About the show

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.

Tales from the Backlog on social media

Episodes and Blog Entries

  • PAX East 2024: Reflections & Games Played

    Episode  |  March 27th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  43 mins 17 secs
    break from the backlog, convention

    Dave reflects on the experience of going to and participating in PAX East 2024 and talks about the games he tried.

  • 110: Titanfall 2 (with Adam & Cory - Half Tone Takes)

    Episode  |  March 20th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 33 mins
    fps, game review, respawn entertainment

    Dave is joined by Adam Bucceri and Cory Revis, the hosts of Half Tone Takes, to discuss Respawn Entertainment's 2016 FPS, Titanfall 2.

  • 109: Resident Evil 2 Remake (with Gerry - Super Ghost Radio & Nick - Friday Night Gamecast)

    Episode  |  March 13th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 55 mins
    capcom, game review, resident evil

    Dave is joined by Gerry (Super Ghost Radio) and Nick (Friday Night Gamecast) to discuss Capcom's remake of Resident Evil 2, released in 2019.

  • 108: Final Fantasy X-2 (with Adam - The Good, The Bad & The Backlog)

    Episode  |  March 6th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 42 mins
    final fantasy, game review, square enix

    Dave is joined by Adam (The Good, The Bad & The Backlog) to discuss Square's first sequel in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy X-2.

  • Evaluating Retro Games Roundtable

    Episode  |  February 28th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 38 mins
    break from the backlog, roundtable

    Dave is joined by Chris Coplien (Retro Hangover), Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio) and Andre (Fine Time) to discuss the challenges and our personal approaches to evaluating retro games.

  • 107: Final Fantasy VII Remake (with Aaron Angle & Ryan Arrington)

    Episode  |  February 21st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 20 mins
    final fantasy, game review, jrpg, square enix

    Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake.

  • 106: This War of Mine (with Alex - First Five)

    Episode  |  February 14th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 36 mins
    11 bit studios, game review, indie games, survival games

    Dave is joined by Alex, host of the First Five YouTube channel, to discuss 11 Bit Studios' war survival/simulation game, This War of Mine.

  • 105: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (with Gaming Memories)

    Episode  |  February 7th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 43 mins
    game review, kojima, konami, metal gear solid, ps2

    Dave is joined by The Profit from Gaming Memories to discuss Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami's 2001 follow-up to the breakout hit Metal Gear Solid.

  • 104: South Park: The Stick of Truth (with Adam Rivera)

    Episode  |  January 31st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 53 mins
    game review, licensed games, obsidian entertainment, rpg

    Dave is joined by Adam Rivera to discuss Obsidian and South Park Studios' South Park: The Stick of Truth.

  • 103: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (PS2) (with Chris Dominguez- A Novel Console)

    Episode  |  January 24th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 20 mins
    ea, game review, licensed games

    Dave is joined by Chris Dominguez from A Novel Console to discuss EA's Lord of the Rings: Return of the King adaptation for the PS2/GameCube/Xbox.

  • 102: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (with Matt aka Stormageddon & Flora Merigold)

    Episode  |  January 17th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  3 hrs 4 mins
    game review, rpg, yakuza

    Dave is joined by Matt aka Stormageddon ("Fun" and Games, Reignite, Screen Snark) and Flora Merigold (Epilogue Gaming, Left Behind Game Club) to discuss Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios.

  • 101: Rain World (with soccr)

    Episode  |  January 10th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 1 min
    game review, indie games, videocult

    Dave is joined by community member extraordinaire soccr to discuss VideoCult's 2D platformer/survival cult hit, Rain World.

  • 100: Killer7 (with Andre - Fine Time)

    Episode  |  January 3rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 20 mins
    capcom, game review, gamecube, grasshopper manufacture, ps2

    Dave is joined by Andre from Fine Time to discuss Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom's FPS/Adventure game, Killer7.

  • 2023 In Review

    Episode  |  December 27th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 4 mins
    break from the backlog, year in review

    Dave wraps up the year that was and talks through his favorite games that released in 2023.

  • 99: Final Fantasy X (with Ryan Batie & Chris Taylor - Lightning Strikes Thrice)

    Episode  |  December 20th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 40 mins
    final fantasy, game review, jrpg, square enix

    Dave is joined by Ryan Batie and Chris Taylor, both of Lightning Strikes Thrice, to Square’s 2001 entry in the long-running RPG series, Final Fantasy X.

  • 98: Blasphemous 2 (with Chris Nelson)

    Episode  |  December 13th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 47 mins
    blasphemous, game review, indie games, the game kitchen

    Dave is joined by Chris Nelson to discuss Blasphemous 2, The Game Kitchen's 2023 Catholic-horror metroidvania follow-up.