Recent reviews by Korius

played with a friend, and we finished the game + got all the achievements in less than 4 hours, so i don't think it's worth $15 (though i bought it at this price because i support indie devs making furry games), but i do think it's pretty fun and interesting. the best part of this game is for sure the picking up and shaking mechanic, and the most fun we had was when there were a bunch of enemies running around and we kept picking up the wrong people or picking up each other and just chaotically flinging boxes and bodies everywhere. the music is lacking, but the pixel artwork is really nice, and i think this game just needs more levels/content.

Backbone is definitely worth experiencing, but as for whether it's worth buying, I recommend playing the free Prologue and then asking yourself how much you would pay to play a few more hours of a much more linear version of that. I enjoy Backbone, but there are several caveats that prospective buyers must consider or else risk heavy disappointment (hence the Mixed overall rating at the time of this writing).

• This is more so an interactive storybook than a game. While different dialogue choices can influence NPC responses, this is not a Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook, nor will this play like a typical mystery or point-and-click game as you might expect. The story is linear, and all paths eventually lead to the same outcome. This is not a bad thing: this simply means that the creators had a specific story they wanted to tell. That being said, I like the story, and that is ultimately why I'm giving this title a positive review.
  
  
• This game is not worth $25. Most negative reviews are from buyers who felt--rightfully so--that the content they received wouldn't even justify a price over $10. I have no qualms about paying full price because I want to support the developer. However, a casual playthrough will take no longer than 5 hours, and there is little replay value unless you care to try different dialogue options or you want to hunt for achievements.
  
  
• Because the story is the game, I will say as little about it as possible, and anyone interested in this game should also do their best to avoid reading anything about the plot. All you have to know is that this is a unique take on a classic noir trope, and much of the enjoyment comes from a pressing need to know just how this is all going to end. For all its flaws, this story is definitely a figurative page-turner because you will want to know what happens next.
  
  
• Many negative reviews balk at the ending. However, an ending that does not resolve every loose fray is not a bad ending, and especially in Backbone's case, wrapping everything up neatly would have felt terribly contrived and robbed this story of its authenticity. That isn't to say, of course, that you're just left hanging in the middle of something climactic; it's clear what next steps our characters will take. What isn't clear is the outcome of their subsequent actions, and that's okay because they are no more able to predict an uncertain future than we are. Backbone explores the constant uncertainty in life that we all grapple with, and all any of us can do is try to make sense of the surrounding chaos for yet another day.

TLDR: Unless you're a furry with leftist ideologies, you will be disappointed with how little Backbone there is for the price until it goes on sale for <$10.

they forgot the VISUAL part of visual novel because these scribbles are utter trash. also not being able to have save states in a visual novel + disgustingly long intro = the most torturous VN i've ever had the displeasure of playing

story is the typical cliched garbage you'd see in a standard anime

terribly clunky console controls show just how effort went into porting this to pc

not even a tactical rpg because the goal is just buffing your main heroine scout Alicia to move through all the enemies to capture the flag, and you're only penalized for taking your time to fight because the enemy will keep calling in reinforcements every time you kill people. yes, that's right: you're not supposed to fight in this game. you just need to capture the enemy's flag as fast as you can so just run to the end, kill a couple dudes occupying the flag area, win, and watch the cutscene of the enemies saying they have to retreat while literally a few meters away are a bunch of enemy soldiers and tanks

imagine making a platformer that has the worst controls so it takes ten years after pressing spacebar before you actually jump

music is grating garbage

literally the only reason people would ever remotely care about this trash is because they swoon over british accents and think that narrators who break the fourth wall are so clever, funny, and original

davy jones stole my heart

and my virginity

davy jones did nothing wrong

i'd rather get e coli poisoning from chipotle than play this diseased garbage

this garbage is so bad that the devs didn't even bother to put in a proper ending because they didn't think anyone would be able to tolerate this trash long enough to finish it

amidst all the garbage that is strewn before you, you will never find there a decent game

the only thing this mahjong game is destined for is the landfill