At first glance, Back To Felix seems like the epitome of a one-note melody - a game based on the life of YouTube "sensation" PewDiePie (of Pom Gets Wi-Fi fame; if you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself blessed! ^_^) Filled with corny in-jokes, visual comedy and light-hearted character interactions, this seems like something destined for its fifteen minutes of memetic fame before people move on to the next "sensation" of the week - that is, if you only play the first five minutes.

After that, things get a lot more interesting.

Story and writing: (3.5 out of 5)
Despite a few spelling and grammatical errors, Back to Felix's writing is generally of a high standard. The author does a good job of pulling off tonal shifts, from comedy to lurking menace to terror, without things seeming too abrupt. The fourth wall is broken at one point, though not to much effect. While I am not a fan of lavatorial humour in general (for which I have my upbringing to thank, I guess!), given that this is a story based on an over-the-top Internet character, it works well. While there is a plot twist which I shall refrain from spoiling, Back to Felix makes the astonishing decision to spell out that twist for you fairly explicitly - and then leave you questioning it right to the very end. It takes talent to achieve that.

However, said plot twist, though cleverly pulled off, does leave something of a bitter aftertaste in one's mouth. Even if it was intended as a clever comment on certain trends in modern entertainment, it comes off as both rushed and unpleasant - and that is not necessarily a good note to end one's story on.

(Another important criticism could be the cavalier way (given the ending) that a fairly serious subject is tackled in the game, but if we started applying the rules of political correctness to comedy, laughter would cease and the story-telling world would dissolve into a grey goo of "Tropes defeated by Everyone Easily Offended Over Silly Things". God forbid.)

Gameplay: (3 out of 5)
Gameplay in Back to Felix is simple and linear, mainly consisting of fetch quests or interacting with specific objects and NPCs. None of this is especially difficult, and even when there appear to be important choices to be made, they do not seem to affect the end result; all they do affect is the ability to obtain optional (and funny) "achievements", which are a clear parody of the "unlockable achievements" that Steam is so fond of. (Or at least, that's how it seems to me; if this game in fact has multiple endings, please correct me on this.) In the remote event that you should get stuck, there is an in-built hint system, though you'll have to figure out how to access it. There's nothing outstanding here, but nothing broken or annoying either.

Music: (3 out of 5)
Music selection in Back to Felix is decent, not spectacular. While the author deserves credit for using originals rather than the usual mix of Xenogears and RTP tunes (mea culpa), none of the melodies are particularly memorable. They do their job of setting the atmosphere well enough, though, so I have no major complaints here.

Artwork: (4.5 out of 5)
Back to Felix's developer is clearly a very talented artist, both when it comes to generating face-set art (which is very detailed) and to designing the crazy and colourful game world. While I could do without such talent being used to draw 16-bit genitalia (I had my fill of that playing Dungeoneer, thank you!), the artwork in this game is top-notch and deserves to be more widely seen.

Do I need to be a PewDiePie fan to enjoy this game?
Not really. While some prior knowledge might help, it's nothing that you can't obtain with a quick Google search, and the game itself does a good job of providing you with background information and local colour.

Summing up: while not perfect, and while not recommended for the humourless (or those who have a problem with toilet / sexual humour of a lighthearted nature), Back to Felix is good first attempt, and a fun way to kill an hour or so. Given the artistic and writing talent on display, I predict that we can expect greater things from the developer of this game.

Recommended.