing about the characters in this game apart from their general outline and role in the story . so theres that

for as much as a flawed experience this is i definitely was NOT expecting this soundtrack to be so gorgeously composed theres a lot of slutty jazz lounge types of tracks alternating with some moody ambience or nerve wrecking (thus good) industrial beats and unexpectedly enough voice tracks too this game has it all and they really aided the sense of immersion and overall aesthetic the game was going for

a pity i didnt end up liking this more it had everything to make a damn good impression on me narrative driven blacksad-like noir investigative storyline and type of gameplay impressive score and art direction with ONLY furries roaming through the cities this had EVERYTHING but i can say i still took something from this nonetheless

curious to see what they got in store for the BACKBONE and i repeat BACKBONE prequel so maybe i will dabble into this weird world once again but for now i can only leave with words of wisdom from lotors fridge: Call mom.

forgot a crucial detail: lotor looks like he got dick cheese

When people will ask me of the definition of "wasted potential" I'm gonna show them this game.

A build up that was thrown in the trash for a dumb and unnecessary plot point, leading to an abrupt and unclear ending. The beginning had me so hooked that I decided to call off most of my day's chores so I can see this to the end. I'd rather a hundred times now that I had cleaned around the house than to just waste my precious time for something that had all rights to become a really interesting detective, fury-based videogame with a nice storyline.

I wouldn't recommend playing it. Just watch it on YouTube or something. It's visually appealing but forcing myself to see the end of this story just saddens me.

For the first couple of hours its an intriguing, enjoyable, if fairly standard detective story, more a Noir visual novel than a game. And that's fine, I love Noir films. But then the big twist happens and im just like "......uhhhhh ok then......" and the entire story just kind of collapses into a steaming pile of WTF is happening right now??? Huge tonal twist that ruined the entire experience for me, and felt so disjointed and unconnected from the first two thirds of the game. It felt like they ran out of time or money, and just had to tack on this weird rushed confusing and really unsatisfying ending. So unsatisfying, like all the plot threads that have been built up to are just disregarded or brushed past, its unbelievable.

Plus its super short, like between 2-3 hours. So yeah, its way too short and has a really out of nowhere crazy-ass twist that completely ruins the rest of the game and leaves you watching the credits roll and saying to yourself "is that it? are you fucking serious bro?"

i’ve wanted to play this game for a while, and yesterday i decided to start it.

the game is quite short so only will take around a few hours to complete the story, i had so much fun playing it.

the pixel artstyle is something i’m not used to with games but god it was amazing, everything was so well done and pretty, the music was great, i’ve never stopped and appreciated a games soundtrack until now, the characters were interesting and either easily likeable or dislikable, the plot was dark and interesting.

i was so invested in this game, to the point where i was eating my panini mid gameplay. THEN IT GOT TO THE END.

how come the game abruptly ended whilst i was midway through my ham and cheese panini? i was devastated and was so surprised it just ended there?? i was so disappointed because i was loving the game so badly.

the gameplay is fucking null, you just walk and select dialogues, but the cool thing here is the story... damn.

it's THAT good, and the overall atmosphere made me quite content. (i would say "happy", but it wouldn't fit well in this game... lol).

visually, it's really pretty. i'm not a text guy, so i could only play for like 2 hours a day before getting exausted and close the game, but it was a cool experience, nonetheless.

the only thing i didn't like (and the reason for giving the game a 3,5 instead of a 5) is that, without spoiling, the ending isnt satisfaying. they really wanted to use a cliffhanger to the next game, but all it did was lefting a sour taste in my mouth.

recommend for everyone.

first, i want to get this out of the way: the art is great, the music is perfect. most of the writing is good, and i appreciate that the dialogue options were often pretty varied in terms of what type of howard you're going to be. most of the real-world themes it tackles are handled with care, if not always gracefully, and i think all the concepts for its worldbuilding are cool, if not entirely unique. the blend of concepts, i feel, is pretty unique. there's a lot going on in the background.

this is a tricky one to rate, because there are sections of it that feel so at odds with each other. i respect the ambition in terms of how many topics and tones they touched on. i'm not sure it gels into a cohesive experience for me, but i really want to talk about all the sections. i'll keep spoilers to a minimum, but there's obviously structural spoilers since that's most of what i'm thinking about.

it opens as a detective adventure game, has two or three very short stealth sections (which are so easy you'd be hard-pressed to fail them on your first try). i like this section, it's very classic noir, and the mystery it sets up is pretty compelling. it takes you to some beautiful settings

after some time, probably halfway through my playthrough, it completely changes tone and gameplay. i think this starts out as an interesting change, but doesn't stick the landing toward the end. i really like the section in the camp, aside from having a popular twitter/streamer personality hanging out which kind of broke my immersion and felt a little out of place. not a huge deal. i really liked the focus on participating in a found community, and it treated the subject matter in a way i thought was humanizing without being patronizing necessarily. it's not perfect, but i appreciate that it went there and didn't fuck up.

after that, however, you go to a lab, where the scenes mostly take place in a single tiny room. by now the tone has shifted so drastically from where we started that i wonder where it's going, and if i'm playing the same game at all. not necessarily in a good way.

then there's the epilogue, which sets up what *i think could be a really interesting sequel. but is this game*, on its own, a satisfying and complete package? i can forgive a cliffhanger (and i am looking forward to a sequel, if they make one), but i feel like a lot of the plot threads lacked the closure they were owed.

i think my biggest issue here is that it feels pretty rushed toward the end. i only encountered bugs at the end, i found that the gameplay and setting were monotonous and sparse for the last couple hours, and it feels like the focus on setting up a sequel was to distract from not knowing how to wrap up the other plot points. the ending sequence, while beautiful, didn't really punch me in the gut like i think it wanted to.

do i recommend this game? yes, i think this is worth your time, just know it's an uneven experience and writes some checks that end up bouncing. i think there are sections that i'd rate 2/5 and sections i'd rate 4/5, so make of that what you will, but don't let a lukewarm review scare you away, this game has ambition and heart, and i really want to play a sequel someday.

- PixelArt impressionante
- Escrita boa de ler
- Trilha sonora muito bonita

Porém, é um jogo que se pendura muito na história, não tendo muitos elementos de gameplay interessantes, e até aí tudo bem, afinal eu gosto de vários jogos assim. Porém, é uma história muito ruim!

--------- NÃO É SPOILER MAS PODE ESTRAGAR A EXPERIÊNCIA ---------

Basicamente no jogo inteiro, temos apenas, no máximo, dois momentos de gameplay que são realmente interessantes, um deles é o puzzle da senha no armário, eu gostei bastante dessa parte.

Até o ato III, em termos de história o jogo ia muito bem, estava sendo uma ótima experiência. Porém depois disso, é impressionante o quanto a história praticamente escorre pelos bueiros, e toma uma direção bem ruim.

Os personagens não tem muita profundidade quanto parecem ter no começo e mais pro final isso fica mais claro.

Decepcionante.

highly recommended if you want:

- Beautiful pixel art
- A really good soundtrack that fits and enhances the mood and emotion of every scene
- Interactive fiction/Point and clicks
- Detective Noirs that aren't afraid to break the mold and keep you surprised
- To see a side of Vancouver brought to life that doesn't get shown in media often

Went into Backbone fully aware of the mixed reception this game has regarding its second half, and came out at the end both with my expectations completely exceeded and also really kind of upset and confused by the amount of negativity this game has received.

The way I've seen this game talked about, I was expecting a rushed Xenogears style ending, but instead was met with an incredibly thoughtful change of pace in the second half that challenges the player and makes them confront what they thought they knew - both about the details of the story and the game itself. It's not a whodunnit detective game that neatly wraps up its case, but instead a story about grey morals, power struggles, people with the same big picture goals getting caught up in the details and turning against one another. It's much more NieR than it is Ace Attorney.

Another thing to keep in mind is that's it's more a piece of interactive fiction than it is a multiple-paths detective adventure - most conversations will end with the same ultimate result, but it's not the path choice that's important, rather who you want your character to be. You can be an asshole to everyone you meet with little to no consequence, but be ready to have that energy returned to you. Or you can instead learn about the people you encounter by being empathetic and understanding, often making for some of the most well written and impactful moments in the game. This approach lacks the gameplay depth some other detective games may have but it still works here; just go in with the mindset that you don't control the outcome of the story, you're just a passenger along for the ride.

Backbone doesn't wrap itself up neatly. It leaves you with questions, half-truths and unsolved mysteries. But it also leaves you with characters that have changed significantly by the end and a much different perspective on the city than you had in the first act. It leaves you with a dissatisfied futility, but that was always the point in the first place. The best mysteries keep you guessing and intrigued long after they're over. Backbone is no exception.

If you're looking for a good noir detective game with antropomorphic animals play something like Chicken Police. This is essentially a glorified visual novel which just happens to have a detective as the main character.

(minor spoilers)

It's also not really a mystery game either. While the main character is presented with a case to solve, it never really does get solved in a fulfilling fashion. I didn't mind that at all but I can defiinitely see why people are disappointed by the final chapter of the game. I would even say it does feel a bit underbaked when compared to the rest of the game. However, I do not believe it is a reason to just disregard the game as a whole. The story takes a turn in Chapter 3 (out of five), so by the time it reaches conclusion the player should already embrace that the conclusion might not be what they initially anticipated.

A lot of the criticism also comes from the fact that the relationship between Howard (the main character) and Renee (side character) which begins to form at the end chapter 1 just kind of stops existing after chapter 3. Funnily enough the writers of the game kind of dug themselves into a hole in that aspect. Some of the dialogue options seem to assume that you will like Renee right after the first conversation with her (there is even an achievement for "trusting her right away") and the character is definitely written in a way to make it the case for many of the players. Howard frequently mentions her in his thoughts as well, which sort of gives the impression the writers REALLY want you to connect with that characters for ultimately little to no payoff. I personally didn't fall for it, as aside from a common goal I didn't really see a reason to fully trust her, which I guess influenced my view of the entire game as well.

(major spoilers)

From all the chapters in the game, the first two are the least memorable to me. Aside from the plot twist at the end of the first one and maybe the conversation with Florence in the second one there isn't really anything all that interesting in there. Then the hypnotysing final sequence of chapter 3 happens (and unfortunately ends with Anatoly getting killed off for some shit-tier shock value), followed by a transition to the best location in the game, filled with characters who actually form some kind of community instead of randos on the street or the same newspaper salesman reused for a "comedic" effect. It actually felt like I should get to know these guys, because maybe I'll have to stay there for a while. That of course doesn't happen, but hey - that's life. You can't stay on the playground forever and your parents don't really care if you'll not see the kids you were playing with for the rest of your life. The same exact rethoric can be applied to Renee, except the player actually witnesses the choices she has to make afterwards. Which takes me back to what I said earlier - I think the negative voices come mosty from people who feel cheated by the story - by Howard's death, by Renee's choice to work with Clarissa, by the close to non-existing resolution of the case. And again - it's fine if they do. But I do believe that it's worth acknowledging that the creators of the game made a gamble. They took a concept that basically writes itself and decided to experiment with it. Not only with the story itself, but also with the way it's told. Maybe the quality is not fully up there, maybe the script could use some tweaks here and there, but I will take this story over another generic noir mumbo-jumbo any day of the week.

Also the pixelart in this game is gorgeous. The water reflections, the sun setting down - just beautiful stuff.

A noir-flavored detective side scroller set in a bleak world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals.

Nice jazzy music, a fairly strong pixel-art visual presentation, and a story that goes in an unexpected direction but feels drastically cut short. Backbone gives the distinct impression that the developers didn't have the time or money needed to execute their vision to its fullest. Relationships are especially truncated with characters saying out loud how they've formed important bonds with each other without showing any development between them. Be prepared for the writing to tell instead of show at almost every turn. Hints of worldbuilding are left largely unfulfilled in a game that only shows a small slice of the various locations discussed and showcased on the city’s sprawling map.

Then, there's the major lack of gameplay. Two quick stealth bits and a single engaging puzzle are about all that interrupt the player tapping one button over and over again to advance the story. The main gameplay consists of choosing between dialogue options, but the player’s choices don’t seem to affect the trajectory of the conversations or make any meaningful difference to the end result in most instances. There's no investigating to speak of in this detective game, nor is there any challenge in the mold of the typical adventure game. Backbone provides you with an inventory, but you will never once have cause to use it as the only items you can pick up are immediately required and used automatically within the same 2D space. There are so few possibilities as to your next move, that you will never be left wondering where to go or what to do next, for better and worse.

With an engaging stylistic presentation and a story that is interesting if hamstrung, Backbone is marginally worth experiencing through its short, 4-hour-ish runtime if you are prepared for something a little closer to a stylized 2D walking simulator than the detective adventure game it aspires to be.

-EDIT-
Lol, they changed the title from Backbone to Tails Noir like two years after release. Backbone was a terrible title anyway, but you don't get to just change your title post-release

Once the credits started to roll I found I was pulling face like someone had just farted.

The writing in this is mostly quite good, the music and presentation is wonderful but the plot - I'm just not sure.

Without spoiling it, Backbone moves on from being "just a detective story" into some strange stuff and ends quite suddenly.
Not as sudden as being hit by a bus but that sort of sudden you feel when you trip on a curb and you know what's coming but time slows a second.

It was free as part of bundle on itch supporting Ukraine, so it has that in its favour.
There's a demo on steam which is the prologue and I'd say that it's worth playing to see and feel this game's world and presentation but it doesn't reveal what the game is or at least becomes so it doesn't do a good job there.

Maybe I need more time to sit and think about the game, the themes are interesting and as I said before writing, sound, graphics all of that is good but I feel like Backbone ends up being less than the some of its parts - at least that's how I feel while writing this.