Backbone: Why The Ending Should Matter

[@BathoryMcClemont]

I was loving the game up until you get infected, and then it just becomes an art piece about existential nihilism

[@fromawritersperspective]

Haha this does seem to be the overwhelming consensus. It's sad, as a pixel art detective noir just has so much potential.

[@jetsflyingoffatrain4338]

if the game continued as the other Las I wouldn't mind but it just ends

[@RegginaldRiglet]

@@fromawritersperspectivethis is so true. Pixel detective noir had so much potential. A lot of the story is good…. Till the infection. Then it just goes bonkers off the rails. Ending was the most anti climatic exp I’ve ever played.

[@noobyfromhell]

Yeah, it’s like Venom but instead of getting superpowers you get Disco Elysium style introspection.

[@thereseemstobeenanerror1219]

Man, people _hated_ this game ending.

[@khyrianstorms]

Yes they did. Likely because the rest was actually good. I think a bad ending to a great set-up is possibly worse than a mediocre game.

[@DiegoTan66]

@@khyrianstorms very true!

[@jorgepacheco9845]

Yeah I'm one of them. The story was so good but then it just sort of ends abruptly.

[@doifhg]

Yeah, as someone that just finished the prelude games I wasn't expecting closure to the main game, but I'm hoping that somewhere along the lines we see a sequel that fleshes out what the hekk happened because the intrigue in the world is pretty cool

[@sainttan]

The whole thing reminds me of Deponia, that game ends in tragedy. In its sequel, the heroine tried to change fate but at the cost of there world collapsing. And at the end, the one fixes it was the who accepted there end, that "the ending" was good enough as is... despite the outcry of some of its fans. I wish Backbone got the same luxury like L A Noire. Where we get to relate to the protagonist In his adventures more, so when there inevitable end comes, we have better acceptance or attachments to all of it.

[@hornetsilksong]

The worst part is the devs snap at people calling the ending bad and have their head so far up their own ass they think it's such an existential masterpiece that the haters just don't get it. Also WHY WOULD U ADMIT THE LAST PART OF THE STORY WAS ENTIRELY CRUNCH you're only making yourself look worse, dev...

[@fromawritersperspective]

Let’s hope better things lie ahead for their upcoming prequel “Tails”

[@Alcanmedia]

Terrible ending. Not because the main character dies, but because there is no closure and no explanation as to what was this for and why it happened. The director/writer clearly had to deal with the issues of her separation and mental health before completing the story. 3 months of rushed ending, the tone and story changes completely to a nihilist pessimistic view of the world, clearly projecting her sadness into her creation. It was probably a terrible heartbreak, but i am sorry her work suffered because of it. We will never know the excellent story that this could have been.

[@fromawritersperspective]

Which is surprisingly not that rare in the gaming industry

[@adityaparam8736]

I thought that infodump with her laptop at the end of Act II was setting up a ton of plot threads, and the game would be a lot longer as it explored all of them. I was expecting something messed up happening with the science lab, but I didn't expect that hard right turn. My personal theory up until that twist was that the god figure was man, and they spliced human DNA with animals. Things went sideways, and the rest of the world was left a wasteland, leaving Vancouver and the wall. I thought that the alien was the device humans used, and then you'd go under the wall and end up meeting that animal society's creators. It would also go to explain why apes are at the top, as they're closest to 'God'.

[@fromawritersperspective]

Well, never thought about that, although that would’ve been a fascinating ending. Would also give Harold the opportunity to survive the story.

[@OrwellsDream]

This makes so much sense. They should've let you write the ending! Also, playing this game. The fact that it has Animal Farm vibes is right up my alley!

[@Lucas_silvax]

Maaaann, It would have been so cool in that way

[@adityaparam8736]

@@Lucas_silvax Yeah, there's so much that could have been done with this story that the entire thing feels like a missed opportunity. I keep thinking that the alien should have caused the apocalypse outside, and you can have a nice split story between Renee inside the wall, and Howard outside. Renee deals with the apes and dismantling their crime syndicate, while Howard deals with mutating monstrosities while learning the origins of the alien.

[@bubblelaydy]

This is _identical_ to what I was thinking as soon as I saw the Shepard. I figured the artifact was some gadget they forgot on their departure from the planet

[@MattDeLeo-h1d]

Right, so the creator of the game half assed the last part after spending ample time on the beginning. I’m not impressed by her comments, she sounds like a professional bullshitter.

[@FortniteOG420]

I just got done playing through the game and after Howard gets infected the whole story fell off a cliff. The Artifact felt like a shoehorn that didn't need to be there, they already had the meat eating operation, but then the whole story goes to sci-fi alien infection, and oh crime lady wants to work with her adversary. Whoever wrote this needs to keep one story as the main story

[@fromawritersperspective]

I think the real lesson from her process is: think the story ahead, know where you want to go with it and don’t let temporary things in your personal life affect something that will be in the audience’s hands forever

[@GilliganTF2]

I met this game a couple of days ago, got interested since the main protagonist is a raccoon and it's not often to see raccoons in games, the game was and is really good until you get infected, after that no mattet what you choose, it doesn't affect anything in the story. When you start playing as Clarissa and Renee it felt weird, incomplete, unnatural, like if something was missing. Then you see the raccoon walking in the wasteland and he just..dies and the credits appear, i feel robbed, scammed, dissapointed, i don't know what to think anymore and i just need answers

[@alexandersteward8559]

Exactly how I felt, like what kind of message and meaning are you sending felt like lazy writing very disappointed ending to potentially good video game we got game of thrones ending

[@3lscos]

this is kind of off topic (and a year late lol) but if you like raccoons and want to play a game that has one as a main character there's the PlayStation game series "sly cooper" that I've loved for years, i suggest looking into it!

[@mrchew6347]

In my heart he(they) didn't die and the story will continue someday

[@esperago]

Gotta say thank you so very much for this discussion of Backbone. You filled in so many questions I had, having recently completed it. I appreciate how you structurally layout the sudden turns in plot direction; the sudden 180 in character motivations and how the last third of the game feels rushed and compressed. I enjoyed the game quite a lot but I am biased. Detective noir is my favorite genre and I also lived in Vancouver for a few years. They did a great job with creating the vibe of rainy Vancouver. However, I began to get fairly confused as the plot progressed because I'd play the game late at night, right up until I would fall asleep. Most times, I'd fall in-and-out of dream like sleep while continuing to make dialog choices on screen. The next day I wouldn't remember what the hell happened or how on earth the story took such major major twists and turns. I chalked it up to me "sleep playing". Turns out I wasn't TOO asleep and out of it. Turns out it's a bit of a hot mess all by itself. Fast forward to now and I thought I'd never get a proper explanation of this game's storyline. But I did, thanks to you! Appreciate it, fellas. Oh and also, to be fair, I enjoyed the game enough, flaws and all, to buy the newly released prequel.

[@fromawritersperspective]

Thanks man. Much appreciated. How do you like the new prequel?

[@nym1376]

I wish there was more to the game- if not with Howard, than with Renee or Clarissa. To see them take down the apes, and acknowledge the end of Howard. Its a really pretty game with a grim story.. its a really good game.

[@fromawritersperspective]

Tails, the prequel to Backbone, is coming out next year :)

[@Nick-im5zg]

I honestly thought he became another species and that the sequel would be him as another species and trying to find out who he is and finding the old ruins where the girls ran to, so.. hes just dead? damn thats way more rushed than I thought it was.

[@prolattee]

I really don't like how the developer explained why people disliked the ending. The problem is not that the main character dies; the problem is that when the main character dies, the story just ends abruptly, with no conclusion to any storylines. When Ned Stark dies in the first season of GOT, the story doesn't just end; it continues, the show keeps telling a story without Ned Stark, how his death caused many chain of events. A good story should have a satisfying conclusion, even if the protagonist meets an untimely end. Not a sudden, unresolved ending leaves the audience feeling cheated and dissatisfied. It's important for storytellers to respect their audience's investment in the narrative by providing a well-rounded and thoughtful conclusion.

[@kennycringeworthy]

Finally got around to snatch this game up on winter sale after remembering how intrigued i was playing the demo few years ago, man it really sold me dreams. Like everyone has said it literally does a 360 turning from noir detective to venom infecting alien nonsense. Even at a discounted price, I feel scammed. So so dissapointed. 😢

[@fromawritersperspective]

Completely agree, although 60% of the journey will stay with you and 30% will live rent free in your mind. I know it’s an unscratched itch to not see a good resolution, but even an unfulfilled potential can bring a level of joy and inspiration

[@RegginaldRiglet]

Not to be that guy but technically it did a 180. Not 360. Yes though. The pixel detective story was so good. To then just throw an alien storyline out of nowhere was beyond bizarre

[@bman_j7714]

man this game was so good and could have gone so far i felt so lost and the end with the random alien and the wall and got mad at the very end where you die

[@fromawritersperspective]

Couldn’t agree more. It’s such a shame, as the atmosphere and the concept were such a singular experience

[@leroypoggu]

W art w aesthetics w music w game mechics w writing until artifact. L story. Its a pretty "colouring book" as po says

[@godlaster3182]

i didnt play the game... i scanned through a longplay of the game.... when i got to the ending i said "NOPE" im not going to even bother going back and enjoy the rest of the game if the ending is going to be THAT bad

[@RelishedFlame77]

Howard literally got the tetsuo treatment fr

[@cybernetiksoul8583]

I get why people didn't like the game ending. But I get (I think) what the creator was doing. I like that it kinda broke away from the typical formula and I like that it did so rapidly because it, IMO, reflects more how tall life is. Sometimes things just happen and transform quickly and what was expected veers off. I think Howard's sorry is over but I also think that if there was ever a part 2, it would have a lot it could do. Idk I know I'm pretty much alone in this lol

[@fromawritersperspective]

It will have a prequel called Tails

[@leroypoggu]

It just feels like shit was flung you can't change anything major how boring you have to get inflected by artifact you have to kill anatony you have to escape the lab you have to die in the wasteland this game could of just released in chapter but with fine polish not every game has Easter eggs but you can tell by far it started to stray from passion I actually do games development and I fully understand manipulating the player as this feel make he how they envision its just that it could literally be done with the same in pact just more building

[@k0rmit]

i really liked this game, and i think it had tons of potential- but the ending left so many questions unanswered that it was almost disappointing to reach that point. i felt like it really built up to the black market sort of thing and then immediately dumped it for the aliens. i’m all for aliens- i honestly think it made for an interesting plot point. but it left many of the black market questions unanswered and abandoned everything we thought was important to prove some idea of unimportance and eventual death. it doesn’t bother me that the raccoon died- it bothered me that i got to the end of the game and felt as though i had learned nothing about what i had played the game to learn. i hope the sequel/prequel is better- i really think it can be with the right tweaking. but story telling is so much more than just springing new and surprising ideas- it’s bringing closure. so disappointing:(

[@andre27b]

"thats a very easy way out" it is. they took the easiest way

[@juliashenandoah3965]

Wow what could be worse than a game developed by only one (or a handful of developers) and the game director or lead creative writer getting most serious private problems like divorce or cancer or something, this normally means the ending of said game because there are now other problems than creative writing and Photoshop and C++.... This meant also the end of another great Alien-Isolation-alike horror game called "Routine". But luckily Backbones was not only continued to develop but also got a Part II (I think it´s called Backbone Prelude.) :)

[@Afro_g6ming]

is backbone still tails noir? becausr although i (along with the rest of the audience) didn't qiute like the ending and yes i do agree the narrative couldn've gone better for example : howard dies and renee continues his work, unites the lesser class against the apes while clarssia works behind the scene. : howard controls the symbiote and continues his work with renee to help clarssia defeat the apes and change the world around them. : renee sides eith clarssia, howard finds out comes to an understanding and evenually teams with renee and clarssia to take down the apes. don't get me wrong taild noir. great game, good plot/story/narrative.bad time/end/and sufden shift in story line.

[@andresiathechannel7988]

not only did the games get an unexplained name change in august, but the og kickstarter and twitter was nuked in favor of a new twitter. the creator is also making cryptic posts related to the game this makes me wonder if they’re hyping up a sequel that answers questions and loose ends left behind by the first game, or at least a remaster of the first game that improves on the original flaws

[@fivecentnickel4363]

man i am so happy to see this rn

[@fromawritersperspective]

Tails, a prequel, is coming soon

[@maniusspoo1535]

If the gone girls are "fine" as Clarissa said, while they were infectee too, then the author is fine too. Of course the end matters wtf.

[@Simyaz]

I actually got *more* value out of the game because of the twist, and the grim ending -and it certainly seemed more in keeping with the noir theme. I'd argue that it became more of an emotional journey, than had it stayed its predictable course. In particular, the scenes under the bridge seemed like a brief moment of respite, wherein Howard can decide how he spends the time he has left -self pity, contemplation, connection, community? I found this very powerful.

[@Shyknit]

This is crazy I legit just finished the game qnd thought it might be a multiple ending kind of a game, insane that's the only ending. It would be nice if there was a part 2

[@Furones80z]

Best part in the ending is playing as Reene and Clarisse

[@bubblelaydy]

Wow i didn't think reactions would so negative. I just randomly decided to play this game blind and I thought it was pretty good. I just figured there would be a pt 2 and that the plot threads would be picked up again/solved. I enjoy stories that have multiple plot points and crazy twists. It doesnt seem _at all_ like the developer meant for an ending, just a cliffhanger but what do i know lol

[@sinkbug]

This game left me conflicted, i loved the fake out with the story and it hyped me for something that the story did just not deliver, i still like the game and dont think it deserves lambasting, but this is definitely an expirement that went wrong in more ways than one

[@LouHusky_Gaming]

(spoiler alert) All I'm going to say about the game is simple, I was excited because I thought it would be like a good version of LA Noir without the cheesy dialogues and voice acting, not with that jankyass car driving or chases even.. I thought it would be a good beginning, a random guy who dissapears at a luxury club, gets turned into filets to be eaten by the apes, you dig deeper and deeper and find more powerful people... Then you inevitably become the bad detective and begin tightening everyone's nuts so they spill the beans, eventually you Just bring everything to light and cause a huge societal collapse or a revolution that results in your death by the powerful people. But nah, at first I thought the protein thing was like them running unethical experiments on random girls they kidnapped, But then? let's just say that it all devolved into this weird "alien" nonsense and also a small nihilist rant which climaxes with... Howard just getting out of the City into the nothingness and dying eaten by the parasite on his back, only leaving his backbone behind. Then we play with the big bad evil mafia lady, briefly with reneee... and not even a post credit scene, not even an explanation on what happened to Howard on the bad ending, no remote posibility of a good or neutral ending...

[@Reedmen420]

This game yes shit ending but the whole story line graphics music makes it a top 10 in my books love it

[@ajtheviking4758]

Hated the ending, no closure whatsover and left us in shock and utter confusion, DONT rush your endings

[@noobyfromhell]

I’m not against the ending in principle, but if they wanted to go this way they had to commit and go full Venom IMO, with you massacring the bear lady and having a stand-off against the Science Minister, with Renee potentially serving as your tether to humanity. Having the same internal goth monologue a bunch of times and then dying was weak. Also, it’s strange that the ending tries to bring sexism into it, which is a theme that wasn’t seeded at all throughout the previous chapters. Just why?

[@jarki7564]

This twist was really unnecessary, to my mind. Thanks for supporting Ukraine!

[@fromawritersperspective]

Always. We also worked with a company to consult them, helping them get their workers out of Ukraine and into safety. It’s not much, but whatever hand you can lend, it can move mountains for people

[@werewolfpig114]

Just played through this. What an awful ending.

[@wesleyharris5917]

Im making the fan fictions canon. this is not canon.

[@BobcatCharlie]

One of the better indie games I’ve played. Loved the first 3/4s. Ending was very lackluster. Literally rushed lol. I caught a bit of wokeness at the end there with Clarissa and Renee. Which whatever. But I hope they don’t shove it down our throats, I saw a tweet saying the prequel would be more gay. Diversity is great but when it’s forced or done wrong it’s all bad. Let’s hope we get a good 2nd story

[@fromawritersperspective]

I think the studio does a lot of things well, but they hadn’t finished the story when they started. Especially when you’re working with a mystery, prep is key.

[@rowan248]

for your sake, i hope every character is lgbt and you never play a video game again 💛

[@MattDeLeo-h1d]

Right, so the creator of the game half assed the last part after spending ample time on the beginning. I’m not impressed by her comments, she sounds like a professional bullshitter.