Backbone Reviews
Is Backbone worth a look? Yes, particularly if the idea of playing as an anthropomorphic animal appeals to you. There are times when it’ll have you on tenterhooks and there are several characters that are strong enough to stand out. It’s admirable that this was achieved on a small budget, but ultimately the developers have tried to cram too much in for Backbone to be truly successful.
With its gorgeous aesthetic and intriguing plot, Backbone has a lot going for it but suffers from pacing and execution issues.
Backbone is an interactive narrative-based adventure with some underused classic point-and-click gameplay elements mixed with choice possibilities that don't always represent real cause-and-effect options, but bring in its artistic style and well-written text its best qualities.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If you've come to expectation by playing Prologue, you'll be disappointed. A more linear, puzzled and different environment awaits you, especially in the second half.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
The game also delivers on its tonal shift and twist and does things that a simple noir detective story could not. Backbone understands the value of good writing and works hard to make words matter. The development team has already said that it has more stories to tell in this universe and I very much want to see how they expand on the best elements of Backbone and how they can make the world even more intriguing.
With amazing art and music, Backbone has a killer introduction and a great vibe. Unfortunately, due to a dreadful turn in the narrative and underdeveloped gameplay, this is a classic case of style over substance.
Backbone starts off strong with an interesting premise and setting and tops off everything with great visuals. What starts as an intriguing detective story quickly loses its appeal, as it doesn't scratch more than the surface of its potential with a rather unsatisfying ending and a setting that is never explored to the extent that it likely deserves.
Excellent visuals and a great soundtrack. But in terms of gameplay it doesn't deliver what it promises, while the story, although it starts with all the makings of something at least decent, loses its steam completely from the middle onwards.
While its simplistic gameplay and lack of closure hold it back from greatness, Backbone still delivers a compelling experience thanks to its deep worldbuilding, well-realized characters, and gorgeous pixel art.
While the game isn’t as grand as I initially thought from the first act, the story is one that’s well worth seeing through. The characters you meet are interesting, the world is gorgeous, and the ideas are certainly relevant to the world we live in.
Backbone is a result of an engaging story and interesting characters, with incredibly detailed pixel art as a bonus.
The narrative flourishes of Backbone are wildly ambitious, and the tonal shifts will butt up hard against expectations set by the opening hours’ clear love for noir-narrative and tropes. It’s a game obsessed with change and transformation, and in a world as damned as this, perhaps that’s the best one can hope for.
Once again, I'll reinforce the praise I made to the game's art direction, one of its most powerful aspects. Other than that, the nonsensical script and the abandonment of gameplay elements that could be put to much better use make the Backbone experience, overall, disappointing and worth keeping as a bad memory.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Backbone sells itself as a new kind of point-and-click adventure that includes dialogue choices and some light stealth mechanics. It does technically have these, but whether they help Backbone stand out over traditional games in the genre is a matter of debate. The main attraction here is definitely the masterful pixel art design that is head and shoulders above the crowd.
Backbone gets off to a great start and it definitely has a lot to say. Great visuals and a stunning soundtrack made me want to give it the benefit of the doubt, to ignore its issues. As it goes on though, Backbone loses everything that made it interesting in its early hours. What replaces it is so different that its hardly even the same game. Different doesn’t have to mean bad, but the changes and ideas thrown around in the second half are too underdeveloped to overlook. Perhaps a sequel can allow the development team to further delve into its many themes. I liked enough of Backbone that for most of its running time I was enjoying myself. In its current state though, it’s hard to enthusiastically recommend.
In Conclusion, while the game is stylistically great with a setting that is a joy to immerse yourself in, it is let down by a story that builds to a point then goes off the rails at the end. If a deeper message is in there somewhere the finale makes it difficult to grasp but Backbone is a haunting experience all the same.
The main reason it’s hard to recommend Backbone is that so much is left unanswered. I truly hope there will be more games in the franchise, because the world building and character development are outstanding. If they could bring back the puzzles and stealth elements from the prologue into future titles, then I have no doubt EggNut could have a classic on their hands.
Backbone dwells into the dark reality of a dystopian world full of corruption and injustice. Though the game has some gameplay issues and the story isn’t as long and well-paced as I had hoped, it brought a gorgeous cityscape with a comprehensive narrative. The dialogue is well-written, and the plot is greatly engaging, as it keeps you desiring to know what could happen next in the life of Howard Lotor.
From beginning to end I was hooked on Backbone
Despite the brevity, Backbone has one of the most fascinating and rich settings for a video game I’ve visited in years, and it left me craving even more.