Brickwall
Slay the Spire meets Into the Breach with a slick art style
2018
It almost works as something to play on mute while listening to podcasts but it just feels so lazy, like the makers put in the bare minimum amount of effort and didn't care about quality to any degree
A much bigger leap backwards from the previous game than I was expecting. Leaning more into the weird supernatural aspects was a bad call, and the moon logic required to advance in certain sections is beyond frustrating.
It seriously stretches suspension of disbelief and requires the occasional dash of moon-logic, but is overall quite well-written (despite being occasionally cringey) and is a fun, light experience. The main group of characters is diverse and well-rounded; Edgeworth in particular has an immensely satisfying character arc. Grabbed the trilogy on Switch and I'm looking forward to jumping into the next game. Mostly played in 30-minute chunks before going to sleep.
Does a lot I've always wanted from a zombie game that I haven't really found elsewhere, and the main gameplay loop and combat/resource management is fun. The major downsides are the total lack of a story and the fact that there's no real drive or directive to progress other than just filling your map with a bunch of the same "destroy the plague heart" task.
Does a lot right but has some major design flaws. The resource system is horribly imbalanced, you can't make changes to your deck after failing a battle without loading back to an earlier save, and many of the "puzzle" battles are pure filler. Played this on the Switch, mostly while on the bus trying not to look the crazy people in the eye
2015
ACAB includes this shitty Battlefield spinoff. Why does this even have the Battlefield name on it? Extra points off for making the cutscenes not only total shit and interminably long but also unskippable.
Playing for the first time in 2022 with no nostalgia attached... this was kind of a slog to get through. Hopefully the sequels improve. There's some light worldbuilding but not really any story to speak of; go here and shoot the things, now go here and shoot the things, etc. The level of machismo is so ridiculously over the top, everyone's a giant meathead with testosterone levels off the charts. Maybe this is part of the charm(?), but I find it more eye-rolling than anything
2018
Charming and enjoyable but extremely short. You can finish it in an hour. At least it doesn't outstay its welcome, but the concept could be pushed so much farther. There are only a handful of levels of and a real shortage of mechanics.
2021
A noir-flavored detective side scroller set in a bleak world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals.
Nice jazzy music, a fairly strong pixel-art visual presentation, and a story that goes in an unexpected direction but feels drastically cut short. Backbone gives the distinct impression that the developers didn't have the time or money needed to execute their vision to its fullest. Relationships are especially truncated with characters saying out loud how they've formed important bonds with each other without showing any development between them. Be prepared for the writing to tell instead of show at almost every turn. Hints of worldbuilding are left largely unfulfilled in a game that only shows a small slice of the various locations discussed and showcased on the city’s sprawling map.
Then, there's the major lack of gameplay. Two quick stealth bits and a single engaging puzzle are about all that interrupt the player tapping one button over and over again to advance the story. The main gameplay consists of choosing between dialogue options, but the player’s choices don’t seem to affect the trajectory of the conversations or make any meaningful difference to the end result in most instances. There's no investigating to speak of in this detective game, nor is there any challenge in the mold of the typical adventure game. Backbone provides you with an inventory, but you will never once have cause to use it as the only items you can pick up are immediately required and used automatically within the same 2D space. There are so few possibilities as to your next move, that you will never be left wondering where to go or what to do next, for better and worse.
With an engaging stylistic presentation and a story that is interesting if hamstrung, Backbone is marginally worth experiencing through its short, 4-hour-ish runtime if you are prepared for something a little closer to a stylized 2D walking simulator than the detective adventure game it aspires to be.
-EDIT-
Lol, they changed the title from Backbone to Tails Noir like two years after release. Backbone was a terrible title anyway, but you don't get to just change your title post-release
Nice jazzy music, a fairly strong pixel-art visual presentation, and a story that goes in an unexpected direction but feels drastically cut short. Backbone gives the distinct impression that the developers didn't have the time or money needed to execute their vision to its fullest. Relationships are especially truncated with characters saying out loud how they've formed important bonds with each other without showing any development between them. Be prepared for the writing to tell instead of show at almost every turn. Hints of worldbuilding are left largely unfulfilled in a game that only shows a small slice of the various locations discussed and showcased on the city’s sprawling map.
Then, there's the major lack of gameplay. Two quick stealth bits and a single engaging puzzle are about all that interrupt the player tapping one button over and over again to advance the story. The main gameplay consists of choosing between dialogue options, but the player’s choices don’t seem to affect the trajectory of the conversations or make any meaningful difference to the end result in most instances. There's no investigating to speak of in this detective game, nor is there any challenge in the mold of the typical adventure game. Backbone provides you with an inventory, but you will never once have cause to use it as the only items you can pick up are immediately required and used automatically within the same 2D space. There are so few possibilities as to your next move, that you will never be left wondering where to go or what to do next, for better and worse.
With an engaging stylistic presentation and a story that is interesting if hamstrung, Backbone is marginally worth experiencing through its short, 4-hour-ish runtime if you are prepared for something a little closer to a stylized 2D walking simulator than the detective adventure game it aspires to be.
-EDIT-
Lol, they changed the title from Backbone to Tails Noir like two years after release. Backbone was a terrible title anyway, but you don't get to just change your title post-release
2017
A great-looking puzzle game with truly unique mechanics. Most of the puzzles are straightforward, some are pretty clever, and one had me stumped for a while, but you can still finish the whole thing in about two hours
2020
A decent rogue-like deck builder that doesn't particularly excel in any area. Played until I beat two runs then felt like I got enough out of it. Doesn't have the longevity of a Slay the Spire for example.
Detective games keep letting me down. Bad voice acting, mediocre at best writing, and frustratingly obtuse and slow gameplay. Also encountered a bug that crashed the game and completely erased my save file, so that seemed like the right time to quit.
2022
Can't be bothered with the multiplayer. The solo "campaign" is only like 2 hours long. The shooting feels decent but the story is total nonsense and the characters could not possibly be more generic (the same can be said for everything else.) Also pretty buggy.
2019
Cheap and lazy and ugly as shit