Tails Noir

It is not worth the price they are charging. they have dlc and have not even worked out all the bugs.

I just finished the game and I don't regret buying it. There is so much to appreciate: The gorgeous pixel-art, the music, strong dialog and characters, the world-building as well as the first few chapters of the game. Zootopia meets Film Noir - what's not to like? I read a few non-spoiler reviews beforehand, so I knew that there was this polarizing mid-game shift but I didn't know its exact nature. I suppose this softened the blow? Usually, I'm all for artistic freedom: When working on an original ip (as opposed to an already established franchise) a creator should be allowed to follow his or her vision and not be concerned about what fans would want. This includes subverting expectations and maybe breaking a few "golden rules" of traditional storytelling. But these are the rules for good reasons, so you better know what you're doing! I'm still on the fence about certain aspects of the plot. I won't get into any spoilers, so let's just say that some of the late-game story developments feel random, cruel and ultimately unearned. I'd still recommend Backbone for its first half. It's an impressive debut for EggNut and I'd love to see what else they are capable of.

Tails Noir suffered from misleading advertising courtesy of a promising demo, which greatly hurt it's reception and reputation upon release, but these criticisms doesn't mean that the game is below your consideration; there is still something here that would be enjoyed by many. The presentation and concept is pleasingly executed and engaging; the environments and artwork are consistently striking, complemented by sufficiently fitting background music to suit the time period. The use of anthropomorphic characters is fun in a game such as this, allowing for the potential to explore social commentary or politics of the period without having to directly reference a human equivalent. Species can have unique traits and suffer oppression without it being uncomfortable to the audience; in the manner of Wind in the Willows or Animal Farm, for example. A reasonable characterisation of this title would say that it's a linear visual novel with detective motifs, that is to say it lacks any real detective work - which will appeal to some and put others off. Myself being in the latter group, as in Act One the story was set up to be intriguing with the promise of the introduction of additional detective elements, but in both departments it petered out. Unfortunately the developer, Eggnut games, halted its operations as of 6th March 2024, so the potential of any future titles past what has been delivered will never come to pass. Which is sad news indeed, because I liked the concept and presentation enough despite the proportionally greater amount of flaws that it was worthwhile to monitor their future projects. In this space I would probably recommend Chicken Police over Tails Noir, formerly BackBone.

According to the game, it is a very beautiful project with pleasant music. First three chapters are a gorgeous noir detective game. But chapter 4 and the rest of the game brought some sadness in my soul because of rapid change of narrative) I hope, that dev. team will continue to complement game world and release new DLC / games in Backbone's world pretty soon)

As pointed out by many reviewers already, the last chapters are cut from a different fabric from the rest of the game. And the first part is better ; then end seems a bit pointless, with moot dialogs, events and atmospheric walking sequences. The game is still a good game, worth being played, even if after playing the prologue something else could have been expected