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

  • 146: System Shock 2 (with Doug Lief - Nostalgium Arcanum)

    Episode  |  December 18th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 57 mins
    fps, game review, irrational games, looking glass studios, system shock

    Dave is joined by Doug Lief of Nostalgium Arcanum to discuss Looking Glass Studios & Irrational Games' influential sci-fi first-person shooter, System Shock 2.

  • 145: Void Stranger (with Steve - Indie Quest, Polykill Podcast)

    Episode  |  December 11th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 12 mins
    game review, indie games, system erasure

    Dave is joined by Steve from Indie Quest and Polykill Podcast to discuss System Erasure's 2023 secret-filled puzzle adventure game, Void Stranger.

  •

    144: Control (with Nick & Will - Friday Night Gamecast)

    Episode  |  December 4th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 51 mins
    game review, remedy

    Dave is joined by Nick & Will (Friday Night Gamecast) to discuss Control, Remedy Entertainment's 2019 action adventure game.

  •

    143: Shadow Tower: Abyss (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

    Episode  |  November 27th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 10 mins
    fromsoftware, game review, playstation 2

    Dave is joined by Adelaide Lohkamp to discuss FromSoftware's FPS dungeon crawler, Shadow Tower: Abyss.

  • 142: Night in the Woods (with Rick Firestone - Pixel Project Radio)

    Episode  |  November 20th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 25 mins
    finji, game review, indie games, infinite fall

    Dave is joined by Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio) to discuss Infinite Fall's 2017 narrative adventure game, Night in the Woods.

  •

    141: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (with Aaron Angle & Ryan Arrington)

    Episode  |  November 13th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 53 mins
    final fantasy, game review, jrpg, square enix

    Dave is joined by Aaron Angle (A Top 3 Podcast) and Ryan Arrington to discuss part 2 of Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

  • ...On Backlogs (with Matt aka Stormageddon & Marcus Stewart)

    Episode  |  November 6th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 10 mins
    break from the backlog, discussion

    Dave is joined by Matt aka Stormageddon ("Fun" and Games, Reignite) and Marcus Stewart (Game Informer, The Indie Informer) to discuss backlogs and the ever-expanding number of games that are worthy of our time.

  •

    Games I Played at GDEX 2024

    Episode  |  November 1st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  27 mins 19 secs
    convention, indie games

    Dave recounts the games he played at GDEX Gaming Convention 2024.

  •

    140: Decarnation (with Jala Prendes - Jala-chan's Place, The Level & Dave Cox - Monster Dear Monster)

    Episode  |  October 30th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 44 mins
    game review, horror, indie games

    Dave is joined by Jala Prendes (Jala-chan's Place, The Level) and Dave Cox (Monster Dear Monster) to discuss Atelier QDB's 2023 psychological horror game, Decarnation.

  •

    139: Devotion (with Jill Grodt - The Indie Informer)

    Episode  |  October 23rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 56 mins
    game review, horror, indie games, red candle games

    Dave is joined by Jill Grodt from The Indie Informer to discuss Red Candle Games' 2019 first-person horror narrative, Devotion.

  •

    138: Silent Hill (with Stephanie Klimov - Boss Rush Network)

    Episode  |  October 16th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 50 mins
    game review, horror, konami, ps1, silent hill

    Dave is joined by Stephanie Klimov from the Boss Rush podcast network to discuss Konami's landmark 1999 survival horror game, Silent Hill.

  • 137: Deadly Premonition (with Patrick & James - Retro Spectives)

    Episode  |  October 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 48 mins
    game review, horror, xbox 360

    Dave is joined by Patrick Arthur and James Tuerlings from Retro Spectives to discuss Access Games' surreal 2010 survival horror game, Deadly Premonition.

  •

    136: Omori (with Aaron Angle - A Top 3 Podcast)

    Episode  |  October 2nd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 23 mins
    game review, horror, indie games, jrpg

    Dave is joined by one of his A Top 3 Podcast co-hosts, Aaron Angle, to discuss Omocat's 2020 RPG, Omori.

  •

    135: Lost Odyssey (with Ryan Batie - Lightning Strikes Thrice)

    Episode  |  September 25th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 53 mins
    game review, jrpg, mistwalker, xbox 360

    Dave is joined by Ryan Batie from Lightning Strikes Thrice to discuss Mistwalker's 2008 RPG for the Xbox 360, Lost Odyssey.

  •

    134: A Space for the Unbound (with CGDannyB)

    Episode  |  September 18th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 3 mins
    game review, indie games, mojiken studio, toge productions

    Dave is joined by streamer, YouTube creator and PlayLog Podcast host CGDannyB to discuss Mojiken Studios' 2023 suburban fantasy adventure narrative, A Space for the Unbound.

  •

    133: Final Fantasy IV (with Chris Coplien - Retro Hangover & Jenny E.)

    Episode  |  September 11th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 25 mins
    final fantasy, game review, snes, square enix

    Dave is joined by Chris Coplien (Retro Hangover) and writer Jenny E. to discuss Square's 1991 entry in its flagship series, Final Fantasy IV.