Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Horror”

206: Bioshock (with Joseph Hooper - Crossplay Conversations)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

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Bioshock is a title that carries weight, nearly 20 years after its 2007 release by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, and it feels like one that every gaming podcast eventually talks about. And hey, it's our turn this time- Bioshock has long been a favorite of mine that I've revisited through the years. But when put under the Tales from the Backlog microscope, does it hold up under pressure or does it spring a leak? Listen in to find out.

Guest info: Joseph Hooper (he/him)

Check out Crossplay Conversations https://www.youtube.com/@crossplayconvos
Check out Can't Pause on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@cantpause
Check out Player Player https://playerplayerpod.com/

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:26 Introductions
5:25 Our Histories with Bioshock
9:20 Top-Level Thoughts
14:25 Story Setup
21:30 Learning Backstory Via Audio Logs
26:40 Rapture and Ideology
35:18 Big Daddies, Little Sisters and Moral Choices
44:24 Combat Mechanics
54:00 Some Immersive Sim DNA
1:03:29 Combat Balance & Difficulty
1:13:26 Visual Design and Music/Sound
1:22:27 Who Do We Recommend Bioshock To?
1:24:38 Joseph's Podcasts and YouTube Channel
1:28:26 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
1:30:13 Spoilers- Would You Kindly? and Fontaine
1:44:48 Spoilers- Rapture's Downfall
2:01:37 Spoilers- Other Major Players
2:14:00 Spoilers- Big Daddy and Endings

Music used in the episode is credited to Garry Schyman unless otherwise noted. Tracks used: Under the Sea (Bobby Darin), Welcome to Rapture, Mr. Bubbles - Little Sister, Dancers on a String (Reprise), Through the Docks, Cohen's Masterpiece, Leaving Rapture

Gameplay footage used with permission from World of Longplays on YouTube, gameplay by Spazbo4. www.longplays.org

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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! This is a really unique horror game with fantastic pixel art, sound design and music- highly recommended!

Guest info: Jala Prendes of Jala-chan's Place and The Level podcasts & Dave Cox of Monster Dear Monster podcast.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:23
Story Setup/Theme Introductions 13:35
Presentation 31:32
Gameplay 42:05
SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-Yous 1:08:06

Music used in the episode is credited to fleur et bleue, Akira Yamaoka, ALT 236 & AL 9000. You can support the artists by buying the soundtrack, part 1 and part 2.Tracks used: fleur et bleue - Tout Depend de Toi, Decarnation, Grolia, Orfevre De La Nuit, The Cell, Cracks in the Mask, Lizzy et Marco

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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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 major storefronts, this one is worth seeking you. You can purchase and download it directly from the Red Candle Games website.

Guest Info: Jill Grodt, editor-in-chief of The Indie Informer and podcaster on The Indie Council podcast. Find more from Jill on YouTube and Twitch.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:26
Story Setup/Gameplay 14:32
Horror/Presentation 37:02
SPOILER WALL 53:15

Content warnings for Devotion

Music used in the episode is credited to Vincent Yang. You can support them by purchasing the album directly from the Red Candle Games website. Tracks used: Devotion, Lady of the Pier (Gong Li Fang), Come on! Have a Bite, A Way of No Return, Lady of the Pier (Du Mei Shin)

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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 apparently not the case in the first game. The other surprise was that I found this pretty breezy from a mechanical perspective, which was welcome after really struggling through Resident Evil 1. It was an interesting trip back through history, and led to a great conversation!

Guest Info: Stephanie Klimov, podcaster and editor for Boss Rush Network

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories with Silent Hill/Opening Thoughts 0:21
Story Setup 12:58
Presentation 26:48
Gameplay 43:48
Closing Thoughts/Plugs/Housekeeping 59:42
SPOILER WALL 1:08:12

Music used in the episode is credited to Akira Yamaoka. Tracks used: Silent Hill, Led Into Madness, Meeting Cybil, No Dream, Tears of Blood, Dr. Kaufmann, Killing Time

Content Warnings for Silent Hill

Catch Dave on the Gaming Memories Podcast!

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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 town, terrible combat, fun mystery and rough performance combine to create a very interesting game, to say the least.

Guest info: James Tuerlings and Patrick Arthur of Retro Spectives podcast.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:32
Story Setup/Twin Peaks Influence 14:40
Gameplay 42:03
Music/Presentation 1:15:51
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Plugs 1:28:18
SPOILER WALL 1:46:39

Polygon interview with Deadly Premonition director Swery65.

Music used in the episode is credited to Riyou Kinugasa, Takuya Kobayashi and Hiromi Mizutani. Tracks used: Greenvale, FBI Special Agent, Found You!, Underground, The Woods and the Goddess, Raincoat Killer, Red Tree, The Goddess

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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's guest, Aaron, played it and kept (lovingly) pestering me to play it. And while I can't say that I loved every aspect of the experience, the story and presentation of mental health struggles were good enough to see me through to its emotional conclusion. I'm very glad I took Aaron's recommendation seriously, for once.

Guest info: Aaron Angle of A Top 3 Podcast

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:23
Story Setup/Themes 11:36
Presentation/Music 30:35
Gameplay/Combat 41:12
SPOILER WALL 59:52

Music used in the episode is credited to Bo En, Jami Lynn and Pedro Silva. You can support them by purchasing the album on Steam or Bandcamp! Tracks used: Title, WHITE SPACE, By Your Side, Tussle Among Trees, Trees..., World's End Valentine, OMORI, DUET

Content warnings for Omori

Check out Dave's guest appearance on Pages of Play podcast!

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

Dave Jackson — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Iron Lung, developed and published by David Szymanski in 2022, was a game I was sure I would never play. Frequently topping "Scariest Games Ever" lists around the internet, mixing thalassophobia, claustrophobia, rustophobia and more, I always figured I would just hear about it from afar. But as a convert to horror games, I liked the idea of giving this one a go. After all, a $6, 1 hour game is a good pitch if you're looking for that final push. It turns out that Iron Lung is really great! And I was lucky enough to be joined by two incredible guests, Gary Butterfield and Kaye Ross, the two founders and main hosts of the Duckfeed.tv podcast network that encompasses such shows as Watch Out for Fireballs!, Bonfireside Chat and many more. You can check out all of their shows at their website or on your favorite podcast app, and you can support them on Patreon!

*Please note that since the time of recording, Kaye has changed her name and pronouns. Episode title and notes have been updated, but I can't change the recording itself. Please refer to her correctly if referencing the episode- thanks!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:44
Story Setup/How Iron Lung Creates Tension/Gameplay 18:01
SPOILER WALL 48:29

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Getting Into Horror Games (with Adam Bucceri - Half Tone Takes, Gerry - Super Ghost Radio, & Dog Faced Gamer)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Longtime listeners of Tales from the Backlog will have heard me say something to the effect of "I don't like horror games and I will never play one", but as they say- life comes at you fast. I've become a big fan of horror games, and so I wanted to make a discussion episode asking "how did we get here?". To help me discuss the notion of "geting into horror games", I've assembled a 4-piece band of true horror sickos- Adam Bucceri (Enter the Survival Horror, Half Tone Takes), Matty aka The Dog Faced Gamer (Twitch) and Gerry Thomas (Super Ghost Radio). You should check out all of the wonderful things that they make and do!

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

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41: The Last of Us (with Ben Robinson - Play Along Podcast)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Some games are released, garner acclaim and fans, and fade into our Nostalgia centers. Some games, however, keep growing until they are something much bigger. The Last of Us is a trend-setter, influencing the direction of Sony's first-party titles of the past decade, while also being remastered AND remade before spinning out into a multimedia franchise. But does it deserve the hype and continuing obsession? Is it truly one of the greatest video games ever made?

Dave is joined by Ben Robinson of Play Along Podcast to discuss the original PS3 release and the PS4 remaster.

TIMESTAMPS
Intro/Personal Histories 1:03
Story Setup/Stealth/Survival Gameplay 15:29
Combat 47:43
To Remake?/Final Thoughts 1:06:18
SPOILER WALL 1:26:31

Check out Play Along Podcast!

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Social Media:
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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages

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10: Silent Hill 2 (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

Dave Jackson — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0500

Dave is joined by Adelaide Lohkamp (she/her), who emerged from the endless fog to discuss Konami's pillar of the survival horror genre, Silent Hill 2.
Dave is NOT a horror game fan, and also has trouble playing older games with very outdated gameplay and/or mechanics....so what is it that automatically vaulted Silent Hill 2 onto his "must-play" list? Listen in to find out, and keep that radio handy.

*Note I refer to Adelaide by another name in the episode, but as preferences have changed since the recording date, please use the name Adelaide when referring to her. Thanks!

TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Silent Hill 2 11:51, Spoiler Section 1:01:10

Great story analysis on YouTube by TheGamingBritShow

Check out Jamie's YouTube channel!

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6: SOMA (with Ryan Delaney)

Dave Jackson — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 00:00:00 -0500

Dave is joined by Ryan Delaney to discuss Frictional Games' existential horror classic, SOMA. This is a game with an absolutely top-level story that simply has to be experienced, but does the simplistic gameplay drag down the overall experience? Listen to find out what we think.

TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, SOMA 9:40, Spoiler Section 41:50

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

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