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Tales from the Backlog

Tales from the Backlog

By: Dave Jackson
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About this listen

 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.© 2026 Tube Podcast Network Science Fiction
Episodes
  • 199: Hollow Knight: Silksong (with Jenny Windom - Geeks & Grounds)

    199: Hollow Knight: Silksong (with Jenny Windom - Geeks & Grounds)
    Jan 21 2026
    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Very few games have ever had the hype cycle that Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry, 2025) had, so the question remained once the game was finally released- did it live up to the hype? Clown masks and Nintendo Direct comment section explosions quickly gave way to Discourse surrounding Silksong's difficulty and sometimes anti-QoL approach. So was the juice worth the squeeze? Listen in to find out. Guest info: Jenny Windom (she/her) * Check out Geeks & Grounds podcast https://www.geeksandgrounds.com/ * Check out Jenny's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/kimchica TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:13 Introductions * 9:06 Our Histories with Hollow Knight and Silksong * 12:45 Opening Thoughts about Silksong * 18:26 Difficulty and Accessibility * 23:19 Story Setup and Visuals * 27:31 The Pilgrimage, Characters and Voice Acting * 36:25 The Pilgrimage and Anti-QoL Design * 48:29 Challenge Ramp-Up and Difficulty Curve * 57:53 Silksong- A Good Teacher & Overcoming Challenge * 1:05:47 Metroidvania Design, Visuals and Music * 1:14:18 Boss Fights, Combat Challenges and Runbacks * 1:33:42 Crests, Tools, Customization * 1:40:40 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations * 1:45:54 Geeks & Grounds and Jenny's Other Work * 1:51:22 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous * 1:53:13 Spoiler Section- Favorite Boss Fights * 2:18:22 Spoiler Section- The Citadel and Faith * 2:27:46 Spoiler Section- Hornet's Growth, Sherma and Community * 2:45:23 Spoiler Section- Motherhood and Endings Music used in the episode is credited to Christopher Larkin. Tracks used: Silksong, Bone Bottom, Trobbio, Cogwork Dancers, Bilewater, Far Fields, Lost Lace, Fleatopia Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures
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    3 hrs and 23 mins
  • 198: Crazy Taxi (with Darren Hupke - Pixels & Polygons)

    198: Crazy Taxi (with Darren Hupke - Pixels & Polygons)
    Jan 14 2026
    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson In the midst of so many games and podcasts with heavy story themes, sometimes it's nice to just play a video game-ass video game. And so here we have Crazy Taxi (Sega, 2000), plowing through a bunch of mailboxes on its way to the podcast schedule. This is a seminal game, especially for Dreamcast owners and arcade-goers, that I had somehow never played before. So what was it like playing for the first time in 2025? Listen in to find out! Guest info: Darren Hupke (he/him) * Find all of Darren's work https://pixelsandpolygons.net/ * Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/darrenhupke.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:11 Introductions * 4:05 Our Histories with Crazy Taxi * 9:56 Opening Thoughts About Crazy Taxi * 13:50 Game Setup * 23:34 Crazy Box Mode and Advanced Maneuvers * 31:26 Sense of Humor, Future Crazy Taxis and Soundtrack * 43:39 Real Life Crazy Taxis and Product Placement * 49:40 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations * 55:00 Darren's Books and Pixels & Polygons * 1:00:31 Announcements and Patron Thank-Yous Music used in the episode: All I Want (The Offspring), Ten in 2010 (Bad Religion), Change the World (The Offspring) Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Backlog Resolutions 2026

    Backlog Resolutions 2026
    Jan 7 2026
    Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server and make your own resolutions!- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson For the past few years, we've been making "backlog resolutions" each year- choosing a list of games from our libraries that we keep telling ourselves "I'm gonna play that someday" and....playing them! What a concept! Well, we're playing most of them. In what's becoming a yearly tradition, I'm joined by some friends to discuss our experience throughout the year. Guest info: * CtrlAltNoob (she/her)- find her work at https://ctrlaltnoob.com/ and follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/ctrlaltnoob.bsky.social * Taylor/Athunderheart (she/they)- Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/athunderheart/ and BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/athunderheart.bsky.social * Soccr (any/all)- Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/soccr.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:11 Introductions * 4:45 Stats from 2025's Resolutions * 7:11 General Thoughts and Experiences * 21:31 Resolutions Success Stories * 53:33 Patron Thank-Yous * 55:37 Why Didn't We Play Them All? * 1:25:57 Lessons & Strategies for 2026 * 1:40:59 Sneak Peek at Our 2026 Lists * 1:59:40 Closing Thoughts * 2:10:37 Guest Plugs Music used in the episode: * Bless My Stars (Akitaka Tohyama - Beautiful Katamari OST) * a forty-six story motel (RJ Lake - El Paso, Elsewhere OST) * Mortol (Gameplay) (Eirik Suhrke - UFO 50 OST) * Bionic Bay (Francisco Javier Pérez - Bionic Bay OST) Check out Dave talking about NieR: Automata on Pixel Project Radio https://linktr.ee/pixelprojectradio Check out the King of Games 1999 FINALE on Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures
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    2 hrs and 20 mins
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