Tales from the Backlog

Dave Jackson
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A video games podcast where Dave Jackson and guests break down and discuss the games they play. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music and other aspects, with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle.

  1. −3 D

    202: Goodnight Universe (with Jill Grodt - The Indie Informer)

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Goodnight Universe had a lot to live up to as the spiritual successor to Before Your Eyes, utilizing the same innovative webcam-based gameplay mechanics to tell a story...about a psychic baby? Well, the premise sounded weird but these creators had earned my trust, and it turns out that this might be the perfect way to play as a baby in a video game. Goodnight Universe turned out to be interesting, if not great, and won me over in a few key ways. Check out the discussion for more! Guest info: Jill Grodt (she/her) Read Jill's work at The Indie Informer https://the-indie-in-former.com/ Find The Indie Council podcast here https://www.youtube.com/@theindieinformer TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:30 Introductions 8:01 Our Histories with Goodnight Universe 11:51 Opening Thoughts About Goodnight Universe 17:49 Story Setup, Characters and "The Cave" 31:28 Camera Tracking Tech & Gameplay 41:06 What Didn't Work? 52:28 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 55:36 The Indie Informer 59:27 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:01:00 Spoiler Section- Big Reveals 1:27:35 Spoiler Section- The Family Music used in the episode is credited to Oliver Lewin. Tracks used: Homecoming, A New Channel, Normal Boy, Being Orson, Your Room Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    1 tim 52 min

  2. 4 FEB.

    201: Madden 2005 vs ESPN NFL 2K5 (with Chris Coplien & Adam Gumbert)

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog In the eyes of many football fans, 2004 was the greatest year for football games. It also happened to be the last year before EA secured the exclusive rights to the NFL license, leaving many fans wishing we could go back to the way things were back then, and we were left with two games that many consider to be some of the best sports games ever made- Madden 2005 (EA Tiburon) and ESPN NFL 2K5 (Visual Concepts). 20+ years later, which game stands on top? That's what we aim to decide in this episode! Guest info: Chris Coplien (he/him) and Adam Gumbert (he/him) Check out Chris on all things Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Check out Adam on The Tier List: A Video Game Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@AdamGumby Check out Adam on Respawn, Aim, Fire https://www.youtube.com/@respawnaimfire TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:16 Introductions 4:22 Personal Histories 12:51 Our Real-Life Football Fandom 24:15 Head-to-Head: Gameplay 48:40 Head-to-Head: Gameday Presentation 1:05:24 Head-to-Head: Game Modes 1:22:50 The Final Decision 1:33:28 Respawn Aim Fire, The Tier List: A Video Game Podcast, Retro Hangover 1:38:37 Patron Thank-Yous Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    1 tim 42 min

  3. 28 JAN.

    200: Dark Souls II (with Ryan Batie - Lightning Strikes Thrice)

    Want more Dark Souls 2 podcasts? Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Every beloved series has its black sheep- Mario has Sunshine, Zelda has the DS games, and Dark Souls has Dark Souls 2. But to me, the things that make Dark Souls 2 divisive are the things that make it interesting. Not every new decision is a home run, but they're all ripe for discussion. And hey, good thing we have this podcast! And it's episode 200! Guest info: Ryan Batie (they/them) Check out the Pitch Drop Network https://pitchdrop.net/ Get bonus Pitch Drop shows via their Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/pitchdrop TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:15 Introductions 7:18 Our Histories with Dark Souls 11:19 Opening Thoughts about Dark Souls 2 18:51 Story and Themes Setup- Memory, Hollowing, World Design 30:26 More Theme Setup 35:51 Vibes, Atmosphere and Music 43:37 Examining Gameplay Changes 1:22:18 DLCs, Multiplayer and Comedy 1:31:42 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 1:34:25 Lightning Strikes Thrice Podcast & Pitch Drop Network 1:39:33 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:41:18 Spoiler Section- Trouble Areas 1:52:00 Spoiler Section- Vendrick's Story and Connections to Dark Souls 2:11:59 Spoiler Section- Aldia and The First Sin 2:21:56 Lucatiel and the Giants Music used in the episode is credited to Motoi Sakuraba, unless otherwise noted. Tracks used: Main Menu, Majula, Ruins Sentinel (Yuka Kitamura), Milfanito, Fire Keepers, Fume Knight, Remains Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    2 tim 36 min

  4. 21 JAN.

    199: Hollow Knight: Silksong (with Jenny Windom - Geeks & Grounds)

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Very few games have ever had the hype cycle that Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry, 2025) had, so the question remained once the game was finally released- did it live up to the hype? Clown masks and Nintendo Direct comment section explosions quickly gave way to Discourse surrounding Silksong's difficulty and sometimes anti-QoL approach. So was the juice worth the squeeze? Listen in to find out. Guest info: Jenny Windom (she/her) Check out Geeks & Grounds podcast https://www.geeksandgrounds.com/ Check out Jenny's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/kimchica TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:13 Introductions 9:06 Our Histories with Hollow Knight and Silksong 12:45 Opening Thoughts about Silksong 18:26 Difficulty and Accessibility 23:19 Story Setup and Visuals 27:31 The Pilgrimage, Characters and Voice Acting 36:25 The Pilgrimage and Anti-QoL Design 48:29 Challenge Ramp-Up and Difficulty Curve 57:53 Silksong- A Good Teacher & Overcoming Challenge 1:05:47 Metroidvania Design, Visuals and Music 1:14:18 Boss Fights, Combat Challenges and Runbacks 1:33:42 Crests, Tools, Customization 1:40:40 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:45:54 Geeks & Grounds and Jenny's Other Work 1:51:22 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:53:13 Spoiler Section- Favorite Boss Fights 2:18:22 Spoiler Section- The Citadel and Faith 2:27:46 Spoiler Section- Hornet's Growth, Sherma and Community 2:45:23 Spoiler Section- Motherhood and Endings Music used in the episode is credited to Christopher Larkin. Tracks used: Silksong, Bone Bottom, Trobbio, Cogwork Dancers, Bilewater, Far Fields, Lost Lace, Fleatopia Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    3 tim 23 min

  5. 14 JAN.

    198: Crazy Taxi (with Darren Hupke - Pixels & Polygons)

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog In the midst of so many games and podcasts with heavy story themes, sometimes it's nice to just play a video game-ass video game. And so here we have Crazy Taxi (Sega, 2000), plowing through a bunch of mailboxes on its way to the podcast schedule. This is a seminal game, especially for Dreamcast owners and arcade-goers, that I had somehow never played before. So what was it like playing for the first time in 2025? Listen in to find out! Guest info: Darren Hupke (he/him) Find all of Darren's work https://pixelsandpolygons.net/ Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/darrenhupke.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:11 Introductions 4:05 Our Histories with Crazy Taxi 9:56 Opening Thoughts About Crazy Taxi 13:50 Game Setup 23:34 Crazy Box Mode and Advanced Maneuvers 31:26 Sense of Humor, Future Crazy Taxis and Soundtrack 43:39 Real Life Crazy Taxis and Product Placement 49:40 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 55:00 Darren's Books and Pixels & Polygons 1:00:31 Announcements and Patron Thank-Yous Music used in the episode: All I Want (The Offspring), Ten in 2010 (Bad Religion), Change the World (The Offspring) Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    1 tim 4 min

  6. 7 JAN.

    Backlog Resolutions 2026

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server and make your own resolutions!- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog For the past few years, we've been making "backlog resolutions" each year- choosing a list of games from our libraries that we keep telling ourselves "I'm gonna play that someday" and....playing them! What a concept! Well, we're playing most of them. In what's becoming a yearly tradition, I'm joined by some friends to discuss our experience throughout the year. Guest info: CtrlAltNoob (she/her)- find her work at https://ctrlaltnoob.com/ and follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/ctrlaltnoob.bsky.social Taylor/Athunderheart (she/they)- Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/athunderheart/ and BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/athunderheart.bsky.social Soccr (any/all)- Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/soccr.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:11 Introductions 4:45 Stats from 2025's Resolutions 7:11 General Thoughts and Experiences 21:31 Resolutions Success Stories 53:33 Patron Thank-Yous 55:37 Why Didn't We Play Them All? 1:25:57 Lessons & Strategies for 2026 1:40:59 Sneak Peek at Our 2026 Lists 1:59:40 Closing Thoughts 2:10:37 Guest Plugs Music used in the episode: Bless My Stars (Akitaka Tohyama - Beautiful Katamari OST) a forty-six story motel (RJ Lake - El Paso, Elsewhere OST) Mortol (Gameplay) (Eirik Suhrke - UFO 50 OST) Bionic Bay (Francisco Javier Pérez - Bionic Bay OST) Check out Dave talking about NieR: Automata on Pixel Project Radio https://linktr.ee/pixelprojectradio Check out the King of Games 1999 FINALE on Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    2 tim 20 min

  7. 2025-12-31

    2025 In Review/Games of the Year

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog All paid patrons can listen to a bonus episode about our favorite non-2025 games that we played this year! https://www.patreon.com/posts/our-favorite-non-146887020 It's that time! End of the year time! Games of the year time! This year I polled Discord and Patreon members on their favorites of the year, tallied them up, and here are the results! Then, I close out the show with my own top 10 and some other thoughts as we bring the 2025th year to a close. Please enjoy! TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card and Introduction 4:50 Community Honorable Mentions 10:10 Community Top 10 28:31 Dave's Honorable Mentions 30:02 Dave's #10 32:14 Dave's #9 35:06 Dave's #8 38:21 Dave's #7 41:43 Dave's #6 46:05 Dave's #5 49:12 Dave's #4 54:18 Dave's #3 57:58 Dave's #2 1:04:27 Dave's #1 1:14:34 Closing Thoughts 1:21:50 Patron Thank-Yous Music used in the episode: Your Host for Tonight (Chipzel- Dicey Dungeons OST) Beginner's Luck (Chipzel- Dicey Dungeons OST) Polarity (Francisco Javier Pérez- Bionic Bay OST) Monoco (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST) Gestral Beach- Is It a Gestral or a Volleyball (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST) Lumiose City (Day) (Shota Kageyama, Carlos Eiene- Pokemon Legends Z-A OST) Story of All Manor (Trigg & Gusset- Blue Prince OST) Manor- Our Painted Home (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST) Lumiose City (Night) (Shota Kageyama, Carlos Eiene- Pokemon Legends Z-A OST) The Storm (Olivier Deriviere- South of Midnight OST) Mysterious Swamps (Olivier Deriviere- South of Midnight OST) Enter Sektori (Tommy Baynen- Sektori OST) The Beauty of Nature (Miwako Chinone- Monster Hunter Wilds OST) Many Nights a Whisper (fingerspit- Many Nights a Whisper OST) Ten Years Ago You Were Chosen (fingerspit- Many Nights a Whisper OST) Signalchaser (Amos Roddy- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector OST) Suncatchers (Amos Roddy- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector OST) Introduction (C418- Wanderstop OST) Simon's Theme (Trigg & Gusset- Blue Prince OST) Bilewater (Christopher Larkin- Hollow Knight: Silksong OST) Bellhart (Christopher Larkin- Hollow Knight: Silksong OST) Une vie à t'aimer (Lorien Testard, Alice Duport-Percier, Victor Borba- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST) Gestral Beach- I'd Rather Play Petanque (Lorien Testard, Alice Duport-Percier, Victor Borba- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST) Battle Theme No. 1 (Toma Otowa- Ghost of Yotei OST) Raise the Sails (Saori Yoshida- Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii OST) Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    1 tim 24 min

  8. 2025-12-24

    197: Astro Bot (with Josh Covel - Still Loading Podcast)

    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson With the world being the way it is, it's a rare treat to play a game that's just pure joy from start to finish, and that is exactly what Astro Bot (Team Asobi, Sony, 2024) brings. From the opening cutscene to the final boss, Astro Bot is both one of the greatest platformers ever made and a joyous celebration of 30 years of Playstation history. I treasure a game like this as a player, and almost even moreso as a critic. I hope you enjoy the discussion! Guest info: Josh Covel (he/him) Check out Still Loading Podcast https://www.stillloadingpodcast.com/ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:33 Introductions 6:11 Our Histories with Astro Bot 9:42 Opening Thoughts 13:06 Game Setup and Playstation History 23:08 Criticisms of The Playstation Tie-Ins 39:34 Gameplay & Powerups 49:20 Complexity and Difficulty 1:00:19 Collectibles and Secrets 1:08:15 Music and Sound Design 1:23:55 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 1:29:13 Still Loading Podcast 1:34:58 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:37:34 Spoiler Section- Playstation Themed Levels 2:01:43 Final Level and Miscellaneous Favorite Things Music used in the episode is credited to Kenneth C M Young. Tracks used: I Am Astro Bot (ASTRO BOT Remix), Disco Tree, Big Wave, You Know What You've Got To Do, Drake's BOTtune, Bot of War Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

    2 tim 21 min
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Om

A video games podcast where Dave Jackson and guests break down and discuss the games they play. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music and other aspects, with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle.

Information

  • Skapad av
    Dave Jackson
  • Aktiva år
    2021 - 2026
  • Avsnitt
    242
  • Åldersgräns
    Vuxet innehåll
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Tube Podcast Network
  • Programmets webbplats
    Tales from the Backlog

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