Developer: Eggnut
Platform: PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Adventure
Publisher: Raw Fury
Tails: The Backbone Preludes is a post-noir narrative adventure with branching choices. This game is developed by Eggnut and published by Raw Fury. This game is a prequel to the first-ever game in the series called; Backbone.
This game is a single-player game that takes place many years before the events of Backbone. You play through four anthropomorphic animals and take upon their own distinct narratives. Each character tells a different story: Howard is a photography major in college with his roommate, Larry. Eli is a scientist who questions his choices, Renee is an investigative journalist, Clarissa is an heiress, and you; play through her from childhood to young adulthood. Each story is different from another, and the choices you take for each character matter further in the development of; their storyline.
Now the controls of this game are very straightforward and simple. Using the keyboard, you can walk around, interact with objects and interact with what you wish to say next. The controls for the game are also highlighted when needed to be used, and nothing; is overcomplicated about them.
The visuals of this game incorporates a 2D pixelated “side-scroller”. Personally, I love pixel games because there is some distinctness and uniqueness about that specific art style that brings the game out more to life, as it is difficult; to make something more realistic visually. With this game specifically, what is done with the art style is so well done as it sets scenes and environments up with great attention to detail. Not just that but the style of the pixel-art looks high-resolution, which makes everything look so crisp and clean. Besides everything in the game being pixelated, there is a really nice attraction to the pixel art when there is a motion to it; this helps bring the characters to life and set the world around them a lot better. The attraction to the pixel art in this game is done effortlessly and, having there be things moving around in the back makes it less boring to look at especially, when going through dialogue. What I also love about the set-up of the scene is that some start off with a pan from one side to another or a zoom-in with heightened sound effects, which makes; admiring the art even better and recognizable.
The soundtrack of this game is one of my favourites, and from scene to scene, it goes from good to great at times. There is; a great mix of music that is played throughout the game. Some are distinct to the characters, which is a really wonderful; detail. Starting off the game, the music sets a mysterious tone with typewriter effects; to it. The range of the music consists of mellow/melodic guitar, an upbeat country guitar vibe, to a mix of piano, tambourine and bass. The music of this game makes the atmosphere so much better to be enticed into. As most of this game consists of heavy reading, the choice of music helps set the scene. In addition to that, sound effects in this game, from birds to bells dinging, all bring a pop to; the environment you are in. The array of melancholic and noir doom jazz perfectly accompanies the themes and different stories of the characters. Another thing to add about the sound effects of this game is the sound effects the characters make when going through dialogue which is a little touch I liked. For instance, some characters would laugh/chuckle or let out other sound effects with a correlation to the text that makes; it more lively.
There are a total of four acts in Tails: Backbone Preludes. Each scene begins with which character you are playing and when it occurs. The characters live in a dystopian future, yet their stories all appear more on the grim side; of things. What; is really well done about this game is the character study. You can build relationships or make them worse based on the dialogue choices you make. The overall game is not that very long, roughly around 3 hours but can be more when wanting to redo certain; choices to unlock more branches in the story. Because the game is relatively short, everything said and done in the game is of importance; to the characters. Now if you want to play an adventure game that is; set in a dystopian future with noir elements as you make choices for; the four characters you play, then this is the game for you. You do not need to have played Backbone to play this, always play this one; first, then go check out Backbone afterwards. So do; be sure to check out Tails: The Backbone Preludes, which is available for PC.
From someone who has played the first game, I have to say this was very different in the sense of how it played. This game was much more heavily focused on you picking dialogue choices to effect relationships between characters and to have some effect on the ending of the character’s story. What I liked was the story branch that was given for each character what this allowed was for me to go back and see what effect other choices would have entailed on the story, which is something that is always important in these choice-heavy games. Something that I found to be effective was when certain choices were of importance, on the top left of the screen, a little butterfly would appear with text highlighting the importance. Another major; choice that you make is picking out traits, and this is highlighted in the text of the game. This was a nice; a way to see how different traits would unlock different texts in the future. Now this game also includes puzzles in some of the scenes. Some of the puzzles, especially the one with Renee, seemed like a puzzle from the game Unpacking. Personally speaking, I wish the puzzles were a bit more difficult because the puzzles being added, to the game, seem like a bit of a waste as they are super easy to solve.
Thoughts on the ending of this game were a bit mixed because, with these choice games, there is always a problem with choices actually affecting the final ending, and some; of the endings in this game did seem a bit forced. Meaning the text was set so that you would make the choices it wanted you to; in the end. Besides that, I found the game to be a great pastime, and for someone who really enjoyed the first game, I found this one to be good but not as great. Though I do have to say the; artistry and writing in this game are extremely impressive.
Now if you want to play an adventure game that is set in a dystopian future with noir elements as you make choices for; the four characters you play, then this is the game for you. You do not need to have played Backbone to play this, always play this one; first, then go check out Backbone afterwards. So do; be sure to check out Tails: The Backbone Preludes, which is available for PC.
Overall: 7.5/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
