Remedy Entertainment have built a sort of extended universe by this point, but 2019's Control is both the piece that introduced a lot of people to their world and the key that unlocked the possibility for an extended universe in the first place. Control's Men in Black-meets-SCP Foundation setting is ripe for creative sci-fi storytelling and Remedy …

What was FromSoftware up to before Demon's Souls? Most people know about the King's Field series, and the Armored Core sickos have been around too, but they were even more prolific in the RPG and dungeon crawler space than just King's Field. Shadow Tower: Abyss (2003), the sequel to the Playstation game Shadow Tower, was never officially localized …

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall, 2017) challenges us in a lot of ways. The gameplay mechanics are a means to get you from one side of town to another and nothing more. The protagonist can be unlikable. The story is much more local than your standard "save the world" fare. And it's all the better for the direction it takes. Instead of a sweeping e…

Final Fantasy VII Remake started this epic remake project off with a bang, and it left us with a few questions, namely "what will they do with Aerith?" and "how will they handle the more open world nature of the game post-Midgar?". Both of those answers came in somewhat messy and/or convoluted forms, which I won't spoil here in the podcast descript…

To celebrate 3 years of Tales from the Backlog, I figured it was time to talk about the namesake of the show- The Backlog. Do we get FOMO as dozens of great games release every year? Do we feel pressure to complete the games we buy? What's the best approach to keep our habits healthy? All this and much more in this discussion episode! Guest info: M…

Here are the games I played at GDEX 2024 gaming convention in Columbus, Ohio! Games mentioned in the episode: Skate Fish Tales of Thisrea Zakumba: Astraia Dark Sky Derelict Mole Maiden Quiet On Set RA RA BOOM Intro/Outro music composed by Bert Cole- check them out at bitbybitsound.com Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! or buy me a coffee on…

Have you ever thought to yourself, "how scary could this pixel art horror game be? It's just pixels!". If so, you and I are the same. And granted, Decarnation (Atelier QDB, 2023) isn't an in-your-face type of horror. It's more of a psychological, empathetic horror and dread for what your character is going through. And it's very, very effective! Th…

Stop me if you've heard this story before. A game that I once thought would be too scary for me to play, so I spoiled the entire story for myself only to realize that it sounded too good to not experience for myself. Add Devotion (Red Candle Games, 2019) to that list. Despite the controversy surrounding the game and subsequent delisting from all ma…

As a fan of Silent Hill 2 (episode 10 of Tales from the Backlog, by the way), I figured at some point I would need to go back and play the original. Silent Hill (Team Silent, Konami, 1999) was really interesting to go back and play, for a couple of reasons, most notably that I thought I knew what the game and town's whole deal was, but that was app…

There has been a lot of talk about the cult classic "7/10 game" lately, and no game better exemplifies this than Deadly Premonition (Access Games, 2010). It's one of those games where the average might land on 7/10 because there will be a lot of 10's and a lot of 3's in the review score distribution. Memorable characters, poor graphics, lifelike to…

Sometimes a game has such striking and memorable art that one screenshot will implant that game into your head, even if you never play it. Omori (Omocat, 2020) was almost one of those games for me. A combination of thinking the game would be too scary and having tons of other games available kept Omori on the periphery for a long time, until today'…

Lost Odyssey, by Mistwalker and feelplus, is almost legendary at this point. A darker, sadder RPG by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, with a moody yet eclectic soundtrack by Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu and short stories interspersed throughout by famed Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu, there is pedigree and talent …

Friends of the show probably know that I love games (especially indie games) set in "uncommon" real world settings- those outside of the US, Japan and Western Europe. Mojiken Studio's 2023 title A Space for the Unbound is one of those, set in Indonesia. That was the draw for me- an emotional story set in a place that I've been in real life. I didn'…

Final Fantasy is one of the most well-represented series on this podcast, and its anthology structure means you can pick and choose which games you want to play without fear of playing out of order. So this year, I wanted to make sure I played a foundational one- Final Fantasy IV. I expected this to be the turning point where Square and the Final F…

Do you ever feel like you missed the boat on a game? Maybe it was really influential and subsequent games used its "trick"? Maybe you wonder if that OG still has the juice even though you couldn't possibly go into the game completely blind? These were the thoughts running through my mind as I booted up Pony Island by Daniel Mullins Games for the fi…

Animal Well, by Billy Basso/Shared Memory came out of nowhere. For me, and I think a lot of others, the initial announcement was more of a shock that videogamedunkey had started the BigMode publishing company than excitement about the game being published. Once people got their hands on Animal Well, however, all skepticism or publicity about dunkey…

Dave the Diver, despite clearly having a great character name, is not my kind of game. Mintrocket's dive-collect-sell-upgrade-dive loop is one that I'm not very motivated by, but Dave the Diver got such unanimous acclaim that I had to take note. And apparently the patrons of the show wanted me to play it as well, because it won one of the montly po…

Since Nintendo has apparently decided that Wario Land is a series not worth pursuing, we find ourselves telling that familiar story where an indie developer says "ok, they're not making the game I want to play any more....guess it's up to me!". Enter developer Tour De Pizza and their love letter to Wario Land, Sonic the Hedgehog and all manner of 1…

I am FINALLY caught up with Ryu Ga Gotoku and Sega's Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, and let me tell you, it feels great to play the games as they release now. This time, in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Ichiban, Kiryu and friends take on the streets of Honolulu. This episode talks about the new story, the unique logistical challenge that the non…

Continuing along my journey of playing Konami and Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series, next up is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This is the one that is most often held up as the greatest in the series, and I can absolutely see why. It's not without flaws- it's still clunky to play and continues the trend of no Metal Gear Solid game having nor…

Every now and then, I want to take a break from story-focused games and just play a puzzle-ass puzzle game. Geometric Interactive's Cocoon was just what the doctor ordered, from that perspective. But Cocoon's world hinted at a deeper story, one that seems inaccessible yet present, and that left me with a feeling of want, despite how great the puzzl…

In this bonus episode, I'm joined by returning guest Charlie Young to discuss FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. The public feed includes roughly the first half of the episode, and all paid members at [patreon.com/realdavejackson](patreon.com/realdavejackson) will get the entire discussion. This is a full spoiler discussion…

I was convinced to try out Gris after seeing a single screenshot, but in true gamer fashion, I bought it a few years before finally playing it. It took the backlog resolutions challenge in our Discord server to finally get me to play it, and unsurprisingly, I was hooked by what Nomada Studio had created immediately. The marriage of art, music, game…

For any lover of RPGs, and especially "weird RPGs", as former guest on the show Rebekah Valentine termed them, Lisa: The Painful, by Dingaling Productions, will probably jump out at you. From its art style, non-pretty boy protagonist to its serious themes and punishing gameplay, this is not a game for the faint of heart. However, if you are willing…

Sunset Visitor's 1000xRESIST came out of nowhere for me. Releasing on May 9th, 2024 meant it faced stiff indie competition on its day of release, and it wasn't until others were shouting from the rooftops that I found myself drawn to try it out (and a big thank you to Sunset Visitor and Fellow Traveler for the review code!). What I found was a stor…

Famously never localized for an English-speaking audience, HAL Laboratory and Brownie Brown's Mother 3 has almost become a meme at this point. So much so that I wondered if it could live up the inflated expectations that I unwittingly put on games that are unavailable or difficult to find, a kind of forbidden fruit syndrome. So I made sure to put M…

Fumito Ueda's trilogy of Playstation games- Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian- are idiosyncratic, minimalist art pieces. The final game in the trilogy, before the unfortunate dissolution of Japan Studio, was The Last Guardian, showcasing the uneasy partnership between an unnamed boy and a large, fearsome beast named Trico. The Last …

From the first screenshot I saw of Roadwarden (Moral Anxiety Studio), I knew that I needed to check the game out. The art is simple, yet striking, and any screenshot will convey the quality of writing. Once I booted up the game, I found that the choose-your-adventure writing, the confident RPG mechanics and the music wrapped this into a rich total …

Cyberpunk 2077 has had quite a journey. From the disastrous launch, the warranted criticism, and years more work by the developers at CD Projekt Red, the game is finally in proper working condition, fine tuned into a magnificent experience. Add in the Phantom Liberty expansion, and you have some of the most compelling storytelling in AAA gaming. Jo…

Sometimes you hear about a game and you know you're going to love it. God Hand, released by Clover Studio and Capcom in 2006, is one of those games. Despite hearing about its difficulty (which was true, my hands still hurt), I loved playing this game and it deserves its resurging cult status. Now if only someone could convince Capcom that this is w…

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 …

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…

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 appe…

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 re…

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 …

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 sy…

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-pla…

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…

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 …

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 …

This is the PAX East 2024 retrospective and run-through of all of the games I played! Woooo! Games featured: Animal Well: The Art of Flight Duck Paradox Enter the Chronosphere Fallen Aces Fretless Lucid So to Speak Sorry, We're Closed Tape to Tape Throne of Bone YouTube VoD of the Nintendo DS panel I participated in! Support Tales from the Backlog …

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 cam…

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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.…

In this discussion, Dave is joined by Chris Coplien (Retro Hangover podcast), Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio podcast) and Andre (Fine Time podcast) 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…

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 a…

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 S…

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…

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…

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 w…