Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Open World”

204: Ghost of Yōtei (with Jacob Price - The Pre-Order Bonus)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

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Ghost of Tsushima (2020) was one of my favorite games of that year, and happens to be episode 2(!!) of this podcast, an early game that screamed to me "you should talk about this into a microphone for 2+ hours). That being the case, Sucker Punch's follow-up, Ghost of Yotei, was an instant day-one buy. And while the things I expected to impress were great, there were certain aspects of the game that felt worse to me than Tsushima's version. Did I change over the past five years? Did the game adjust to industry trends? A secret third answer? All of this is part of the discussion, so I hope you enjoy it!

Guest info: Jacob Price (he/him)

Check out The Pre-Order Bonus podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/747596
Check out Jake's reviews at So Many Games https://somanygames.co.uk/
Follow on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/chipdip18
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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:23 Introductions
5:18 Our Histories With This Series/Game
9:24 Opening Thoughts About Ghost of Yotei
18:50 Story Setup, Atsu and Revenge Stories
26:59 Presentation and Comparisons to Westerns
35:24 A Well-Made Known Commodity and Further Worldbuilding
49:51 Open World Design and Reward Structure
1:10:23 Stealth and Clearing Camps
1:16:33 Duels and Boss Fights
1:31:45 Closing Thoughts
1:37:34 The Pre-Order Bonus and So Many Games
1:42:12 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
1:44:02 Spoiler Section- The Onryo and Ghost Connections
1:57:56 The Snake, The Oni and The Kitsune
2:14:46 The Spider, The Dragon and Saito

Music used in the episode is credited to Toma Otowa: Ghost of Yotei, The Yotei Six, The Wrath of the Ghost, The Wilds of Ezo, Battle No.3, Battle No.1, Atsu's Theme

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

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40: Outer Wilds (with Keith Gasper - The Main Quest)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Some games are fun to explore, some games create worlds that amaze you, some games tell stories you'll never forget...and some games do all of the above. Mobius Digital's 2019 space exploration sim Outer Wilds certainly qualifies. But was it all love all the time? Joining me to discuss it all is the great Keith Gasper from The Main Quest podcast!

TIMESTAMPS
Intro/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:08
Setting/Story Setup 23:08
Gameplay/Music/Sound Design 41:07
Final Thoughts/Housekeeping 1:04:00
SPOILER WALL 1:17:00

Noclip documentary about the making of Outer Wilds

The Main Quest is Keith's personal journey to revisit and replay every game from his childhood through early adulthood, and you can find the podcast and all social media links by clicking here!

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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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FromSoftware and the Open World (with Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Elden Ring Month continues! FromSoftware certainly didn't invent the open world, and they didn't really invent any of the open world design decisions that helped make Elden Ring a success. So what makes a good open world? In this Break from the Backlog, Dave is joined by Andrew and Dylan from Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers to discuss open-world games as a whole, as well as how FromSoftware learned from the best to make Elden Ring.

TIMESTAMPS:
Intro, Personal Histories, Good Open Worlds 0:33
Checkboxes and Map Markers- Eeevillll(?) 44:17
Demerits 56:20
Elden Ring 1:14:25
Going Forward 1:51:28

Check out Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers on Youtube, your favorite podcast app, and Twitch! Easily found through a simple search, and all links can be found on their website. Highly recommended!

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

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36: Elden Ring (with Ryan Juengling- List Off!)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Elden Ring Month has begun on Tales from the Backlog! Up first, Dave is joined by Ryan Juengling from List Off! to discuss FromSoftware's game of the generation candidate, Elden Ring. With the elevator pitch of simply "Open-world Dark Souls" and wild expectations from fans, Elden Ring had a higher bar to clear than many new releases. Did it meet or even exceed expectations, or did it fall short? Listen in to find out!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros, Personal Histories, Opening Thoughts 00:46
First Impressions, Approachability 13:20
Open World, Exploration 51:19
Platforming, Crafting 1:19:12
Story, Boss Fights 1:38:41
Music, Final Thoughts 2:09:44
SPOILER WALL 2:29:29

Check out List Off! for more of Ryan (and his awesome co-host Brian) and some great gaming lists and discussions! Find everything List Off! via this link!

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

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2: Ghost of Tsushima (with Aaron Angle and Ryan Delaney)

Dave Jackson — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Delaney to discuss Sucker Punch Productions' 2020 hit, Ghost of Tsushima. This is a stunningly beautiful open world game that does not quite transcend genre tropes, but does a great job to hide them and build immersion. Throw in a few fun new mechanics and some great story moments, and you've got a recipe for a damn good game.

TIMESTAMPS: Intro 0:00, Ghost of Tsushima 15:05, Spoiler Section 1:27:20

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

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