Tales from the Backlog

Dave is joined by Nave from the Gaming Together Podcast to discuss Studio Pixel Punk's inventive action game, Unsighted. Unsighted merges a little bit of Zelda, a little bit of metroidvania, a little bit of Souls and a unique time mechanic- listen in to find out what we thought! *I experienced some recording issues that caused a sound quality drop in this episode- technology is a real pain sometim...

Dave is joined by Alan Nichols to discuss The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. What was once little brother to the much more popular Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask has begun to resonate with many of us who grew up with the N64 during our childhoods. Add in some things that hit a bit closer to home since the pandemic started, and we have a game worth revisiting. But did the gameplay hold up? Listen...

Dave is joined by tabletop RPG developer Adam Bucceri to discuss Shadow of the Colossus. Originally released on the PS2 back in 2005, Shadow of the Colossus stands today as a truly unique experience in gaming, one that has yet to be replicated. Find out what we thought, plus a discussion on the merits of game remakes! TIMESTAMPS: Intro/Personal Histories 0:42 Story and Presentation 18:12 Gameplay...

(Full spoilers!) Dave is joined by returning guest Jake Anderson to tier-rank the bosses in Dark Souls 3. This is a game with some boss fights that are among the best in the whole series, and some that are straight up Not Fun. Find out where we're ranking bosses like Abyss Watchers, Dancer of the Boreal Valley, Slave Knight Gael and Sister Friede. Make your own Dark Souls 3 bosses tier list here A...

Dave is joined once again by Adam Rivera to discuss the finale (for now) in the Dark Souls series. Dark Souls 3 combined the faster gameplay of Bloodborne with the usual Dark Souls gameplay, but was it a happy marriage? And what's going on with all the fan service? Find out how we feel in this episode! *Both Adam and I had some technical issues in this recording that affected the audio quality, bu...

Dave is joined by Jared Moss from Play Along Podcast to discuss Game Freak's 2022 hit, Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Representing a major shakeup to the established Pokemon formula, Legends makes changes to nearly every core mechanic that we've all come to know as "how Pokemon works". Was it really the game that fans have been asking for for decades? Listen in to find out what Dave and Jared thought. T...

Dave is joined by the author of the Book of Love, Aaron Angle, to discuss Hazelight Studio's 2021 Game of the Year winner, It Takes Two. This game has garnered a lot of attention, and Dave and Aaron agree that some parts of the game really deserve all of the accolades. The other parts, on the other hand? Listen in to find out. Timestamps: Personal histories, story and gameplay 7:45 Sound design, m...

Dave is joined by Ryan Delaney to talk about Housemarque's 2021 action roguelike hit, Returnal. Returnal brings bullet hell to 3D and adds an intriguing sci-fi story on the roguelike structure. Did this work for us on all fronts? Find out in the episode. *The Returnal: Ascension DLC was announced and release after this episode was recorded. I added a small section at the end about my story theorie...

Dave is joined by Keith from the wonderful The Main Quest podcast to talk about 1994's cult classic JRPG, Earthbound. Find everything Main Quest HERE! [Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi ! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Social Media: Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagr...

Dave is joined by Andrew Kimball and Dylan Wren from Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers to tier rank the Bloodborne bosses. This episode contains full spoilers for Bloodborne! Find Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers on your podcast platform of choice, YouTube , Twitch or their website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram . [Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson)...

Dave is joined by Moonborne and Jake Anderson to take on FromSoftware's incredible gothic/Lovecraftian horror classic, Bloodborne. FromSoftware took a big swing with Bloodborne, a game marketed as a werewolf slaying game but with a decidedly cosmic twist. Did that big swing connect? Check out the episode to find out. Follow Moonborne on Twitter and on Youtube ! [Support Tales from the Backlog on P...

Dave is joined by the wonderful Eric Gess to discuss Nintendo & MercurySteam's long-awaited entry in the beloved Metroid franchise, Metroid Dread. After a long wait, Metroid Dread released with smooth and snappy controls, upgraded combat, and a new gameplay challenge with the EMMI zones. Listen in to hear what we thought of everything! TIMESTAMPS OF NOTE: Spoiler Wall 1:48:30 For all things Er...

Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss both Persona 5 and its expansion, Persona 5 Royal, the latest in the long-running series by Atlus. Hailed as a modern JRPG classic, Persona 5 brings addictive life sim mechanics, snappy turn-based combat, stylish visual design and one hell of a soundtrack. Is there anything it can't do? Listen in to find out! TIMESTAMPS: Persona 5 11:52,...

Dave is joined by Brian Edwards from Cane & Rinse to discuss GoodbyeWorld Games' wonderful experiment with interactivity, Before Your Eyes. TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Before Your Eyes 10:55, Spoiler Wall and Content Warning, 1:00:41 Find Brian on Twitter , at his blog , and on his Twitch channel . Listen to Cane and Rinse on Apple , Spotify or wherever else you podcast, follow them on Twitter and...

Dave is joined by mysticreferee to discuss part of FromSoftware's past, King's Field IV aka King's Field: The Ancient City. For everybody who has jumped on the FromSoftware train in recent years, whether it was back on the PS3 with Demon's Souls or even Elden Ring, here is a game from an older version of FromSoftware, but it still shows a lot of the world building, atmosphere and even early versio...

Announcing the Tales from the Backlog and A Top 3 Podcast Discord server! Come join us and chat about the shows and anything else! We have a cool group of people in there already and would love to have you too! [Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi ! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Social Media: Instagram Twitter Faceb...

Dave is joined by the ultimate penitent one, Chris Nelson, to discuss The Game Kitchen's 2019 metroidvania, Blasphemous. Blasphemous is much more on the "vania" side of the metroidvania genre, and it brings some truly stellar imagery and pixel art, as well as some simple but fun combat to the table. Find out how we feel in detail in the episode! TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Blasphemous 8:14, Spoiler Se...

Dave is joined by Andrew Tavin, host of the TV Nopes and House of House podcasts to discuss Red Hook Studio's 2016 dungeon crawler, Darkest Dungeon. Darkest Dungeon brings pantheon-level turn-based combat, as well as heavy Lovecraft influence and some interesting mechanical ideas to the dungeon crawler genre. Find out how we feel in this thorough breakdown of the game! TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Dark...

Dave is joined by both of the hosts of the List Off! podcast to discuss Acid Nerve's 2021 indie darling, Death's Door. Death's Door was a surprise hit in 2021, bursting on the scene with a great art direction and soundtrack, and paying homage to 2D Zelda games of the past. But was it all as cool as a crow wielding a bright red lightsaber? Listen in to find out! TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Death's Door...

The Furtive Pygmy Jack Allen returns, as we put every boss in Dark Souls into a tier list. Do the tier list yourself and share it with Dave on the podcast socials! Let's compare! [Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi ! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Social Media: Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover art by Jack Allen- fin...

Dave is joined by Jack Allen to talk about the perfect Valentine's Day game- Dark Souls. Don't give up, skeleton! Dark Souls is a game that changed the way many people, your host included, look at video games, and specifically the way people look at difficulty in video games. Find out why we think this is truly worthy of that Game of the Decade title. TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Dark Souls 10:50, Spoi...

In the fourth edition of the Lazy Sunday Series focusing on short indie games, Dave is joined by Ryan Delaney to discuss Adam Robinson-Yu's charming hiking game, A Short Hike. In a gaming landscape full of punishing action games, blockbuster AAA titles and promises of hundred of hours of content, sometimes all your soul needs is a short hike with some cute animal characters. TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00...

Dave is joined by Scott Danielson for part 2 of their own personal Hitman World of Long Podcasts Trilogy. Did you enjoy Hitman (2016)? You'll probably enjoy this game. Did you enjoy our episode about Hitman 1? Don't answer that, but you'll enjoy this episode as we dive deep into what makes this game, and this series, so good. TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Hitman 2 14:50, Spoiler Section 1:45:43 Hitman S...

Dave is joined by the Duke of Education himself, Alfredo Takori of the Dukes of Gaming podcast to discuss Sabotage Studio's 2018 retreaux action platformer, The Messenger. This is a game that excels in its presentation and basic Ninja Gaiden-esque gameplay, but has a few big tricks up its sleeve. Does it pull them off? Listen in to find out. TIMESTAMPS: (0:00 intro, 15:09 The Messenger discussion,...

Dave is joined by Rick Firestone of Pixel Project Radio to discuss ZA/UM's 2019 classic, Disco Elysium. Disco Elysium was a popular pick for 2019 Game of the Year, and Rick and Dave not only agree with that status, but would both put this game in their personal all-time pantheon of must-play games. Listen in to find out why! TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Disco Elysium 12:40, Spoiler Section 2:10:00 Noah...