Tails Noir

 Xbox One
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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

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  • Summary: Backbone is a post-noir roleplaying detective adventure, in which you step into the shoes of raccoon private investigator, Howard Lotor, and explore dystopian Vancouver, BC, beautifully rendered in high resolution pixel art.

    After years of small-time cases, lonely evenings, and just barely    Backbone is a post-noir roleplaying detective adventure, in which you step into the shoes of raccoon private investigator, Howard Lotor, and explore dystopian Vancouver, BC, beautifully rendered in high resolution pixel art.

    After years of small-time cases, lonely evenings, and just barely scraping by, Howard Lotor is swept into a job quite unlike any other before it. What starts as a menial case slowly unravels into something much darker, pitting Howard against the oppressive, systemic power hierarchies of the City itself.    … Expand

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22 Minutes of Backbone Gameplay

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. XBLA Fans
    Feb 23, 2022
    80
    A lot of things combine to make an enjoyable detective adventure. You have moody music, pixel graphics, animal characters, stealth, conversation decisions, and dark noir crime drama. The biggest downfall is sadly the story, specifically the last chapter. Again I don’t want to give anything away because it is worth playing and some will find the twist awesome, but I was not a fan. I would definitely like to experience more of the city, especially as a different character. It’s the type of game setting that opens up a lot of options for sequels or DLC. And if that content is created in the future, I will be thrilled to jump back into the crazy animal city.
  2. XboxAddict
    Nov 24, 2021
    75
    While I enjoyed my time with Howard, unravelling the case before me, I’ll admit, it won me over early on simply for being based in my home town. Seeing a familiar yet strange version of my city was exciting, and while most won’t have the same connection, that’s what drew me to Backbone initially. While some might question the latter half of the narrative, I’m still glad to have experienced it, and since it’s currently available on Game Pass, you can do so too with little barriers.
  3. TheXboxHub
    Nov 3, 2021
    70
    It’s certainly enjoyable to spend some time in the world of Backbone. It's a place of imagination, noir detective thrills and of animals wandering around in human clothes. Point-and-click fans may get frustrated at the ease of the gameplay and whilst the narrative is good, it does get a bit confusing towards the end, trying too many things. But at the same time, the inventiveness of trying something different just has to be applauded.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. AlexTrashiboi
    Nov 29, 2021
    9
    So far amazing game! Currently on chapter three and honestly the sound design, visual design, and story left a large imprint on me. The reasonSo far amazing game! Currently on chapter three and honestly the sound design, visual design, and story left a large imprint on me. The reason why I rate this a 9 instead of a 10 is because there's some pretty small glitches and bugs in the game that kind of don't
    Make sense as to how they're still in the game? Like in the slums of the game if you run all the way to the right of the screen you clip
    Through the floor. And I had a losing condition because one of the guards I tried to avoid wouldn't move when I activated a distraction.
    In general this came is definitely worth it for people who like puzzle and story based games. Amazing work!    … Expand
  2. Lazaydante
    Oct 31, 2021
    9
    Amazing graphics and great characters and dialogue. The characters lowkey feel like real people with real problems, and I love that in a game.
  4. RanDoMSky
    Nov 1, 2021
    9
    Beautiful art and OST. It truly makes you want to explore through amazing, well-written dialogues and characters. If you like dark andBeautiful art and OST. It truly makes you want to explore through amazing, well-written dialogues and characters. If you like dark and mysterious plots, try this game.… Expand
  5. Bochenki
    Dec 8, 2021
    7
    Backbone is a simple, point-and-click game with amazing visuals and engaging story. There's not much gameplay to it and the experienceBackbone is a simple, point-and-click game with amazing visuals and engaging story. There's not much gameplay to it and the experience resembles more to reading a choose-your-own-adventure book. Which is not bad at all. The plot is very interesting, though some metaphors are a little bit straightforward. The characters have interesting personalities and they actually feel like real people. Playing Backbone is rather about exploring the deep and dark corners of the game's universe and watching an interesting story than about creating it and achieving certain goals.… Expand
  6. Awanka
    Oct 25, 2022
    7
    An atmospheric existential point and click adventure with fun writing and possessing of an eccentric streak of humor. Conversations go onAn atmospheric existential point and click adventure with fun writing and possessing of an eccentric streak of humor. Conversations go on longer than usual onto off-tangent topics and get weird. The developers make a stab at puzzle-solving elements in the first act, but soon abandon them for a more linear story-telling drama.

    The story itself starts with a fairly mundane case, and goes through the usual tropes of a murder mystery, but then gets pretty crazy half-way through. There are some interesting artistic flourishes, like long cutscenes where the player listens to someone singing and playing a piece of music all the way through, or a parade that turns into a psychedelic nightmare. There's also an element of psycho-analysis as the game asks you questions that are existential in nature.

    I appreciate that the developers were trying to do something new with the medium here, but they didn't quite have the budget to see it through as the game ends rather abruptly. Still a promising effort, and I look forward to seeing something more fleshed out from them in the future.    … Expand
  7. Fedelta
    Aug 18, 2022
    7
    Graphics are very good.First half is perfect actually but ending is not satisfying
  8. markrobbo036
    Aug 13, 2022
    2
    Backbone is a game with a great art style and compelling concept at first look. The first act has some fun little puzzles and a compellingBackbone is a game with a great art style and compelling concept at first look. The first act has some fun little puzzles and a compelling story.

    After this, any small amount of gameplay drops off and you are largely left with reading dialog where the options you choose have no impact on the story. You can get through the game purely by spamming x if you wanted to. At this point it is little more than a visual novel, which is ok if you like that and don't pay a lot for it.

    However half way through the game it completely changes genre in a way which leaves huge parts of the story completely unresolved and becomes completely absurdist. For this reason I'd consider it a bad visual novel and can't recommend it.    … Expand

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