Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Persona”

168: Persona 4 Golden (with Flora Merigold)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

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Persona games are a tough sell for a guy who does a weekly podcast like this, so thank you to my wonderful patrons for voting Persona 4 Golden onto the show. While it has all of the pacing issues that you would expect an 80 hour game to have, I thought this is, in some ways, the best of the Persona 4/5/Metaphor trio that I've played in the last five years. Tune in to the episode to find out why.

Guest Info: Flora Merigold

Find her writing at Epilogue Gaming https://epiloguegaming.com/flora-merigold/
Hear her on Left Behind Game Club https://leftbehindgame.club/
Follow her on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/floramerigold.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:22 Intros
4:40 Personal Histories with Persona and Persona 4
8:07 Opening Thoughts about Persona 4 Golden
16:05 Murder Mystery Story Setup
21:55 Characters and Problematic Representation(?)
37:13 Story Themes and PSA for New Players
49:03 Visuals
57:12 Music
1:05:42 Dungeon Crawling and Combat
1:28:03 Life-Sim Gameplay
1:44:52 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Plugs
1:55:14 SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-Yous
1:56:49 Spoilers- Kanji, Naoto and Representation
2:37:34 Spoilers- Teddie and Rise and More

Music used in the episode is credited to Shoji Meguro. Tracks used: Glimpse of a Memory, Signs of Love, Like a Dream Come True, Heartbreak, Heartbeat, Reach Out to the Truth (First Battle), Sauna, Studio Backlot, Junes Theme, Your Affection, Results

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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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159: Metaphor: ReFantazio (with Scott White)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Only one studio out there can inspire the following sentence- the first time I saw the menu UI in Metaphor: ReFantazio, I knew that Atlus and Studio Zero were cooking. They've mastered the art of making menu-based RPGs flashy and stylish, as well as mastering the "Persona" calendar-based structure in general. On several fronts, this is the best game this studio has made, but left us wanting in a few areas as well. Listen in to this deep dive discussion and let us know what you think!

Guest info: Scott White

Check out his writing: https://linktr.ee/scottwhite
Check out RPG University podcast: https://linktr.ee/RPGU_IP
Follow on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/professorrpg.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:35 Intro/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts
10:43 Story Setup
35:05 Presentation
46:25 Combat/Archetype System
59:47 Life Sim Gameplay
1:15:43 SPOILER WALL, Patron Thank-Yous
1:17:37 Spoiler Section

Music used in the episode is credited to ATLUS Sound Team. Tracks used:

Call of Magic (Shoji Meguro)
A Brief Respite (Shoji Meguro)
Castle of Dread (Maiko Katagiri, Shoji Meguro)
Warriors in Valour (Keisuke Honryo, Shoji Meguro)
Journey's Legs (Shoji Meguro)
Ode to Heroes (Shoji Meguro)
Hero's Awakening (Shoji Meguro)
Formidable Foe (Shoji Meguro)
King's Verdict (Shoji Meguro)

Check out Dave's guest appearance on Pixelated Playgrounds about Persona 4 Golden: https://www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com/bookclub

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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

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

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23: Persona 5 (with Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss both Persona 5 and its expansion, Persona 5 Royal, the latest in the long-running series by Atlus. Hailed as a modern JRPG classic, Persona 5 brings addictive life sim mechanics, snappy turn-based combat, stylish visual design and one hell of a soundtrack. Is there anything it can't do? Listen in to find out!

TIMESTAMPS: Persona 5 11:52,
Spoiler wall 2:10:33

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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

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

Support Tales from the Backlog