Tales from the Backlog

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

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

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

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
All paid patrons can listen to a bonus episode about our favorite non-2025 games that we played this year! https://www.patreon.com/posts/our-favorite-non-146887020
It's that time! End of the year time! Games of the year time! This year I polled Discord and Patreon members on their favorites of the year, tallied them up, and here are the results! Then, I close out the show with my own top 10 and some other thoughts as we bring the 2025th year to a close. Please enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
* 0:00 Title Card and Introduction
* 4:50 Community Honorable Mentions
* 10:10 Community Top 10
* 28:31 Dave's Honorable Mentions
* 30:02 Dave's #10
* 32:14 Dave's #9
* 35:06 Dave's #8
* 38:21 Dave's #7
* 41:43 Dave's #6
* 46:05 Dave's #5
* 49:12 Dave's #4
* 54:18 Dave's #3
* 57:58 Dave's #2
* 1:04:27 Dave's #1
* 1:14:34 Closing Thoughts
* 1:21:50 Patron Thank-Yous
Music used in the episode:
* Your Host for Tonight (Chipzel- Dicey Dungeons OST)
* Beginner's Luck (Chipzel- Dicey Dungeons OST)
* Polarity (Francisco Javier Pérez- Bionic Bay OST)
* Monoco (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST)
* Gestral Beach- Is It a Gestral or a Volleyball (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST)
* Lumiose City (Day) (Shota Kageyama, Carlos Eiene- Pokemon Legends Z-A OST)
* Story of All Manor (Trigg & Gusset- Blue Prince OST)
* Manor- Our Painted Home (Lorien Testard- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST)
* Lumiose City (Night) (Shota Kageyama, Carlos Eiene- Pokemon Legends Z-A OST)
* The Storm (Olivier Deriviere- South of Midnight OST)
* Mysterious Swamps (Olivier Deriviere- South of Midnight OST)
* Enter Sektori (Tommy Baynen- Sektori OST)
* The Beauty of Nature (Miwako Chinone- Monster Hunter Wilds OST)
* Many Nights a Whisper (fingerspit- Many Nights a Whisper OST)
* Ten Years Ago You Were Chosen (fingerspit- Many Nights a Whisper OST)
* Signalchaser (Amos Roddy- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector OST)
* Suncatchers (Amos Roddy- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector OST)
* Introduction (C418- Wanderstop OST)
* Simon's Theme (Trigg & Gusset- Blue Prince OST)
* Bilewater (Christopher Larkin- Hollow Knight: Silksong OST)
* Bellhart (Christopher Larkin- Hollow Knight: Silksong OST)
* Une vie à t'aimer (Lorien Testard, Alice Duport-Percier, Victor Borba- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST)
* Gestral Beach- I'd Rather Play Petanque (Lorien Testard, Alice Duport-Percier, Victor Borba- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST)
* Battle Theme No. 1 (Toma Otowa- Ghost of Yotei OST)
* Raise the Sails (Saori Yoshida- Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii OST)
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

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
With the world being the way it is, it's a rare treat to play a game that's just pure joy from start to finish, and that is exactly what Astro Bot (Team Asobi, Sony, 2024) brings. From the opening cutscene to the final boss, Astro Bot is both one of the greatest platformers ever made and a joyous celebration of 30 years of Playstation history. I treasure a game like this as a player, and almost even moreso as a critic. I hope you enjoy the discussion!
Guest info: Josh Covel (he/him)
* Check out Still Loading Podcast https://www.stillloadingpodcast.com/
TIMESTAMPS
* 0:00 Title Card
* 0:33 Introductions
* 6:11 Our Histories with Astro Bot
* 9:42 Opening Thoughts
* 13:06 Game Setup and Playstation History
* 23:08 Criticisms of The Playstation Tie-Ins
* 39:34 Gameplay & Powerups
* 49:20 Complexity and Difficulty
* 1:00:19 Collectibles and Secrets
* 1:08:15 Music and Sound Design
* 1:23:55 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations
* 1:29:13 Still Loading Podcast
* 1:34:58 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
* 1:37:34 Spoiler Section- Playstation Themed Levels
* 2:01:43 Final Level and Miscellaneous Favorite Things
Music used in the episode is credited to Kenneth C M Young. Tracks used: I Am Astro Bot (ASTRO BOT Remix), Disco Tree, Big Wave, You Know What You've Got To Do, Drake's BOTtune, Bot of War
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