148 episodes
Tales from the Backlog David Jackson
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- Leisure
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5.0 • 35 Ratings
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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.
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116: Transistor (with Alex - Low Five Gaming)
Transistor, by Supergiant Games, is an interesting game to go back to after playing Hades. You can see a lot of ideas that started here in Transistor and made their way all the way to Hades, with Transistor still being a really engaging and strategic game in its own right. I loved revisiting this game, and am glad it won the poll on Patreon to appear on the show!
Joining me to discuss Transistor is Alex from Low Five Gaming! Low Five Gaming is a monthly backlog book club podcast that Alex runs with his brother Luke. It's a great time, and you should check it out by heading to their website!
TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:40
Story Setup 14:30
Visuals/Music 28:03
Combat 39:00
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 1:00:26
SPOILER WALL 1:08:15
Music used in the episode is written, recorded and produced by Darren Korb, with vocals by Ashley Barrett. You can support them by purchasing the album on BandCamp. Tracks used: Old Friends, Traces, Water Wall, Heightmap, Coasting, The Spine, Apex Beat, Paper Boats
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)! -
115: Xenogears (with Michael Berger - Bits of Time)
Xenogears, by Square, is one of the big RPGs of this era that I wanted to check off. As a fan of the Xenoblade Chronicles games and JRPGs in general, going back to the root of the series felt like an interesting trip back through history. A few things had initially put me off, like all of the talk about an unfinished second disc and heavy use of religious and philosophical material that I would have to research outside of the game. And I'm happy to report that both worries were unfounded- the second disc is great, and I actually did feel compelled to go learn things outside of the game! This is a fantastic, flawed game, and it was a joy to record about it.
Joining me to discuss Xenogears is Michael Berger, co-host of Bits of Time. You can check out Bits of Time on their podcast and their YouTube channel! You can also check out Michael's books, Ayla: A Science Fiction Novella and The Consumed.
TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 2:06
Story Setup 14:29
Story Pacing/Characters/Religious & Philosophical Themes 27:56
Visuals/Music 42:07
Gameplay/Combat 53:32
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 1:07:04
SPOILER WALL 1:16:53
Music used in the episode was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda. Tracks used: My Village is Number One, Bonds of Sea and Fire, Light from the Netherworld, Emotions, Shevat ~ The Wind is Calling, Steel Giant, Yggdrasil, Flight, Fuse, The Valley Where Wind is Born, The Treasure Which Cannot Be Stolen, The Beginning and the End, Small Two of Pieces (with vocals by Joanne Hogg)
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)! -
114: Baldur's Gate 3 NON-SPOILER SECTION (with Jim Rodeman & Chris Rettig)
Sometimes I try to write clever little descriptions about the games on the show, but this week's game doesn't feel like it needs it.** Baldur's Gate 3*, by **Larian Studios, excels in just about everything it sets out to do. It has impressive writing, almost unparalleled choice-based storytelling, memorable characters, a deep and engaging combat system, and tons of immersive sim elements that make each playthrough really feel like your own. It's one of the best games I've ever played, and I was joined by returning guests **Jim Rodeman* and Chris Rettig to discuss it!
TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 2:47
Story Setup/Characters 19:57
Choice-Based Storytelling/Quest Design 44:22
Visuals/Presentation/Music 59:05
Gameplay/Combat 1:12:41
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:57:40
SPOILER SECTION IS IN ITS OWN EPISODE THIS TIME
Charity Streaming Event: We are doing a charity streaming event from April 20th-28th 2024 to benefit Suicide Awareness Voices of Education in honor of a friend we lost. Please check out the stream schedule HERE and consider donating HERE.
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)! -
Baldur's Gate 3 SPOILER SECTION (with Jim Rodeman & Chris Rettig)
Our Baldur's Gate 3 recording ran so long, I had to split it up into two episodes. This is the full-spoiler discussion, where we talk about the decisions we made, how we solved our quests, how things turned out in our games, and much more. In particular, Jim's evil and Dark Urge playthroughs brought about some wild results that you'll love to hear about! You can find the non-spoiler portion of this episode in Episode 114!
TIMESTAMPS
Act 1 2:48
Act 2 26:22
Act 3 46:55
Late Game Bosses/Endings 1:14:43
Charity Streaming Event: We are doing a charity streaming event from April 20th-28th 2024 to benefit Suicide Awareness Voices of Education in honor of a friend we lost. Please check out the stream schedule HERE and consider donating HERE.
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)! -
CRPG History & The Breakout Success of Baldur's Gate 3 (with Felipe Pepe - The CPRG Book)
During the first few months after Baldur's Gate 3 released, I heard a similar refrain coming from my friends and people on social media- people would say something like "I normally don't play RPGs like this, but I love Baldur's Gate 3! Flash forward 6 months and now Baldur's Gate 3 has swept the major award shows and broken into the top 10 most-played list on Steam. How did a game from such a niche genre break into the mainstream?
In order to answer this, I invited CRPG historian and writer/editor for The CRPG Book, Felipe Pepe, on to the show to talk about all of this. Topics discussed include:
How he got into RPGs and why we love the genre
The state and role of CRPGs through history, including discussions about Fallout, Ultima, Wizardry, Baldur's Gate, Pillars of Eternity, Morrowind, Arx Fatalis, Skyrim, Disco Elysium, Wasteland, The Gold Box Series, Shadowrun, Dragon Age, and many more games.
Why Baldur's Gate 3 broke out in such a big way
Recommendations for other CRPGs through history for new fans of the genre
The CRPG Book project
You can follow Felipe on Twitter, check out the free PDF version of The CRPG Book, or purchase a wonderful hardcover edition from Bitmap Books (all author's proceeds to go charity)!
Check out Dave's guest appearance on the "Fun" and Games podcast, where we did an Xbox 360 retrospective!
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)! -
113: The Case of the Golden Idol (with NinaStruggles)
From the first time I saw a screenshot of The Case of the Golden Idol, by Color Gray Games, I was struck by these caricaturish portraits and knew I'd have to follow up on it someday. Then the comparisons to a favorite of mine, Return of the Obra Dinn, started rolling in and I knew I would have to play it sooner rather than later. And a big shoutout to community member Soccr for buying this for me in our Discord server Secret Santa! Yay!
Joining me to discuss The Case of the Golden Idol is NinaStruggles, a streamer and YouTuber who plays all manner of games but has a particular love of puzzle and detective games! You can check her out by following this link!
TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:51
Story Setup 9:51
Music/Visuals 18:15
Gameplay/Puzzles 28:25
Final Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 51:26
SPOILER WALL 57:50
Check out Dave's guest appearances on Left Behind Game Club and The Gaming Duo!
Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! 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.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!
Customer Reviews
Tales from a Podcast you need to listen to!
This show is a very entertaining listen. Dave and his guests always come to the table with good discussions on video games that are fun to listen to, informative and sometimes they make me chuckle! Audio quality is excellent, too. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.
Best in-depth discussion about your favorite game
Dave and his guests do an amazing job talking about the games you played or might have played. Def makes me want to revisit some of the games that are discussed!
One of the best
Dave Jackson and his many excellent guests are a joy to listen to. For me, this is the right level of detail to talk about games at. He’s covered tons of games, both big and small, and I’m a big fan of some of the more obscure titles.