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

  • 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.

  •

    97: Sea of Stars (with Aaron Angle & Ryan Arrington)

    Episode  |  December 6th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 18 mins
    game review, jrpg, sabotage studios

    Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss Sabotage Studio's 2023 retro-throwback RPG, Sea of Stars.

  • "Uncommon" Real-World Settings in Video Games (with Ozzy Garcia & Randall Quiggle)

    Episode  |  November 29th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 42 mins
    break from the backlog, roundtable

    Dave is joined by Ozzy Garcia and Randall Quiggle to discuss games set in real, yet uncommon locations and what we can learn from them.

  • 96: Final Fantasy XVI (with Rick Firestone & Eric Gess)

    Episode  |  November 22nd, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 43 mins
    final fantasy, game review, jrpg, square enix

    Dave is joined by Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio) and Eric Gess (The Unlockables) to discuss Square Enix's Final Fantasy XVI.

  • 95: F-Zero X (with Dave Pietrangelo - Remember 64)

    Episode  |  November 15th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 38 mins
    game review, nintendo, nintendo 64, racing games

    Dave is joined by Dave Pietrangelo from Remember 64 and Back in My Day podcasts to discuss F-Zero X, Nintendo's hyperspeed space racer from the Nintendo 64.

  • 94: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (with Mick Arcade)

    Episode  |  November 8th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 9 mins
    bioware, game review, rpg, star wars

    Dave is joined by Mick Arcade to discuss BioWare's Star Wars role-playing game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

  • 2nd Birthday Mailbag!

    Episode  |  November 1st, 2023  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 11 secs
    mailbag

    Tales from the Backlog is 2 years old! To celebrate, I am doing the yearly mailbag episode!

  •

    93: Signalis (with Chris Coplien & Shane Koski)

    Episode  |  October 25th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 40 mins
    game review, horror games, indie games

    Dave is joined by Chris Coplien and Shane Koski from Retro Hangover to discuss rose-engine's dreamlike survival horror throwback, Signalis.

  •

    92: Dead Space (2023) (with Chris aka Vertigo2Hell)

    Episode  |  October 18th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 55 mins
    ea, game review, horror games, motive studio

    Dave is joined by horror games streamer Chris aka Vertigo2Hell to discuss Motive Studio and EA's 2023 remake of Dead Space.

  •

    91: Iron Lung (with Gary Butterfield & Kole Ross)

    Episode  |  October 11th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 17 mins
    game review, horror, indie games

    Dave is joined by Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross (Duckfeed.tv - Watch Out For Fireballs!, Bonfireside Chat and many more!) to discuss David Szymanski's first-person submarine horror game, Iron Lung.

  •

    90: Resident Evil (2002) (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

    Episode  |  October 4th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 52 mins
    capcom, game review, resident evil

    Dave is joined by Adelaide Lohkamp to discuss Resident Evil, the 2002 remake of Resident Evil, the 1996 original by Capcom.