Tales from the Backlog

Prey (2017) takes the immersive sim worldbuilding, level design and freedom of expression that Arkane Studios had been honing through the years, transfers it to a sci-fi space station full of shapeshifting aliens, and sets you loose to figure out what the hell is going on. The result is....peak video game, as far as this host is concerned. And to help break it all down, I've enlisted the help of b...

After playing In Other Waters, I knew that whatever Gareth Damian Martin put out next, I would have to play it. I had high expectations for Citizen Sleeper, and it absolutely blew me away. Citizen Sleeper explores a sci-fi capitalist dystopia in space, but the thing that sets this one apart from contemporaries like Prey and Hardspace: Shipbreaker is the absolute quality of the characters and writi...

Tales from the Backlog is one year old! It's been a great year for the show. I've met tons of great people, played a lot of awesome games (and a few bad ones), and learned a ton about all aspects of the podcasting experience. If you'll indulge me for a bit, I reflect and reminisce on the first year of the show, and answer your questions! Thanks for a great year, and I'm looking forward to year 2....

After being bamboozled into playing Until Dawn earlier this year despite my dislike of scary games, I unexpectedly found myself a big fan of that game, so when The Quarry was released, it was an easy choice to play, and it didn't disappoint! Direct comparisons to Until Dawn are unavoidable, and this game improves on a lot while maybe missing some of the secret sauce, in my opinion. I was lucky eno...

Two genres that I don't normally play mashed together- horror games and point-and-click adventures, with a heavy dose of Lovecraft. The Last Door was a game that wasn't on my radar until my special guest Adelaide Lohkamp (she/her) suggested it to me, and seeing that it was made by The Game Kitchen really got my attention. Some issues with gameplay aside, this game excels aesthetically and tells a...

The concept of a hybrid survival horror/JRPG has been fascinating to me ever since I first heard about Parasite Eve and Koudelka, and Parasite Eve blew my expectations out of the water. It's got a fun combat system, a goofy story that appeals to my biology background, and it looks great! This was a blast to play, and it was a blast to discuss with Michael from Bits of Time. TIMESTAMPS Intros/Perso...

Continuing the run of trying out critically and nostalgic...ally loved games way too late, this week it's Resident Evil 4! It took literal years of convincing to get me to play a Resident Evil game due to my horror game aversion, and I think I picked the best one for me. This game is barely even a horror game. What it actually is, is a kind of stepping stone between arcade shooters and modern 3rd...

Another week, another game that I came to late, and did my best to understand why millions of screaming internet denizens love it. Undertale is the game this week, and I'm joined by Eric Gess, host of The Unlockables! TIMESTAMPS Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:29 Story Setup/To Kill or Not to Kill? 19:51 Gameplay 31:13 Combat 38:29 Soundtrack/Recommend? 51:38 SPOILER WALL 1:08:00 You...

What happens when you miss out on childhood nostalgia for a game that seemingly everybody seems to love? Should you try to approach that game with the mindset of a mid-90s gamer? Or should you take all of the advancements (and dis..advancements? I'll find a word) of its genre in the past 30 years? Chrono Trigger was that game for me, and I'm happy to have gotten Josh Covel from Still Loading on th...

There are games with good stories, there are games with great gameplay, and there are games where gameplay directly feeds into the story to create an experience you'll never forget. Spec Ops: The Line (Yager Development, 2012) is one of those games. Chris Coplien from Retro Hangover joins Dave for a discussion about the incredible things that this game does. TIMESTAMPS: Intros and Personal Histori...

Some games are released, garner acclaim and fans, and fade into our Nostalgia centers. Some games, however, keep growing until they are something much bigger. The Last of Us is a trend-setter, influencing the direction of Sony's first-party titles of the past decade, while also being remastered AND remade before spinning out into a multimedia franchise. But does it deserve the hype and continuing...

The 2022 Summer Retrolympics are here, hosted by the Secret Levels podcast! It was originally posted on their feed, but I'm posting here for my listeners- this is a podcast collaboration like no other. The Retrolympics is a retro gaming trivia show featuring great podcasts from around the indie gaming podcast scene. Check out all of the participants, they all have my highest recommendation! The ho...

Some games are fun to explore, some games create worlds that amaze you, some games tell stories you'll never forget...and some games do all of the above. Mobius Digital's 2019 space exploration sim Outer Wilds certainly qualifies. But was it all love all the time? Joining me to discuss it all is the great Keith Gasper from The Main Quest podcast! TIMESTAMPS Intro/Personal Histories/Opening Thought...

This is a preview of a patron-only Tales from the Backlog VIP episode about my top 25 games of all time. Want to hear the whole thing, higher-bitrate Tales from the Backlog episodes, and many more bonus episodes to come? Head over to the Patreon page- $5/month or higher gets you the VIP feed! Thanks for listening! [Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me...

After years of making critically acclaimed games in a genre that doesn't historically sell, Arkane Studios jumped on the roguelike time loop trend with their flashy, stylish Deathloop. It should have been a home run, right? The marriage of Arkane Studios' best-in-class level design and aesthetics with a game concept that would require players to use their tools creatively, lest they need to start...

Vampire Survivors is a special game. There are no complicated mechanics to learn, no story to keep track of, no lore to uncover, no enemy attack patterns to learn, no crafting systems, and no loot tables, and despite this, we can't stop playing it. It is pure video game, and it is a breath of fresh air in an era where video games keep getting bigger and more complex. Dave is joined by good friend...

Mega Man games have always been a bit of a struggle for me, since I didn't grow up playing the series (or the NES/SNES in general), but Mega Man X is often cited as one of the system's best, and a game that means a lot to a lot of people. So I had to get one of those people to compare our very different histories and experiences. Chris Nelson obliged, and we had a great chat about my experience, w...

Tales from the Backlog's Patreon campaign has just launched, and I'd like to give people an idea of what kind of bonus content they can expect, so here is a little treat- a preview of a solo episode about Stray. You can hear the full episode, with many more to come, by [supporting the Patreon](patreon.com/realdavejackson) page at the $5 tier or higher. Thanks! [Support Tales from the Backlog on Pa...

Hello there! Tales from the Backlog is now listener-supported via Patreon! This is a short announcement and explanation of the current support tiers! [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.instagra...

Wrapping up Elden Ring month, as per tradition, Dave is joined by Jim Rodeman to tier-rank the Elden Ring bosses. TOGETHAAAAA we go through all of the bosses labelled as "Great Enemy" and above! Do the tier list yourself HERE and [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: Inst...

During the pre-release marketing cycle for Elden Ring, the game's director and FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki made comments to the effect that "Elden Ring will be the most accessible FromSoftware game to date, and that we think that more people will finish Elden Ring than any of the previous games". Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss one simple question- why is E...

Elden Ring Month continues! FromSoftware certainly didn't invent the open world, and they didn't really invent any of the open world design decisions that helped make Elden Ring a success. So what makes a good open world? In this Break from the Backlog, Dave is joined by Andrew and Dylan from Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers to discuss open-world games as a whole, as well as how FromSoftware lear...

Elden Ring Month has begun on Tales from the Backlog! Up first, Dave is joined by Ryan Juengling from List Off! to discuss FromSoftware's game of the generation candidate, Elden Ring. With the elevator pitch of simply "Open-world Dark Souls" and wild expectations from fans, Elden Ring had a higher bar to clear than many new releases. Did it meet or even exceed expectations, or did it fall short? L...

As someone who didn't grow up playing PC games in general, Half-Life 2 totally evaded me until I started seeing the Half-Life 3 desperation memes. So as I've attempted to get into PC gaming a bit more, or at least go back and play some of the classics, Half-Life 2 was always on the list. And the promise of doing a podcast with Jay Davis (Super Bracket Bros) was all the inspiration I needed to fina...

Dave is joined by Rick Firestone from Pixel Project Radio to discuss Ryu Ga Gotoku's refresh of the Yakuza franchise. Yakuza: Like a Dragon brings a new protagonist and turn-based combat into the franchise, so tune in to find out how Rick and Dave feel about it. TIMESTAMPS: Intro, Personal Histories and Opening Thoughts 0:26 Story Setup 13:34 Combat 47:37 Side Content and Final Thoughts 1:19:28 Sp...