Rating
Tails: The Backbone Preludes
Tails: The Backbone Preludes is a post-noir narrative adventure with branching choices. It is an intertwined series of vignettes about change, circumstance, and consequence. Guide four characters through formative moments in their lives in a dystopian Vancouver inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. As a narrative and thematic prequel to Backbone, ...
Details
- Released
- February 1, 2023
- Developer
- EggNut
- Genres
- Point-and-click · Puzzle · Role-playing (RPG) · Adventure · Indie
- Publisher
- Raw Fury
- Platforms
- PC
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Tails: The Backbone Preludes Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
Going down these paths can be surprisingly difficult, as some interactions require specific responses that don't always seem clear. For example, Renee's introduction centers around an article she's writing about a mysterious fire that occurred after police killed a man during a domestic incident. When reviewing the evidence with her husband Lukas, who is also a cop, the player is tasked with trying to convince Lukas that something is fishy due to inconsistencies in the police reports. Unfortunately, players aren't provided dialogue options that cover all the major details presented to them, wh...
I’ve played a ton of point-and-click adventures over the years, but after a while, they tend to start blending together. One game that did not fall into obscurity in my mind was EggNut’s Backbone, which released in 2019. From its striking pixel art to its cliffhanger ending, Backbone is one of the rare games that has stuck with me ever since first playing it. Funnily enough, I was looking to see if I could find any news on a sequel, when I was informed that there was in fact a new Backbon...
More importantly, Tails is just a standout narrative adventure. Where choices exist, they matter. Questions from the previous game, while not answered directly, are given enough time to become gratifying explanations. Characters I would have already considered to be fleshed out are rounded out even more. I think whatever Backbone did well, and that’s quite a bit, Tails managed to do even better.
While Tails: The Backbone Preludes feels like a step back in gameplay, it makes up for it with compelling characters, interesting stories, and lovely presentation.
It’s a complimentary piece to Backbone, which can stand before or beside it but shouldn’t be set apart from it. However, in context, it’s a terrific addition to the series. While it isn’t as compelling or fully featured as the first act of Backbone, it is a much more solid experience. The series, as it is currently, is a lot stronger with the inclusion of Tails: The Backbone Preludes. It’s a great collection of fiction. But without Backbone, it completely lacks the ability to stand on its own.