As the Legend of Zelda series has pivoted to free-flowing and creativity-focused open words, "The Zelda Formula" has fallen by the wayside, left in the memories of those who grew up with it. That's certainly the case for me, as I welcomed the change that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom brought to the series. However, the old ways still hold a place in my heart, and I was happy to revisit The Minish Cap for this episode. This marks an interesting period in the series, where Capcom wor...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 53 min
Video games have the power to connect with players to tell stories, but have you ever considered the role that video games had in shaping your taste in music? From sports games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Madden and FIFA to rhythm games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Fuser, and even non-licensed soundtracks like Mega Man, The Last of Us and Final Fantasy...video games have had a big role in shaping the type of music we like. That's what this discussion episode is all about! My guests for this ...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 34 min
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 w...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 49 min
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 se...
May 01, 2024•3 hr 18 min
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 j...
Apr 24, 2024•2 hr 7 min
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 (https://talesfromthebacklog.fireside.fm/114)! TIMESTAMPS Act 1 2:48 Act 2 ...
Apr 24, 2024•2 hr 5 min
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/edit...
Apr 17, 2024•2 hr 6 min
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 NinaSt...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 57 min
Sunset Overdrive feels like a game that's been lost to time, doomed to a life of only being mentioned when a new game comes out that reminds people of it, despite being made by one of the industry's heavyweights (Insomniac Games) in the not so distant past. It's got a goofy tone, a bangin punk rock soundtrack, and an exquisite movement system that never gets old, but its mission design starts to wear thin long before the credits roll. Joining me to discuss Sunset Overdrive is streamer and YouTub...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 22 min
SURPRISE! Balatro comes for us all. Developed by solo developer LocalThunk and published by Playstack, the poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder has singlehandedly caused productivity to drop by 7% worldwide since its 2024 release. Thank you to Playstack and LocalThunk for providing me with a review code so that I could become a statistic! Joining me to talk about the game, its strengths and weaknesses, our favorite strategies and beginner tips are Matt aka Stormageddon ("Fun" and Games, Reignite, ...
Mar 29, 2024•1 hr 21 min
This is the PAX East 2024 retrospective and run-through of all of the games I played! Woooo! Games featured: Animal Well (https://store.steampowered.com/app/813230/ANIMAL_WELL/): The Art of Flight (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1706800/The_Art_Of_Flight/) Duck Paradox (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058150/Duck_Paradox/) Enter the Chronosphere (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1969810/Enter_the_Chronosphere/) Fallen Aces (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1411910/Fallen_Aces/) Fretl...
Mar 27, 2024•43 min
Titanfall 2, developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA, is one of those unfortunate games that seems to be universally beloved, but apparently didn't sell well enough for them to continue the series. Instead, Respawn is stuck in the Apex Legends and Star Wars mines for the foreseeable future, and we're left to replay this wonderful campaign (and multiplayer for some) and wonder what might have been. Titanfall 2 lives up to the hype, folks! My guests for this episode are Adam Bucceri...
Mar 20, 2024•2 hr 34 min
- Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR) Social Media: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Twitter (https://twitter.com/tftblpod) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromtheBacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other page...
Mar 13, 2024•2 hr 55 min
How do you follow up a story that ends the way that Final Fantasy X did? Well, Square decided that Final Fantasy X-2 needed to shake things up. Most sequels escalate, but that wasn't really an option here, and so the girlpower J-Pop Final Fantasy game was born. This game gets a lot of hate out there, but not for the reasons that I think deserve it. Joining me to discuss Final Fantasy X-2 is Adam from The Good, The Bad & The Backlog. You can and should check out his show by following this lin...
Mar 06, 2024•2 hr 42 min
In this discussion, Dave is joined by Chris Coplien (Retro Hangover podcast (https://linktr.ee/retrohangover)), Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio podcast (https://linktr.ee/pixelprojectradio)) and Andre (Fine Time podcast (https://linktr.ee/FineTimePodcast)) to discuss the challenges and our personal approaches to evaluating retro games. In this episode, we discuss our perspectives and some specific games like Rocket Knight Adventures, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Monkey Ball, Kingdom Hearts, Dr...
Feb 28, 2024•2 hr 38 min
How do you remake one of the most beloved games of all time? How do you fend off the masses who want to hold you to every decision made over 20 years ago? Well, in our opinion, Square Enix figured out the way with Final Fantasy VII Remake. This is a shining example of how a remake can update the graphics, completely revamp the gameplay, add voice acting, re-orchestrate the music....and still keep the heart and soul of the original game intact. It's a masterful game, and I was joined by returning...
Feb 21, 2024•2 hr 21 min
This War of Mine, by 11 Bit Studios is often labeled not only as a good game, but also as an important game, especially as countries are invaded and lives are turned upside down in the same ways, over and over again. Because of how forever relevant this game is, and with a little pushing from friend of the show Randall on our "Games in Real-World Settings" episode a few months back, I was eager to give this a try- and it ended up winning a poll on Patreon! I was also lucky enough to be joined by...
Feb 14, 2024•2 hr 37 min
Boy am I glad that I disregarded all of the "Metal Gear Solid 2 is the worst one, just skip it" chatter out there. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, by Hideo Kojima and Konami, is a step up in almost every way from the first Metal Gear Solid game, and does a ton of interesting things in the process. Its biggest issue is that it takes a long time setting up, and then the payoff hits you with too much all at once. But once I've had time to sit and process everything it's doing, I gain more and ...
Feb 07, 2024•2 hr 44 min
If you grew up alongside South Park like I did, and you loved video games, then you were probably let down by the licensed South Park games in the early years. All of that changed with 2013's South Park: The Stick of Truth by Obsidian Entertainment and South Park Studios. It looked like an episode of the show, it sounded like an episode of the show, the story was fun, and it introduced turn-based combat into the mix. It was a slam dunk back then, and I'm joined once again by Adam Rivera to discu...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 53 min
From a better era of licensed games comes The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (PS2, GameCube, Xbox version). No live service nonsense, no microtransactions, just good arcadey fun reliving the best action scenes from the movie, along with tons of little goodies for fans of the movies. This was a blast, and I hope you enjoy reliving this game with us. Joining me for this episode is Chris Dominguez, one of the hosts of A Novel Console, a weekly podcast about gaming, books and food that he doe...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 21 min
The day a new Yakuza / Like a Dragon game drops is like a holiday for me. Imagine my surprise and delight when I realized that we don't have to wait years for new games in the series anymore, as we got the Like a Dragon Ishin! remaster earlier in 2023, and then the connecting game, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name to set up the upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name didn't need to exist, but I think it does a lot of interesting...
Jan 17, 2024•3 hr 5 min
Rain World, developed by Videocult, is the true definition of a cult hit. If you look on review aggregator websites, you'll see extremely mixed reviews. However, if you ask in Discord servers, subreddits, etc you'll find so many people with feverish praise. It was only a matter of time before I had to try it out for myself, and this was the winner of a Patreon poll! Shoutout to everyone who voted for it, and shoutout to my wonderful guest soccr for joining me to discuss! TIMESTAMPS Intros/Person...
Jan 10, 2024•2 hr 2 min
GAME NUMBER 100 ON THE PODCAST! And what a unique game to talk about for #100! Killer7, by Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom, is a game unlike any other. An unholy mashup of rail shooter, adventure game, crime fantasy and political drama, you'll never play another game quite like this. Joining me for this episode is Andre from Fine Time podcast, which you can check out HERE (https://finetimepodcast.libsyn.com/) or on your favorite podcast app. I highly recommend starting with their gre...
Jan 03, 2024•2 hr 20 min
2023 has been absolutely packed with great games, and now is the time to reflect on the new games I played over the past year. Despite missing a lot of popular releases like Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Wonder, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Armored Core VI, Lies of P and many more, I still played so many good games that it was tough to make a top 10! But alas, this is the podcaster's curse, so I present to you- 2023 in Review. From anticipated megahits like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Res...
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 5 min
This is an important one for me. Final Fantasy X has been one of my favorite games ever since I played it for the first time almost 20 years ago. Square really made a complete game here- story setup, characters, combat, music...total package. Joining me to discuss it are Ryan Batie and Chris Taylor from JRPG games club podcast Lightning Strikes Thrice. You can find them and all of the other things on the Pitch Drop network by following this link (https://www.lightningstrikesthrice.com/)! TIMESTA...
Dec 20, 2023•2 hr 41 min
Blasphemous 2, by The Game Kitchen, is a straight putt as far as sequels go, but that turned out to be a great thing. The Game Kitchen seemingly took lots of feedback into account, smoothed out some rough edges and greatly improved the metroidvania design of Blasphemous 2. The result is one of my favorite games of the year, and one that I was happy to invite longtime friend and frequent podcast guest Chris Nelson back for! Chris was a guest on episode 20 about the original Blasphemous, so go che...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 48 min
After playing The Messenger, I could not wait for what Sabotage Studio would make next, so I looked them up, found the Sea of Stars kickstarter page and backed it while the credits for The Messenger were still rolling. To say I was excited would be an understatement. In reality....Sea of Stars is a disappointment. Not a bad game, but not a great game either. I'm joined in this episode by two many time guests on the show, Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington, to break it all down. TIMESTAMPS Intros/Per...
Dec 06, 2023•2 hr 19 min
From Assassin's Creed to Spider-Man, Yakuza, Persona and Grand Theft Auto, video games can take us on a sort of virtual tourism journey. But hiding in the background, there are tons of other** games set in real-world locations outside of The United States, Western Europe and Japan. **Randall Quiggle and Ozzy Garcia join me to shine a light on some games that might teach you a little bit about culture while you take in the sights. TIMESTAMPS Intros/Our Examples 1:13 Community Examples 1:13:32 Sup...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 43 min
This one is a spicy meatball. Few game series inspire the amount of praise, vitriol and everything in between as Final Fantasy does, and the latest entry, Final Fantasy XVI is no different. A series famous for continuous reinvention reinvents itself once again as a dark fantasy action game, and I knew I had to get a couple of great guests on the show to talk about it. This week I'm joined by Eric Gess (The Unlockables (https://linktr.ee/unlockablespodcast)) and Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radi...
Nov 22, 2023•2 hr 43 min
To my knowledge, this is the only podcast ever recorded at over 1000 km/h. F-Zero X, by Nintendo EAD for the Nintendo 64 features hyperspeed racing, buttery smooth gameplay and an absolutely incredible shredding speed metal soundtrack. Joining me on this high-speed podcast is Dave Pietrangelo of Remember 64, Back in My Day, Creature Cast and Console Creatures. You can find everything Dave is doing by following this link (https://linktr.ee/davidpietrangelo)! TIMESTAMPS Intros/Personal Histories/O...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 38 min
